Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Judges
Chapter 6: The Call of Gideon
Israel is crushed under Midian, hiding in caves and threshing wheat in secret. Into that fear the Angel of the LORD comes and sits under an oak, greeting a frightened farmer with astonishing words: 'The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.' God calls Gideon not for what he is, but for what grace will make him.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Judges chapter 6. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 6 begins the longest story in the book, the call and career of Gideon, and it opens with one of Scripture's clearest pictures of how God calls and transforms the weak. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
The Angel of the LORD Calls Gideon (Judges 6:1-16)
Under Midian's yoke, Israel cries out, and God sends first a prophet to convict, then the Angel of the LORD to call a deliverer.
Go in This Thy Might
"And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice. And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man."
Word Study
"the angel of the LORD," Hebrew malak YHWH. Watch the account move seamlessly from "the angel of the LORD" (verses 11-12) to "the LORD" (verses 14, 16): "the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go... have not I sent thee?" and "the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee." The messenger who appears is spoken of as the LORD Himself, and He speaks in the first person as the God who saves. This is the same Angel of the LORD who spoke as God to Moses at the bush and stood before Joshua as the captain of the host, a pre-incarnate appearing of the one God in visible form.
"the LORD," YHWH. This is the covenant name of God Himself, and the account hands it to the very One sitting under Gideon's oak, calling Him "the LORD" outright. For the Apostolic reader this is not a second divine person but a foreshadowing of the incarnation: the invisible God making Himself visible and personal to call and commission His servant. The same LORD who sat under Gideon's oak would one day sit weary by a well and call fishermen from their nets.
Explanation
Midian's oppression is total: seven years of raiders who swarm "as grasshoppers," devouring the harvest and driving Israel into caves. When they cry out, God first sends a nameless prophet, not to deliver but to diagnose: their misery is the fruit of disobedience, "ye have not obeyed my voice." Only after that word of conviction does the Angel of the LORD come to Gideon, who is timidly threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it. The greeting is almost ironic: "The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour," spoken to a man hiding from the enemy. Gideon answers with honest doubt, "if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us?" But God does not argue; He commissions: "Go in this thy might... have not I sent thee?" When Gideon protests his weakness, God gives the only credential that matters: "Surely I will be with thee."
Gospel Focus
God calls Gideon "mighty man of valour" before he has done a single brave thing, because God calls us not by what we are but by what His grace will make us. His whole commission rests on one promise: "Surely I will be with thee." That is the same promise given to Moses, to Joshua, to Jeremiah, and finally to the whole church: "Lo, I am with you alway" (Matthew 28:20). Gideon's real qualification was not his strength, family, or courage, of which he had none to boast, but the presence of God. When the LORD sends the weak, He does not send them alone. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit" (Zechariah 4:6); the least in his father's house becomes a mighty deliverer, because God is with him.
The Sign, and the Altar Thrown Down (Judges 6:17-27)
God confirms His word with fire, Gideon builds an altar of peace, and his first act of obedience is to tear down his own father's idol.
Jehovah-shalom, The LORD Send Peace
"And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night."
Word Study
"Jehovahshalom," Hebrew YHWH shalom (יְהוָה שָׁלוֹם), "The LORD is Peace." Gideon had just seen the Angel of the LORD "face to face" and feared he would die, for it was known that no man could see God and live. But the LORD said, "Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die," and Gideon built an altar and named it for what he had learned: the LORD is Peace. It is a profound revelation in a violent age, that the God who commissions for war is Himself the giver of peace to the trembling heart. This name of God finds its fullness in Christ, "for he is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14), the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), who says to His own, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you" (John 14:27). The same LORD who is Peace speaks that peace to every fearful soul He calls.
Explanation
Gideon asks for a sign, and brings an offering; the Angel touches it with the tip of His staff, and fire leaps from the rock to consume it, the mark of a sacrifice accepted by God. Terrified at having seen the LORD "face to face," Gideon hears the word of peace and builds the altar Jehovah-shalom. Then, that very night, comes the first command: before he can fight Midian outside, he must tear down the altar of Baal inside his own home, his father's idol, and the grove beside it, and build a true altar to the LORD. Gideon obeys, but "because he feared his father's household," he does it by night with ten servants. His faith is real but still mingled with fear, and yet God accepts the obedience of a man who is afraid but does it anyway.
Gospel Focus
Deliverance began at home. Before Gideon could save Israel from Midian, God made him pull down the idol in his own father's yard. There is no fighting the enemy without while we harbor his altars within. Reformation always begins with our own hearts and households; "cleanse your hands... and purify your hearts" (James 4:8). And note the courage it took: Gideon feared his family and his town, yet he obeyed. God does not wait for us to be fearless; He honors the trembling obedience that acts in spite of fear. The man who tore down Baal's altar by night would soon rout an army by day, because true deliverance always starts by putting away the idols God points to first.
Jerubbaal and the Fleece (Judges 6:28-40)
Gideon's stand against Baal earns him a new name, the Spirit of the LORD clothes him, and God patiently confirms His word through the fleece.
The Spirit of the LORD Came Upon Gideon
"And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 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. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground."
Word Study
"the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon," Hebrew ruach YHWH labeshah (רוּחַ יְהוָה לָבְשָׁה), literally "the Spirit of the LORD clothed itself with Gideon." The verb labash means "to clothe, to put on like a garment." It is a striking image: the Spirit of God did not merely come near Gideon; He clothed Himself with Gideon, wearing the man like a robe, so that God's own power now acted through him. The same vivid word is used of the Spirit clothing Himself with Amasai (1 Chronicles 12:18) and Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:20). It is a picture of what God does with a yielded vessel: He puts the man on and works through him. The New Testament turns the image around for the believer, we "put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 13:14) and are "endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49), clothed with the same Spirit that clothed Himself with Gideon.
Explanation
The town wakes to find Baal's altar in ruins and demands Gideon's death. But his father Joash, perhaps stirred by his son's boldness, gives the unanswerable reply: if Baal is really a god, "let him plead for himself." A god who cannot defend his own altar is no god at all. So Gideon gets a new name, Jerubbaal, "let Baal contend," a living mockery of the idol. Then the enemy masses in the valley of Jezreel, and "the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon"; he sounds the trumpet and the tribes rally. Yet even now Gideon seeks reassurance, twice, with the fleece: first wet while the ground is dry, then dry while the ground is wet. God, in patience, grants both.
Gospel Focus
The fleece is often copied as a way to "find God's will," but it is really a picture of God's patience with a weak faith. Gideon already had God's clear promise; the fleece was his fear asking for more. And God, who "knoweth our frame" (Psalm 103:14), gently condescended to his weakness rather than rebuking it. What a mercy that God bears with our doubts and confirms His word to trembling hearts. Yet the better way is the way of those who "have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:29), who rest on the promise itself. God met Gideon in his weakness, but He was calling him upward, to the faith that simply takes God at His word. The same Spirit that clothed Gideon is offered to clothe us; the deliverer's power was never his own.
Chapter 6 in Review
Judges 6 opens the story of Gideon. Israel, crushed by Midian and hiding in caves, cries out; God sends a prophet to convict them, then the Angel of the LORD, the LORD Himself in visible form, to call a frightened farmer "mighty man of valour." God's whole commission rests on one promise, "Surely I will be with thee." Fire from the rock confirms His word, Gideon names the altar Jehovah-shalom, and his first task is to tear down his father's altar of Baal. Then the Spirit of the LORD clothes Himself with Gideon, and God patiently confirms the call through the fleece.
For the Apostolic reader, the chapter is a portrait of grace calling the weak. God names us by what He will make us, not by what we are; He gives us Himself as our only real qualification; He begins our deliverance by tearing down the idols in our own house; and He clothes His servants with His Spirit. Above all, the Angel of the LORD who is called the LORD points us to the one God who makes Himself known, and who is Himself our peace.
- The Angel of the LORD is called "the LORD," a visible appearing of the one God who commissions Gideon.
- God calls the weak by what grace will make them; the credential is "I will be with thee."
- Deliverance begins at home; Gideon first had to tear down his own father's idol.
- The Spirit of the LORD "clothed himself with Gideon", the deliverer's power was God's own.
Questions for Reflection
- What idol in your own "house" is God asking you to tear down before you can serve Him freely?
- Gideon's only qualification was God's presence. Where are you disqualifying yourself by looking at your weakness?
- Do you rest on God's clear promise, or keep asking for another fleece?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The Angel of the LORD called the LORD; the call of Gideon: Judges 6:1-16; Exodus 3:2-6; Matthew 28:20; Zechariah 4:6.
- Jehovah-shalom; tearing down Baal's altar: Judges 6:17-27; Ephesians 2:14; Isaiah 9:6; John 14:27; James 4:8.
- The Spirit clothing Himself with Gideon; the fleece: Judges 6:28-40; 1 Chronicles 12:18; Romans 13:14; Luke 24:49; Psalm 103:14; John 20:29.