"THE BIBLE IN PICTURES!"--Chapter Sixteen--Judges 1-8. DFO1154 1962
"THE STORIES OF DEBORAH'S SONG, JAEL'S NAIL & GIDEON'S BAND!"
NOW WE'RE GOING TO STUDY THE BIBLE IN PICTURES, BEGINNING WITH JUDGES THE 1ST CHAPTER. We're going to study Deborah & Gideon & some very thrilling stories in the Bible. You don't have to read other kinds of books to find romance, even murder mysteries like this one, all kinds of war stories & love stories--every possible kind of a story in the Bible!
WE'VE JUST FINISHED STUDYING HOW JOSHUA CROSSED THE JORDAN, how he conquered Jericho, Ai & many other small kingdoms, until, at last, he thought he had brought the entire country into subjection. The Tabernacle had been brought from Gilgal to Shiloh, the Law had been read to Israel from Mount Gerizim, & the people vowed to keep it faithfully.
THEN THE LAND WAS DIVIDED INTO 12 PARTS & allotted to each of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Joshua then died & was buried at Timnath-serah. Joseph's bones, which had been brought up out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem. Eleazar, the son of Aaron, Moses' brother, died & was buried not far from Joseph's tomb.
NOW THE 12 TRIBES SEPARATE--each one to settle in the section allotted to him in the Land of Israel; but the difficulties are only begun, as we'll soon be shown in this following series: The Story of the Judges.
1. HERE WE SEE A MAP OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL, AS IT WAS DIVIDED amongst the various Tribes of Israel in those ancient times. The different tribes settled in different locations. Zebulun is here where the Valley of Megiddo is, where the great battle of Armageddon is going to be fought some day, the Bible says. Reuben, Gad & half the Tribe of Manasseh are living across the Jordan, outside of the Promised Land.
DIDN'T WE OVERLOOK ONE TRIBE? The Levites. Let's see, can we count them?: Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Dan, Ephraim, Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, Asher, Reuben, Gad & Manasseh are 12 Tribes, right? Aaah, but there are 13 Tribes of Israel, because the Levites occupied the Cities of Refuge, right? So, there were really 13 Tribes.
THE EPHRAIMITES & THE MANASSEHITES WERE BOTH DESCENDANTS OF JOSEPH. Sometimes in the Bible, Joseph is spoken of as a Tribe including both the Ephraimites & the Manassehites. There we have the explanation of it: We still have 12 Tribes counting Joseph as only one.
WHY WAS JOSEPH GIVEN A DOUBLE PORTION IN ISRAEL? God blessed him, didn't He, for being faithful. Faithful Joseph rescued the whole Tribes of Israel from starvation, by being down in Egypt at the right time! God gave him an extra special blessing & double portion!
ISRAEL HAD FOR CENTURIES BEEN A DEPENDENT PEOPLE: In Egypt, they'd been fed by the government; in Sinai, they had depended upon Moses; Joshua had directed & fed them during his great campaign. So that in matters either of religion, government or livelihood, they had very few ideas of their own. Had it been a democracy up to this time? Did they elect their leaders up till this time? No! Who picked their leaders? God picked their leaders!
NOW THE NEXT LEADERS ARE GOING TO BE CALLED JUDGES. Israel thought that they had conquered the entire country, which they had not yet done; & the tribes separated into their respective corners of the land, either to survive or perish. As the Scripture says, they had no leader, no seat of government. The only wonder is that they even continued to exist as a people at all. What do you suppose kept them together?
GOD REALLY KEPT THEM TOGETHER & what else? By what means in particular? I asked a Rabbi one time, "How come the Israelites have been scattered all over the world & still their identity, their religion & their culture have been preserved?" This Rabbi raised the Bible, & said, "It's the Book!"
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES OF GOD HAVE PRESERVED THE ISRAELITES THROUGH THE CENTURIES. It's a wonder that they had subsisted through the wilderness, but a greater one that they had been preserved as a people to see the days of David, when they were organised.
DURING THIS TRANSITION PERIOD OF PERHAPS 300 YEARS, GOD RAISED UP JUDGES, who at various times & places stepped into the picture & saved Israel from total annihilation. In the Book of Judges is to be found a few of these examples, but surely not all of them, which give a vivid portrayal of the conditions that existed in those days. The book consists of a series of tribal narratives, arranged geographically.
THE PARTLY CONQUERED CANAANITES & JEBUSITES AT JERUSALEM BEGAN TO RAISE DISTURBANCES immediately with these new settlers. Judah & Simeon & the southernmost tribes were called upon to go up & defend their brethren. Judah & Simeon were the first to have war & to have to fight to preserve the nation.
2. HERE WE SEE BEZEK. THIS IS AN ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPH OF WHERE THIS BATTLE WAS FOUGHT, in which Judah prevailed. The Tribe of Judah won the victory! Adoni-bezek, a Canaanite, Jebusite, the king of Jerusalem, was captured, & they cut off his thumbs & his big toes--as he had done to 70 kings whom he himself had captured. So you see, children, what you do to other people, they're going to do to you! He had cut off 140 thumbs & 140 big toes of 70 kings, & so he lost his thumbs & his toes too! They were punishing him--you're pretty handicapped without your thumbs & toes!
3. HERE WE SEE JERUSALEM IN THE DISTANCE--it's rather faint. You're looking down from the Mount of Olives across the Valley of Jehoshaphat. You can see the Dome of the Rock, the Mosque of Omar, which stands where the Temple will again stand some day. Adoni-bezek was brought to Jerusalem, where he finally died.
JUDAH SET THE CITY ON FIRE. Can you imagine Judeans, Jews, setting Jerusalem on fire! Who was the first to burn Jerusalem? The Jews themselves. Did they ever get their city burned later on? Yes! So you see, with what measure you mete it out, it shall be meted unto you again; whatsoever ye sow, you'll also reap! Jerusalem, however, was not entirely taken & occupied by Israel until Judah captured it in the days of David.
5. HERE WE HAVE OTHNIEL & ACHSAH. Judah is now called to their own land. They had to reconquer practically the whole territory, which had been allotted to them. Kirjath-sepher or Debir had been allotted to Caleb. Caleb was an old man about 80 years of age, but it says that his eye was not dim, neither was his natural force abated, & he was strong. He said, "I want to fight! I'll take the toughest part of the country, I'll take the mountain!" And so, he took the mountain!
HE OFFERED HIS DAUGHTER ACHSAH TO ANY MAN WHO WOULD TAKE THE CITY. Othniel captured the prize &, with his daughter, Caleb gave him the city with its surrounding springs. Here you have dear old Caleb giving his daughter Achsah to Othniel. These are, of course, artists' conceptions of these events, & some of them are not too clear!
SOME OF THESE CITIES WERE ONLY PARTIALLY CONQUERED. Israel amalgamated with the people of the land, & many of them went into grossest of idolatry, because they didn't get rid of these wicked people in their midst! As God had warned them, they fell prey to the same sins of the very same people. Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, & Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, held them in servitude for 8 years.
7. HE HAD COME OVER FROM THE LAND OF MESOPOTAMIA, you see over here, that later became Assyria. Mesopotamia means the land between the rivers. Meso means between & potamia means the rivers. It's between what 2 rivers? The Tigris & the Euphrates. These 2 rivers also flowed through what famous garden? The Garden of Eden. What country is across the big desert from Jerusalem? This country is no longer called Mesopotamia, today it is called Iraq. Further east, where Persia was, is today called Iran.
THE KING OF MESOPOTAMIA CAME OVER & CONQUERED THE ISRAELITES & held them as slaves for 8 years--because of their sins! Israel cried for divine help. Othniel, Caleb's son-in-law, was chosen by the Lord to deliver Israel. He broke the Mesopotamian yoke & drove the king of Mesopotamia back into his land. He became the first Judge, & the land had rest for 40 years.
8. THIS IS A PART OF THE JORDAN VALLEY. The Moabites took possession of the lower Jordan Valley, through the assistance of the Ammonites, who were their half-brothers.--Each was by a different daughter of Lot. Israel again became untrue to God, & for 18 years Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, who came from the valley of the Jordan.
9. THIS IS SOME VERY ANCIENT RUINS IN THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN. Eglon had a summer palace residence here near Gilgal. Ehud, a Benjamite commissioned to pay tribute to the king, came to his residence here & he slew Eglon with a dagger. Do you remember how he did it?
EGLON WAS VERY VERY FAT! This fellow Ehud was left-handed, & he hid his left hand inside his cloak. Of course, the king had never thought about suspecting the man of being left-handed & having a dagger in his left hand! If he had had his right hand in his coat, he might have gotten afraid. But this big old fat king sat there, & this Benjamite came up & pulled out his dagger. It says that it went clear in, he couldn't even find the handle afterward--the guy was so fat!
10. EHUD MADE HIS ESCAPE & HE SUMMONED THE TRIBE OF EPHRAIM, who took their stand here on the Jordan. They cut off the retreat of the Moabites, who had fallen into confusion upon the death of their king Eglon. And the land had rest again for another 80 years. What tribe was it that rose up & helped? Ephraim. A Benjamite killed Eglon, & the Ephraimites helped the Benjamites conquer the Moabites.
11. NOW WE HAVE ANOTHER MAP. Hazor had recovered from the ruin inflicted by Joshua. Jabin is king, probably a son of the slaughtered Jabin, & has formed a confederacy or is king over all the territory from the southern border of Esdraelon to Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel is a peak at the centre of the map, out beyond Haifa. Later on, we find out that Elisha slew the 600 prophets of Baal here. Jabin has consolidated all his tribes from Hazor over to Mount Carmel. This northern part of the kingdom was later called Northern Israel or Ephraim.
12. HERE'S A BEAUTIFUL PHOTO OF THE BAY OF HAIFA & MOUNT CARMEL there in the distance. Isn't that pretty with the palm trees? Sisera was the captain of the hosts of Jabin, & he operated from Harosheth to the foot of Mount Carmel. They were bitter enemies of the Israelites. He had 900 iron chariots, the tanks of his day, & he seemed to have taken a keen delight in oppressing the tribes of Israel who had settled in the northern parts--Naphtali, Zebulun & Issachar.
13. HERE'S MOUNT EPHRAIM. EPHRAIM LATER ON BECAME THE CAPITAL OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. God had to raise up a Judge there & some good warriors--because they were having trouble from enemies on the north. He raised up a prophetess Deborah--the first & the only woman Judge! So, God can use women to be leaders if He has to, can't He, especially if the men fail! She was of the Tribe of Ephraim, the northern tribe, & administered Israel from Mount Ephraim, between Ramah & Beth-el.
14. MOUNT TABOR. DEBORAH HAD GREAT ABILITY FOR ORGANISATION. She called upon Barak, who lived in Kedesh, to assemble 10,000 men here on Mount Tabor, & she would meet him there & go with him to meet the hosts of Sisera. They were going to have a big battle!
15. HERE WE SEE THE RIVER KISHON. THE 2 ARMIES MET HERE on the Plain of Esdraelon. A great storm arose & the little creek, swollen by the storm, covered the plain! This little river here is not very big, but God made it a big river & made a big flood, & the 900 chariots were useless! All of his tanks got stuck in the marshy soil, & the army of Sisera became panicky. They fled in confusion, & were pursued & slain by Israel. PTL! Israel won another victory!
16. SISERA WAS THE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST OF THE ENEMY. He made his escape, but he was slain by Jael, a Kenite. Was this Jael a man or a woman? A woman! She was closely related to Jethro, the father of the wife of Moses. She invited Sisera into her tent under the pretense that she would hide him away from the furious Israelites, & the captain was not reluctant to step into her trap.
16A. WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING, WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE SHE DID? Ouch! That always makes me wince every time I think about it. Think of a woman that had that much courage! She knew that if this fellow got away he might raise up another army to come back & kill her people. They had some pretty gruesome, rough times fighting each other.
SO SHE FIGURED THE BEST WAY TO END THE WHOLE WAR, WAS TO PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MISERY. Evidently she didn't have a sword at hand or anything else, so she just grabbed a hammer & a nail--the only thing she had, & she drove the spike right into his temple! Isn't that horrible! But, at least, she got rid of one of the bitterest & worst enemies of all Israel! The oppression of Israel by the Canaanites was ended forever. They had other enemies after that!
17. WHEN THIS HAPPENED, DEBORAH BEGAN TO SING A WONDERFUL PROPHETIC SONG: "Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel." (Judges 5.)
DEBORAH WAS ONE OF THE JUDGES OF ISRAEL & SHE WAS THE ONLY WOMAN JUDGE THAT ISRAEL EVER HAD! That's very amazing, because God said that the man should come first & he was the head of the house. But this is one case where God couldn't find a man, He had to take a woman! If God can't find a man who's willing to serve Him, what will He use? A woman. Or if He can't even find a man or a woman, what will He use? He'll use a child. He'll use anyone that He can, who's willing to be used! PTL! So, Deborah sang a great song of victory, because they'd just won the war over Sisera & his hosts!
17A. THAT WAS THE BLOW THAT CRUSHED THE CANAANITES FOREVER! The remnant that was left never interfered with Israel again. Israel had full control from then on, from Dan up there in the north, clear down to Megiddo on the south. That's the place in the Plain of Esdraelon, where the Kishon River flows at Megiddo, a big round mountain, where the final big battle of Armageddon is going to be fought! That's right near where Haifa is now. See where Mount Carmel is above Megiddo, well, Haifa's in that little crook, that bay. Note the location here on the map of Mount Tabor & Hazor.
18. HERE WE SEE LOFTY MOUNT HERMON. You can even see the snow on top of it. See the beautiful stream, the waterfall, in the foreground there, coming down from that melted snow up there--it makes me thirsty: Nice ice-cold water flowing down the mountain! This will give you a little idea of the nature of the country now in the hands of Israel.
THE RIVER JORDAN COMES DOWN FROM THOSE MELTED SNOWS OF MOUNT HERMON. Mount Hermon is nearly 10,000 feet high, that's pretty high--about 2 miles high! It's the constant snow that sends down an abundant supply of refreshing water in all seasons. The scenery is very beautiful & the soil, in the valleys of the mountains here, is as fertile as can be found in all Palestine!
19. HERE WE SEE THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON--THAT'S WHERE MEGIDDO IS LOCATED. It crosses Palestine; most of the other valleys of Palestine run north & south, but this one runs east & west, from the River Jordan over to the sea. Esdraelon proper stops near Jezreel, the source of the Kishon, & from there the water is carried to the Jordan through the Plain of Bethshan. This country will be gone over again with Gideon, Saul & others, as we follow the Bible Story in Pictures.
20. NOW WE SEE THE SEA OF GALILEE, right near the source of the Kishon River, in the Plain of Esdraelon. The Sea of Galilee, which abounds with fish, is also included in this territory, which is on the north & the west, & has many acres of very fertile plains.
21. HERE WE SEE THE RUINS OF WHAT WAS ONCE THE GREAT CITY OF CAPERNAUM. Centuries after this date that we're studying, Capernaum & Chorazin were built on this plain. It was declared that they were exalted to the heavens. You remember what happened to them? They're in ruins today because Jesus cursed them, because they refused to believe on Him. That's the greatest sin of all--to refuse to believe in Jesus!
22. THIS IS WHERE BETHSAIDA ONCE STOOD, which flourished in the time of Jesus, & from whence He gained many of His most enthusiastic followers. All of this is a part of that northern Israel, which was conquered by Deborah & her soldiers.
23. HERE WE SEE THE PLAIN OF GENNESARET; perhaps the most extensive & fertile plain on the west shores of the Sea of Galilee, sometimes called the Sea of Gennesaret. This beautiful plain along the shore is very fertile & they grow lots of crops there.
24. YOU ONLY NEED TO SEE MOUNT TABOR to get a complete idea of all of the land belonging to the northern tribes under Deborah.
25. HERE WE SEE THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. Here Barak & Deborah met & led 10,000 men against Sisera, some 20 miles to the southwest of this point.
26. NOW WE ARE GOING TO START A NEW STORY: A STORY ABOUT GIDEON. He was another great man of God, who was one of the Judges of Israel. Israel had enjoyed peace for about 40 years, when they were afflicted by the Midianites, in conjunction with the Amalekites.
THE MIDIANITES & THE AMALEKITES GAVE THEM A LOT OF TROUBLE! They were distant relatives of Israel, through Esau, who occupied the territory east of the Dead Sea & westward to the Sinaitic Desert. They lived over here on this side, just off the edge of the map here. These people took charge of the crops at the harvest time & they drove off the cattle, through the length of the maritime plain & Esdraelon. That wasn't very nice of them, was it!
27. HERE WE SEE A MOUNTAIN GORGE. It was a miserable existence for Israel, as they often had to seek hiding places in cliffs & mountain gorges like this one, while these invaders pillaged their land! (Judg.6:2.)
28. HERE YOU SEE A MIDIANITE CHIEF. He's got a falcon on his hand there. Falconing was a very famous sport; they trained these birds to fly & kill other birds, & to bring them back as prey.
29. HERE IS THE CITY OF OPHRAH. The Israelites were still marrying into the families of the remaining Canaanites--something that had been forbidden them by the Lord, & it caused them a lot of trouble!
GIDEON, A NATIVE OF OPHRAH, MARRIED A WOMAN OF SHECHEM, a city some 8 to 10 miles from his home. To them was born a son, Abimelech, who turned out to be a renegade, whom we shall meet later. So you see, that marriage was not a very good thing, & it was not approved of by the Lord, & it caused a lot of trouble; but Gideon was a man who believed in God, nevertheless, & he loved God & he tried to follow the Lord.
30. HE HAD A CALL FROM GOD BY WAY OF AN ANGEL. Notwithstanding his lowly birth, Gideon was called by the Lord to deliver Israel from these desert people. Gideon loudly proclaimed his inability:
HE SAID, "I CAN'T DO IT; I'M BUT A CHILD!" You'll never find a prophet or a man of God in the whole Bible that said, "Oh, that's fine, Lord! I'm sure glad You picked me, because I know I'm just the man for the job!" Every time God asked a man to do anything, he said he couldn't do it, he didn't have the talent or he didn't have the strength or couldn't talk or something.
NO PROPHET EVER WANTED TO BE A PROPHET! Did you know that? God made them be prophets! He almost forced them to do His will. That's the best kind of a prophet: The man that God calls, even if he doesn't want to be a prophet!
GIDEON WAS CALLED TO SERVE THE LORD. After an extraordinary experience with the Lord, in spite of his protests, he set out with great fervour to accomplish God's Will.
31. HERE WE SEE THE PLACE WHERE GIDEON FIRST SACRIFICED TO THE LORD. He began doing God's will by tearing down the altars to Baal & by cutting down their sacred trees in Ophrah. He built an altar to Jehovah instead & he made burnt offerings unto the Lord. He not only told them to stop sinning, but he helped them stop, by tearing down their idols & their altars!
32. HERE'S A MIRACLE THAT HAPPENED TO GIDEON. His neighbours didn't appreciate him trying to make them stop sinning! Has any prophet ever been appreciated very much? Most of the prophets were persecuted & stoned & killed, & people refused to listen to them; but it was their job to tell the truth anyhow. What about today?
EVEN IF THE PEOPLE WON'T LISTEN TO US, WE STILL HAVE TO PREACH THEM THE GOSPEL, don't we? Even if the people won't hear us, we've got to tell them the truth, even if they say they don't believe it, we still have to witness to them! There was hardly any prophet who wanted to be a prophet, & even when he prophesied, the people wouldn't listen.--Kind of a discouraging business, isn't it! He had to do a job that he didn't want to do, & even when he did the job, why, it didn't seem to get much results sometimes.--But
IT'S ONE OF GOD'S BUSINESSES & YOU'VE GOT TO TELL THE PEOPLE THE TRUTH! Why? Because God loves the people & He wants to warn them before He punishes them! Gideon's neighbours got so mad at him tearing down their altars & idols! If it hadn't been that the Lord performed a miracle with the fleece, Gideon might have quit entirely & lost heart. Do you remember what the miracle was, Faithy? (Faithy:)
HE TOLD THE LORD THAT HE WAS GOING TO PUT OUT A FLEECE & that he wanted the Lord to just drop the dew on the fleece & have the ground all dry. The next morning only the dew was on the fleece; there wasn't any on the ground! He told the Lord again, this time I'm going to set the fleece out & I want the fleece dry & the ground around it all wet.
(SO THE NEXT MORNING HE GOT UP, & THE FLEECE WAS DRY & the ground around it was wet!) That certainly was a miracle, wasn't it! God must've had His angels cover up the fleece to keep it dry on one occasion, & on another to wet it down good.
THE LORD DID THE MIRACLE, & THAT WAY GIDEON KNEW GOD WAS WITH HIM--so he went right on tearing down idols & tearing down altars just the same! Now most of Israel sort of favoured these moves of Gideon. His own Tribe Manasseh, together with the mixed breed Abiezer of Ophrah & Shechem, his neighbours, finally did rally to him. Then Asher, Naphtali & Zebulun came down from the north, & they established themselves at the foot of Mount Gibeon.
33. IT'S KIND OF FADED OUT, BUT MOUNT GIBEON IS JUST BEYOND THE PASTURAGE here, in the upper part of the photo.
34. HERE WE SEE THE PLAIN OF BETHSHAN. The Midianites & associated tribes crossed the Jordan near here, seeking to spoil, as they had done for 7 years. They were just coming over to take the cattle & to reap the crops again.
THEY WEREN'T EXPECTING A FIGHT, because up to this time, Israel never had fought with them! They'd just stand back & let them have it, because they were scared to fight. This time what do you suppose happened? Gideon was around this time & the Tribes were rallying around Gideon.
35. BETWEEN MOUNT GILBOA & MOUNT MOREH, SOMETIMES CALLED LITTLE HERMON, IS A PLAIN SEVERAL MILES WIDE. The Midianites camped on this plain, up against the foot of Mount Moreh.
36. POURING FROM THE FOOT OF MOUNT GILBOA IS A GREAT SPRING, the Spring of Harod, now called Gideon's Fountain. Here Gideon camped & could easily see the approaching Midianites, as they marched up the valley from Bethshan.
37. AT THIS FAMOUS FOUNTAIN, GIDEON CHOOSES 300 MEN. Out of 32,000 men, he chooses 300. (Jud.7:3.) He knew only the ones that God could use would win the victory! Gideon himself acted as a spy, & he became convinced that he could, at last, turn back the Midianites--if he had the right men. He'd had 32,000 men; but when he had followed the Lord's direction to thin them out, he only had 300 men left! It would seem that's kind of silly, after he had 32,000 men.
WHY DIDN'T HE FIGHT THE BATTLE WITH 32,000? Because God can do more with a little Gideon's Band of 300 people who love the Lord & are really going to fight for Jesus, than He can with 32,000 that are going to be faint-hearted or scared or selfish or worried about their own comfort! Right? God could do more with the little group of people like you children & us folks, if we'll get out & attack the Enemy's territory!
IF WE'LL DO THE THINGS WE SHOULD & WITNESS FOR THE LORD, we can accomplish more than all the churches put together--if we really preach the Gospel! He wanted to show Israel that He was the One that was going to win the victory!
38. SO WITH THE TORCHES & THE PITCHERS, THEY RAN INTO THE CAMP OF THE MIDIANITES doing a very unusual thing! The only arms that they had were these torches & pitchers. These 300 men slipped into the camp of the sleeping Midianites. Suddenly, the pitchers were simultaneously broken, which revealed the torches.
IMAGINE THE GREAT CLATTER WHEN THEY THREW DOWN ALL THESE CLAY PITCHERS & they crashed all over the place! Suddenly their torches brightly appeared, & these 300 men blew 300 trumpets! Whew, boy! That was a lot of racket for 300 men, right! Those 300 men sounded like 33,000, they'd made so much racket!
THEY SO SCARED THE MIDIANITES THAT THEY ALL JUMPED UP & BEGAN TO KILL EACH OTHER, instead of killing the Jews! They fled toward the Jordan in great confusion, murdering each other as they went. God just must have really laughed over the way He got them all excited & all mixed-up. God just confused them, & they ran for the river!
39. THE MIDIANITES & THE ASSOCIATED TRIBES CROSSED THE JORDAN NEAR HERE, seeking to spoil, as they had done before; but they were conquered with just these 300 men!
40. WE'RE NOW IN THE MOUNTAINS OF GILEAD. These are actual photographs of the places where these wonderful Bible events took place. Upon Gideon's return through Penuel & Succoth, in these mountains, he put 77 of the leading citizens to death & pulled down their tower, as he had threatened when the members of the Tribe of Gad refused food to his men, while they were chasing the Midianites.
IT SEEMED PRETTY SEVERE, BUT THAT'S ONE REASON A LOT OF THEM WERE KEPT IN LINE IN THOSE DAYS! Maybe that's one reason why a lot of people stray away from the Lord today, because they get by with so much! When the Lord begins to crack down through the persecution & the tribulation, that He's going to be giving the Church very shortly, there won't be quite so many people straying!
THOSE WHO ARE GOING TO BE FAITHFUL & SERVE HIM, are going to serve Him! Those who are going to serve Baal or the Devil, are going to serve him. The Lord is a good disciplinarian when necessary. He waits, He's patient, He has mercy, but He finally cracks down if we don't pay any attention!
41. NO.41, GIDEON'S NATIVE CITY. For the first time, the suggestion of a king now appeared: Israel was so pleased that they offered to make Gideon king, which the great leader flatly refused! He did, however, accept the gold, which was among the spoils, from which he made an ephod. It may have been some kind of a representation which was to remind them of God, & later it became an object of worship by his devoted admirers--which was against the Law of God! Judges 8.
GIDEON FINALLY RETIRED TO OPHRAH IN HIS OWN HOME, & from the Scriptural account, he had several wives & 71 sons. He died in his native city, at the age of 80, & was buried by the side of his father. And so goes the story of our friend Gideon. (Judges 8:29, 31.)
Review Questions for Chapter 16.
1. Had Israel fully conquered the country?
2. Did they have a leader now?
3. Were they united?
4. Were the Canaanites hospitable to them?
5. What were local leaders called?
6. Who raised up the Judges?
7. Who was Adoni-bezek?
8. What was done after his capture?
9. What happened to Jerusalem?
10. Who took Debir?
11. What was Othniel's prize for his bravery?
12. Whose daughter was Achsah?
13. From whom did Othniel deliver Israel?
14. Who was king of Moab?
15. What did Eglon do?
16. Where was his summer residence?
17. Who slew Eglon?
18. Where is Hazor?
19. Who is the King?
20. Who was Jabin's captain?
21. Where did Sisera live?
22. How many war chariots did he have?
23. Name the woman Judge of Israel.
24. What did she ask of Barak?
25. Where did he assemble 10,000 men?
26. Where did they go from Mount Tabor?
27. Describe the battle of Megiddo.
28. Did Sisera escape?
29. What was his fate?
30. Who was the woman Jael?
31. What was the result of this victory?
32. What was the name of the next Judge?
33. Who robbed Israel of their crops?
34. Who did God appoint to deliver them?
35. Where did Gideon live?
36. Ophrah is near what city?
37. Did Israel rally to Gideon?
38. On which side of the Jordan were the Midianites?
39. How many men were there in Gideon's army at the beginning?
40. How many men from Gideon's army went to the battle?
41. Describe the battle.
42. What became of the kings of the enemy?
43. What honour was offered Gideon?
44. What did he finally accept?
45. Where was he buried?
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