Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them, Whenever the Israelites planted cropsThis phrase sets the stage for the cyclical oppression faced by the Israelites during the time of the Judges. The act of planting crops signifies a period of hope and expectation for sustenance and prosperity. In the Hebrew context, agriculture was central to life and survival, and planting was an act of faith in God's provision. The Israelites' agricultural efforts were continually thwarted, symbolizing the spiritual and physical oppression they faced due to their disobedience to God. This reflects the broader biblical theme of sowing and reaping, where spiritual disobedience leads to physical and spiritual consequences. the Midianites
The Midianites were descendants of Midian, a son of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2). Historically, they were a nomadic people known for their camels and trade routes. In the context of Judges, the Midianites represent a recurring threat to Israel, often used by God as instruments of judgment against His people for their idolatry and disobedience. Their oppression of Israel is a reminder of the consequences of turning away from God and the need for repentance and deliverance. Amalekites
The Amalekites were a perennial enemy of Israel, first encountered during the Exodus (Exodus 17:8-16). They were descendants of Esau and are often depicted as a symbol of evil and opposition to God's people. The Amalekites' involvement in the oppression of Israel in Judges 6 highlights the persistent nature of spiritual warfare and the need for vigilance and reliance on God for victory. Their presence in the narrative underscores the ongoing struggle between the forces of God and those opposed to His purposes. and other eastern peoples
This phrase broadens the scope of the oppressors, indicating that the threat to Israel was not limited to a single group but was a coalition of various tribes and peoples from the east. This reflects the historical reality of the ancient Near East, where tribal alliances were common. Spiritually, it signifies the multitude of challenges and temptations that can beset God's people when they stray from His commandments. It serves as a reminder of the need for unity and faithfulness to God in the face of diverse and numerous adversities. invaded the country
The act of invasion implies a forceful and hostile takeover, disrupting the peace and security of the land. In the Hebrew context, the land was a gift from God, a place of rest and blessing. The repeated invasions by foreign powers symbolize the loss of divine protection due to Israel's unfaithfulness. This phrase calls believers to reflect on the importance of spiritual vigilance and the consequences of allowing sin to invade and disrupt one's life. It also points to the hope of deliverance and restoration through repentance and turning back to God. Persons / Places / Events 1. IsraelitesThe chosen people of God, who are experiencing oppression due to their disobedience and idolatry. 2. MidianitesA nomadic people who, along with the Amalekites and others, oppressed Israel by raiding their land and destroying their crops. 3. AmalekitesA group often in conflict with Israel, known for their hostility and attacks on the Israelites. 4. Eastern PeoplesOther nomadic tribes from the east who joined the Midianites and Amalekites in their raids. 5. The Land of IsraelThe Promised Land given to the Israelites, which is now under threat due to their disobedience. Teaching Points The Consequences of DisobedienceIsrael's suffering under the Midianites is a direct result of their disobedience to God. This serves as a reminder that turning away from God leads to negative consequences. The Importance of RepentanceThe cycle of sin and oppression in Judges highlights the need for genuine repentance. God is always ready to deliver when His people turn back to Him. God's Sovereignty in TrialsEven in oppression, God is sovereign and uses these situations to draw His people back to Him. Trials can be a means of spiritual growth and renewal. Community Impact of SinThe sin of the Israelites affected the entire community, showing that personal sin can have broader implications for others. Hope in God's DeliveranceDespite Israel's repeated failures, God raises up deliverers. This points to the ultimate deliverance through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the oppression by the Midianites reflect the consequences outlined in Deuteronomy 28 for disobedience? 2. In what ways can we see the cycle of sin and redemption in our own lives, and how can we break free from it? 3. How does understanding the historical enmity between Israel and the Amalekites deepen our understanding of Judges 6:3? 4. What steps can we take to ensure that our personal sins do not negatively impact our community or family? 5. How can we find hope and assurance in God's deliverance during times of personal or communal trials? Connections to Other Scriptures Deuteronomy 28This chapter outlines the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, which contextualizes why Israel is suffering under foreign oppression. Exodus 17The Amalekites' first attack on Israel, showing a long-standing enmity between the two peoples. Judges 2Provides background on Israel's cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance, which is the context for Judges 6. 1 Samuel 15God's command to Saul to destroy the Amalekites, highlighting the ongoing conflict and God's judgment on them. Psalm 106A reflection on Israel's repeated disobedience and God's mercy, relevant to understanding the cycle of sin and redemption. People Abiezer, Abiezrites, Amalek, Amalekites, Amorites, Asher, Egyptians, Ephah, Gideon, Israelites, Jerubbaal, Jezreel, Joash, Manasseh, Midianites, Naphtali, Ophrah, ZebulunPlaces Egypt, Gaza, Jezreel Valley, Jordan River, Midian, OphrahTopics Amalek, Amalekites, Amal'ekites, Attack, Crops, East, Eastern, Grain, Invaded, Israelites, Israel's, Midian, Midianites, Mid'ianites, Peoples, Planted, Seed, Sons, Sowed, Sown, Whenever, YeaDictionary of Bible Themes Judges 6:3 5427 nomads Judges 6:1-3 5607 warfare, examples Judges 6:1-6 4823 famine, physical
8728 enemies, of Israel and Judah Judges 6:3-4 4430 crops Judges 6:3-5 5354 invasions Library Gideon's Altar
'Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah- shalom [God is peace].'--JUDGES vi. 24. I need not tell over again, less vividly, the picturesque story in this chapter, of the simple husbandman up in the hills, engaged furtively in threshing out a little wheat in some hollow in the rock where he might hide it from the keen eyes of the oppressors; and of how the angel of the Lord, unrecognised at first, appeared to him; and gradually there dawned upon his mind the suspicion …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureGideon's Fleece
'Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said.'-- JUDGES vi. 37. The decisive moment had come when Gideon, with his hastily gathered raw levies, was about to plunge down to the plain to face immensely superior forces trained to warfare. No wonder that the equally untrained leader's heart heat faster. Many a soldier, who will be steadfastly …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Jehovam-Shalem, the Lord Send Peace. Judg 6:24
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John Newton—Olney Hymns Whether it is a Sin to Tempt God?
Objection 1: It would seem that it is not a sin to tempt God. For God has not commanded sin. Yet He has commanded men to try, which is the same as to tempt, Him: for it is written (Malach. 3:10): "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in My house; and try Me in this, saith the Lord, if I open not unto you the flood-gates of heaven." Therefore it seems not to be a sin to tempt God. Objection 2: Further, a man is tempted not only in order to test his knowledge and his power, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Man Now Deprived of Freedom of Will, and Miserably Enslaved.
1. Connection of the previous with the four following chapters. In order to lay a proper foundation for the discussion of free will, two obstacles in the way to be removed--viz. sloth and pride. The basis and sum of the whole discussion. The solid structure of this basis, and a clear demonstration of it by the argument a majori ad minus. Also from the inconveniences and absurdities arising from the obstacle of pride. 2. The second part of the chapter containing the opinions of others. 1. The opinions …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Unity of the Divine Essence in Three Persons Taught, in Scripture, from the Foundation of the World.
1. Scripture, in teaching that the essence of God is immense and spiritual, refutes not only idolaters and the foolish wisdom of the world, but also the Manichees and Anthropomorphites. These latter briefly refuted. 2. In this one essence are three persons, yet so that neither is there a triple God, nor is the simple essence of God divided. Meaning of the word Person in this discussion. Three hypostases in God, or the essence of God. 3. Objection of those who, in this discussion, reject the use of …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Subterraneous Places. Mines. Caves.
Thus having taken some notice of the superficies of the land, let us a little search into its bowels. You may divide the subterraneous country into three parts: the metal mines, the caves, and the places of burial. This land was eminently noted for metal mines, so that "its stones," in very many places, "were iron, and out of its hills was digged brass," Deuteronomy 8:9. From these gain accrued to the Jews: but to the Christians, not seldom slavery and misery; being frequently condemned hither by …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Jesus Calls Four Fishermen to Follow Him.
(Sea of Galilee, Near Capernaum.) ^A Matt. IV. 18-22; ^B Mark I. 16-20; ^C Luke V. 1-11. ^a 18 And walking ^b 16 And passing along by the sea of Galilee [This lake is a pear-shaped body of water, about twelve and a half miles long and about seven miles across at its widest place. It is 682 feet below sea level; its waters are fresh, clear and abounding in fish, and it is surrounded by hills and mountains, which rise from 600 to 1,000 feet above it. Its greatest depth is about 165 feet], he [Jesus] …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Of the Sacraments.
1. Of the sacraments in general. A sacrament defined. 2. Meaning of the word sacrament. 3. Definition explained. Why God seals his promises to us by sacraments. 4. The word which ought to accompany the element, that the sacrament may be complete. 5. Error of those who attempt to separate the word, or promise of God, from the element. 6. Why sacraments are called Signs of the Covenant. 7. They are such signs, though the wicked should receive them, but are signs of grace only to believers. 8. Objections …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Doctrine of God
I. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD: (Vs. Atheism). 1. ASSUMED BY THE SCRIPTURES. 2. PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. a) Universal belief in the Existence of God. b) Cosmological:--Argument from Cause. c) Teleological:--Argument from Design. d) Ontological:--Argument from Being. e) Anthropological:--Moral Argument. f) Argument from Congruity. g) Argument from Scripture. II. THE NATURE OF GOD: (Vs. Agnosticism) 1. THE SPIRITUALITY OF GOD: (Vs. Materialism). 2. THE PERSONALITY OF GOD: (Vs. Pantheism). 3. THE UNITY …
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah
"And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall come forth unto Me (one) [Pg 480] to be Ruler in Israel; and His goings forth are the times of old, the days of eternity." The close connection of this verse with what immediately precedes (Caspari is wrong in considering iv. 9-14 as an episode) is evident, not only from the [Hebrew: v] copulative, and from the analogy of the near relation of the announcement of salvation to the prophecy of disaster …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Judges
For the understanding of the early history and religion of Israel, the book of Judges, which covers the period from the death of Joshua to the beginning of the struggle with the Philistines, is of inestimable importance; and it is very fortunate that the elements contributed by the later editors are so easily separated from the ancient stories whose moral they seek to point. That moral is most elaborately stated in ii. 6-iii. 6, which is a sort of programme or preface to iii. 7-xvi. 31, which constitutes …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Judges 6:3 NIVJudges 6:3 NLTJudges 6:3 ESVJudges 6:3 NASBJudges 6:3 KJV
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