Judges 6:1-10 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.… "Thus saith the Lord... ye have not obeyed My voice." Awful words, but not unmixed with mercy. If the wounds of a friend are faithful — if it be a kindness when the righteous smite us — how much more when our heavenly Father is pleased to reprove! Severe and unsympathising as the utterances of this prophet might sound in the ears of a crushed and dejected people, they were necessary preparation for the coming deliverance. Before the Lord sent them a deliverer, He sent to them a prophet to preach repentance; to remind them that their own disobedience had been the real cause of all their miseries; to prepare them for salvation by piercing them with a sense of sin. It is a mercy if the silence of the skies is broken, even though it be by the voice of correction. If that word which is like a two-edged sword be humbly and dutifully received, the word which heals and restores will presently follow. Thus it was in Gideon's time; a messenger of reproof prepared the way for a messenger of victory. (L. H. Wiseman, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. |
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