June 22 2025 // Judges 6
APPLICATION: Read & watch/listen to Judges 6
Sermon Title: Who? Me?
Gideon’s Common Call vs: 11-17
Gideon’s Confirmed Confidence vs. 18-24
God’s Confrontational Command vs. 25-26
Gideon’s Cautious Courage vs. 27-32
God’s Compassionate Confirmation vs. 33-40
Life Application:
Kermit and Sting
One day a scorpion was walking along the riverbank trying to find a way to get across the river when he came across a frog. The scorpion asked the frog if he would take him across the river by giving him a ride on his back. The frog replied, “No, I would never give a scorpion a ride on my back!” When the scorpion asked him why, the frog replied, “Because if I were to give you a ride on my back, we would only get halfway across and you would sting me; then I would drown!” Quickly the scorpion replied, “But frog, if I stung you, then I would drown also.” The frog considered this and then agreed, “I guess you’re right. I will give you a ride.” The scorpion jumped on the frog’s back, and they started across the river. Halfway there, the scorpion drilled the frog with his stinger. As the frog felt the venom race through his body, he looked at the scorpion and asked “Why?” The reply: “Because I’m a scorpion. That is my nature.”
To extend the fable, the frog knew he should stay away from the scorpion. Ever since he was a tadpole he had been told to avoid scorpions. Innately he felt he should avoid scorpions. And most importantly, the Frog Maker actually commanded, “Thou shalt avoid scorpions, nor shall you listen to their lies.” No matter what promises a personable and friendly scorpion made, a scorpion was still a scorpion.
Whenever the Israelites worshiped idols, they always got stung. Yet they almost willfully refused to learn the lesson that obedience to God was the best way to live their lives.[1]
Digging Deeper:
The Oppressors - Three oppressors are identified in this cycle. The Midianites were primary; verse 1 indicates the Israelites were given into the hands of Midian for seven years, without mentioning the other oppressors. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25:2–4) and so were related remotely to the Israelites (see the interchange with “Ishmaelites” in Judg. 8:24). Block places them as semi-nomads from the Sinai Peninsula and western Arabia. Moses’ wife was the daughter of Jethro the Midianite, a man portrayed in positive contexts (Exod. 2:15–22; 18). The Amalekites were descendants of Esau and had a history of hostility with Israel.
They were allied with the Moabites in the very first cycle of oppression (Judg. 3:13). We do not know who the “sons of the east” were, but they may have been an ethnically unidentified (or unidentifiable?) amalgam of Bedouin raiders from across the desert.
Camels (6:5) - The reference here is probably not to the two-humped (Bactrian) camel but to the single-humped Arabian dromedary (see Job 1:3). These animals were used very early (see Gen. 12:16; 24:10), primarily around the periphery of desert regions. The use of camels was mostly found farther south and east in the Arabian regions, where the Midianites were from. Camels were able to carry a load of four hundred pounds, plus rider. They could go three or four days without water and could travel about twenty-eight miles per day.
A Bull Market (6:25–26, 28) - The grammar and meaning of the details of these verses is in question, but the simplest reading is that there was one “prime” seven-year-old bull used to tear down the altar and the Asherah totem. The Hebrew word translated second may also mean “exalted, of high rank” (Block, 266). Then when the altar to the Lord was built, that bull was sacrificed unto the Lord (against the consistent NIV rendering, “the second bull”).
“Fleecing” God - Those who take Gideon’s request for a “fleece” as a model for divine guidance are ill-advised. Gideon’s request was not an expression of faith but a questioning of God’s promises and power. This is far different from asking God to guide by his providential control of circumstances. Furthermore, Gideon was aware that he was acting in disbelief and partial rebellion (v. 39, “Do not be angry with me”) even in making such a request.
Those who tend to apply this as a model for guidance often do not apply it fully or faithfully. Gideon was not asking God for a coincidence (“If I sell my car by 5:00 on Friday, I will know God wants me to move to Seattle”); Gideon was asking God for a miracle (“If my car develops organs of speech and utters ‘Seattle,’ I will know God wants me to move there”). Those who desire guidance by using a fleece should probably get a sheep’s fleece and ask God literally to reverse turf wetness and dryness, as Gideon did. And then repent.[2]
Questions to Consider:
Prayer Time:
[1] W. Gary Philips, Judges, Ruth, ed. Max Anders, vol. 5, Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2004), 102–103.
[2] W. Gary Philips, Judges, Ruth, ed. Max Anders, vol. 5, Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2004), 103–104.
[3] W. Gary Philips, Judges, Ruth, ed. Max Anders, vol. 5, Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2004), 106.
Sermon Title: Who? Me?
Gideon’s Common Call vs: 11-17
Gideon’s Confirmed Confidence vs. 18-24
God’s Confrontational Command vs. 25-26
Gideon’s Cautious Courage vs. 27-32
God’s Compassionate Confirmation vs. 33-40
Life Application:
Kermit and Sting
One day a scorpion was walking along the riverbank trying to find a way to get across the river when he came across a frog. The scorpion asked the frog if he would take him across the river by giving him a ride on his back. The frog replied, “No, I would never give a scorpion a ride on my back!” When the scorpion asked him why, the frog replied, “Because if I were to give you a ride on my back, we would only get halfway across and you would sting me; then I would drown!” Quickly the scorpion replied, “But frog, if I stung you, then I would drown also.” The frog considered this and then agreed, “I guess you’re right. I will give you a ride.” The scorpion jumped on the frog’s back, and they started across the river. Halfway there, the scorpion drilled the frog with his stinger. As the frog felt the venom race through his body, he looked at the scorpion and asked “Why?” The reply: “Because I’m a scorpion. That is my nature.”
To extend the fable, the frog knew he should stay away from the scorpion. Ever since he was a tadpole he had been told to avoid scorpions. Innately he felt he should avoid scorpions. And most importantly, the Frog Maker actually commanded, “Thou shalt avoid scorpions, nor shall you listen to their lies.” No matter what promises a personable and friendly scorpion made, a scorpion was still a scorpion.
Whenever the Israelites worshiped idols, they always got stung. Yet they almost willfully refused to learn the lesson that obedience to God was the best way to live their lives.[1]
Digging Deeper:
The Oppressors - Three oppressors are identified in this cycle. The Midianites were primary; verse 1 indicates the Israelites were given into the hands of Midian for seven years, without mentioning the other oppressors. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25:2–4) and so were related remotely to the Israelites (see the interchange with “Ishmaelites” in Judg. 8:24). Block places them as semi-nomads from the Sinai Peninsula and western Arabia. Moses’ wife was the daughter of Jethro the Midianite, a man portrayed in positive contexts (Exod. 2:15–22; 18). The Amalekites were descendants of Esau and had a history of hostility with Israel.
They were allied with the Moabites in the very first cycle of oppression (Judg. 3:13). We do not know who the “sons of the east” were, but they may have been an ethnically unidentified (or unidentifiable?) amalgam of Bedouin raiders from across the desert.
Camels (6:5) - The reference here is probably not to the two-humped (Bactrian) camel but to the single-humped Arabian dromedary (see Job 1:3). These animals were used very early (see Gen. 12:16; 24:10), primarily around the periphery of desert regions. The use of camels was mostly found farther south and east in the Arabian regions, where the Midianites were from. Camels were able to carry a load of four hundred pounds, plus rider. They could go three or four days without water and could travel about twenty-eight miles per day.
A Bull Market (6:25–26, 28) - The grammar and meaning of the details of these verses is in question, but the simplest reading is that there was one “prime” seven-year-old bull used to tear down the altar and the Asherah totem. The Hebrew word translated second may also mean “exalted, of high rank” (Block, 266). Then when the altar to the Lord was built, that bull was sacrificed unto the Lord (against the consistent NIV rendering, “the second bull”).
“Fleecing” God - Those who take Gideon’s request for a “fleece” as a model for divine guidance are ill-advised. Gideon’s request was not an expression of faith but a questioning of God’s promises and power. This is far different from asking God to guide by his providential control of circumstances. Furthermore, Gideon was aware that he was acting in disbelief and partial rebellion (v. 39, “Do not be angry with me”) even in making such a request.
Those who tend to apply this as a model for guidance often do not apply it fully or faithfully. Gideon was not asking God for a coincidence (“If I sell my car by 5:00 on Friday, I will know God wants me to move to Seattle”); Gideon was asking God for a miracle (“If my car develops organs of speech and utters ‘Seattle,’ I will know God wants me to move there”). Those who desire guidance by using a fleece should probably get a sheep’s fleece and ask God literally to reverse turf wetness and dryness, as Gideon did. And then repent.[2]
Questions to Consider:
- Read and meditate on 1 Corinthians 1:26–29. Why does God call the weak to do work we think should only be entrusted to the strong?
- Gideon had two problems: discouragement and inadequacy. Reflect on the significance of Jesus’ promises to be with believers always (Matt. 28:18–20) and the Holy Spirit’s role as “comforter” (John 14:16–17; literally, “one who is called alongside”). How does God want you to view your inadequacies? Should inadequacies lead to inaction or to faith in the God who provides and strengthens?
- Why do you think Gideon had to deal with sin in his own backyard first, before God enlarged the boundaries of his influence? What would this mean in your life?[3]
Prayer Time:
[1] W. Gary Philips, Judges, Ruth, ed. Max Anders, vol. 5, Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2004), 102–103.
[2] W. Gary Philips, Judges, Ruth, ed. Max Anders, vol. 5, Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2004), 103–104.
[3] W. Gary Philips, Judges, Ruth, ed. Max Anders, vol. 5, Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2004), 106.