God chooses Gideon

Judges Chapter 6 Verses 1-24

Again the Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, so he handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites fled to the mountains and hid themselves in caves and dens. When they planted crops marauders from Midian, Amalek and people from the east would attack, camp in the land and destroy crops. The Israelites were left with nothing to eat, all their livestock stolen and enemy hordes coming as thick as locusts with droves of camels and they stripped the land bare.

So left to starve, the Israelites called upon the Lord for help.
The Lord reminded the people about how he brought them out of slavery in Egypt and rescued them from all who oppressed them. And he drove out all their enemies from the land and told the people not to worship gods of Amorites. But they had not listened to God.

Then an angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the oak tree at Ophrah, where Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hid grain from the Midianites. The angel called him “hero” and told him the Lord was there with him. So Gideon asked if the Lord was with the Israelites, why had all this happened to them. He asked where the miracles were that had been described by their ancestors. He wondered why the Lord had abandoned them.

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you.” Gideon asked how he was to rescue Israel. His clan was the weakest in the tribe of Manesseh. But the Lord said, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”

Gideon asked the Lord for a sign to prove that it really was the Lord speaking to him. And he asked the Lord to stay put while Gideon brought him an offering. Gideon ran home and cooked a young goat and some bread without yeast, then carried the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and presented them to the angel sitting under the tree. The angel had Gideon put the meat and bread on a rock and poured the broth over it. Then the angel touched the food with his staff and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all Gideon had brought. Then the angel of the Lord disappeared, and Gideon cried out that he knew it was the angel of the Lord face to face. And Gideon built an altar and named it “The Lord Is Peace.”

This chapter is continued until tomorrow.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: The Midianites were desert people descended from Abraham’s second wife, Keturah (Gen. 25:1,2). They were always in conflict with Israel and years earlier the Israelites failed to completely destroy them (Numbers 31:1-20), which gave them a chance to repopulate and again try to oppress Israel.
Angels of the Lord appear many times in the Old Testament. It is not known if it is the same angel each time, if fact in this chapter the angel appears to be separate from God and in another place appears to be God himself. Some theologists speculate that the angel could be Jesus Christ acting as a special messenger of God.

How does this chapter relate to us today? We should not wait like the Israelites did, to hit rock bottom before asking for God’s help. We may have struggles, but the Lord will give us the strength to live through them. Gideon questioned God about problems his nation faced, but he didn’t acknowledge the fact that the people brought calamity upon themselves by disobeying God. How easy is it for all of us to blame our problems on God and others. But we should look within our hearts first. Confession to God is most important.

Yours in Christ,
Mary

Prayer Requests are needed for:
HEALTH: Gabe, Wanda, Janice Long’s parents, Logan and the newly born Stella who is taking mother’s milk now and Lori (who suffered a terrible accident)and her family. Update on Stella: She has good days, but is far from out of the woods. Pray for her, please and her parents too.
SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary
RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John
LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter
SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, those who need jobs, those who are about to lose or have lost their homes. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.