Judges 6:7 - Meaning and Application

Here we should notice, first, that God heard Israel’s cries when they finally turned to him. In their time of ease, they had ignored him and paid court to his rivals, the false gods of the surrounding nations. They did not seek him until trouble forced them to it, yet when they cried and prayed, he intended to help them. This shows how ready he is to forgive, how quick he is to show mercy, and how willing he is to hear prayer, so sinners may be encouraged to return and repent (Psalm 130:4).

Second, we should notice the way God prepared to deliver them. Before he sent an angel to raise up a savior, he sent a prophet to rebuke them for sin and lead them to repentance (Judges 6:8). This prophet is not named, but he was a human prophet, not an angel, as in Judges 2:1. We do not know whether he spoke to the whole people gathered for a feast or special meeting, or whether he went from town to town and tribe to tribe. But his message was meant to convict them of sin, so that when they cried to the Lord, they would confess their sin with sorrow and shame, not spend all their breath complaining about their suffering.

They cried to God for a deliverer, and God sent them a prophet to teach them and prepare them for rescue. We have reason to hope that God is planning mercy for us when we see him preparing us for it by his grace. If he sends a messenger, an interpreter, to a troubled person and shows that person what is right before him, then he is being gracious and is granting recovery (Job 33:23-24). In the same way, when God sends prophets to a people, or gives a land faithful ministers, that is a good sign and proof that he has mercy stored up for them. He turns us to himself, and then causes his face to shine on us (Psalm 80:19).

The prophet’s message, spoken in the Lord’s name, begins by setting before Israel the great things God had already done for them (Judges 6:8-9). “This is what the Lord God of Israel says.” They had worshiped the gods of the nations, as if they had no God of their own and could choose any god they pleased. So they are reminded of the one they had forgotten, the God of Israel, and they are called back to him.

They had turned to other gods, as if their own God were either unable or unwilling to protect them. So the prophet reminds them what God had done for their fathers, from whom they themselves had come, and whose blessing still reached them. He brought them out of Egypt, where they would have remained in slavery and hardship. He delivered them from all who had oppressed them. He gave them this good land to live in peace. That only makes their sin worse and marks it as ugly ingratitude, but it also clears God of blame for their present trouble. They could not say he had been unkind, because he had given every proof that he meant good for them. If evil had come upon them anyway, they must blame themselves.

The prophet also shows how reasonable God’s demands were (Judges 6:10). “I am the Lord your God,” which means they owed him the highest loyalty. Therefore they should not fear the gods of the Amorites, the Canaanite people in the land. In other words, they should not worship them or show them any respect. They did not need to worship them out of fear that these false gods might hurt them, because what could they do while the Lord was their God? If they feared God, they need not fear them.

Finally, the prophet charges them with rebellion against the very God who had given this command: “But you have not obeyed my voice.” The charge is brief, but it covers everything. This was the true evil of all their sin, disobedience to God. That is why these troubles had come upon them, just as God had warned in the judgments attached to his commands. God says this to bring them to repentance. And our repentance is true and sincere only when what grieves us most about sin is that it is disobedience against God.