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; he ascended in the 22 smoke thereof. 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. These are evidently the words of a man quite surprised: so Jacob and 23 Manoah expressed themselves. And the LORD said unto him, in an audible voice, Peace [be] unto thee; fear not thou shalt not die; I am still with thee; fear no harm, but expect all 24 good, and success. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom, The Lord send peace : unto this day it [is] yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. It was not built for sacrifice, but as a memorial of this vision, and of God's speaking peace to him and his people; and it continued till the time this book was written.

25

And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, in a dream or vision, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, which was set apart to be sacrificed to Baal in the second place, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath built for public use, and cut down the grove that [is] by it, where the im26 age was placed: And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, where the angel appeared, in the ordered place, or, in an orderly manner, as Moses commanded, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down; a very ex27 traordinary command, as Gideon was no priest. Then Gideon

28

took ten men of his servants, faithful men, in whom he could confide, 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, lest a tumult should be raised, and hinder him from doing it; this was a bold undertaking, and shewed great faith and courage.

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, and came to worship before they went to their work, 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, 29 [that was] built, the flesh of it was not quite consumed. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired, and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing: knowing him to be an enemy to 30 their idolatry, they suspected him first. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, who was the chief magistrate there, Bring out thy son, that he may die, without any trial: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that [was] by it. It is probable that Gideon

t

had before this informed his father of his commission, which con31 vinced him of his mistake, as appears in the next verse. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? it is none of your business to inflict punishments for crimes; he that will plead for them, let him be put to death whilst [it is yet] morning; he who will plead for such a god as this, for worshipping whom ye now suffer such calamities, deserves to die instantly: if he [be] a god, let him plead for himself, because [one] hath cast down his altar; he probably said a great deal more, but this was the substance of 32 it. Therefore on that day, he, that is, Joash, called him, that is, Gideon, Jerubbaal, or, Baal's adversary, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar; let Baal look to himself, and do his worst.

33

Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over Jordan, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel, as they were used to do every year, in order to ravage and eat up the produce of the country. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, a spirit of wisdom, courage, and zeal; and he blew a trumpet; and Ablezer 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; God stirred up their hearts to come to him.

35

36

37

38

89

And Gideon, who wanted to know whether this was the proper time, and to convince the assembled Israelites of his divine commission, 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, to convince Israel that this was a real sign from God, desired it might be inverted; but as this might look like diffidence, he made an humble apology, and 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 40 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.

1.

A

REFLECTIONS.

GENEROUS solicitude for the good of others, is highly becoming a true Israelite. Gideon's head and heart were full of concern for oppressed Israel, and therefore the angel saluted him. He put himself among the rest if the Lord be with us. He had no comfort while Israel was in sorrow; he was chiefly concerned for the public interest, and could take no satisfaction in any message, while Israel was oppressed. Let us thus cultivate a concern for the public good, and esteem the wel fare of Jerusalem as our chief joy.

2. Those that would promote reformation, must begin at home. This is God's direction to Gideon; to take down his family altar; for others would not regard his remonstrances while Joash's altar stood; this is a good model for parents, masters, and ministers. Would they make their children, servants and people, wise and good, let them be cautious and watchful, and remove every thing that would be a reproach to them. Would we be rid of affliction, and serviceable to others, let us consider what idolatrous altars and groves are in our hearts and houses, and down with them; then we may exhort others with a good grace, and hope for success.

3. We here see the great condescension of God to the weakness of his servants. The angel, instead of chiding Gideon for his doubts and fears, looked favourably upon him, gave him another and another sign, comforted his terrified heart, and strengthened his weak faith. Thus graciously does God deal with his servants; he breaks not the bruised reed, but pities their infirmities, and takes a variety of methods to give the heirs of promise strong consolation. But while we have such encouragements, let us not tempt the Lord our God, but say, Lord, we be lieve, help thou our unbelief.

CHAP. VII.

Gideon's army is reduced by the divine command: a further intimation of success is given to confirm his faith; and the Midianites are attacked and defeated.

HEN, next morning after the miracle, Jerubbaal, who

rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them,

2 by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

And the LORD said unto

Gideon, The people that [are] with thee [are] too many for

me.

me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved The Midianites were four times as many as the Israelites, who therefore would have had no reason to glory in themselves had they conquered with all their forces, it would even then have been evidently a miracle; but God, knowing their proneness to 3 boast in themselves, ordered their number to be lessened. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, according to the law of Moses, Deut. xx. 8. saying, Whosoever [is] fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead.* And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand ; and there remained ten thousand only, to venture 4 their lives. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people [are] yet [too] many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there and it shall be, [that] of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go; that is, I will give thee a sign, whereby thou mayest discover who they be that are indeed 5 fit for this service. So he brought down the people unto the water and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, who takes a little water in his hand, sips, and hastens away, him shalt thou set by himself, and likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink, which denoted sloth and delay in this great 6 work. And the number of them that lapped, [putting] their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 7 And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the [other] people go every man unto his place. Many were called, but few were chosen. So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all [the rest of] Israel every man unto his tent, and retained only those three hundred men and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

9

And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand; of which I will now give thee another 10 sign. But if thou fear to go down alone, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host; though one will be enough, 11 as it is a secret expedition: And thou shalt hear what they say, and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that [were] in the

* A mountain so called in honour of Gilead their common father, or in token of their alliance with the half tribe on the other side Jordan, who possessed Gilead.

12 host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; they were near an hundred and forty thousand, for one hundred and twenty thousand were stain at one time; and their camels [were] without number, as the sand by the 13 sea side for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, [there was] a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread, baked in the ashes in haste, tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, the general's tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along, shattered it 14 so, that it could not be raised again. And his fellow answered and said, This [is] nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: [for] into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host: a far fetched interpretation, which Gideon would not have discovered, had it not been for this explanation; but it showed the fear and terror of the Midianites, and strengthened Gideon's faith: it gave him no offence to be compared to a barley cake, when he heard what he was to do. 15 And it was [so,] when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, bowed down in thankful acknowledgment of the goodness of God, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise, without fear or delay; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.

16

And he divided the three hundred men [into] three companies, to make as great a show as he could, and to attack them in several places at once; and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, (Josephus says, rams' horns) with empty pitchers, and lamps, or torches, within the pitchers, to conceal them from the 17 enemy. And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, 18 it shall be [that,] as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that [are] with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, [The sword] of the LORD, and of Gideon. God was to be named first, to show that their dependence was upon him; and Gideon only mentioned as his instrument, and because his name was ter19 rible to the enemy. So Gideon, and the hundred men that [were] with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, about midnight; and they had but newly set the watch and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that [were] in their hands, perhaps one 20 against another. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in-their right hands to blow [withal ] and 21 they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp, that

: