(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Judges 6:1–6, “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. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.”
The Lord had promised Israel that they would be prosperous if they obeyed His Law as written down by Moses. They would have good crops and their animals would breed well so that they could have plenty of food and a place of respect among the nations. When they disobeyed the Lord brought other nations to oppress them so that they could understand what is was like to choose to do without the Lord. In this case, Israel like all the other nations on earth wanted to define good and evil in their own terms instead of the terms that the Lord God had defined. These terms also included oppression, hunger and fear. The Midianites came to Israel and everyone was oppressed and afraid. It was natural, in those days, for one nation to oppress other nations instead of asking their own people to support their own government by paying taxes and duties. The Midianites took everything that Israel had for themselves. When Israel was facing complete devastation they prayed to the Lord in desperation.
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