Author: cackywalker@yahoo.com

That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s heard, the one that is seven years old. Pul down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. Then build an altar to the Lord your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the alter, sing as fuel the wood from the Asherah pole you cut down.”

So Gideon took ten servants and did as the Lord had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town.

Early the next morning, as the people in the town began to stir, someone discovered that the altar of Baal had been broken down and that the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down. In their place, a new alter had been built, and on it were the remains of the bull that had been sacrificed. 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.

“Bring out your son,” the men of the down demanded of Joash. “He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting down the Asherah pole.”

But Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him, “Why are defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Who ever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal is truly a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar.: From then on Gideon was called Jerub-baal, which means “Let Baal defend himself,” because he broke down Baal’s altar. (vv. 25-32 NLT)

Gideon hurried home. He cooked a young goat, and with a basket of flour he baked some bread without yeast. Then carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out an presented them to the angel, who was under a great tree.

The angel of God said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.” And Gideon did as he was told. Then the angel of the Lord touch the mead and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

When Gideon realized that it was an angel of the Lord, he cried out, “O Sovereign Lord, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

“It is all right,” the Lord replied, “Do not be afraid. You will not die.” And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the Lord s peace”). The altar remains in Ophra in the land of the clan of Albiezer to this day. (vv. 17-24, NLT)

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. (vv 1-2, NLT)

So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midiamites . Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian, the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, “This is what the Lord the God of Israel says: I brought your up out of slavery in Egypt. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out our enemies and gave you their land. I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in who land you now live. But you have not listened to Me.'”

Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath a great tree at Oprah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And were are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord as brought us up from Egypt?’ But now the lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midinanites.”

Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, I am the least in my entire family!”

The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as you were fighting against one man.”

Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that is really the Lord speaking to me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.”

He answered, “I will stay here until you return.” (vv. 7-18, NLT)

Meanwhile, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because Heber’s family was on friendly terms with King Jabin of Hazor. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come into my tent, sir. Com in. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

“Please give me some water,” he said. “I’m thirsty.” So she gave him some mild from a leather bag and covered him again.

“Stand at the door of the tent,” he told her. “If anybody comes and asks you if there is anyone her, say no”.

Bt when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and drove a tent peg into his temple and into the ground, and so he died.

When Barak cam looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. She said, “Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he followed her into the tent and found Sisera lying there dead, with the tent peg through his temple.

Son on that day, Israel saw God defeat Jabin, the Canaanite king. And from that time on Israel became stronger and stronger against King Jabin until they finally destroyed him. (vv. 17-24, NLT)

After Ehud’s death, the Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord turned them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-haggoyim. Sisera, who had 900 chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help.

Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time. She would sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Epharim, and the Israelites would go to see her for judgement. One day, she sent for Barak son of Abinoam, who lived in Kedesh in teh land of Naphtali. She said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: Call our 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. And I will call our Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over them.”

Babak told her, “I will go, but only if you go with me.”

“Very well,” she replied, “I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the Lord’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.” (vv. 1-9, NLT)

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get ready! This is the day the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you.” So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. When Barak attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots into a panic. Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot. Barak chased the chariots and the enemy all the way to Harosheth-haggoyim, killing all of Sisera’s warriors. No a single one was left alive. (vv. 14-16, NLT)

Once again, the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, and the Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel because of their evil. Eglon enlisted the Ammorites and Amalakites as allies, and then he went out and defeated Israel. And the Israelites served Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.

But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord again raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin. The Israelites sent Ehud to deliver their tribute money to King Eglon of Moab. So Ehud made a double-edged dagger that was about a foot long, and he strapped it to his right thigh, keeping it hidden under his clothing. He brought the tribute money to Eglon, who was very fat.

After delivering the payment, Ehud started home with those who had helped carry the tribute. But when Ehud reached the stone idols near Gilgal, he turned back. He came to Eglon and said, “I have a secret message for you.”

So the king commanded. his servants, “Be quiet!”and he sent them all out of the room.

Ehud walked over to Eglon, who was sitting alone in a cool upstairs room. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.!” As King Eglon rose from his seat, Eglon reached with his left hand, pulled out the dagger strapped to his right thigh, and plunged into the king’s belly. (vv. 12-21, NLT)

[Ehud and his servants] attacked the Moabites and killed about 10,000 of their stongers and most able-bodied warriors. Not one of them escaped. So Moab was conquered by Israel that day, and there was peace in that land for eighty years.

After Ehud, Shamar son of Anath rescued Israel. He once killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad. (vv 29-31, NLT)

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot all about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles. Then the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and He turned them over to Aram-naharaim. And the Israelites serve Chshan-rishathaim for eight years.

But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Othniel, son of Caleb’s younger brother, Kenaz. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge. He went to war against King Cushan-rishathiam of Amran, and the Lord gave Othiniel victory over him. So there was peace in the land for forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died. (vv. 7-11, NLT)

Then the Lord raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers. Yet Israel did not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors , who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands.

Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, He was with that judge and rescued the people from tier enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord took pity on His people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering. But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to give up their evil practices and suborn ways.

So the Lord burned with anger, against Israel. He said, “Because these people have violated My covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and have ignored My commands, I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. I did this to test Israel-to se whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did.” That is why the Lord left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or all Joshua to conquer them all. (vv 16-23, NLT)

[Joshua said] “So fear the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly. Put away forever your idols you ancestors worshipped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and. in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then you choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer gods you ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (vv14-15, NLT)

Then Joshua warned the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you abandon the Lord and serve other gods, He will turn against you and destroy you, even though He has been so good to you.” (vv. 19-20, NLT)

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day ad Shechem, committing them to follow the decrees and regulations of the Lord. Joshua recorded all these things in the Book of God’s Instructions. As a reminder of their agreement, Joshua took a huge stone and rolled it beneath the terebinth tree beside the Tabernacle of the Lord.

Joshua said to all the people, “This stone has heard everything the Lord said to us. It will be a witness to testify against you if you go back on your word to God.” (vv. 25-28,NLT)

On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said,

“Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.”

So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies.

Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day. There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day ! (vv. 12-14, NLT)