Study Desk

Once again the people of Israel sinned against the Lord , so he let the people of Midian rule them for seven years.

They would camp on the land and destroy the crops as far south as the area around Gaza. They would take all the sheep, cattle, and donkeys, and leave nothing for the Israelites to live on.

Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help against the Midianites,

Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your God on top of this mound. Then take the second bull and burn it whole as an offering, using for firewood the symbol of Asherah you have cut down."

But Joash said to all those who confronted him, "Are you arguing for Baal? Are you defending him? Anyone who argues for him will be killed before morning. If Baal is a god, let him defend himself. It is his altar that was torn down."

The Lord said to Gideon, "The men you have are too many for me to give them victory over the Midianites. They might think that they had won by themselves, and so give me no credit.

Then the Lord said to Gideon, "You still have too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will separate them for you there. If I tell you a man should go with you, he will go. If I tell you a man should not go with you, he will not go."

When my group and I blow our trumpets, then you blow yours all around the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!'"

and the other two groups did the same. They all held the torches in their left hands, the trumpets in their right, and shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"

he captured a young man from Sukkoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for Gideon the names of the seventy-seven leading men of Sukkoth.

Gideon made an idol from the gold and put it in his hometown, Ophrah. All the Israelites abandoned God and went there to worship the idol. It was a trap for Gideon and his family.

So Midian was defeated by the Israelites and was no longer a threat. The land was at peace for forty years, until Gideon died.

They were not grateful to the family of Gideon for all the good that he had done for Israel.

His mother's relatives talked to the men of Shechem about this for him, and the men of Shechem decided to follow Abimelech because he was their relative.

Once upon a time the trees went out to choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.'

Remember that my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the Midianites.

Abimelech ruled Israel for three years.

This happened so that Abimelech and the men of Shechem, who encouraged him to murder Gideon's seventy sons, would pay for their crime.

And so it was that God paid Abimelech back for the crime that he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.

God also made the men of Shechem suffer for their wickedness, just as Jotham, Gideon's son, said they would when he cursed them.