Synopsis: Give me a sign says Gedeon… there arose fire from the rock… Okay I will destroy my father’s altar of Baal?… save the children of Israel?… now I need two signs… one a wet fleece and the other a dry fleece… 300 men and a dream fulfilled… no I do not want to be a king….
And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord; and he delivered them into the hand of Madian seven years.
And they were grievously oppressed by them. And they made themselves dens and caves in the mountains, and strong holds to resist.
…and they left nothing at all in Israel for sustenance of life…
And Israel was humbled exceedingly in the sight of Madian.
And an angel of the Lord came, and sat under an oak… and when Gedeon was threshing and cleansing wheat by the winepress, to flee from Madian, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said: “The Lord is with thee, O Most valiant of men.”
Gedeon: “I beseech thee, my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why have these evils fallen upon us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers have told us of, saying: The Lord brought us out of Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of Madian.”
And the Lord looked upon him, and said: Go in this thy strength, and thou shalt deliver Israel out of the hand of Median: know that I have sent thee.”
Gedeon: “I beseech thee, my lord, wherewith shall I deliver Israel? Behold my family is the meanest in Manasses, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
And the Lord said to him: “I will be with thee: and thou shall cut off Median as one man.”
Gedeon: If I have found grace before thee, give me a sign that it is thou that speakest to me, and depart not hence, till I return to thee, and bring a sacrifice, and offer it to thee.
Lord to Gideon: “I will wait thy coming.”
So Gedeon went in, and boiled a kid, and made unleavened loaves…
The angel of the Lord put forth the tip of the rod… there arose a fire from the rock… and consumed the flesh and the unleavened loaves… and the angel of the Lord vanished out of sight.
Gedeon: “Alas, my Lord God: for I have seen the angel of the Lord face-to-face.
The Lord to Gedeon: “Peace be with thee; fear not, thou shalt not die.
And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it the Lord’s peace, until this present day.
The Lord said to Gedeon: “… thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal, which is thy father’s and cut down the grove that is about the altar. And thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God in the top of this rock, where upon thou didst lay the sacrifice before… and shalt offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which thou shalt cut down out of the grove.”
Then Gedeon, taking ten men of his servants, did as the Lord commanded him. But fearing his father’s house, and the men of that city, he would not do it by day, but did all by night.
It was said: Gedeon the son of Joas did all this. And so they said to Joas: “Bring out thy son hither, that he may die: because he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down his grove.”
Joas answered the men of the town: “Are you the avengers of Baal, that you fight for him? He that is his adversary, let him die before to morrow light appear: if he be a god, let him revenge himself on him that hath cast down his altar.”
So the son stands up to the father and the father stands up for the son!
But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he sounded the trumpet and called together the house of Abiezer, to follow him.
Gedeon said to God: “If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, I will go put this fleece of wool on the floor: if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on the ground beside, I shall know that by my hand, as thou hast said, thou wilt deliver Israel.”
And so it was so…
And rising before day wringing the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew.
Gedeon to God; “Let not thy wrath be kindled against me if I try once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that the fleece only may be dry, and all the ground wet with dew.
And God did that night as he had requested: and it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
Lord to Gedeon: “Speak to the people, and proclaim in the hearing of all, Whoever is fearful and timorous, let him return.” (Reduced the number from 22,000 to 10,000 remained).
Lord to Gedeon: “Bring them to the waters, and there I will try them: and whom I shall say to thee, This shall go with thee let him go: whom I forbid to go, let him return.”
They that shall lap the water with their tongues as dogs are wont to lap, thou shall set apart by themselves: but they that shall drink bowing down their knees, shall be on the other side.
And the number of them that had lapped water, casting it with the hand to their mouth was three hundred men; and the rest of the multitude had drunk kneeling.
By the three hundred men, that lapped the water, I will save you, and deliver Madian into thy hand: but let all the rest of the people return to their place.
A kinder and gentler God in the Old Testament?
And Gedeon had heard the dream, and the interpretation thereof, he adored: and returned to the camp of Israel, and said: arise, for the Lord hath delivered the camp of Madian into our hands.
And he divided the three hundred men into three parts, and gave them trumpets in their hands empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
What you shall see me do, do you the same.
…and shout together to the Lord and to Gedeon.
So all the camp was troubled, and crying out and howling they fled away. And the three hundred men nevertheless persisted sounding the trumpets. And the Lord sent the sword into all the camp, and they killed one another.
There’s more to the story but suffice it to finish it here…
And Gedeon said to them: “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you.”
In Judges, before Kings 1 and 2 of the Bible… foretelling of democracy? Kings and dictators, empires and dynasties… NOT! Democracy as no one person but the Lord shall rule over you!
And Gedeon had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had many wives.
And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son, whose name was Abimelech.
And Gedeon the son of Joas died in a good old age.
But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again, and committed fornication with Baalim.
Aren’t we just like Gedeon always looking for a sign from the Lord and double- and triple-checking that what we want to do is what God wants us to do?
Childish games we adults play! Maybe that is what it means to be childlike to enter the kingdom of God?
Why not build our lives from the inside-out based on prayer and meditation with God, our Savior Jesus Christ, and The Holy Spirit?
And so it can be in the Third Testament, the finding of our Splendid Spiritual Self. No sign needed Lord. Speak to my heart!
Day 83: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; And so it was so… No Sign Needed Lord… Speak to My Heart!
Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Judges Chapters 6-9
Bible Notes:
This Book is so called, because it is a history of the Jews under the government of the Judges, men, like Gedeon and Samson, who were raised up to rule Israel before they had kings. It describes the religious and political condition of the Jews and the work of the twelve Judges.
Judges Chapter 6: Madianotes oppress Israel; Oppression is punishment for sins; Gedeon is called to save Israel; Gedeon’s gift is consumed by fire; Gedeon destroys an altar of Baal; Followers of Baal seek Gedeon’s life; Gedeon assembles the people; God’s sign to Gedeon.
And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord; and he delivered them into the hand of Madian seven years.
And they were grievously oppressed by them. And they made themselves dens and caves in the mountains, and strong holds to resist.
…and they left nothing at all in Israel for sustenance of life…
And Israel was humbled exceedingly in the sight of Madian.
And he cried to the Lord desiring help against the Madianites. And he sent unto them a prophet, and he spoke: Thus saith the Lord the God if Israel… And you would not hear my voice.
And an angel of the Lord came, and sat under an oak… and when Gedeon was threshing and cleansing wheat by the winepress, to flee from Madian, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said: “The Lord is with thee, O Most valiant of men.”
Gedeon: “I beseech thee, my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why have these evils fallen upon us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers have told us of, saying: The Lord brought us out of Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of Madian.”
And the Lord looked upon him, and said: Go in this thy strength, and thou shalt deliver Israel out of the hand of Median: know that I have sent thee.”
Gedeon: “I beseech thee, my lord, wherewith shall I deliver Israel? Behold my family is the meanest in Manasses, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
And the Lord said to him: “I will be with thee: and thou shall cut off Median as one man.”
Gedeon: If I have found grace before thee, give me a sign that it is thou that speakest to me, and depart not hence, till I return to thee, and bring a sacrifice, and offer it to thee.
Lord to Gideon: “I will wait thy coming.”
So Gedeon went in, and boiled a kid, and made unleavened loaves…
The angel of the Lord put forth the tip of the rod… there arose a fire from the rock… and consumed the flesh and the unleavened loaves… and the angel of the Lord vanished out of sight.
Gedeon: “Alas, my Lord God: for I have seen the angel of the Lord face-to-face.
The Lord to Gedeon: “Peace be with thee; fear not, thou shalt not die.
And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and cllaed it the Lord’s peace, until this present day.
The Lord said to Gedeon: “… thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal, which is thy father’s and cut down the grove that is about the altar. And thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God in the top of this rock, where upon thou didst lay the sacrifice before… and shalt offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which thou shalt cut down out of the grove.”
Then Gedeon, taking ten men of his servants, did as the Lord commanded him. But fearing his father’s house, and the men of that city, he would not do it by day, but did all by night.
It was said: Gedeon the son of Joas did all this. And so they said to Joas: “Bring out thy son hither, that he may die: because he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down his grove.”
Joas answered the men of the town: “Are you the avengers of Baal, that you fight for him? He that is his adversary, let him die before to morrow light appear: if he be a god, let him revenge himself on him that hath cast down his altar.”
But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he sounded the trumpet and called together the house of Abiezer, to follow him.
Gedeon said to God: “If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, I will go put this fleece of wool on the floor: if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on the ground beside, I shall know that by my hand, as thou hast said, thou wilt deliver Israel.”
And so it was so…
And rising before day wringing the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew.
Gedeon to God; “Let not thy wrath be kindled against me if I try once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that the fleece only may be dry, and all the ground wet with dew.
And God did that night as he had requested: and it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
Judges Chapter 7: Gedeon picks three hundred men; Gedeon eavesdrops in the enemy camp; Gedeon’s strategy; Gedeon defeats the Madianites; Oreb and Zeb are slain.
Then Jerobaal, who is the same as Gedeon…
Lord to Gedeon: “Speak to the people, and proclaim in the hearing of all, Whoever is fearful and timorous, let him return.” (Reduced the number from 22,000 to 10,000 remained).
Lord to Gedeon: “Bring them to the waters, and there I will try them: and whom I shall say to thee, This shall go with thee let him go: whom I forbid to go, let him return.”
They that shall lap the water with their tongues as dogs are wont to lap, thou shall set apart by themselves: but they that shall drink bowing down their knees, shall be on the other side.
And the number of them that had lapped water, casting it with the hand to their mouth was three hundred men; and the rest of the multitude had drunk kneeling.
By the three hundred men, that lapped the water, I will save you, and deliver Madian into thy hand: but let all the rest of the people return to their place.
A kinder and gentler God?
Overheard ‘I dreamt a dream… this is nothing else but the sword of Gedeon the son of Joas a man of Israel. For the Lord hath delivered Madian, and all their camp into his hand.
And Gedeon had heard the dream, and the interpretation thereof, he adored: and returned to the camp of Israel, and said: arise, for the Lord hath delivered the camp of Madian into our hands.
And he divided the three hundred men into three parts, and gave them trumpets in their hands empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
What you shall see me do, do you the same.
…and shout together to the Lord and to Gedeon.
So all the camp was troubled, and crying out and howling they fled away. And the three hundred men nevertheless persisted sounding the trumpets. And the Lord sent the sword into all the camp, and they killed one another.
And having taken two men of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: Oreb they slew in the rock of Oreb, and Zeb in the winepress of Zeb. And they pursued Madian, carrying the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gedeon beyond the waters of the Jordan.
Judges Chapter 8: Gedeon appeases the Ephraimites; Soccoth and Phamuel refuse to help Gedeon; Gedeon captures Zebee and Salmana; Gedeon punishes Soccoth and Phamuel; Gedeon slays Zebee and Salmana; Gedeon refuses to be king; Gedeon makes an ephod; Gedeon’s prosperity and death’ The Israelites turn to idolatry.
And when he had said this, their spirit was appeased, with which they swelled against him.
I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the desert. When I shall return a conqueror in peace, I will destroy this tower.
For fifteen thousand men were left of all the troops of the eastern people, and one hundred and twenty thousand warriors that drew the sword, were slain.
…and smote the camp of the enemies, who were secure, and suspected no hurt.
Revenge to Soccoth and Phanuel… returned a conqueror…
They were my brethren, the sons of my mother. As the Lord liveth, if you had saved them, I would not kill you.
But he drew not his sword; for he was afraid, being but yet a boy.
Gedeon rose up and slew Zebee and Salmana: and he took the ornaments and bosses, with which the necks of the camels of kings are wont to be adorned.
And Gedeon said to them: “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you.”
Give me the golden earlets of your spoils… a thousand seven hundred sicles of gold.
And Gedeon made an ephrod thereof, and put it in his city Ephra. And all Israel committed fornication with it, and it became a ruin to Gedeon and to all his house.
But Median was humbled before the children of Israel, neither could they any more lift up their heads: but the land rested for forty years, while Gedeon presided.
Ephrod—(Old Testament) an embroidered vestment believed to resemble an apron with shoulder straps, worn by priests in ancient Israel.
Fornication—Bible. Idolatry—the religious worship of idols; excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion, etc.
And he had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had many wives.
And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son, whose name was Abimelech.
And Gedeon the son of Joas died in a good old age.
But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again, and committed fornication with Baalim.
Judges Chapter 9: Abimelech made king of Sichem; Joatham rebukes the Sichemites; The Sichemites detest Abimelech; Gaal threatens to remove Abimelech; Zebul urges Abimelech to attack Sichem; Abimelech overcomes Sichem; Abimelech burns the tower of Sichem; Abimelech dies in battle; Joatham’s curse fulfilled.
Whether it is better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerobaal should rule over you, or that one man should rule over you?
…and they inclined their hearts after Abimelech…
…and slew his brethren the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men, upon one stone: and there remained only Joatham the youngest son of Jerobaal, who was hidden.
…and they went and made Abimelech king…
Joatham: “The trees went to anoint a king over them… can the olive tree leave its fatness?… can a fig tree leave its sweetness?… can a vine leave its wine?… can a bramble?… come ye and rest under my shadow… let fire come out from the bramble and devour the cedars of Libanus… now if you have done well, and without sin appointing Abimelech king over you…
So Abimelech reigned over Israel for three years. And the Lord sent a very evil spirit between Abimelech and the inhabitants of Sichem who began to detest him…
Gaal threatens to remove Abimelech.
Where is now thy mouth wherewith thou saidist? Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?
So Gaal went out and fought Abimelech, but Zebul drove Gaal out of the city, and would not suffer them to abide in it.
And Abimelech assaulted the city all that day: and took it, and killed the inhabitants thereof, and demolished it, so that he sowed salt in it.
And surrounding the fort, they set it on fire…
A certain woman casting a piece of a millstone from above, dashed it against the head of Abimelech, and broke his skull…. And he called hastily to his armorbearer and said to him: draw thy sword, and kill me; lest it should be said that I was slain by a woman.
Joatham’s curse fulfilled.
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