Gideon – A Hesitant Hero
Judges 6-8
When the leaders who served with Joshua died, the commitment of the Israelites to the Lord relaxed. Rather than drive out the remaining Canaanites as the Lord commanded, the Israelites set defeated foes to forced labor, or simply refused to attack enemy strongholds. Soon Israelites were intermarrying with the people of the land, and many adopted pagan gods and customs. Judges 6-8 takes place about 200 years after Israel entered the land that God had given them.
I What are Israel’s circumstances? 6:1-10
What have they done? v.1
“Midianites: these nomadic peoples came from the south of Edom; the Amalekites south of Judah. Their superiority rested in part on history’s first documented use of the camel in warfare. A camel could carry 400 pounds plus its rider, could travel a week without drinking, and with only a rider could cover as much as a hundred miles a day! Thus the Midianites could strike in force long before Israel could assemble an army. The annual invasion of these nomadic peoples at harvest time suggests they raided primarily to take Israel’s crops.”*
How long is their bondage? v.2
When do they cry out to God? v.6,7
Who does the Lord send? v.8
What is his message? v.8-10
II How does God deliver Israel? 6:11 -8:32
How is Gideon chosen? 6:11-24
What is his response to the angel of he Lord? v.13
What is he told to do? v.14
What are his objections? V.15
What does he ask the angel of the Lord to do? v.16-21
Then what does he realize? is afraid of? do? v.22-23
How is Gideon tested? 6:25-32
What is he told to do? v.25,26
“The use of the bull is significant. The bull was the sacred animal of the Canaanite cult. The bull was then sacrificed to the Lord, burned on a fire kindled from the Asherah pole. The false faith was thus symbolically rejected.”*
When did he obey? Why? v.27
How do men of town react? v.28-30
Who defends Gideon? How? v.31,32
How is Gideon encouraged? 6:33-7:15
What does the Spirit of God empower him to do? v.33-35
What does he ask God to do? v.36-40
How does God downsize Gideon’s army? Why? 7:1-8
Why is he told to visit the Midianite camp? v.9-14
What does he hear cause him to do? v.15
How does God give victory? 7:16-22
“Gideon sets his men around the Midianite camp with torches and rams’ horn trumpets. At 10:00 that night the trumpets sound! The confused Midianites, seeing only blurred figures stumbling in the dark outside their tents, strike out in panic and kill each other.”*
How does Gideon handle opposition? 7:23-8:17
From the Ephraimites? 8:1-3
From Succoth and Peniel? 8:4-17
III How does Gideon handle success? 8:22-32
“Gideon’s pious rejection of royal authority probably should not be taken at face value. Why? (1) Often acceptance of offers was expressed as an initial, polite refusal. (2) Gideon’s use of the ephod oracle, of jewelry and royal clothing, and gathering of a harem all fit practices of ancient monarchs. (3) Perhaps decisive is the name given Abimelech, one of his sons. The name means “my father is king”. Abimelech even assumes that a son of Gideon should succeed him. (9:2).*
*“The Bible Reader’s Companion” Lawrence O. Richards pp164,165