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ALL ABOUT YOU:
GIDEON, CHAPTER 9
THE SECOND WORK
OF THE LORD
12-14-03
(Judg
6:24) Then Gideon
[feller (warrior) /// to fell a tree:
cut (asunder, down, off), hew down] built an altar there unto the
LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom [Jehovah
is peace]: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah
[a female fawn (the hometown of Gideon)] of the Abiezrites.
1.
The Abiezrite family were descendants of Joseph [let him add (adding)] through his son Manasseh [causing
to forget]. The Abiezrites were the highest ranking family in the tribe of
Manasseh (Josh 17:2), and the part of that tribe that settled west of the
Jordan. The other part of Manasseh settled east of Jordan, and first – early
types of “good ground” and “among the thorns,” both parts saved. God
raised up a deliverer out of a family that was the ringleader in idolatry,
however from “good ground.”
2.
Gideon celebrated the Feast of Passover (Judg 6:12-24: justification),
and begins to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Judg 6:25-32:
sanctification) which began with Passover and continued 7 days.
THE SECOND BULLOCK: THE SECOND WORK OF THE LORD
(Judg
6:25) And it came to pass the
same night, that the LORD said unto
him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock [symbol
of fertility, and power in work] of
seven years old, and throw down [destroy: beat down, pluck down, pull down, ruin, X utterly] the
altar of Baal that thy
father hath [i.e. the apostasy of
the church: perverted doctrine
(Sodom), perverted works (Gomorrah)],
and cut down [to cut (off, down or asunder); destroy, X utterly] the
grove that is by it [idolatry:
the worship of other gods]:
1.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread = All of Gideon’s present activities
are purging the leaven out of the house of God (you and I in type: Exo
12:15-20), in preparation (foreshadowing) for the harvest.
2.
“said unto him” = The first test of faith to temper the sword of
Gideon. Saved Gideon is now hearing God in his inner ear (inside the
Tabernacle) by faith
3.
“the second bullock” = Symbolic of fertility, and power in work. A
type of the second coming of Jesus Christ, i.e. the Day of the Lord,
the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Atonement, the Jubilee, the Sixth Feast,
the Sixth Seal; Ezek 37:1-14; 1 Thes 4:13-18; Rev 6:12-17 through Rev 7:1-17;
Rev 20:4-6.
4.
“of seven years old” = Biblical symbol of completion. When in
association with “the second bullock,” a type or adjective of the second
coming of Jesus Christ – in the work of judgment – the second work.
5.
(Mat 3:11) I indeed baptize
you [to make whelmed (fully wet)]
with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I,
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he
shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost [salvation], and with fire [judgment]:
(Mat 3:12) Whose fan is in his
hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat
[possessive] into the garner [salvation];
but he will burn up the chaff [objective]
with unquenchable fire [judgment].
6.
(Mat 9:13) But go ye and learn
[understand] what that meaneth, I
will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call
the righteous [THE SECOND BULLOCK],
but sinners to repentance [THE
FIRST BULLOCK].
7.
Baal = Dict: Supreme male diety of the Phoenicians and Canaanites,
associated with the sun.
8.
grove = Heb: Asherah (or Astarte) a Phoenician goddess; also an image [images,
totem poles] of same.
9.
Ashtoreth = Dict: Called Astarte by the Greeks and Romans. Called Ishtar
(Easter) by the Assyrians. The supreme female diety of the Phoenicians and
Canaanites. Their goddess of the moon,
sexual love, and fertility [associations:
rabbits, temple prostitutes, the crescent moon of Islam].
FORESHADOWING OF JUDGES CHAPTER 7 (THE OPENED SEAL):
THE SIXTH SEAL IS OPENING , THE SIXTH FEAST, THE
FEAST OF ATONEMENT
(Judg
6:26,27) And
build an altar [a type of the brazen
altar of sacrifice] unto the LORD thy God upon the top [head]
of this rock [fortified place, stronghold (i.e. “the altar of Baal”)], in the
ordered place, and take the second
bullock [“a sin offering for
atonement” Exo 29:36], and offer a
burnt sacrifice with
the wood of the grove which thou
shalt cut down. Then Gideon took ten
men of his servants [i.e. the Ten
Commandments given to serve us], and
did as the LORD had said unto him [Who
did? What did they do? They judged (not the final judgment) the grove,
foreshadowing Judg 7:20.]: and so it was, because he
feared [yare’; to revere,
reverence vs. mowra’; dread, terror] his
father's household, and the men of
the city, that he could not
do it by day, that he did it by night
[foreshadowing Judg 7:19].
1.
(2 Cor 10:4) (For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal [fleshly],
but mighty [powerful, strong]
through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2.
(Lev 23:27-32) Also on the
tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a
day of atonement [to cover, to
expiate: appeasement, forgiveness, pardon, purge,
reconciliation]: it shall be an holy convocation [assembly]
unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls [to
depress: abase self, chasten self, deal hardly with self, humble self, submit
self], and offer an offering made
by fire [i.e. Spiritual: Deut 4:24;
9:3; Heb 12:29 & John 4:24] unto the LORD. And ye shall do no
work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement
for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that
shall not be afflicted
in that same day, he shall be cut
off from among his people [to
cut (off, down or asunder); destroyed or consumed: feller, hewn (down), X
lose, perish, X utterly]. And whatsoever soul it be that
doeth any work in that same day,
the same soul will I destroy from among his people
[Why? Because it is the Lord’s Day of work, for the victory is wholly His
“lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved
me.” (Judg 7:2 & 7:18,20)]. Ye shall do no
manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations
in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye
shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even,
from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
3.
“and offer a burnt sacrifice” = An innocent animal sacrifice of a
bull (fertility, and power in work) “of seven years old” (complete,
mature, full, huios vs. teknon) dedicated wholly to the Lord, representing men
who are wholly dedicated to the Lord, i.e. walking in the fullness of the Holy
Spirit, having symbolically and physically presented (offered) their “bodies
a living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1).
4.
Relating to the latter and very same point: every man shall one
day experience the brazen altar of God, i.e. the door to Hell or the door to
Heaven, separated by the “net,” “network” of God’s word – a
type of the cross. “Every eye shall see” (Rev 1:7), and “Every knee
shall bow” (Isa 45:23; Rom 14:11; Phil 2:10). You shall either be the
wood (Jacob) on the altar being consumed by the fire, or you shall be the
fire (Israel) above the altar consuming the wood. Which do you want to be?
5.
“with the wood of the grove” = Herein, the fate of the Midianite
host is symbolically identified with and foreshadowed by “the wood of the
grove.” What is their fate?
6.
“his father’s household” = This group represents deceived
Christians. Anticipating their opposition, Gideon “could not” (v.27) in
any way harm a Brother, i.e. those whom he reverenced.
7.
“and the men of the city” = This group represents tares, but also
possible converts to Christianity – only God knows. Both groups, “his
father’s household, and the men of the city,” represent “bundles” of
wheat and tares still growing together (Mat 13:30), but the time of the
harvest is not until Judges chapter 7.
Amen
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