Judges 6:11-24 - Now the angel of the Lord came and
sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son
Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the
Midianites. The angel of the Lord
appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty
warrior.” Gideon answered him, “But sir,
if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all
his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the
Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us
into the hand of Midian.” Then the Lord
turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the
hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.”
He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest
in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
The Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down
the Midianites, every one of them.” Then
he said to him, “If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that
it is you who speak with me. Do not
depart from here until I come to you, and bring out my present, and set it
before you.” And he said, “I will stay until you return.”
So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and
unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the
broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented
them. The angel of God said to him,
“Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour
out the broth.” And he did so. Then the
angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and
touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire sprang up from the rock and
consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the Lord vanished
from his sight. Then Gideon perceived
that it was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, “Help me, Lord God! For I
have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” But the Lord said to him, “Peace
be to you; do not fear, you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to
the Lord, and called it, The Lord is peace. To this day it still stands at
Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
Today, we take up another of the Judges, Gideon. His story begins with the Hebrews being under
the thumb of the Midianites after Deborah had died and the Israelites once
again began to serve other Gods. The
story above is the story of God’s call of Gideon. What strikes me about Gideon is two traits
that don’t seem to go together – a boldness before God AND an inherent lack of
trust in God.
The Angel of the Lord called him to lead God’s people,
but Gideon protests with obvious anger for God.
His perception is God has abandoned the people and he lets the Angel
know about it. I love the Lord’s
response: “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of
Midian; I hereby commission you.” God
doesn’t condemn Gideon for his boldness that borders on disrespect. God intends to USE this impetuousness to address
the very problem Gideon is protesting – the Midianites.
Then the lack of trust shows up: “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan
is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
I believe God sees this for what it is: the starting
place and foundation for a very strong faith.
Gideon knows he can’t do this. No
one will take him seriously much less follow him. He knows, humanly speaking, he is the wrong
choice. This is precisely what God
needs; God needs someone who knows that they cannot do it in their own
position, strength or intelligence. That
is still who God needs to do the work of the Kingdom.
“I will be with you,” the Lord replies.
But Gideon is not a believer yet. He essentially tests God. He asks God for a
sign. Other places in the Bible actually
warn against doing that. We’ll talk more
about that tomorrow. But what I’ll say now is that Gideon wanted to believe
that the Lord had indeed called him and I think this touches God’s heart. The
last part of the scripture above describes the test. God indulges Gideon and passes with flying
colors.
Gideon does now believe he has been called by the Lord
of his ancestors. He is willing to move
forward. As we’ll see, he will continue
to question God, but at this point, he knows who he is questioning. This is progress. God worked with that and God can still work
with that.
Whatever mustard seed of trust you have right now, aim
it at the God of your ancestors – maybe for some not the God of your immediate
ancestors, but I assure you this. There
were those in your family tree that came before you who trusted in the same God
who was responding to Gideon. Point your
trust there and see what this God can do.
Prayer: God of
our ancestors. Take our bold questions
and forge them into faith. Amen
Prayer Focus:
Pray for people who don’t where to place their trust right now.
Song: Help My Unbelief - Audrey Assad
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