Gideon Judges 6

Today I wanted to look at the call of Gideon and Gideon’s response.  More specifically we will consider Gideon’s obedience in light of his underlying personality.  Gideon’s story is the largest section of the book of Judges, just edging out the story of Samson by roughly 30 verses.  Being the largest portion there is much to learn within the narrative, but today we are going to focus in on Chapter 6, which details Gideon’s initial call and his response to the call.  A little background as we delve into Judges 6, during this time Israel is being oppressed by the Midianites and the Amalekites.  Judges 6:2-6 tells how they would come and steal the crops that they had planted and take their livestock leaving nothing behind in their path.  For the people in this narrative it was desperate times.  In fact verse 2 tells us that things were so bad that they were hiding what they could salvage in the mountains and possibly themselves when the invaders would come.  In verses 7-10, the people cried out to God for help and God raised up an unnamed prophet who told the people not to fear the gods of the Amorites and to deliver the rebuke to them that they had not obeyed God. 

It is in the midst of these desperate times that we are introduced to Gideon.  Our first image of Gideon is that he is beating out wheat in secret in a winepress rather than on a proper threshing floor because of the fear that the Midianites would find out about it.  Verse 11 tells us that the angel of the LORD came to him while he was doing this; now that reference to the LORD scholars agree typically implies a theophany or Christophany, which means an appearance of the preincarnate Christ.  He greets Gideon by saying that the LORD is with him and then he calls him a mighty man of valor.  Here we have Gideon who is so afraid of the Midianites that he is beating out his wheat in secret out of fear and yet God is calling him a mighty man of valor.  Clearly God sees something in Gideon that is not evident in the man as presented.  I would venture to say that God sees who Gideon will be, he knows his potential, and acknowledges this. 

Gideon responds in verse 13 and he basically says ‘If God is with us, where is he?  We have heard about our deliverance from Egypt and yet here we are under the oppression of the Midianites’.  God could have clearly and rightly rebuked him and yet God doesn’t respond in this manner instead he says go in your power and save Israel, have I not sent you?  In a manner very reminiscent of Moses, Gideon questions how he can accomplish this task considering who he is.  I think we all do this a lot, we get that tug from God and we know that he is prompting us and yet we do not understand what we can possibly do to accomplish God’s command.  The response he receives is encouraging, God says I will be with you and you shall strike down the Midianites.  Moses needed a bit of rebuke to accept his role; God gives Gideon encouragement and reassurance.  God gives us what we need to accomplish our divinely appointed work, sometimes that is a kick in the pants to get us moving, at other times that might be encouragement and reassurance.  God knows you and what motivates you.      

But this does not satisfy Gideon, as he wanted to make sure to validate whom it was he was talking to.  In verses 17-18 Gideon asks him to stay until he returns because he wants to present a gift and receive a sign.  He returns with some meat and unleavened bread, which he is instructed to place on a rock and to pour broth over them.  God reaches out his staff touching the meat and bread, which was then consumed by fire and then he vanished.  God graciously grants Gideon the proof he needed to have assurance in what he was hearing. 

The text goes on to tell us that after seeing this Gideon understood that he was standing in the presence of God and was afraid that he would die having met the angel of the LORD face to face.  God then spoke and assured him that he would not die.  In response Gideon builds an altar to God.  Later that night God gives him the first task he is to perform.  Gideon was told to pull down his father’s altar to Baal and to cut down the Asherah pole beside it.  With these remnants he was to build an altar to God in its place, using the wood of the Asherah to offer a burnt offering with his fathers cattle.  Gideon to his credit did not argue, though he was afraid of the task.  Verse 27, tells us that he went and did it by night with ten of his servants because he was too afraid to do it during the daylight where his family and the town would see him do it.

Fearfully Gideon went about his task, he was obedient.  I think sometimes we expect our nervousness to be removed or have total confidence in our ability to do what we are commanded, in reality all that is required of us is obedience.  Gideon knew what that there would be consequences, destroying the altar and Asherah would not go unnoticed.  The next day the town folk realize what has taken place during the night and began trying to find out who would do such a thing.  When they find out that it was Gideon, they come to Joash (Gideon’s father) and demand that he send out Gideon to die for his actions.  Joash did not comply, instead he questions why they would contend for Baal, if he was the god he claimed to be why not let him contend for himself.  This was a challenge to the beliefs that the Israelites had adopted, it perhaps testifies to the underlying and suppressed belief in God held by the Israelites. 

Continuing on in verse 33 we see that sometime after Gideon destroyed the altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah the Midianites and Amalekites came across the Jordan and camped in the Jezreel Valley.  So the invaders are coming and here is Gideon who has been told that he will be the one to save Israel.  Verse 34 says that it was during this time that the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon and he blew a trumpet to rally against the invaders.  One would think that this would be the turning point and Gideon would find confidence and no longer be the cautious and fearful, but that isn’t the case and it isn’t real life.  He goes on to ask for more proof and God gives him continued encouragement throughout his story.  For me I am thankful that God uses people like Gideon, who is really a person like me.  I am not reckless and blustery like Peter, I am not an eloquent speaker like Paul, but I can really relate to Gideon the man who served God in spite of the fear he felt.  Gideon trusted God and that trust moved him past fear and into obedience.  In Ephesians 2:10 Paul tells us that we are God’s workmanship made for the works that he has prepared for us.  I take great comfort in that, God made me who I am and with the personality I have.  Our personality cannot be an excuse for disobedience, like Gideon it may require us to step out of our comfort zone.  When we do that in obedience God always shows up to bless that obedience. 

God takes Gideon who is hiding in a field beating out his wheat and encourages him into the man of valor that Gideon was.  Yet even though he was a man of valor, he was also a cautious and fearful man, but he was obedient to God’s call.  He desired to serve God and in Gideon’s weakness is where God made him great.  Gideon was a faithful servant, but he is a picture of the everyman in a way.  He was not the bold man standing defiantly beating out his wheat upon a threshing floor, he did not see immediately that God would use him to conquer their oppressors, but he trusted God and obeyed.  God desires for us to be obedient, even if we have reservations.  He desires for us to be faithful, even when we don’t understand.  Will you trust him today?  Will you be a Gideon, faithful in the midst of your fears?  Will you answer your call today?