Gideon, an Israelite, was threshing wheat in hiding. He had to use a winepress or else the Midianites would have deprived him of it. The Midianites were ruthless with the Israelites – doing everything to make their lives miserable. They burned down their fields just before harvest, to deprive them of food and of course subdued them. The Israelites were at the mercy of the Midianites. How long would they tolerate to be taunted like this? Well, it looked like there was no way out of this, no alternative until one day when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon.
The angel of the Lord greeted Gideon thus: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Gideon was quick to snap; “But, sir, if the Lord was with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the wonders that our fathers told us about when thy said. ‘Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.” (Judges 6:12-13) The frustrations of the Israelites had come to a boiling point. the angel of the Lord after listening to Gideon’s complaint, said to him. “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (verse 14)
Gideon had yet another query: “But Lord how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered. I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” (Judges 6:15-16) Gideon was given a difficult assignment which he carried out that night though with fear. He brought down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole to the anger of his father’s clan who wanted him killed. But Gideon’s father sided him.
He told the hostile crowd: “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he should defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” (Judges 6:31) In its place, Gideon built another altar to the Lord. It was apparent that a change had come over Gideon. Emboldened by the angel of the Lord, that timid youngster had been transformed.
By that accomplishment, Gideon had built up courage for greater challenges ahead. Yet, he had some serious misgivings about his ability to undertake any greater assignment. Twice he tested God to ascertain whether it was really He who was sending him. Twice God gave him indisputable evidence that it was indeed Him.
Until Gideon met with the angel of the Lord, he had displayed low self-esteem. He was churning out all the negatives about himself. To all intents and purposes, that meeting enabled him to bring out the best in him. He found himself doing things he had never thought possible.
In the inside of each of us there lies hidden a rare quality, talent or skill that surfaces only after being provoked or challenged. Only God knows what He has endowed us with. When the angel called Gideon ‘valiant warrior’ it was because he was certain of what God had deposited in Gideon, that Gideon was unaware of. It would not have surfaced until the conditions were favourable.
The Children of Israel had a similar experience at the end of their forty-year journey through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. To get a first-hand view of the land, God had instructed Moses to choose twelve leaders from the twelve tribes of Israel to undertake the trip. On arrival they witnessed that the land was indeed one of milk and honey [that is agricultural] but their testimony betrayed God’s image and what He could do. They were quick to admit that they saw giants which made them look like grasshoppers; as a result, they deemed it was suicidal to attempt to enter the Promised Land because these giants – the Anakites – would slaughter them. Hopefully, Joshua and Caleb had a different viewpoint. They declared that they were well able to take over the land immediately.
Of course, they had not listened closely to what God had said: “…the land I have given [you].” God would not have given them something that would eventually have killed them. Fear, fuelled no doubt by Satan, must have gotten the upper hand. God did not hide His disappointment with them.
Having received confirmation that Gideon was dealing with God, his innate qualities came to the fore. He was requested to summon all the young men for battle and thirty-two thousand answered the call. God warned: “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.” So that Israel would not boast that their own strength had given them victory, anyone who harboured fears may return home. The number was reduced drastically as 22,000 men left. Only 10,000 men remained. A further selection was ordered by God on the basis that 10,000 men was still on the high side. In the end, only 300 armed men were chosen to engage in that war. If Gideon could have fought with only 300 men and win, it is certain that he could not have attributed victory to his strength.
When we fail to encounter the Almighty God, Jehovah, we behave like Gideon – who believed only in what he could see. There is more beside what the naked eye can see, and if we seek the truth, we will find it. Gideon like many of us do not know what we are made of. If we did, Jesus says we can “say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move” in the figurative sense.
“My people perish for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) Gideon became a different character when he realised what God could do through him. He was able to put the dots together to confirm what his ancestors had said about God – that He is an awesome God.
God gave them a strategy; they routed the Midianites, and He caused the men throughout the enemy’s camp to turn on each other with their swords.
It matters who fights for you.
