The Call of Gideon

 

 

Judges 6:11-18

 

The Call of Gideon

Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.   And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”   And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?  And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’  But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”   And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”   And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”   And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”  And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.  Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

It is not going to be easy for most to put themselves in this story, first you nor I have had to hide our food to keep an enemy from taking it from us.  Second, most of us have not had an angel of the LORD appeared to us and state; “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”  If you are the youngest in the family of the smallest clan of your people, you might have a few questions.  Why me?  Are you giving a lot of thought to us not starting is, what have we done that made God withdraw His hand of blessing? 

 

Do you recall the Scriptures stating an angel of the LORD spoke to Gideon, but it now says; “And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”   And you can read Gideon’s reply, but this is what the LORD said; ”And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 

 

Have you ever tried to buy time, that I believe is the approach Gideon has taken, and he is asking for a sign, now that is not faith, but it sure is what most of us are about?  So. allow me to ask you a question when Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit to confront you about the sin of unbelief, did you ask for a sign, did you agree and repent and confess your need for a Savior?  I will never forget the night the Holy Spirit addressed my sin of trying to look at myself and others and not looking to Christ.  It happened at a motel in Victoria, Texas, and I opened a hotel Bible to Romans 10:9-10, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.   For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

 

By faith that night, I got on my knees and agreed with the LORD, I had not one thing He needed, but He had everything I needed, and that night I became a new creation in Christ.  I was 27, and now 51 years later, I can tell you I’ve often dropped the ball, I still wrestle with my fleshly desires, such as pride, arrogance, and wanting to be served and not serving others.  But each day I come to this thought; “I can’t,  He never said I could, He can, and He promised He would.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice