The Hard Grace of Utter Ruin Text: Judges 6:1-6
Introduction: The Downward Spiral
The book of Judges is not a pleasant story. It is a book of cycles, a downward spiral of apostasy, judgment, misery, and desperate cries for help. It is the historical record of what happens when a people, blessed beyond measure by God, decide that they know better. The refrain of the book tells the whole story: "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). And when every man is his own king, what you get is not glorious freedom, but anarchy, bondage, and chaos.
We are currently living in such a time. Our generation has thrown off the yoke of Christ, declared its own autonomy, and is now bewildered by the arrival of the Midianites. We are shocked to find that when we abandon God's law, we are not ushered into a utopia of personal freedom, but rather into a state of utter ruin. We are stripped bare, impoverished, and left with nothing. This is not an accident. This is the predictable, covenantal outworking of sin. God is a loving father, and a loving father does not spare the rod on a rebellious son.
The pattern in Judges is clear, and we would do well to learn it, because it is the pattern of how God deals with His covenant people in all ages. First, the people do evil in the sight of the Lord. Second, God, in His justice, hands them over to oppressors. Third, the people, brought to the end of their rope, cry out to the Lord. Fourth, God, in His inexplicable mercy, raises up a deliverer. This cycle repeats itself over and over, with each turn of the wheel sinking Israel deeper into depravity. Our text today catches them right at the beginning of another nauseating spin on this carousel.
What we are about to read is a description of God's severe mercy. It is the story of how God loves His people enough to ruin them. He loves them too much to let them prosper in their sin. He will send the locusts, He will send the Midianites, He will send economic collapse and cultural devastation, all to bring His children to the point where they have nowhere else to look but up. This is a hard grace, but it is grace nonetheless.
The Text
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh.
(Judges 6:1-6 LSB)
Sin and its Consequence (v. 1)
The story begins, as it always does after a period of peace, with rebellion.
"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." (Judges 6:1)
The first clause is the root of all the misery that follows. "The sons of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh." The standard for good and evil is not a democratic vote, nor is it the shifting sands of cultural approval. The standard is the eyes of Yahweh. What He sees as evil, is evil. The particular evil here was, as usual, idolatry. They had gone whoring after the Baals and the Asheroth, the cheap, filthy gods of the Canaanites. They traded the glory of the transcendent Creator for gods they could make with their own hands, gods who would conveniently approve of their licentious lifestyles.
And notice the direct, causal connection. They did evil, AND Yahweh gave them into the hands of Midian. This was not a coincidence. This was not bad geopolitical luck. This was the active, judicial hand of God. God is sovereign over the nations, and He uses pagan nations as His rod of discipline. He is the one who raises up the Midianites and gives them their power. We must disabuse ourselves of the notion that when our nation suffers, it is simply the result of flawed economic policy or the fault of the other political party. At the root of national decline is national sin, and the one who orchestrates that decline is God Himself. He is the one who hands us over. He is turning up the heat, and He does it out of a severe love.
The Humiliation of God's People (v. 2)
The consequence of this judgment was total subjugation and humiliation.
"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." (Judges 6:2)
The people who were promised a land flowing with milk and honey, the people who were commanded to be the head and not the tail, are now reduced to living like animals. They are hiding in holes in the ground. The Hebrew word for "dens" here can refer to tunnels or trenches, places of desperation. This is a picture of a people utterly defeated, living in constant fear. They had been given beautiful homes and cultivated fields, but they traded it all for idolatry, and now they are back to scrambling for cover in caves.
This is what sin does. It promises freedom and power, but it delivers bondage and fear. It promises to make you like God, but it reduces you to something less than a man, hiding in the dark from the consequences of your own rebellion. When a nation abandons God, it does not become a sophisticated, secular paradise. It becomes a nation of cowards, hiding from reality in the caves of their own making, whether those caves are literal holes in the rock or the digital distractions and ideological echo chambers of our own day.
Systematic Ruin (v. 3-5)
The oppression was not random; it was a systematic dismantling of their entire way of life.
"And it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would go up... 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... they would come in like locusts for number... and they came into the land to make it a ruin." (Judges 6:3-5)
This was calculated cruelty, designed for maximum impact. The Midianites, along with their allies, would wait until the Israelites had done all the hard work. They waited until the seed was sown and the crops began to grow. Then, at the moment of hope, they would descend. This was not just theft; it was psychological warfare. It was designed to crush their spirit, to teach them that all their labor was futile.
The scope of the destruction was total. They ruined the produce "as far as Gaza," meaning they swept across the entire productive land. They left "no sustenance." This is a picture of systematic starvation. They took not only the grain but also the livestock: the sheep, the ox, the donkey. They took everything. This is what happens when God removes His hand of protection. The enemies He had been holding back are let loose, and they do not show restraint.
The description of the invaders is terrifying. They were "like locusts for number." Their camels were "innumerable." This is the language of overwhelming, unstoppable force. It paints a picture of a black swarm covering the land, devouring everything in its path. Their purpose was singular: "they came into the land to make it a ruin." This is what our modern secularism is doing. It is a locust plague, devouring the Christian capital of our civilization, leaving no sustenance, ruining our institutions, and making our cultural landscape a desolation.
The Goal of God's Judgment (v. 6)
Finally, we come to the purpose of this entire ordeal. All this ruin, all this pain, had a divine goal.
"So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh." (Judges 6:6)
Here we have it. The first clause is the means, and the second is the end. God's intention was to bring Israel "very low." The Hebrew here means to be impoverished, to be emptied out, to be made thin. God had to drain them of all their self-sufficiency, all their pride, all their trust in their own strength or their worthless idols. He had to let them hit rock bottom. And it is only when they were brought very low, with absolutely nowhere else to turn, that they finally did the one thing that could save them: "the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh."
This is the hard grace of utter ruin. God will lovingly, patiently, and justly orchestrate the complete collapse of our lives, our fortunes, and our nation if that is what it takes to get us to cry out to Him. He does not delight in our suffering, but He delights in our repentance far more than He delights in our comfort. As long as we are fat and happy in our sin, we will not cry out. So He sends the Midianites to make us thin. He sends the locusts to empty our barns. He brings us very low, so that we will look up high.
Conclusion: The Locusts of Late-Stage Secularism
We should read this passage and see our own reflection in it. We are a people who have done evil in the sight of the Lord. We have chased after the idols of materialism, sexual autonomy, and the god of the self. And as a result, Yahweh is giving us over. The locusts are in the land. Our cultural produce is being devoured. Our institutions are being made a ruin. Our children are being spiritually starved. We are being brought very low.
And we have two options. We can continue to hide in our caves, cursing the Midianites and blaming everyone but ourselves. Or we can recognize the hand of the Lord in our affliction. We can see this judgment for what it is: a severe mercy, a call to repentance. The whole point of being brought low is to cause us to cry out.
The good news is that when His people cry out, our God hears. The story does not end here in verse six. God is about to raise up a most unlikely deliverer, a man hiding in a winepress, to save His people. In the same way, God has already raised up the ultimate deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who defeated our ultimate enemy on the cross. The path to deliverance for Israel began with a cry of desperation from the dust. And the path to deliverance for our own souls, and for our nation, begins in the very same place.
Therefore, let us not despise the ruin. Let us not waste our affliction. Let us see the locusts and the empty barns as God's megaphone, calling us to our knees. Let us be brought very low, so that together we might cry out to Yahweh. For it is only when we are utterly emptied of ourselves that we can be filled with Him.