Judges 6:1-10 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian, the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
You have to hand it to the Israelites! When it comes to ignoring God, these guys are tops. Repeatedly, God has begged, cajoled, promised, and ordered the Israelites to worship Him and Him alone, warning them of the dire consequences if they refuse; yet, the Israelites remain enticed by fertility cults and fancy idols that demand little and promise everything. Too bad these decisions are totally disastrous. Throughout the Mosaic Laws, God has warned the Israelites of the consequences of sinning against God, but the Israelites have evidently thought God was kidding. WRONG! Now the Israelites are fugitives in their own land, starving because the Midianites, Amalekites, and other marauders form the east are perpetually raiding, stealing all the livestock and crops. The idols have failed and fertility gods are worthless-after all, what good is fertility when marauders will steal everything anyway?
11-12 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”
Gideon is hiding from the Midianites, threshing wheat in the bottom of a winepress in hopes of hiding the grain from robbers. When the angel of the Lord appears , hailing Gideon as “Mighty hero,” Gideon is looking around, thinking, “Who? Me?”
13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”
This angel is one patient guy! A lesser being would be smacking himself on the forehead and groaning, “Don’t you people ever learn ANYTHING?” And you can tell that the Israelites still don’t understand what’s going on because they are blaming God for all their problems. God is only carrying out His promises, but the Israelites have ignored His Word, refusing to honor God or to take responsibility for their own sins.
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” God is calling but Gideon has his fingers in his ears spiritually. It’s frightening to be called by God, and Gideon is vainly hoping that if he gives sufficiently valid excuses, God will simply go call someone else. But God is not giving up. God already knows Gideon’s entire situation; however, God knows He can work through Gideon.
16-19 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”
Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.”
He answered, “I will stay here until you return.”
Gideon hurried home. He cooked a young goat, and with a basket of flour he baked some bread without yeast. Then, carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out and presented them to the angel, who was under the great tree.
20-24 The angel of God said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.” And Gideon did as he was told. Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.
When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried out, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
Until now, Gideon been trying to argue with himself that he is not meeting a messenger from the One True Living God. Never mind that this heavenly being has suddenly appeared in the secret place where Gideon has been working. Never mind that this being obviously is bearing messages from God. Mentally, Gideon has been arguing that he is suffering from hallucinations and that his morning porridge hasn’t set well. Now Gideon finally must face the fact that God IS calling him.
“It is all right,” the Lord replied. “Do not be afraid. You will not die.” And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the Lord is peace”). The altar remains in Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer to this day.
At least Gideon responds appropriately once he faces the fact that God is calling him and is refusing to take no for an answer.
What can we learn from this part of Gideon’s story?
- God knows our situations better than we do. At first, Gideon doesn’t appear to be very courageous or resourceful; however, God knows Gideon’s potential.
- Humility is a good thing. Gideon has no illusions about his own strength or influence. This means that Gideon’s ego is less likely to get in the way of fulfilling God’s plans.
- When God calls us, God doesn’t give up. Notice that each time Gideon comes up with an excuse, God simply ignores the excuses.
- God is looking for people whom He can use, not for those full of their own importance. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 tells us, “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”
- God is looking for those who will worship Him. After all his excuses fail, Gideon worships the Lord as a sign of contrition and agreement with God’s plans.
Perhaps you feel like Gideon. You look at yourself and see someone with few resources and little influence. But consider the story of Katie Stagliono, a nine-year-old girl who brought home a cabbage plant in a small paper cup as a school project. Other students let their plants die, but this little girl nurtured that plant until it grew into a 40-pound cabbage. Then Katie donated that cabbage to a local shelter, where it helped feed 275 people. That single cabbage was the start of Katie’s Krops, an NGO encouraging students to raise vegetables and donate them to the hungry in their communities. Fourteen years later, the organization could count more than 100 student groups in 32 states, with donations of food amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds of free produce each year.
God can take a nobody from the weakest family in a tribe in Israel to save His people. The same God can take a nine-year-old girl with a single cabbage seed to raise a giant cabbage inspiring a home gardening movement among students throughout America. Now, what can God do with you, if you say “Yes” to His call?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, please help us to remember that You are the One who calls and You are the One who empowers. Help us to trust that You will also give us the strength and the courage to follow Your call. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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