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Judges, Deliverers of Israel
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The Sad Story of Continual Backsliding
The king of Mesopotamia, the king of Moab, after them the
Philistines and the Canaanites of Hazor led by Sisera, became op-
pressors of Israel, one right after the next. Othniel, Shamgar, Ehud,
Deborah, and Barak were raised up as deliverers of their people, but
again “the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the
Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian.”
The Midianites had been nearly destroyed by Israel in the days
of Moses, but they had since become numerous and powerful. They
thirsted for revenge, and now that the protecting hand of God was
removed from Israel, the opportunity had come. The whole land
suffered from their violent destructions. Like a plague of locusts
they spread over the country, coming as soon as the harvests began
to ripen, and staying until the last fruits had been gathered. They
stripped the fields of their increase and robbed and mistreated the
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inhabitants. The Israelites who were living in the open country were
forced to seek safety in fortresses or even find shelter in caves among
the mountains. For seven years this oppression continued. Then, as
the people in their distress confessed their sins, God again raised up
a helper for them.
God’s call came to Gideon to deliver his people while he was
threshing wheat. Not daring to beat it out on the ordinary threshing
floor, he had gone to a spot near the winepress. The season of ripe
grapes was still far off, and no one yet took much notice of the
vineyards. As Gideon worked in secrecy, he sadly thought about the
condition of Israel and how to break the oppressor’s yoke.
How the Lord Called Gideon
Suddenly the “Angel of the Lord” appeared and spoke to him
with the words, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.”
“O my lord,” was his answer, “if the Lord is with us, why then
has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which
our fathers told us about? ... The Lord has forsaken us and delivered
us into the hands of the Midianites.”