A MESSENGE FOR GIDEON

After the Hebrews conquered Canaan, they lived a rollercoaster life of obedience and disobedience, of faithfulness and unfaithfulness. They must have known that their God, the only Living God, had led them out of Egyptian slavery and miraculously given them the land He had promised to Abraham. They knew about God, they had heard all the stories, but they didn’t always follow His instructions or serve Him faithfully.

According to the sixth chapter of Judges, there was a time when the Israelites were particularly self-centered, self-serving, and disobedient to their God. Because “the Israelites did what was evil … the Lord handed them over to the Midianites”(Judges 6:1).

Midian’s armies subjugated them, ruthlessly oppressed them, and drove them from their homes and off their lands. Israel, once proud and powerful, trembled in caves and hiding places. From a distance, the starving Jews watched the Midianites eat their crops and butcher their livestock.

“So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord” (Judges 6:6).

Mercifully, graciously, God heard their prayers and sent a courier … a messenger … an angel who appeared to the unlikely Gideon … the youngest son in the weakest family in the most unworthy tribe of Manasseh (Judges 6:15). As evidence of his courage-less existence, the angel found Gideon deep in a winepress attempting to thresh some grain. The process of threshing was normally done of a hill side and required wind to blow away the chaff. There wasn’t a breath of wind in the winepress. What a chicken! He was afraid of his own shadow!

The message was stunning. The angel said, “Gideon, my boy, God has chosen you to lead a revolt against the Midianites. Almighty God will be with you and lead you to victory!”

“The Lord is with you, valiant warrior” (Judges 6:12). The angel’s message: “Yes, you! God chooses you!”

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).