Bird's-eye view
This passage plunges us right back into the grim, cyclical rhythm of the book of Judges: sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. Israel, having enjoyed forty years of peace after the victory of Deborah and Barak, once again does evil in the sight of the Lord. The resulting judgment is not a slap on the wrist but a thorough, seven-year-long subjugation by the Midianites. This is not a conventional military occupation; it is a campaign of total economic devastation. The Midianites, along with their allies, function like a plague of locusts, allowing Israel to do the hard work of sowing crops only to sweep in and consume everything, leaving the people destitute and hiding in caves. The purpose of this severe discipline is made clear in the final verse: it is designed to bring Israel "very low," to a point of utter desperation where their only recourse is to cry out to Yahweh, the God they had abandoned. This is a classic biblical illustration of the principle that God's harsh providence is often His most potent mercy, stripping away every false comfort until we are ready to turn back to Him.
The logic of the covenant is on full display here. The blessings and curses laid out in Deuteronomy are not abstract threats; they are the very structure of history. When Israel walks in obedience, they are blessed. When they turn to idols, the curses of the covenant are activated with precision. God is not a passive observer; He is the one who "gave them into the hands of Midian." The oppression is severe because the sin was grievous. And the cry of the people, though born of misery, is the first step toward the deliverance that God will provide through a most unlikely hero, Gideon.
Outline
- 1. The Covenantal Cycle Renewed (Judges 6:1-6)
- a. Israel's Sin and God's Judgment (Judges 6:1)
- b. The Nature of the Oppression: Humiliation (Judges 6:2)
- c. The Method of the Oppression: Economic Ruin (Judges 6:3-5)
- d. The Result of the Oppression: Desperation and Repentance (Judges 6:6)
Context In Judges
Judges 6 follows the forty years of rest that came after the victory of Deborah and Barak over Sisera and the Canaanites (Judges 4-5). That victory was a high point, celebrated with one of the most magnificent songs in Scripture. But as is the pattern in Judges, a generation arises that did not know the Lord or the work He had done for Israel. The peace and prosperity that God had granted were squandered on idolatry. This new round of apostasy brings about a new and particularly debilitating form of judgment. The enemy is not a single king like Jabin, but a nomadic horde from the east, the Midianites and Amalekites. The oppression is not centered in one region but covers the whole land, stripping it bare. This sets the stage for the call of Gideon, a man who embodies the state of Israel at the time: fearful, hiding, and deeply cynical about God's promises, yet the very man God will use to bring about a mighty deliverance.
Key Issues
- The Deuteronomic Cycle of Sin and Grace
- God's Active Sovereignty in Judgment
- The Nature of Covenant Curses
- Economic Warfare as Divine Discipline
- The Relationship Between Desperation and Repentance
- Corporate Guilt and National Apostasy
The Logic of the Locusts
There is a divine logic to the judgments of God. They are never arbitrary, and they are often tailored to the nature of the sin. Israel had turned from the God who provides all sustenance to worship false gods who provide nothing. They abandoned the Creator for the sake of creation. So, God unleashes a judgment that strikes at the heart of their sustenance. He sends an enemy that acts like a force of nature, a consuming swarm of locusts, to demonstrate the utter inability of their idols to protect their food supply. The judgment is a lesson, a severe object lesson, on the consequences of idolatry. When you worship the creation, the creation will turn and devour you. When you abandon the Giver of the harvest, you forfeit the harvest itself. This is the logic of the locusts, and it is a lesson that every generation needs to learn.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1 Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh; and Yahweh gave them into the hands of Midian seven years.
Here is the predictable, tragic refrain of the book of Judges. The rest won by the previous generation is forgotten, and the people turn back to their idols. The phrase "did what was evil" is a standard formula for apostasy, specifically the worship of Canaanite gods. The response from God is immediate and personal. This is not bad luck. It is not a geopolitical accident. The text is plain: Yahweh gave them into the hands of their enemy. God is sovereign over the rise and fall of nations, and He will use pagan powers as His rod of discipline against His own rebellious people. Midian has no power over Israel except what is given to it from above. The duration is "seven years," a number often associated in Scripture with a complete period or cycle. This was to be a full and complete course of disciplinary action.
2 And the power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.
The judgment is effective. Midian's power "prevailed," meaning it was overwhelming and crushing. The result is a complete reversal of the conquest. The Israelites, who were supposed to be the masters of the promised land, are now reduced to living like hunted animals. They are driven from their homes and farms into holes in the ground. This is a picture of utter humiliation. They had been promised a land flowing with milk and honey, a place of security and abundance. Their sin has turned that promise into a barren rock. They are fugitives in their own inheritance, a stark illustration of the covenant curse found in Deuteronomy 28, where God warns that if they disobey, they will be oppressed and crushed.
3 And it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would go up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go up against them.
The particular genius of this oppression is its timing. The Midianites and their confederates were not interested in occupying and administering the land. They were parasites. They would wait until the Israelites had done all the back-breaking labor of plowing the fields and sowing the seed. Just as the harvest was ready, this marauding horde would sweep in. This was calculated to inflict the maximum amount of economic pain and psychological despair. It is one thing to be conquered; it is another to be forced to labor for your enemies, only to have the fruit of that labor stolen before your eyes, year after year.
4 So they would camp against them and ruin the produce of the earth as far as Gaza and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey.
The devastation was total. They did not just take a portion as tribute; they would "ruin the produce," suggesting a scorched-earth policy. The geographical scope was vast, "as far as Gaza" on the Mediterranean coast, indicating that no part of Israel was safe. And the plundering was comprehensive. They left "no sustenance," which includes not just the grain but also the livestock: sheep for wool and sacrifice, oxen for plowing, and donkeys for transport. They were systematically stripping the entire economic infrastructure of the nation, ensuring that Israel would be left impoverished, starving, and unable to mount any effective resistance.
5 For they would go up with their livestock and their tents; they would come in like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to make it a ruin.
The scale of the invasion is emphasized here. This was not a small raiding party; it was a mass migration of peoples. They came with their own livestock and tents, prepared to stay as long as it took to consume everything. The simile used is perfect: "like locusts for number." A locust swarm is an ancient symbol of unstoppable, all-consuming destruction. It is a force of nature against which there is no defense. The mention of camels is also significant; camels gave them a strategic advantage in mobility, allowing them to strike deep and fast. Their stated purpose was not conquest, but destruction: they came "to make it a ruin." Sin always invites ruin.
6 So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh.
This verse gives us the purpose and the result of the previous five. All this suffering, this humiliation, this ruin, was intended to bring Israel "very low." The Hebrew word implies being impoverished, weakened, and emptied of all strength and pride. God's discipline had achieved its goal. All their self-reliance was shattered. Their idols were exposed as useless. They had hit rock bottom. And it is from the bottom, and only from the bottom, that they finally do the one thing that can save them. They "cried out to Yahweh." This is not necessarily the cry of full-throated, mature repentance, not yet. It is the cry of pure desperation. But God, in His mercy, hears even that cry. This is the turning point. God brings us low so that we will look up.
Application
The cycle of Judges is the cycle of the human heart. We are constantly prone to wander from the God who loves and provides for us, chasing after the worthless idols of our own making, whether they be security, comfort, approval, or power. And the lesson of Midian is that God loves His people too much to let them get away with it. He will not hesitate to introduce hardship into our lives to expose our idolatry and bring us to our senses.
This divine discipline can often feel like a locust swarm. It can be overwhelming. It can feel like everything is being stripped away: our financial security, our health, our relationships. It can leave us feeling "brought very low." But we must learn to see the hand of a loving Father in such providences. The goal is never our ultimate ruin, but rather our repentance and restoration. God is stripping away the things we trust in so that we will be forced to trust only in Him. The lowest point of our lives can become the most blessed turning point, if it is the point where we finally, desperately, cry out to the Lord.
The good news of the gospel is that God has already provided the ultimate answer to our cry. He has sent a deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who did not come to ruin us, but to be ruined for us. He endured the ultimate curse of the covenant on the cross, so that we who cry out to Him in faith might receive the ultimate blessing of forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life. Therefore, when God's discipline comes, do not despair. Recognize it as a severe mercy, a call to repentance, and cry out to the one who is always ready to hear and mighty to save.