Throughout the Bible, God has revealed Himself in various ways. Whenever He has spoken or come near, individuals were given a glimpse of God’s nature, character, power and person. Many times God’s appearance and word gave His people the strength and courage to face negative circumstances and the attack of the enemy.
In Judges 6:24, God revealed Himself to Gideon as the Angel of the Lord.
KJV Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah-shalom.
NKJV So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace.
CEV Gideon built an altar for worshiping the Lord and called it “The Lord Calms Our Fears.”
In Judges 6, the Midianites had oppressed God’s people and had been stealing their crops and livestock.
The Midianites, Amalekites and the people of the East came to war against Israel. The numbers of the enemy were so great that they were counted as locusts. The description gives a visual image of the way they swarmed into the land. They were destroying all of the produce of the earth and Israel was left with no sustenance.
Everyone was afraid and impoverished.
Judges 6:7 NKJV And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites,
This is always a key to God’s deliverance and intervention. When they cried out to the Lord, answers came.
Judges 6:8-9 NKJV that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.
Think about that.
How many times has the Lord showed up right on time?
He delivered them from Egypt and brought them out of the house of bondage. He delivered them from the hand of their oppressors, drove out their enemies, and gave them their land.
Think about everything that the Lord has done for you.
Has He saved, healed, and delivered? Has He supplied, kept and prospered? What has the Lord done for you? You should remember and praise the Lord.
Judges 6:10 NKJV Also I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice.”
After looking at what God has done in the past, the Lord said, “I am with you now.”The problems you are facing now are no greater than the things God has already brought you through. Regardless of where you are, God is faithful. He was powerful against Egypt and all the other enemies they had faced. The same thing can be said in your life. God has done so much for you.
Then God said, “You have not obeyed My voice.”
Many times we face troubles and trials because we have not obeyed God’s voice.
There is good news.
Immediately after they cried out to the Lord, God was ready and able to help them.
After that, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon.
Gideon was threshing wheat down by the winepress to hide from the Midianites. Gideon was doing what many others do after going through a protracted attack from their enemy. Remember the Lord said, “the enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy.” That was Gideon’s experience, so he was trying to survive by hiding from the Midianites. Even though the people had cried out to God and the Lord said “Do not fear,” Gideon was hiding from the Midianites.
Judges 6:12 NKJV And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
Do you know that God knows your true potential?
Gideon was hiding in fear of his enemy, but God saw a mighty man of valor.
Judges 6:13 NKJV Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
Have you ever considered past miracles and wondered what is wrong now?
Gideon had a good recall of what God had done for their fathers. Often, we look back at great revivals and miracles. God has done some great and mighty things.
Gideon said, “But now the Lord has forsaken us and has delivered us into the hands of our enemies.” Have you ever been in a situation where your experience did not match your faith in God?
God called him a mighty man of valor, but he was hiding from his enemies. Gideon could remember all of the miracles his fathers talked about. In the past, God did some awesome things for His people. Have you ever been through a dry spell when there were not miracles or signs of God’s presence and power? Without anything changing in Gideon’s feelings or situation, God says you shall save Israel.
Judges 6:14 NKJV Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
These words and circumstances remind me of Moses when he stood by the burning bush.
God told him to go to Egypt, but Moses offered every excuse why he could not go. He was slow of speech. He was not adequate for the task. He would prefer God to send Aaron.
Gideon is impressed with his own inadequacy.
He did not have the confidence to do what God was asking him to do. God told Gideon, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” God knew something about Gideon that he did not know about himself. All Gideon could see was how weak his family was and that he was the least in his father’s house.
Judges 6:16 HCSB “But I will be with you,” the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”
Listen to God’s promise, “I will be with you.” We need to know that, but that is not everything God said. He said, “You will strike down Midian as if it were one man.”
Judges 6:17 NKJV Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.
Have you ever thought God wanted you to do something, but you were not sure?
Gideon wanted to know that it was the Lord. He was not sure that he had found favor in the Lord’s sight, so he asked for a sign.
Have you ever wanted God to give you a sign that He was with you and was going to prosper your way?
So, Gideon prepared a young goat and some bread. He brought the meat in a basket, the broth in a pot, and some unleavened bread. After he laid the food out, the Angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with His staff and fire arose from the rock and consumed the food.
Judges 6:22-24 NKJV Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace, (Jehovah-Shalom).
Everything that happened to Gideon was in preparation for God to bring peace to Israel. Sometimes all we see is that God has come near and has given us personal peace. God was getting Gideon ready to do something that was not usual or customary for him. He had been hiding in fear, but God was going to take him out of the background and put him in a place of power.
Immediately after Gideon built the altar in Ophrah, the Lord told him to go tear down the altar of Baal and build an altar to the Lord.
This was a bold act of faith in God.
Judges 6:27 NKJV So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.
When the men of the city saw that the altar of Baal was torn down, they were ready to kill Gideon. Joash, Gideon’s father said, “If Baal is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!”
Judges 6:33 NKJV Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
It may look bad to some people, but God has everything under control. He had told Gideon, “I will be with you, and you will strike Midian down as if it were one man.” God was getting all of the Midianites, Amalekites and people of the East together in one valley.
Judges 6:34 NIV84 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.
32,000 people showed up to go out against the Midianites and Amalekites. God said, “You have too many for Me to give the Midianites into your hand.” When God was finished Gideon only had 300 men.
Judges 7:7-12 NKJV Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.” It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp. Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.
It is important when you are up against things that appear greater than you are to hear what God is saying, and understand what the enemy really thinks.
When Gideon and Purah got to the enemy’s camp, the armies were terrified of Gideon, the son of Joash. The enemy was saying, “God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.” Satan knows that you have power with God.
Never underestimate God. The next morning Gideon told the 300 men in Israel’s camp, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
Judges 7:20 NKJV Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”
Every man stood in his place around the camp and when the trumpets sounded, the Lord confused the armies of Midian and they started attacking one another.
God did exactly what He said He would do. He is “Jehovah Shalom,” “The Lord is Peace” and “He calms all our fears.”