History has a tendency to bend and twist with the ages. Whoever directs the historical narrative can mold it to either an advantage or disadvantage for a particular cause. The idea that the Israelites never did anything wrong until just before they went into captivity in Assyria and Babylon is incorrect. The unfortunate truth is that even during their forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites were not exclusively worshipping Yahweh and by the time of Gideon the people were already twisting the facts. As we studied last week, this is the opposite of the truth. We need to establish the foundation of this history so that we can better understand the distortions that occurred. There has always been a small group of people worshipping and serving Yahweh, and we will see that the satan acknowledges this. We will see why Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are revered. We will see what happened when all the inhabitants of Canaan were not driven out, and how that affected the heirs of Jacob. We will also see what happens when a good leader brings the people back to Yahweh.
Abraham’s father was born around the year 2127 BCE. This was 222 years after the flood. If we look at what was happening in the world at that time we see that it didn’t take long for prince mastema to exert his deceptions via evil spirits, and to cause the sons of Noah to behave badly.
Jubilees 11:1 In the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year of it, Reu took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Ora, the daughter of ‘Ur, the son of Kesed, and she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Seroh, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee. 2 The sons of Noah began to war with each other, to take captives and kill each other, and to shed the blood of men on the earth, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers, and individuals began to exalt themselves above the nation, and to establish kingdoms, and to go to war, people against people, and nation against nation, and city against city, and all began to do evil, and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war, and they began to capture cities, and to sell male and female slaves. 3 Ur, the son of Kesed, built the city of Ara of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father. 4 And they made themselves molten images, and they worshipped the idols and the molten image they had made for themselves, and they began to make graven images and unclean and shadowy presence, and malevolent and malicious spirits assisted and seduced them into committing transgression and uncleanness. 5 Prince Mastema exerted himself to do all this, and he sent out other spirits, which were put under his control, to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy, and to shed blood on the earth. 6 For this reason he called the name of Seroh, Serug, for every one turned to do all manner of sin and transgression. 7 He grew up, and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, near to the father of his wife’s mother, and he worshipped idols, and he took to himself a wife in the thirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year of it, and her name was Melka, the daughter of Kaber, the daughter of his father’s brother. 8 She gave birth to Nahor, in the first year of this week, and he grew and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, and his father taught him the sciences of the Chaldees to divine and conjure, according to the signs of heaven. 9 In the thirty-seventh jubilee in the sixth week, in the first year of it, he took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Ijaska, the daughter of Nestag of the Chaldees. 10 And she gave birth to Terah in the seventh year of this week.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (pp. 129-130). Fifth Estate. Kindle Edition.
Terah has a family, and the night that Abraham was born there was a special sign in the heavens. Nimrod now feels threatened because the prophecies in the stars tell them that this new baby of Terah’s would grow up to be fruitful, would possess all the earth, that his seed would slay great kings and inherit the land, Jasher 8:4. Nimrod wants to kill the baby Abraham.
Jasher 8:33 And Terah hurried, (as the thing was urgent from the king), and he took a child from one of his servants, which his handmaid had born to him that day, and Terah brought the child to the king and received value for him. 34 And the Lord was with Terah in this matter, that Nimrod might not cause Abram's death. The king took the child from Terah and with all his might dashed his head to the ground, for he thought it had been Abram; and this was concealed from him from that day, and it was forgotten by the king, as it was the will of Providence not to suffer Abram's death.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (p. 190). Fifth Estate. Kindle Edition.
This is the world that Abraham grew up in. Abraham was hidden by his father from Nimrod and then lived with Noah and Shem. Notice the way that the people behaved in the land. The first time we see someone killing a baby it is done by Nimrod, but he killed the wrong baby. Later, as an adult, Abraham destroyed the idols in Terah’s house. He hated idols and idol worship. Isaac did too. Isaac tells Jacob and Esau :
Jubilees 36:5 I command and warn you to reject idols. Hate them, and do not love them. They are fully deceptive to those that worship them and for those that bow down to them.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (p. 159). Fifth Estate. Kindle Edition.
Remember when Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac? Genesis 22 tells us the story, but how did this idea to offer Isaac upon an altar come about? Let’s look at the way the satan tries to accuse Abraham before the Lord.
Jasher 22:46 The day arrived when the sons of God came and placed themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with the sons of God before the Lord. 47 And the Lord said to Satan, Wherefore do you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 48 And the Lord said to Satan, What is your word to me concerning all the children of the earth? and Satan answered the Lord and said, I have seen all the children of the earth who serve you and remember you when they require anything from you. 49 When you give them the thing which they require from you, they sit at their ease, and turn away from you , and they remember you no more. 50 Have you seen Abraham the son of Terah, who at first had no children? He served you and erected altars to you wherever he came, and he brought up offerings on them, and he proclaimed your name continually to all the children of the earth. 51 And now that his son Isaac is born to him, he has forsaken you, he has made a great feast for all the inhabitants of the land, and the Lord he has forgotten. 52 For amidst all that he has done he brought you no offering; neither burnt offering nor peace offering, neither ox, lamb nor goat of all that he killed on the day that his son was weaned. 53 Even from the time of his son's birth till now, being thirty-seven years, he built no altar before you, nor brought any offering to you, for he saw that you did give what he requested before you, and he therefore turned away from you. 54 And the Lord said to Satan, Have you thus considered my servant Abraham? for there is none like him on earth, a perfect and an upright man before me, one that fears God and avoids evil; as I live, were I to say to him, Bring up Isaac your son before me, he would not withhold him from me, much more if I told him to bring up a burnt offering before me from his flock or herds. 55 And Satan answered the Lord and said, Speak then now to Abraham as you have said, and you will see whether he will not this day go contrary to and cast aside your words.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (p. 216-217). Fifth Estate. Kindle Edition.
Here the satan is accusing humans of only serving the Lord when they need something. He points out that Abraham did not offer a sacrifice offering to Yahweh when Isaac was born. Isaac is now thirty seven years old. The satan, prince mastema, is also happy to accuse humans in a hypothetical way before the Lord, just as he did with Job. The satan only bothers with humans who are doing the will of the Lord, not the sinners. Yahweh suggests if he asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, he would. Is this a trap for the satan? Is this a test for Abraham?
Jasher 23:1 At that time the word of the Lord came to Abraham, and said to him, Abraham. And Abraham said, Here I am. 2 He said to him, Take now your son, your only son whom you love, even Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which shall be shown to you, for there you will see a cloud and the glory of the Lord.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (p. 217). Fifth Estate. Kindle Edition.
Abraham brings Isaac up the mountain. There is an additional part to this story that we should make a special note of. When the Lord asks us to do something, oftentimes the satan tries to thwart us, or tempts us to not follow the Lord’s directions.
Jasher 23:25 While Abraham was proceeding with his son Isaac along the road, Satan came and appeared to Abraham in the figure of a very aged man, humble and of contrite spirit; he approached Abraham and said to him, Are you silly or brutish, that you go to do this thing today to your only son? 26 For God gave you a son in your latter days, in your old age, and will you go and slaughter him today because he committed no violence, and will you cause the soul of your only son to perish from the earth? 27 Do you not know and understand that this thing cannot be from the Lord? For the Lord cannot do to man such evil on earth to say to him, Go slaughter your child.
This is interesting dialogue. First the satan asks Abraham if he is foolish, and does he really want to kill his son? Then the satan states that this can’t be from Yahweh. I’m sure we have all experienced something similar in our lives. The Lord tells us to do something, then the satan opposes us, attempting to get us to question what was said by Yahweh. Sounds like the deception in the garden of eden doesn’t it?
Jasher 23:28 Abraham heard this and knew that it was the word of Satan who endeavored to draw him aside from the way of the Lord, but Abraham would not listen to the voice of Satan, and Abraham rebuked him so that he went away.
Isn’t this what we should do too? Shouldn’t we rebuke the satan as well when he tries to tempt us not to do Gods will?
Jasher 23:29 Satan returned and came to Isaac; he appeared to Isaac in the figure of a young man comely and well favored. 30 He approached Isaac and said to him, Do you not know and understand that your old silly father brings you to the slaughter today for nothing? 31 Now therefore, my son, do not listen or attend to him, for he is a silly old man; let not your precious soul and beautiful figure be lost from the earth. 32 And Isaac heard this, and said to Abraham, Have you heard, my father, that which this man has spoken? Even thus has he spoken. 33 And Abraham answered his son Isaac and said to him, Take heed of him and do not listen to his words, nor attend to him, for he is Satan, endeavoring to draw us aside this day from the commands of God.
This is a great lesson. The younger generation would be wise to ask someone of the older generation some advice when faced with the question of what the Lord would like us to do. In other words, the younger people should seek wise counsel.
Jasher 23:34 Abraham still rebuked Satan, and Satan went from them; seeing he could not prevail over them he hid himself from them, and he went and passed before them in the road; he transformed himself to a large brook of water in the road. Abraham and Isaac and his two young men reached that place, and they saw a brook large and powerful as the mighty waters.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (p. 218). Fifth Estate. Kindle Edition.
The satan first tries to get Abraham to not follow through on the request of the Lord. Then he tries to keep Isaac from the request of the Lord. Then the satan tries to drown them. But once again Abraham rebukes the satan.
Jasher 23:38 And Abraham rebuked him and said to him, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan, begone from us for we go by the commands of God. 39 And Satan was terrified at the voice of Abraham, and he went away from them; the place again became dry land as it was at first.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (pp. 218-219). Fifth Estate. Kindle Edition.
This is a great illustration for us as Abraham did the right things here in obeying Yahweh and rebuking the satan. No matter what the satan throws at us, we can rebuke him (and all demons) from trying to prevent us from being obedient to God.
Jasher 23:60 He took his son Isaac and bound him in order to place him on the wood which was on the altar, to kill him for a burnt offering before the Lord. 61 Isaac said to his father, Bind me securely and then place me on the altar that I should not turn and move, and break loose from the force of the knife on my flesh and thereof profane the burnt offering; and Abraham did so.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (p. 219-220). Fifth Estate. Kindle Edition.
At thirty seven years old, Isaac had to be a willing participant, because he could have easily overpowered Abraham. We know how the story ends. Isaac and Abraham are now famous patriarchs because they followed through on the Lord’s request and rebuked the satan for hindering them. After this, Isaac goes to live with Shem and Eber for three years to further learn the ways of the Lord. As we know, Jacob has a similar heart toward Yahweh, spending 37 years in service to Yahweh at Shem’s school with Eber. This is why the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are revered. However the heirs of Jacob did not have a similar heart towards Yahweh. In fact they broke the covenant Yahweh made with them in the wilderness.
We know there was mass infanticide in Egypt when the Egyptians feared there were too many sons of Jacob. We do not know exactly when human sacrifice and infanticide started among the sons of Jacob, but we do know that during the exodus, the Israelites were commanded not to do what the other nations did. Let’s fast forward to the time of Moses.
Deuteronomy 12:31 G3756 You shall not G4160 do G3779 so G2962 to the lord G2316 your God; G1473 G3588 for the G1063 G946 abominations G3739 which G2962 the lord G3404 detested G4160 they did G1722 with G3588 G2316 their gods; G1473 G3754 for G2532 also G3588 G5207 their sons G1473 G2532 and G3588 G2364 their daughters G1473 G2618 they incinerated G1722 in G4442 fire G3588 to G2316 their gods. G1473
First we see Nimrod attempting to kill Abraham. Then we see Abraham asked to sacrifice Isaac. The Egyptians killed male babies at birth and as infants, but Moses survived. Now Moses brings a covenant to Israel that the Lord would cast out the heathens from the land if they would not make a covenant with those tribes. Very specifically, Moses points out the evil practice of incinerating their children in fire. Instead they were to destroy their altars, pillars, groves, and images. This seems like a great deal for the Israelites, Yahweh’s protection in exchange for cleaning out devil worship. Let’s also keep in mind that this is land that was deeded to Shem and his heirs, but Canaan moved into Shem’s land. This is why the heirs of Jacob had a right to this land and several prophecies mention the future eradication of Canaan.
Exodus 34:10 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I establish a covenant for thee in the presence of all thy people; I will do glorious things, which have not been done in all the earth, or in any nation; and all the people among whom thou art shall see the works of the Lord, that they are wonderful, which I will do for thee. 11 Do thou take heed to all things whatsoever I command thee: behold, I cast out before your face the Amorite and the Chananite and the Pherezite, and the Chettite, and Evite, and Gergesite and Jebusite: 12 take heed to thyself, lest at any time thou make a covenant with the dwellers on the land, into which thou art entering, lest it be to thee a stumbling-block among you. 13 Ye shall destroy their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their groves, and the graven images of their gods ye shall burn with fire. 14 For ye shall not worship strange gods, for the Lord God, a jealous name, is a jealous God; 15 lest at any time thou make a covenant with the dwellers on the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and they call thee, and thou shouldest eat of their feasts, 16 and thou shouldest take of their daughters to thy sons, and thou shouldest give of thy daughters to their sons; and thy daughters should go a whoring after their gods, and thy sons should go a whoring after their gods. 17 And thou shalt not make to thyself molten gods. 18 And thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I have charged thee, at the season in the month of new corn; for in the month of new corn thou camest out from Egypt. 19 The males are mine, everything that opens the womb; every first-born of oxen, and every first-born of sheep. 20 And the first-born of an ass thou shalt redeem with a sheep, and if thou wilt not redeem it thou shalt pay a price: every first-born of thy sons shalt thou redeem: thou shalt not appear before me empty.
Remembering what we learned from Ezekiel last week, the Lord gave them commands that he knew they wouldn’t keep, and the first born was supposed to be dedicated to the Lord. Joshua reiterates this entire plan in Joshua 3:9. The Lord gave specific instructions to the Israelites, but they did not follow the His command.
Joshua 13:13 But the children of Israel destroyed not the Gesirite and the Machatite and the Chananite; and the king of the Gesiri and the Machatite dwelt among the children of Israel until this day.
Joshua 15:63 And the Jebusite dwelt in Jerusalem, and the children of Juda could not destroy them; and the Jebusites dwelt in Jerusalem to this day. http://ecmarsh.com/lxx/Joshua/index.htm
Joshua declares a second time, to follow the Lord’s directions exactly. He also gives them a warning.
Joshua 23:6 Do ye therefore strive diligently to observe and do all things written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not to the right hand or to the left; 7 that ye go not in among these nations that are left; and the names of their gods shall not be named among you, neither shall ye serve them, neither shall ye bow down to them. 8 But ye shall cleave to the Lord our God, as ye have done until this day. 9 And the Lord shall destroy them before you, even great and strong nations; and no one has stood before us until this day. 10 One of you has chased a thousand, for the Lord our God, he fought for you, as he said to us.
11 And take ye great heed to love the Lord our God. 12 For if ye shall turn aside and attach yourselves to these nations that are left with you, and make marriages with them, and become mingled with them and they with you, 13 know that the Lord will no more destroy these nations from before you; and they will be to you snares and stumbling-blocks, and nails in your heels, and darts in your eyes, until ye be destroyed from off this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.
The Israelites were warned not to inter-marry, not to mingle. They were to keep extracting the existing tribes and cleaning out their places of demonic worship. We read in Ezekiel last week that the Lord told the people they were “mixed metals”. The nations and tribes that Israel did not drive out became “snares and stumbling blocks”. It is interesting to mention that the Israelites drove out some people, moved right into their cities and homes, and immediately started utilizing their crops.
Joshua 24:13 And he gave you a land on which ye did not labour, and cities which ye did not build, and ye were settled in them; and ye eat of vineyards and oliveyards which ye did not plant.
14 And now fear the Lord, and serve him in righteousness and justice; and remove the strange gods, which our fathers served beyond the river, and in Egypt; and serve the Lord. 15 But if it seem not good to you to serve the Lord, choose to yourselves this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods of your fathers that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, among whom ye dwell upon their land: but I and my house will serve the Lord, for he is holy.
Here is Joshua’s challenge: they could serve the gods of Ur of the Chaldees, the gods of the Amorites, or Yahweh. Who would they serve? The Book of Judges overlaps this time period before Joshua’s death and gives us a few more details.
Judges 2:2:1 And an angel of the Lord went up from Galgal to the place of weeping, and to Baethel, and to the house of Israel, and said to them, Thus says the Lord, I brought you up out of Egypt, and I brought you into the land which I sware to your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant that I have made with you. 2 And ye shall make no covenant with them that dwell in this land, neither shall ye worship their gods; but ye shall destroy their graven images, ye shall pull down their altars: but ye hearkened not to my voice, for ye did these things. 3 And I said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be for a distress to you, and their gods shall be to you for an offence. 4 And it came to pass when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 5 And they named the name of that place Weepings; and they sacrificed there to the Lord.
The angel of the Lord points out that they did in fact break their covenant with the Lord, so that the Lord is now breaking his covenant with them. Now we see Israel is serving Baal/Baalim. Baal is singular and Baalim is plural as the “im” denotes three or more, just like cherub-im, seraph-im, and goy-im. Upon entering the promised land, the people are now serving multiple Baals.
Judges 2:11 And the children of Israel wrought evil before the Lord, and served Baalim. 12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and walked after other gods, of the gods of the nations round about them; and they worshipped them. 13 And they provoked the Lord, and forsook him, and served Baal and the Astartes.
14 And the Lord was very angry with Israel; and he gave them into the hands of the spoilers, and they spoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, and they could not any longer resist their enemies, 15 among whomsoever they went; and the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord spoke, and as the Lord sware to them; and he greatly afflicted them.
This has now become a bad situation. Do you suppose the satan was accusing the sons of Jacob before the Lord? Once they disobeyed Yahweh they became the servants of the satan. Yet Yahweh used these other people to his advantage in teaching Israel to war. If life was made hard for Israel would they fight their way back to Yahweh? Would they keep the commands given to them?
Judges 3:1 And these are the nations which the Lord left to prove Israel with them, all that had not known the wars of Chanaan. 2 Only for the sake of the generations of Israel, to teach them war, only the men before them knew them not. 3 The five lordships of the Phylistines, and every Chananite, and the Sidonian, and the Evite who dwelt in Libanus from the mount of Aermon to Laboemath. 4 And this was done in order to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commands of the Lord, which he charged their fathers by the hand of Moses.
5 And the children of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Chananite, and the Chettite, and the Amorite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite. 6 And they took their daughters for wives to themselves, and they gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. 8 And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and sold them into the hand of Chusarsathaim king of Syria of the rivers: and the children of Israel served Chusarsathaim eight years.
Here is a question we should ask ourselves. When did Israel become a mixed nation? We read last week that this occurred in Egypt, yet Yahweh still brought them out as Jacob’s heirs. There was a small mixing in the wilderness, as Baalim suggested to Balak to entice the men of Israel to cause their fall, however this did not ultimately keep them from the promised land. The next time of mass mixing occurred as soon as they entered the promised land. We realize the struggle for Israel is real, but this was not about what happened hundreds of years later, it is about what was happening after wandering in the desert for forty years. The only reason the land was given to the Israelites was because of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Shem. This is the very reason the devil stole the land and defiled the Israelites. If Yahweh declares something, the devil does the opposite. This is the devil’s game.
The Israelites were under the rulership of Midian, and when they cried out to the Lord, the Lord sent a prophet to remind them of the covenant they broke.
Judges 6:1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Madiam seven years.
Judges 6:7 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord because of Madiam.
8 And the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel; and he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I am he that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and I brought you up out of the house of your bondage. 9 And I delivered you out of the hand of Egypt, and out of the hand of all that afflicted you, and I cast them out before you; and I gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, I am the Lord your God: ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but ye hearkened not to my voice.
Around the year 1246 BCE Gideon rises up as a leader. This is about 1,103 years after the flood and 246 years after the exodus. Gideon has a conversation with an angel of Yahweh. Gideon is a straight talker. He speaks right up and asks a great question.
Judges 6:11 And an angel of the Lord came, and sat down under the fir tree, which was in Ephratha in the land of Joas father of Esdri; and Gedeon his son was threshing wheat in a wine-press in order to escape from the face of Madiam. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty in strength. 13 And Gedeon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: but if the Lord is with us, why have these evils found us? and where are all his miracles, which our fathers have related to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? and now he has cast us out, and given us into the hand of Madiam.
“Be gracious with me, but…” It seems Gideon didn’t understand the full story. He did not know the covenant that Moses spoke to them and the things that they were supposed to do when they entered the promised land. Gideon has the “short” version of the story, which implies that Yahweh is a mean liar who is not faithful to these heirs of Jacob. Instead of owning up to Israel’s sins, Gideon seems to have either forgotten that part of the story or has the idea that as babies with messy diapers Yahweh is supposed to serve Israel no matter what. It seems that they were already thinking the opposite of what was right and true.
We serve the creator, the creator is not obligated to serve us. In our day we should understand our relationship with Yahweh like this: Yahweh is not obligated to pick us up every time we cry. He wants us to learn to crawl, then walk, then run. He wants us to learn to rebuke the satan and demons, just like Abraham and Isaac. He wants to teach us to draw near to Him. But by this time Israel believed that if they worshipped the baal’s, the baal’s would do things for them, since Yahweh wasn’t doing anything for them. See the trick here. This is the key. People worship the baal’s believing that the things they do, sacrifices, rape, incense, etc, will produce a “result” from the devil, the god of this world. The “result” is usually in the form of more demonic power or gainful lusts. That is the reward of those who worship the baal’s. Yahweh was not upset that Abraham didn’t offer a sacrifice after Isaac was born. The satan used that as a point of contention, but it was not a point of contention for Yahweh. See how the game works? See the distortion of the satan? Back to Gideon.
Judges 6:14 And the angel of the Lord turned to him, and said, Go in this thy strength, and thou shalt save Israel out of the hand of Madiam: behold, I have sent thee. 15 And Gedeon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: whereby shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand is weakened in Manasse, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16 And the angel of the Lord said to him, The Lord shall be with thee, and thou shalt smite Madiam as one man. 17 And Gedeon said to him, If now I have found mercy in thine eyes, and thou wilt do this day for me all that thou hast spoken of with me, 18 depart not hence until I come to thee, and I will bring forth an offering and offer it before thee: and he said, I will remain until thou return.
19 And Gedeon went in, and prepared a kid of the goats, and an ephah of fine flour unleavened; and he put the flesh in the basket, and poured the broth into the pot, and brought them forth to him under the turpentine tree, and drew nigh. 20 And the angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and put them on that rock, and pour out the broth close by: and he did so. 21 And the angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire came up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
This story sounds very similar to Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson. How can Yahweh get the attention of a human after the society has turned away from Him? Send an angel.
Judges 6:22 And Gedeon saw that he was an angel of the Lord; and Gedeon said, Ah, ah, Lord my God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. 23 And the Lord said to him, Peace be to thee, fear not, thou shalt not die.
24 And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it The peace of the Lord, until this day, as it is still in Ephratha of the father of Esdri.
Gideon built an altar to Yahweh, which must have seemed strange to the people in the community as they were worshipping the baal’s. Even Gideon’s father had an altar to baal.
Judges 6:25 And it came to pass in that night, that the Lord said to him, Take the young bullock which thy father has, even the second bullock of seven years old, and thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal which thy father has, and the grove which is by it thou shalt destroy. 26 And thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God on the top of this Maozi in the ordering it, and thou shalt take the second bullock, and shalt offer up whole-burnt-offerings with the wood of the grove, which thou shalt destroy. 27 And Gedeon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord spoke to him: and it came to pass, as he feared the house of his father and the men of the city if he should do it by day, that he did it by night.
Gideon feared the people so he destroyed the altar to baal and the grove at night. The next morning there was quite a commotion.
Judges 6:28 And the men of the city rose up early in the morning; and behold, the altar of Baal had been demolished, and the grove by it had been destroyed; and they saw the second bullock, which Gedeon offered on the altar that had been built. 29 And a man said to his neighbour, Who has done this thing? and they enquired and searched, and learnt that Gedeon the son of Joas had done this thing. 30 And the men of the city said to Joas, Bring out thy son, and let him die, because he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and because he has destroyed the grove that is by it.
The struggle between people serving the devil and people trying to serve Yahweh is an ongoing battle. Notice how hostile these people became when their altar and grove had been destroyed. Gideon was very brave.
Judges 6:31 And Gedeon the son of Joas said to all the men who rose up against him, Do ye now plead for Baal, or will ye save him? whoever will plead for him, let him be slain this morning: if he be a god let him plead for himself, because one has thrown down his altar. 32 And he called it in that day Jerobaal, saying, Let Baal plead thereby, because his altar has been thrown down.
This is an interesting twist. Gideon says ‘if baal is a “god” he can save himself. Why do you have to save him?’ This is similar to what Abraham said to Terah when he destroyed Terah’s idols. This is the deception these people were under. This is the deception people are still under.
Judges 6:33 And all Madiam, and Amalek, and the sons of the east gathered themselves together, and encamped in the valley of Jezrael. 34 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he blew with the horn, and Abiezer came to help after him. 35 And Gedeon sent messengers into all Manasse, and into Aser, and into Zabulon, and into Nephthali; and he went up to meet them.
36 And Gedeon said to God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, 37 behold, I put the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if there be dew on the fleece only, and drought on all the ground, I shall know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so: and he rose up early in the morning, and wrung the fleece, and dew dropped from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 And Gedeon said to God, Let not, I pray thee, thine anger be kindled with me, and I will speak yet once; I will even yet make one trial more with the fleece: let now the drought be upon the fleece only, and let there be dew on all the ground. 40 And God did so in that night; and there was drought on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.
Judges 7:1 And Jerobaal rose early, the same is Gedeon, and all the people with him, and encamped at the fountain of Arad; and the camp of Madiam was to the north of him, reaching from Gabaathamorai, in the valley.
Giedon sends messengers to the surrounding tribes as it seems the Midianites and the Amalekites are going to fight against the Israelites. Now the Israelites start to call Gideon Jerobaal or Jerubbaal. Jerub means to fight or contend, and baal of course is the god of the surrounding people, stemming from the Phoenicians. Gideon is now called the contender with baal. Gideon is the story of one good leader who was able to bring the people back to Yahweh for a while. As soon as Gideon dies the people turn away from Yahweh once again.
Judges 8:28 And Madiam, was straitened before the children of Israel, and they did not lift up their head any more; and the land had rest forty years in the days of Gedeon. 29 And Jerobaal the son of Joas went and sat in his house. 30 And Gedeon had seventy sons begotten of his body, for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine was in Sychem, and she also bore him a son, and gave him the name Abimelech. 32 And Gedeon son of Joas died in his city, and he was buried in the sepulchre of Joas his father in Ephratha of Abi-Esdri.
33 And it came to pass when Gedeon was dead, that the children of Israel turned, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made for themselves a covenant with Baal that he should be their god. 34 And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God who had delivered them out of the hand of all that afflicted them round about. 35 And they did not deal mercifully with the house of Jerobaal, (the same is Gedeon) according to all the good which he did to Israel.
Gideon stays at home and procreates seventy sons. After his death, Abimelech, one of his sons, kills sixty eight of Gideon’s sons. The people turn right back to serving the baal’s and they even went so far as to make a covenant with baal. This pattern repeats throughout Israel’s history. Ezekiel 22:17-22 tells us that he will refine mixed Israel in the middle of Jerusalem until the other metals are melted away. This has not happened yet, there has not been a time where all of Jacob’s heirs have come to Jerusalem and been refined. The time is coming to extract the mixed DNA out of Israel.
The only way for Yahweh to find His true sons and daughters is for refinement, separating out the mixed metals. Some people claim to be Jews but are not. Some people claim that their heritage is of one of the tribes of Jacob, but as we saw since the time of entering the promised land the tribes were mixed with the surrounding people. This is why we await the number of people from the nations to come into the family. This is also why there will be a great time of refining in the world during the tribulation. Then there will be a time of refining during the Millennial Kingdom. The devil wants the land of Israel because it was the land given to Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Is it any surprise that the satan rallied for the murder of Isaac to see if he could curse Abraham? Yet notice who suggested child sacrifice in the first place. Yahweh. Is it possible that infanticide and human sacrifice will be a defining marker between the children of Yahweh and the children of the devil? We will study a bit more on the worship of baal next week.
