Title: Gideon (Judges 06:11-18)
Let's summarize the flow of the entire book of Judges.
Cycle of peace--rebellion (crime)--discipline (judgment)--cry--peace (salvation through the judges) rebellion- Cycle 5:31b "The land was at peace for 40 years" Peace 6:1a " .. .... " Israel's rebellion 6:1b--"..... "God's discipline 6:6b" ... "Crying 6:7--" ... ..." God appoints judges, and that judge is Gideon in verse 11.
Then, what kind of person Gideon really is? Judges 6:11 A man who threshed wheat in a winepress so as not to reveal to the Midianites. The Midianites stayed still when they were farming, but when it was time to harvest, they attacked and took it away. So Gideon now threshes wheat by himself, closing the door without their knowledge. It is a work that is done only in a wide place. Wine is made in a closed place. This is because foreign substances cannot enter. But now Gideon is doing wheat threshing in the most opposing place, the winepress. Seeing this, Gideon was not a great warrior. But look at verse 12.
Verse 12, “The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Verse 13 gives Gideon's response to this.
Verse 13 "Gideon answered him, "My lord, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And our ancestors said to us early, Did not the LORD bring us out of Egypt?" Where are all these miracles? Now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian." In short, "Why do you make me weak by calling you a mighty warrior?" In other words, they are asking defiant questions to God as if they were making excuses for their shameful actions. This is more important when you look at Gideon's answer to God's words, "Go and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian, have I not sent you?" (14).