The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 91: Gideon's Story (2023)

Episode Date: April 1, 2023

In today's reading from Judges, Fr. Mike talk about Gideon's story, and points out how the people began to worship the object Gideon had created to glorify God, instead of worshipping the living God. In Ruth, he highlights the role of kinsman-redeemer and how Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of that role. Today's readings are Judges 6-8, Ruth 3, and Psalm 135. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hey everyone, before we get started today, I want to say a quick thank you for all your prayers and support for this podcast. It's been such a gift. This whole Ascentrum team has been so humbled to hear about the impact of this show in your lives. We have heard unbelievable stories of renewed faith, of conversion, of grace, and we're praying for each other. So please keep those prayers coming. And if you're able, please consider giving a small financial gift to support the production of this show. This show is free to everyone, to anyone, but it's not free to make. And so, if you want to find out how to make a gift, visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast,

where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 91, and today we are reading from Judges chapters 6, 7, and 8, as well as from the book of Ruth, chapter 3. Ruth is only four chapters long, so we are three quarters of the way through it at the end of today. And we're also praying Psalm 135. As always, I'm reading from the revised standard version, second Catholic edition, reading from the great adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to get that Bible, you can go to ascensionpress.com and order it or Amazon or wherever they sell Bibles.

You can also download your Bible in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. If you haven't yet done that, you can also subscribe to this podcast. You can also rate it. You can also give it one star, up to five stars, and you can also give a review, which is really helpful for a lot of people because the more people review,

the more people get to see it, and maybe more people start reading the Bible, which could be pretty awesome. Anyways, as I said, today is day 91. We're still traveling with the judges. Today, we're going to be following the judge whose name is Gideon. You might know his story, but by the end of today, you will definitely know his story. As always, we are praying for each other. Usually, I save that to the end, but gosh, I think we need to begin this day just knowing that we belong here, you belong here, and the

Lord does want to speak to you today. He is proud of you and he loves you very much. The book of Judges chapter 6. The Midianite oppression. The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed over Israel the hand of Midian prevailed over Israel, and because of Midian, the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and the strongholds. For whenever the Israelites put in seed,

the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east would come up and attack them. They would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land as far as the neighborhood of Gaza and leave no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep or ox or donkey. And they would come up with their cattle and their tents coming like locusts for number.

Both they and their camels could not be counted so that they wasted the land as they came in. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the sons of Israel cried for help to the Lord. When the sons of Israel cried to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel. And he said to them, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, I am the Lord your God. You shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell,

but you have not given heed to my voice. The Call of Gideon Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezarite. And his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. And Gideon said to him, Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has cast us off and given us into the hand of Midian.

And the Lord turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Do not I send you? And he said to him, Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. And the Lord said to him, But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. And he said to him, If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Do not depart from here, I beg you, until I come to you and

bring out my present and set it before you. And he said, I will stay till you return. So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour, the meat he put in a basket and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock and pour the broth over them. And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

Then Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God, for now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. But the Lord said to him, Peace be to you. Do not fear. You shall not die. Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord is Peace. To this day, it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. That night, the Lord said to him, Take your father's bull, the second bull, seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal, which your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it, and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of the stronghold here with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bowl and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah, which you shall cut down. So Gideon took 10 men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him, but because he was too afraid of his family and the

men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. Gideon destroys the altar of Baal. When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered upon the altar which had been built. And they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And after they had made search and inquired, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this thing. And after they had made search and inquired, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash has done this thing. Then the men of the town said to Joash, bring out your son that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it. But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, will you contend for Baal or will you defend his cause? Whoever

contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down. Therefore, on that day, he was called Jerubabal. That is to say, let Baal contend against him, because he pulled down his altar. Then all the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the people of the east came together, and crossing the Jordan, they encamped in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. Then he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher,

Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. The sign of the fleece. Then Gideon said to God, If you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said. And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung out enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God,

Let not your anger burn against me. Let me speak but this once. Please, let me make trial only this once with the fleece. Please, let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night, for it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. Chapter 7. Gideon's Army Selected.

Then Jerubabbel, that is, Gideon, and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Herod. And the camp of Midian was north of them by the hill of Morah in the valley. The Lord said to Gideon, the people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, my own hand has delivered me. Now therefore, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home. And Gideon tested them. Twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained. And the Lord said to Gideon, The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And he of whom I say to you, This man shall

go with you, shall go with you. And any of whom I shall say to you, this man shall go with you, shall go with you. And any of whom I shall say to you, this man shall not go with you, shall not go. So he brought the people down to the water and the Lord said to Gideon, everyone that laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, everyone that kneels down to drink. And the number of those that lapped putting their their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men. But all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the Lord said to Gideon, With the three hundred men that lapped, I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home. So he took the charge of the people from their hands and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent that retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian

was below him in the valley. Gideon routes the Midianites. That same night, the Lord said to him, arise, go down against the camp for I have given it into your hand. But if you fear to go down, go down to the camp with Purah, your servant, and you shall hear what they say. And afterward, your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp. Then he went down with Purah, his servant, to the outposts of the armed men that were in the camp.

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley like locusts for multitude. And their camels were without number as the sand which is upon the locusts for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude. When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade, and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream. And a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside

down, so that the tent lay flat. And his comrade answered, This is no other than the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand God has given Midian and all the host. When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand. And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put trumpets into the hands of all of them, and empty jars with torches inside the jars. And he said to them, Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp,

do as I do. When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout for the Lord and for Gideon. So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch when they had just set up the watch and they blew the trumpets

and smashed the jars that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried a sword for the Lord and for Gideon. They stood every man in his place round about the camp and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword

against his fellow and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Bet Shittah, toward Zerurah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah by Tabath. And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian. And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and seize the waters against them as far as Beth-barah and also the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-barah and also the Jordan. And they took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeb, and they killed Oreb on the rock of Oreb, and Zeb they killed at the winepress of Zeb, as they pursued Midian. And they brought the heads

of Oreb and Zeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan. Chapter 8. Gideon's Triumph. And the men of Ephraim said to him, What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight with Midian? And they upbraided him violently. And he said to them, what have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezar? God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb, and Zeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger against him was abated when he had said this. And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint yet pursuing.

So he said to the men of Sukkoth, Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Ziba and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. And the officials of Sukkoth said, Are Ziba and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army? And Gideon said, Well then, when the Lord has given Ziba and Zalunah into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars. And from there he went up to Penuel and spoke with them in the same way.

And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Sukkoth had answered. And he said to the men of Penuel, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. Now Ziba and Zamuna were in Karkor with all their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the east, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. And Gideon went up by the Kiravan route east of Nabah and Jokbah and attacked the army, for the army was off its guard. And Ziba and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Ziba and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic. Then Gideon, the son of Joash, returned from the battle by the ascent of Perez. And he caught a young man of

Sukkoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Sukkoth, seventy-seven men. And he came to the men of Sukkoth and said, Behold, Ziba and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, Are Ziba and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint? And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with them taught the men of Sukkoth. And he broke down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. Then he said to Ziba and Zamunah, Where are the men whom you slew at Tabor? They answered, As you are, so were they,

every one of them. They resembled the sons of a king. And he said, they were my brothers, the sons of my mother, as the Lord lives. If you had saved them alive, I would not slay you. And he said to Jether, his firstborn, rise and slay them. But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth. Then Ziba and Zalmunna said, rise yourself and fall upon us. For as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose and slew Ziba and Zalmunna said, Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose and slew Ziba and Zalmunna, and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels. Gideon's ephod becomes a snare. Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian.

Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. The Lord will rule over you. And Gideon said to them, Let me make a request of you. Give me, every man of you, the earrings of a spoil, for they had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites. And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and every man cast in it the earrings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden earrings that he had requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that

were about the necks of their camels. And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city in Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot after it there. And it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. The Death of Gideon Jerubabbel, the son of Joash, went and dwelt in his own house. Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. And his concubine, who was in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. And Gideon, the son of Joash, died in a good old age,

and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezarites. As soon as Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned again and played the harlot after the Baals and made Baal-barit their god. And the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side. And they did not show kindness to the family of Jerubabel, that is Gideon, in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. The Book of Ruth, Chapter 3. Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, should I not seek a home for you,

that it may be well with you? Now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore, and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do. And she replied, All that you say I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had told her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the

heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. He said, Who are you? And she answered, I am Ruth, your maidservant. Spread your garment over your maidservant, for you are next of kin. And he said, May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter, for you have made this last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of worth. And now, it is true that I am a near kinsman, yet there is

a kinsman nearer than I. Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will do the part of the next of kin for you, well, let him do it. But if he is not willing to do the part of the next of kin for you, then as the Lord lives, I will do the part of the next of kin for you. Lie down until the morning. So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. And he said, bring the mantle you are wearing and hold it out.

So she held it and measured out six measures of barley and laid it upon her. Then she went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, how did you fare my daughter? Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law. She replied, Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today. Psalm 135 Praise for God's goodness and might. Praise the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Give praise, O servants of the Lord, you that stand in the house of the Lord,

in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Sing to his name, for he is gracious. For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself and Israel for his own possession. For I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. He it was who struck the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and of beast, who in your midst, O Egypt, sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants, who struck many nations and slew mighty kings, Sihang, the king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan,

and gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to his people Israel. Your name, O Lord, endures forever. Your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages. For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants. The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. They have eyes, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Like them be those who make them. Yes, everyone who trusts in them. O house of Israel, bless the Lord. O house of Aaron, bless the Lord. O house of Aaron, bless the Lord. O house of Levi, bless the Lord. You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.

Blessed be the Lord from Zion, he who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise the Lord. Father in heaven, may your name be praised. May your name be glorified. May we know who you are and lift up our voices and our hearts to always honor you, always praise you, and always thank you. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Okay, gosh, we had the story of Gideon today. As you noticed, three chapters from the book of Judges following the story of Gideon, whose name was changed to Jerubabbel, which is not as easy to say as you might think. A lot of those consonants right back to back make it a little difficult for this guy right here. Anyways, the reality behind this story of Gideon is it starts out with him doing what? It starts out with him crushing the Baals and the Asheroth.

He takes his life into his hands by destroying the Baal and by destroying the Asherah, this place of worship of the false gods. And he becomes the one who contends against Baal. And it's so good. It starts out so good. But what happens is he also then turns to idolatry. Even though Gideon is a decent judge, one of the things we're going to hear again and again is even so-so judges, even good judges, even judges who seem to have some honor to them also are tempted by the same thing that every one of us is tempted by. And that's idolatry. He sets up this golden ephod, right? Remember the ephod was what the priests would wear when they were worshiping in the temple. That was that linen garment, that ephod that they would wear in the temple. And he sets up, he makes a golden ephod.

He doesn't make a baal, he doesn't make a golden calf. He actually makes a symbol of what is used to worship the living and true God. And yet what happens is the people turn to it instead of turning to God. They're distracted by it instead of turning their hearts to the Lord. And it's just so, so incredible. And again, incredible in the bad way. It says in chapter eight, verses 27, it says, Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in the city in Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot after it there. And it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. So even though Gideon was the one who contended

against the Baals, right against the false gods, he turned out to be someone who was setting up his family to turn back to the Baals, turn back to the false gods. In fact, it says in verse 33, as soon as Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned again and played harlot after the Baals, and they made Baal-barit their god. And Baal-barit means the Baal of the covenant. Gosh, just how awful is that? Why? Because the covenant is what they made with the true and living God, the Lord himself, who revealed his name to the people of Israel. And now they're worshiping the false God that they're connecting to the true God.

And that is so often what we can do. We can take our version of God, whatever version of God we like the most, whatever version of Jesus we like the most, and we can twist the true and living God who reveals himself in his fullness and say, no, I like this version. I like this little part. And that is always a snare. And that's what happens to Gideon and to his family after him. And so the land was given rest, but then they turned it once again away from true and living worship and they turned it into idolatry. Now, last little note, because I know this is a long set of readings, and so we're getting to the end here.

But one of the things you find in Ruth, Ruth chapter 3, is there's the reality of what they call the kinsman redeemer. Another word for it is the goel, right? So the goel is the Hebrew term for the kinsman redeemer. We came across this when we read through Leviticus and Numbers and even Deuteronomy. Remember, there was a specifically defined role in Israel's family life. So, for example, if one of the Israelites fell into slavery in Leviticus 25, 48, the kinsman Redeemer was responsible to buy the fellow Israelites out of slavery. If someone was killed, was murdered, then the kinsman

Redeemer, their job was to make sure that the family member was answered in justice in Numbers 35. If there's ever someone had lost land, the kinsman redeemer was responsible to buy back family land that had been forfeited, Leviticus 25, 25. And also the last one is in Deuteronomy 25 verses five through 10, the kinsman redeemer was responsible to carry on the family name by marrying a childless widow. That's what Ruth is. Ruth is a widow with no children. And so she comes to Boaz and says, you're our relative. Would you marry me? Essentially, she puts herself in this position of trust to this man, Boaz, who's already shown her great, great kindness. And Boaz says that he would love to,

but there is a nearer kinsman, someone who is actually the primary kinsman redeemer for her. And he's going to talk to this guy in chapter four, and that is happening tomorrow. So that's the role of the kinsman redeemer. And there's a definite connection between the kinsman redeemer of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ in in the new testament here's why because remember leviticus 25 48 anyone who's fallen into slavery the role of the kinsman redeemer to buy that person out of slavery what has jesus done he's made us his brother he's made us his brother in all things and he's forfeited his life to redeem us that's why he's the kinsman redeemer um selling himself into slavery so that you

and I can have life. I know that's just a really quick little brief thing, but we had a lot of reading today. You guys, I am so grateful that you're sticking with this, especially when these days kind of get a little bit longer. I apologize, but at the same time, it is God's word and it is so, so good. I am praying for you. Please keep praying for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.