God’s Miracle

“And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have I not sent thee?  And he said unto Him, Oh my LORD, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.  And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.”  Judges 6:14-16

One of the sweetest sounds in the spiritual ears of a person is, “Surely I will be with thee”.  Gideon would find out how true that promise was.  In yesterday’s blog, we met Gideon who was threshing wheat, hidden from the Midianites, and was visited by an Angel of the LORD, which was Jesus, as many believe, in an appearance in ancient Israel.  Gideon had asked the Angel why God hadn’t intervened and rescued Israel from their enemy.  The Angel looked at Gideon and boldly proclaimed to him that he would be the very one to deliver Israel from their enemy.

Gideon was shocked.  He was from a poor family and the least in his family.  I would imagine he was the “baby of the family”, the youngest and least experienced in life.  He had been given the menial task of thrashing wheat.  In his mind, he might have been asking, “Why me, Lord?”  However, the Angel assured him that God would be with him and lead him to victory over the Midianites.  But he was still skeptical, not of God’s ability, but of his own.  However, God knew him better than he knew himself.  To ease his doubts, Gideon wanted a sign, but first he went home and prepared a meal for his Visitor.  When he returned with the food, the Angel told him to place it on a rock.  The Angel then touched the food with His staff, and fire rose up, consuming the food.  The Angel then departed.  At that moment, Gideon knew that he had been face to face with the Angel of the LORD.  The voice of God then spoke to him, telling him not to fear for he wouldn’t die.  Gideon built an altar on that spot, calling it Jehovah-shalom.

The first instruction that God gave to Gideon was to destroy the altar of Baal that belonged to his father.  He did, and it angered many people.  They threatened to kill Gideon, but his father defended him.  Perhaps his father had begun to question the sanity of worshiping an idol.  Even after his bold move in destroying the Baal altar, Gideon was still unsure about the task that lay ahead.  He wanted another sign.  He proposed to God to let him put a blanket on the ground overnight.  If the blanket was wet and the ground dry around it, then he would know that he was the man for the job.  God obliged him, and sure enough the blanket was wet.  However, there was still a tinge of doubt in Gideon’s mind.  This time, he proposed that the blanket be dry and the ground wet but made this proposal fearful that he would anger God.  The next morning, the blanket was dry and the ground wet.  God was not angry.  He wanted Gideon to have all the confidence in the world.

It was time to face the Midianites.  Gideon gathered 32,000 men of Israel to fight, but the LORD said that was too many for they would claim that it was their efforts that brought victory.  God told Gideon to tell those who were fearful to return home, and 22,000 did, leaving 10,000, but that was still too many according to the LORD.  God gave Gideon a way to test the men to find those who were the best among them.  The men were to come down to the water’s edge.  Those who drank by bending over and lapping up the water with their tongues like a dog were eliminated.  Those who cupped the water in their hands and drank were chosen.  There were 300 of them.  Thus, the number of men dwindled from 32,000 to 300, quite a difference.  The men who were chosen were men who were more alert to their surroundings and more conscientious about preserving their lives.

Gideon and the 300 men, led by God, did defeat the Midianites.  The account of their victory is found in Joshua 7:9-25 and was the subject of my blog of 1/26/2021.  The account of Gideon is a demonstration that God can use anyone who is willing and obedient to fulfill his purposes.  I am reminded of the time when God chose Moses to deliver His people from Egypt.  He would have to present himself before Pharaoh several times.  Moses tried to use the excuse that he was not a good speaker, possibly, as some scholars believe, having a speech impediment.  However, God asked him, “Who made man’s mouth?”  Moses still wanted to argue, and God became angry.  He reminded Moses that he had a brother, Aaron, who could speak well.  God would tell Moses what to do and then Moses would tell Aaron (Exodus 4:10-15).  Problem solved, because God is the Master Problem Solver.