Scriptural text: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Judges 6:1-27
Lesson Context: The saying that leaders are made, and not born has much truth in it. A study of Scripture shows that God’s leaders were not those who desired high-lofty positions, but those who God placed there. Gideon was a man reluctant to respond to God’s call. Gideon was not a born leader, and had no aspirations to be famous or to receive glory. Indeed, he doubted that God could use him at all. This lesson shows how God called Gideon to lead His people against the oppression of the Midianites.
Midianite Oppression (Judges 6:1-2):
A. Punishment (v. 1): Scripture tells us that “the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.” The “evil” here refers to following idol gods and forsaking the Lord (Judges 2:11-12). Because of the “evil” committed by the “children of Israel,” they had to be punished. So “the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years.” The Midianites lived through trade and raids for plunder. In Gideon’s day, they were raiding Israel when crops were ready to be harvested.
Israel suffered under Midianite oppression for “seven years” before God sent Gideon to deliver them.
B. Hiding (v. 2). The land of Israel was full of large and small caves, both natural and man-made. When the Israelites felt vulnerable, they might flee to one of them for refuge. The Israelites were forced to make “dens,” or hide outs in the mountains, and caves to protect themselves and to salvage their crops.
Divine Deliverance (Judges 6:7-16a): “And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites.”
That the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and through you both, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage.
The unnamed prophet in the verse before us, however, brings a word of challenge that will ultimately bring about the people’s deliverance.
Angelic Assurance (vv. 11-12). “ And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was called Ophrah.” The term “an angel of the Lord”refers to the Lord Himself” refers to “the Lord” Himself, appearing in angelic form to the man He had chosen to deliver His people.
“And the angel of “the Lord” appeared unto him, The Lord is with thee, The Lord is with the, thou mighty man of valour. The heavenly messenger greeted Gideon not on the basis of his past achievements, but as a foreshadowing of what he was to become: a mighty man of valour.” The statement that the Lord is with thee is not a cliché, it occurs rather rarely in the Bible. Most common is the assurance that “God is with thee.”
Gideon’s Response (v. 13). Gideon’s cynical response reflected a sense of despair as he pointed out the gap between his then-current experience and the age-old stories of deliverance. The reader knows that the Midianite oppression was the due punishment of Israel’s sins.
D. God’s Clarification (vv. 14-16a). “And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have I not sent thee?” Gideon’s call to become the deliverer bears similarities to those of Moses. Not only, did “Gideon” still not recognize the Angel, he didn’t even notice that “the Lord” had promised to be with him when He said in verse 12, “the Lord is with thee.”