The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
"And the children of Israel did evil"  (Judges 6:1).  The cycle which we have come to expect in Judges is repeated.  The land had rest for forty years after the defeat of the Canaanites, but a new generation of the Chosen People repeated the mistakes of their fathers.  They turned to the seductive pleasures of the pagan fertility gods, and, again, God delivered the people into the hands of their enemies.  This time, it was the Midianites who defeated and oppressed Israel, and for the first time in history, there was a widespread use of camels by the invading forces.