HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 592
J U D G ES 6
26
27
Then with her left hand she reached for
a tent peg,
and with her right hand for the
workman’s hammer.
She struck Sisera with the hammer,
crushing his head.
With a shattering blow, she pierced
his temples.
He sank, he fell,
he lay still at her feet.
And where he sank,
there he died.
28
“From the window Sisera’s mother
looked out.
Through the window she watched for
his return, saying,
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why don’t we hear the sound of chariot
wheels?’
29
“Her wise women answer,
and she repeats these words to herself:
‘They must be dividing the captured plunder—
with a woman or two for every man.
There will be colorful robes for Sisera,
and colorful, embroidered robes for me.
Yes, the plunder will include
colorful robes embroidered on both sides.’
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“Lord, may all your enemies die like Sisera!
But may those who love you rise like the
sun in all its power!”
Then there was peace in the land for forty years.
Gideon Becomes Israel’s Judge
The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight.
So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. 2 The Midianites were
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• Self-Esteem
JU D G E S 6 :1 1 -2 4
It’s difficult to read passages like this and
not conclude that God has a terrific sense
of humor. As the story opens, Gideon is
anything but heroic; he is hiding from the
Midianites—in a winepress. When God
calls him into service, he hems and haws
about his lack of self-esteem and his
insignificance. And when the angel shows
him proof of God’s presence and power,
Gideon is immediately convinced that
he will die! Gideon goes on to discover
that significance is found not in his past
experiences or his feelings but in God’s
will and purpose for his life. We find true
significance only when we trust God and
obey his call.
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so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places
for themselves in the mountains, caves, and
strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted
their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek,
and the people of the east would attack Israel,
4 camping in the land and destroying crops as
far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with
nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats,
cattle, and donkeys. 5 These enemy hordes,
coming with their livestock and tents, were
as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves
of camels too numerous to count. And they
stayed until the land was stripped bare. 6 So
Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord
for help.
7 When they cried out to the Lord because of
Midian, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, “This is what the Lord, the God
of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery
in Egypt. 9 I rescued you from the Egyptians and
from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. 10 I told you, ‘I am
the Lord your God. You must not worship the
gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now
live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
11 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat
beneath the great tree at Ophrah, 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. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him
and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”
13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with
us, why has all this happened to us? And where
are all the miracles our ancestors told us about?
Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out
of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us
and handed us over to the Midianites.”
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go
with the strength you have, and rescue Israel
from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole
tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
16 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you.
And you will destroy the Midianites as if you
were fighting against one man.”
17 Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to
help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really
the Lord speaking to me. 18 Don’t go away until I
come back and bring my offering to you.”
He answered, “I will stay here until you
return.”
19 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
6:19 Hebrew an ephah [20 quarts or 22 liters].