Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
 Mark the twofold process of the Lord. He sends first a prophet, then an angel; the one to bring their sin home to their conscience, the other to raise up a deliverer. He loves to extricate His people from the wretched consequences of their failure, but He will have the evil owned first.
