Read Judges 6:1-11

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. ² And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

⁷ When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites,⁸ the Lord sent a prophet to the people 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 slavery. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

¹¹ Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” ¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” ¹⁷ And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. ¹⁸ Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

Chapter six starts of with the cycle of rebellion that Israel was accustomed to. In the midst of God’s grace, they still chose to rebel against God. Because of their rebellion, God gave them over to the Midianites. The result of the Midianites conquering them was that they were forced to move out of their houses and live in mountains and build dens. Because of the impoverished situation of the Israelites, they cried once again to God for help. And again, God’s grace responded to their cry and He sends another judge Gideon to lead the Israelites. We would see that their crying out was short-lived in the book of Judges, yet God was giving them many chances to turn from their wicked ways.

Keypoint #1: In the midst of our sin and rebellion, God’s grace abounds when we cry out to the Lord for help. 

⁸ the Lord sent a prophet to the people 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 slavery. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

In 2 Corinthians 7:10, we see two kinds of sorrow that people have. One is worldly sorrow and the other is godly sorrow. In the worldly sorrow, they cried out to the Lord but it does not change their hearts because they were not truly repentant. And the result was oppression and more oppression. Worldly sorrow is being sorry we got caught but godly sorrow is true repentance for sinning against a Holy God.

2 Corinthians 7:10 ¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Keller said, “Regret is all about us; how I am being hurt, how my life is ruined, how my heart is breaking; but repentance is all about God; how he has been grieved, how his nature as Creator and Redeemer is being trampled on, how his repeated saving actions are being trivialized and used manipulatively.” (Loc915)

Keypoint #2: Know the difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow.

When the people cried out to the Lord, God reminded them of His words, His love, His provision of grace and their disobedience. God brought them back to His words to them.

And it was in the midst of Israel’s rebellion that God called Gideon to lead them. Even when they have not repented of their sin, or worse, moving in worldly sorrow, God was preparing Gideon to bring freedom to the Israelites. Oh what love, the Lord had for his people. Doesn’t this remind you of Romans 5:8