Judges 6:22, commentary and pictures

Israel had done evil in the sight of the Lord, and He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, until in their distress they gave heed to His reproof and confessed their sins, and He raised up Gideon to deliver them as their helper. The Midianites with the Amalekites and the peoples of the desert came in at harvest time as locusts for multitude, with their flocks and herds from Jordan to the Philistine plain, stripping the fields and robbing the inhabitants. They forced Israel out of the open country into walled towns, fortresses, caves and mountain fastnesses. This raising up of Gideon belongs to God's repeated raising up of deliverers from time to time to put down idolatry and rescue Israel from its enemies.

The visitor whom Gideon perceived was the Angel of the Lord, the Son of God, a heavenly messenger whom Gideon recognized and understood he had seen face to face. When Gideon perceived this he feared he would die because he had seen the Angel of the Lord face to face. His fear expressed the awe and reverence felt on contact with a messenger from God's holy presence. Such close contact was feared because of exalted views of God's majesty and power, and this fear illustrates the reverence due to God.

Gideon pleaded for a sign confirming that the message was from heaven. His encounter in the presence of a heavenly messenger is thus an example of a person seeking confirmation from heaven, like Hezekiah when he asked for a sign that God would heal him.