Judges 6:18
Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
The verse belongs to the account in Judges 6-8 of Israel's deliverance from Midian after the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian. The Midianites had been nearly destroyed in the days of Moses but had increased again to become numerous and powerful, and together with the Amalekites and the desert peoples they swarmed into the land as locusts for multitude. They stripped the harvests from the Jordan to the Philistine plain and forced Israel from the open country into walled towns, fortresses, caves and rocky fastnesses. This oppression continued seven years, and when in distress the people gave heed to the Lord's reproof and confessed their sins, God raised up a helper for them.
That history illustrates the repeated cycle of backsliding and chastisement followed by confession and deliverance. After Israel forsook God for idolatry and was brought into subjection to enemies, God did not utterly forsake His people but raised up faithful and valiant deliverers. Yet when the deliverer died the people returned to their idols.
In the verse Gideon asks the divine Messenger to wait while he brings an offering and sets it before him, and the Messenger agrees to remain. Gideon's request expresses hospitality as he seeks a confirming sign of the Messenger's identity. Gideon's request for a sign from the heavenly messenger parallels Hezekiah asking for a sign confirming that God's message was true.