Hello,
Recently, my wife and I were reading through the Book of Judges. As we read through the story of Gideon, I was left slightly puzzled about a particular instruction that the angel gave to Gideon regarding his sacrifice.
In Judges chapter 6, Gideon was visited by the angel of the Lord and told that Gideon was going to deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. During the conversation, Gideon wanted the angel to remain until a sacrifice was prepared. So, Gideon left and prepared a particular sacrifice: A young goat and unleavened bread.
Gideon took the unleavened bread, the prepared goat which was placed into a basket, the broth which was placed in a pot and presented it below an oak tree. However, the angel told Gideon to take the flesh and bread and place it upon a rock. He was also told to "pour out the broth" (Judges 6:20).
The angel then used his staff, touched the rock with the staff and fire came up out of the rock and consumed the meat and bread. The angel then disappeared and Gideon was astonished (possibly frightened) until the Lord told him that he would not die. Gideon then built an altar and named it "Jehovah Shalom" or "The Lord is Peace."
My question: Why was Gideon told to "pour out the broth."
I suppose that I am leaning toward a couple of possible reasons:
It could be a means to show the power of God by allowing the fire to lick up the liquid. This would be akin to Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (and the sacrifice that was drenched with water). However, this passage doesn't specifically state that the broth was supposed to be poured atop the sacrifice or rock (although that is a possibility).
My wife had been reading Leviticus on the same day and had come across passages about burning up fat (Leviticus 16 and 17) and removing fat from a sacrifice (Leviticus 4:35). Since broth could contain some liquefied fat, this might be a reason for the angel's instruction.
However, there are often types and shadows -- morsels of truth -- that are gleaned from such things. Is there a symbol here? Is there another potential meaning for this?
I've consulted quite a few resources (commentaries, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc...) and have found next-to-nothing over this particular reference to the broth. I certainly don't want to make more out of this than I should; however, we were both left puzzled by the instruction.
Does anyone have any input to this particular passage?