What does Judges 6:7 mean?

The previous verse gave a dire summary of Israel's oppression (Judges 6:1–5) by the Midianites: They were beaten down, fearful, humiliated, and ruined. It's likely some of the people were on the brink of starvation. Every year, year after year, the Midianite hordes arrived with their allies from the east and almost completely wiped out all of Israel's crops and livestock. Only what was hidden away in mountain caves was left behind, and that had to be shared between too many people.

The effect on Israel was beyond nutrition and wealth. The nation was mentally and spiritually broken. They were crushed and had lost the will to fight. They could not stand up to this overwhelming enemy. Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help instead of waiting for Baal and the other false gods to act on their behalf.

God's response to their cry does not immediately follow the usual formula (Judges 2:11–19) of sending a rescuer. Somewhat as He did with Deborah (Judges 4:4–5), God first introduces a prophet. In this case, the prophet's message is a harsh reminder of how Israel came to be in this mess in the first place (Judges 6:8–10).