Chapter 19: An Angel Sends Gideon to Deliver Them - Page 6 (series: Lessons on Judges)

by John Lowe
(Woodruff, S.C.)

__________________General Notes________________________________

1(Judges 6:14) “And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee?” (ASV)
2(Judges 6:23) “And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.” (ASV)
3(Judges 6:24) “Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.” (ASV)
4(Jos. 17.2) “So the lot was for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.” (ASV)
5(Jg. 6.25) “And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said unto him, Take thy father's bullock, even the second bullock seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is by it;” (ASV)
6(Judges 6:21) “Then the angel of the Lord put out the stick which was in his hand, touching the meat and the cakes with the end of it; and a flame came up out of the rock, burning up the meat and the cakes: and the angel of the Lord was seen no longer.” (BBE) He appeared like a traveler with a staff in his hand; this he put forth, and having touched the flesh, fire rose out of the rock and consumed it. Here was the most evident proof of supernatural agency.—Adam Clarke's Commentary
7( Joshua 18: 21-23 ) “These were the towns given to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin…Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,” (NLT)
8(Joshua 17:2) “So the allotment on the west side of the Jordan was for the remaining families within the clans of the tribe of Manasseh: Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These clans represent the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph.” (NLT)
9(1 Chronicles 7: 14, 17, 18) “14 The descendants of Manasseh through his Aramean concubine included Asriel. She also bore Makir, the father of Gilead… 17 The son of Ulam was Bedan. All these were considered Gileadites, descendants of Makir son of Manasseh.18 Makir’s sister Hammoleketh gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah. (NLT)
10(Jos. 17:2) “So the allotment on the west side of the Jordan was for the remaining families within the clans of the tribe of Manasseh: Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These clans represent the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph.” (NLT)
11(Jg. 6.11) “Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family’...32 Gideon died when he was very old, and he was buried in the grave of his father, Joash, at Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer.” (NLT)
12(Jg. 8.18-21 ) “18 Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “The men you killed at Tabor—what were they like?” “Like you,” they replied. “They all had the look of a king’s son.”19 “They were my brothers, the sons of my own mother!” Gideon exclaimed. “As surely as the LORD lives, I wouldn’t kill you if you hadn’t killed them.”20 Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, for he was only a boy and was afraid.21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Be a man! Kill us yourself!” So Gideon killed them both and took the royal ornaments from the necks of their camels.” (NLT)
[13(Judges 9:5) “He went to his father’s home at Ophrah, and there, on one stone, they killed all seventy of his half brothers, the sons of Gideon. But the youngest brother, Jotham, escaped and hid.” (NLT)
14(2 Chron 13:19) “Abijah and his army pursued Jeroboam’s troops and captured some of his towns, including Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, along with their surrounding villages.” (NLT)
15(John 11:54) “As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.” (NLT)
16(Judges 6:34) “Then the Spirit of the LORD took possession of Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him.” (NLT)
17(Judges 8:2) “But Gideon replied, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t even the leftover grapes of Ephraim’s harvest better than the entire crop of my little clan of Abiezer?” (NLT)
18(Jdg 6:29-31) “29 The people said to each other, “Who did this?” And after asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, the son of Joash.30 “Bring out your son,” the men of the town demanded of Joash. “He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting down the Asherah pole.”31 But Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him, “Why are you defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal truly is a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar!” (NLT)
19(Jg. 7:14) “His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!” (NLT)
20(8:13, 19,32) “13 After this, Gideon returned from the battle by way of Heres Pass… 19 “They were my brothers, the sons of my own mother!” Gideon exclaimed. “As surely as the LORD lives, I wouldn’t kill you if you hadn’t killed them.”…32 Gideon died when he was very old, and he was buried in the grave of his father, Joash, at Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer.” (NLT)
21(Isa. 28:27) “For the fitches are not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.” (ASV) The dill ("fitches") and cummin, leguminous and tender grains, are beaten out, not as wheat, with the heavy corn-drag ("threshing instrument"), but with "a staff"; heavy instruments would crush and injure the seed. cart wheel -- two iron wheels armed with iron teeth, like a saw, joined together by a wooden axle. The "corn-drag" was made of three or four wooden cylinders, armed with iron teeth or flint stones fixed underneath, and joined like a sledge. Both instruments cut the straw for fodder as well as separated the corn.
22(Jg. 6.27) “Gideon took ten of his servants and did what the LORD had told him to do. However, he didn't do anything during the day. He was too afraid of his father's family and the men of the city, so he did it at night.” (GW)
23(Isa 41.15) “I am going to make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp, double-edged teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them to dust. You will turn the hills into straw.” (GW)
24Targum (Christian Religious Writings / Bible) an Aramaic translation, usually in the form of an expanded paraphrase, of various books or sections of the Old Testament.
25(Lu. 22:61) “And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. This was one of Peter’s lowest points. He had publicly denied Christ three times. Later, Christ made Peter publicly confess three times that he loved his Lord (Jn 21:15–19).
26(Ex. 3:14) “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Moses had several questions for God. What name should be given when the people asked him what God’s name was. God replied, I AM THAT I AM. It means “I am the One who is” and is preferred over “He who causes to be.” God expressed the unchanging, eternal, self-existence of His being. He is able to act at will, to keep promises, to redeem Israel. Yet, He is unsearchable (Isa 55:9; 57:15). There is mystery to His existence that none can fathom.
27(Judges 6.27) “Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.”