Judges 6
Gideon was called by God and the angel said to him “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” (v12) In the midst of trial, I feel weak in my prayer without feeling fervent as I often do. I wonder if satan is luring me to doubt or God is testing my faith is depending on God alone, not on my own effort; however, God is gracious to speak to me through His Word. He calls me the mighty warrior. I accept it not out of my own pride, but out of knowing the God of faithfulness, who chose me and is keeping me.
At this moment, Gideon’s faith might not be ready yet spiritually. He asked God many questions like: if God is with us, why has all the sufferings happen to the people? Where are Your wonders that the ancestors told us? (v13)
The Lord said to him “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of MIdian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (v14) God has given me strength to pray against the enemies. God is merciful and compassionate to the lost souls so that He is sending me to intercede for them. If you ask where God is in the midst of people’s suffering, isn’t that God sending you to pray and act on the things you worry or the sins you hate or the people you care?
I see the sinful suffering among the saints in our church. Isn’t that God calls me to go to fight for them? Yes. Indeed. He is calling me to pray. But I worry about my weakness.
So did Gideon. He asked the Lord, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (v15)
Oh, I feel the same. I doubt if I can finish well the assignment God gives me as an intercessor and prayer warrior.
The Lord answered to Gideon, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” (v16)
What an assurance God gives me that I am not fighting alone; because God will go with me and fight before me and surround me with His shield of grace.
Gideon wanted to offer the Lord sacrifice and the Lord was kind to wait for him. After the Lord showed him the sign that He is the real God, Gideon was terrified for he saw God face to face. (v22)
But the Lord is kind to tell him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” (v23) How kind our Lord is to comfort us when we know we are dust and sinners. However, Jesus once again covers our sins with His blood.
The Lord asked Gideon to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and cut down the false god’s pole beside it (v25). God wants me to tear down the strongholds from my sins or the family and cut down the curses from the devil. God reveals to us the darkness and wants us to destroy them by our hands with a contrite heart. So far, Gideon still felt weak in his faith because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, so he did it at night rather than in the daytime. (v27)
Then, God asked Gideon to build a proper kind of altar to the Lord and offer the sacrifice as a burnt offering. This burnt offering is the propitiation to appease God’s wrath. Now, my burnt offering is through Jesus Christ, who is the perfect and blemishless Lamb to make peace with God on behalf of my sins. I still constantly need to confess and repent when the Holy Spirit convicts me, and offer my body as a living sacrifice to God through Jesus Christ, who God only accepts.
The people in the town were mad at Gideon when they knew he tore down the idols. But God saved Gideon as He promised that “you are not going to die”. Gideon’s father Joash replied to the hostile crowd in a logical sense: If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar. (v31) So people waited for what would happen to Gideon.
Then, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Giden, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him (v34). He also sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them (v35). Gideon was brave to let all his brothers and friends know he would lead to fight with them. When God’s Spirit empowers us, we are not afraid of what people think about us, or doubt if we have the ability to persuade people to fight with us. On the contrary, we will feel bold in the Spirit and feel honored to be called to fight with God. And we are humbled to call more saints to go with us because we believe it’s God’s will to recruit a great army of spiritual warriors to pray against the enemies in the spiritual battle. What a story to encourage us that we can do the same because God’s Spirit are empowering us to conquer the enemies to save God’s people.
After gathering people, before going to fight, Gideon asked God for His divine signs which are impossible for humans to rationalize (v36-40) and confirmed with him about God’s will. I feel I also need to remind myself to pause and pray for God’s will until I am assured. Don’t be hurried or lean on my own understanding even though I know God is leading me. I still need to take step by step each time by checking with God about the strategy and direction in the intercession for individual person and each prayer meeting.
Thank God for teaching me with Gideon’s story and encourage me with His own word. Although I can preach to myself about all the truth I learn and know from my past praying experience, I still desire to hear the great God’s encouragement because it’s the most intimate relationship I may have with the Lord through listening to Him and speaking to Him, which makes my heart joyful and satisfied. Praise God for being kind to me. Thank God for His compassion on me and abundant grace to sustain me.
Take away: God can accomplish great things through us if we forget our weaknesses and follow his guidance.