Gideon: God’s work in him.
Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? (Judges 6:14).
It is often said that God has more to do in us then He has to do through us. (We can sometimes use this as an excuse not to do things.) These two aspects of God’s work are complementary. We need to understand that, in the process of working in us, God will also work through us. God worked in Gideon’s life, not by focussing on his weaknesses, but by causing him to find all his resources in God. I don’t think we have a more remarkable and concentrated example of God’s patient development of a person’s faith than that of Gideon. He was not a Caleb, who saw obstacles as opportunities to prove God’s power. Giants did not cause Caleb to fear, but to fight. Gideon was the opposite. But the wonder of his story is that God does not dismiss his weak faith. He makes it strong and He does this through a wonderful display of patient grace. And He can do this in our lives too.
The Angel encourages Gideon: “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” But Gideon questions God straightaway, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (v. 15). He forgot Manasseh was the son of Joseph, the saviour of his family and the nation of Egypt (Genesis 46:20). Gideon had started his conversation with the Angel by blaming God for Israel’s plight (v. 13). Then, when God promises to use Gideon, he makes the excuse of his insignificance. Gideon shows how humility can be undermined by a lack of faith. God wants us to humble ourselves under His “mighty hand” (1 Peter 5:6). Our humility does not excuse us from service: it is a spiritual willingness to be subject and obedient to the will and power of God. Through humility, God displays His “mighty hand”. God patiently reinforced His promise to Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (v. 16).
Gideon, like Jacob at Bethel, responds to God with the tiniest yet one of the most obstructive words, “if”: “If now I have found favour in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me” (v. 17). As He did with Jacob (see Genesis 28:10-22), God unconditionally promises to be with Gideon, who responds with doubt in his heart and needs to be reassured, not by God’s word, but by a sign. We are not unlike Gideon. We often find it difficult to simply trust what God says and want something more to reassure us. In God’s grace, he allows Gideon to make a meal, which the Angel of the Lord touches with his staff, causing fire to emerge from the rock to consume the food. Gideon’s simple sacrifice is accepted, and God’s power manifested.
All the Old Testament sacrifices look on to Christ in His perfect devotion to God. We are accepted in the Beloved, based on the greatness of His Person and work. Gideon was accepted, and realised He was in the presence of God. Fear filled his heart. Reverence should always mark us in the presence of God. We should never forget the greatness of the Person who is both our Creator and Saviour. In His presence, we find peace. Christ’s salvation has given us peace. We can know the peace of God by faith in our daily lives. And we know the God of Peace who sanctifies us completely: “May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Love, faith and hope are known through the God of Peace. God said to Gideon, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” God was going to work through Gideon, and that would start with the destruction of the altar to Baal in his father’s house (v. 25). But first he built an altar in the place where he met God. It was called “The-Lord-Is-Peace”. God gives Gideon confidence as He prepares him for conflict.
