Judges 6:33

GIDEON RALLIES ISRAEL AGAINST THE MIDIANITES

"Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together, and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet him."

It is not known why only a few of the tribes of Israel were included in this call to arms, but it was probably some kind of a mistake due to the inexperience of Gideon. The omission of Ephraim would later on confront Gideon with a problem.

"And they passed over" (Judges 6:33). This is a reference to the hordes of the invasion crossing over the Jordan River. Their encamping in the valley of Jezreel was due to the fertility of that region and the prospect of stealing all of the crops of the Israelites. However, God had a great surprise in store for them!

Bruce was of the opinion that it was during the initial phase of this invasion that, "The Midianites killed Gideon's brothers at Tabor (Judges 8:18)."[21]

"The Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon" (Judges 6:34). This clause in the Hebrew is literally, "The Spirit of the Lord clothed himself with Gideon, an expression repeated in 1 Chronicles 12:18 and in 2 Chronicles 24:20. It denotes complete possession. Thus, Gideon became the garment of the Spirit of God and thus enters the succession of Israel's charismatic leaders."[22]