Judges 6 · The Lantern

Midian Oppresses Israel

And the sons of Israel did the evil in the eyes of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.

And the hand of Midian prevailed over Israel. Because of Midian, the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

And it was, whenever Israel sowed, that Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east would go up — they would go up against him,

and camp against them and ruin the produce of the land as far as Gaza; and they would leave nothing to live on in Israel — neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.

For they and their livestock would come up, with their tents; they would come in like locusts in multitude — of them and of their camels there was no number — and they came into the land to ruin it.

And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.

And it was, when the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of Midian,

that the LORD sent a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel. And he said to them: “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I myself brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you out of the house of slaves.

And I delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all who pressed you; and I drove them out from before you, and I gave you their land.

And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorite, in whose land you are living.’ But you have not listened to my voice.”

The Call of Gideon

And the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that is at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite; and Gideon his son was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from Midian.

And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, mighty man of valor.”

And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord — if the LORD is with us, then why has all this found us? And where are all his wonders that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the palm of Midian.”

And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours, and you shall save Israel from the palm of Midian. Have I not sent you?”

And he said to him, “Please, my Lord — with what shall I save Israel? Look, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

And the LORD said to him, “Because I will be with you, you shall strike Midian as one man.”

And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then do a sign for me that it is you who are speaking with me.

Do not depart from here, please, until I come to you and bring out my offering and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay until you return.”

And Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot; and he brought them out to him under the oak, and presented them.

And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, and set them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

And the angel of the LORD stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and the fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the angel of the LORD went from his eyes.

And Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, “Alas, Lord GOD! For I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

And the LORD said to him, “Peace to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”

And Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Gideon Destroys Baal’s Altar

And it was on that night that the LORD said to him: “Take the bull of the ox that belongs to your father, and a second bull of seven years; and tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it.

And build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold, in the ordered way; and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you cut down.”

And Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him. And it was, because he feared his father’s house and the men of the city too much to do it by day, that he did it by night.

And the men of the city rose early in the morning — and look, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar that had been built.

And they said, each to his neighbor, “Who has done this thing?” And they searched and inquired, and they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”

And the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, and let him die — for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was beside it.”

And Joash said to all who stood against him: “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself — because someone has torn down his altar.”

And he called him on that day Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal contend with him — because he has torn down his altar.”

The Sign of the Fleece

And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east gathered together; and they crossed over and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

And the spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon; and he blew the trumpet, and Abiezer was called out after him.

And he sent messengers through all Manasseh, and it too was called out after him; and he sent messengers through Asher, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

And Gideon said to God: “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken —

"And then," it says, "Gideon said to God: if you save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, behold, here I am, and I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; and if indeed dew falls upon the fleece and there is dryness upon all the earth, I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.

Again on this subject it is written: "For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now, apart from the law, the justice of God is made manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets." When he says "made manifest" he shows that it had existed but was like the dew for which Gideon asked; then it was not visible on the fleece, but now it is made manifest on the groun…

Now, although Gideon was brave and confident, still he sought fuller proofs of victory from the Lord, saying, "If indeed you are going to save Israel through me, as you promised, O Lord, I am putting this woolen fleece on the threshing floor.

look, I am setting the fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and on all the ground it is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.”

But that also, which Gideon says: "I will place the fleece" — not just anywhere, not in a field nor in a woodland, but "on the threshing-floor" — how does it seem to you? "On the threshing-floor," where the "harvest" is: "for the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." "I will place," he says, "the fleece" there, where the "harvest" is.

Rightly, then, do we compare Mary with fleece—she who conceived the Lord in such a way that she absorbed him with her whole body; nor did she undergo a rending of that same body, but she was tender in submission and firm in chastity. Rightly, I say, is Mary compared with fleece—she from whose offspring saving garments are woven for the people.

A figure preceded in the fleece and dew of Gideon. The history is that Gideon asked of the Lord that the dew falling would be entirely on the fleece, and the threshing floor would remain dry; and he filled a basin with dew. Who brought it about that the Virgin conceived? Certainly the Holy Spirit, who is a love fervent, fruitful, undefiled, virile, incorrupt, and deifying.

And it was so. And he rose early the next day and squeezed the fleece, and wrung dew out of the fleece — a bowl full of water.

And Gideon said to God: “Do not let your anger burn against me, and let me speak just this once. Let me test, please, just this once with the fleece: let it be dry on the fleece alone, and on all the ground let there be dew.”