11 ¶And
there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that
pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the
winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with
thee, thou mighty man of valour.
13 And
Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this
befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of,
saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken
us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
14 And
the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save
Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?
15 And he
said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is
poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.
16 And
the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the
Midianites as one man.
17 And he
said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that
thou talkest with me.
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.
19 ¶And
Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of
flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought
it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
20 And
the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and
lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
21 ¶Then
the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and
touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the
rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the
Lord departed out of his sight.
22 And
when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O
Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.
23 And
the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
24 Then
Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this
day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites. (Judges 6:11-24)
This is a really
interesting story to me, especially because Gideon has these miraculous things
happen in his life and on the surface, he seems to be reluctant to believe
them. It demands our examination.
Gideon’s request for
a sign is often called unbelief, but if you look carefully, he has a good
reason for it. He says, “If now I
have found favor in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.”
(v17)
This strikes us as
strange because we think, “The angel is right
there. It should be obvious
he’s talking to Gideon.” But
Gideon wanted to know this was from the Lord and not a false prophet or false
spirit. Apostate religion and
idolatry was rampant in the land, and Gideon’s caution marks him as one who
wants to be spiritually discerning and cautious. I think he would like to believe that he could make a
difference and be an instrument of the Lord in effecting the deliverance of
Israel from the Midianites (who were ravaged the land and destroyed their
crops), but he recognizes that this might be a false guide gratifying his
vanity and vain ambition.
Gideon does not only
ask for a sign. He also brings an
offering, a sacrifice of cakes made from an ephah of flour (about a bushel) and
the flesh of a kid (a young goat).
Considering the people were greatly impoverished by the attacks of the
Midianites, this sacrifice was very generous. It is also somewhat similar to what Gideon would bring if he
went to the tabernacle. To me it
seems to indicate that Gideon was living the principle “faith precedes the
miracle.”
The angel tells him
to put the cakes and flesh on a nearby rock and pour out the broth, possibly
over the whole to soak it. Then
the angel touched the flesh and bread with his staff and fire “rose up…out of
the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out
of his sight.” (v21) While it says
fire came out of the rock, I think what really happened was the touch of the angel’s
staff caused the meat and cakes to catch fire and burn, which means the angel
was a person of such intense glory that even the touch of his accessories
incinerated things.
Gideon’s subsequent
terror is understandably like Ether’s.
He automatically thinks he has been presumptuous, talking and
questioning the glorious personage as if he were a normal person when the being
was clearly capable of great destructive power.
22 And
when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O
Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.
23 And
the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
The neat thing about
this is even with this show of power, the angel of the Lord, which we must
suspect is Jehovah Himself, did not threaten Gideon in any way to get him to take
this job of delivering Israel.
Instead, He worked to show Gideon his potential, and He issued the call
and promised His presence and support all along, using all edifying building
methods. There was no coercion, or
threatening, or condemning.
This experience with
the power of God builds Gideon’s testimony. He had perceived before that the Lord had delivered the
Israelites into the hands of the Midianites, and he saw his sacrifice was
accepted. Even though the angel
was not there, Gideon felt the voice of the Lord through the Spirit saying,
“Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.” (v23) This peace taught him that following
Jehovah and sacrificing brought peace.
So he built an altar as a memorial to remind himself of that and next
was willing to obey the Lord’s instructions to destroy the idolatrous worship
facilities—the altar to Baal and the Asherah grove—and build up an altar to
Jehovah and offer a sacrifice there.
It is also neat to
see the conversation that Gideon had with this angel of the Lord before the
sign. Gideon asks some very good
questions that go right to the heart of his concerns.
First the angel says,
“The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” (v12)
Gideon doesn’t feel
very valiant or mighty at this point, though. There he is, threshing in the wine press to hide the grain
from the Midianites. He probably
thought, “If I’m so brave, why do I have to hide my food like this?” He says to the angel, “if the Lord be
with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which
our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but
now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites”
(v13)
His question, “Where
are the miracles?” is an excellent question and you have to give him credit
that he sees the ascendency the Midianites have gained over Israel not as a
sign of Baal’s power as an idolater might, but as a sign of God’s leaving
Israel to themselves. Previous to
this conversation, a prophet had declared to Israel that they had not obeyed
the Lord’s command to not fear the gods of the people around them, so he should
have known that Israel’s idolatry was instrumental in Israel’s defeats.
The answer given to
Gideon’s question is very interesting.
“Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the
Midianites: have not I sent thee?” (v14)
You wonder where the miracles are, Gideon? You are the
miracle. Sending you is the
beginning of more miracles.
You can tell Gideon
is really thinking about that, and he is very aware of his limitations. He asks another good question. “Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save
Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my
father’s house.” (v15) Save Israel
with what?! I’m poor! I
don’t have much to fight with!
The answer comes, “Surely
I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.”
(v16) I the Lord am your weapon,
Gideon. With me, you’ll hit them
as easily as you could hit a single person.
Of course, this is
where Gideon wants the sign that this is really the Lord talking. But the Lord’s promise that He will be
Gideon’s weapon is fulfilled. We
see it as he breaks down his father’s altar to Baal and cuts down the grove and
his father declares Baal must avenge himself and nothing happens. We see it also in the battle cry, “The
sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”
Here are some important
principles I notice:
Idolatry
and sin brings defeat. – The miracles
disappear when commandments are broken.
They may disappear so gradually that we don’t notice.
Sometimes
God calls us to be the miracle.
– These are the kinds of miracles that happen not because we are capable and
competent but because we are inadequate.
If we were capable, it wouldn’t be a miracle.
God
calls, encourages, promises to be with us, and gives us an idea of what we can
become with His help. – His stretching is
edifying and challenging and may even be chastising, but not in a way that will
take away our hope.
It
is okay to turn to the Lord with questions about how we are to overcome our
inadequacies for the callings He gives us. – We have to
have some awareness of the problem before we can ever be open to getting it
fixed. Honest questions asked with
faith open us up to revelation.
Seeking
discernment in what guides we listen to is a good thing.
– Discernment is a safety measure because an ego desperate for validation can
be fooled, as can a frustrated, chafing, impatient soul.
Sacrifice
comes before signs are given. – You have to meet
God halfway.
It
is God who gives peace. – God’s peace
transcends what seems logical. It
defies understanding and is out of all proportion to the acts that brought
it.
Many church callings
I was given I have gone into them feeling very inadequate. I could say with Gideon, “Wherewith
shall I…?” But I have seen the Lord opening the way, making me equal to the
task that I couldn’t do before.
The Lord has helped me through callings of being ward organist, bear den
leader, Sunday school teacher for 16-17 year olds, and primary chorister.
I am sure you have
seen that in your life too. Will
you share with me some ways you’ve seen this happen?
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