Background Story:
The man Gideon is our
text case. I will start with a background story as found in the book of Judges Chapter
6: 1- 14.The Israelites as we read in the Bible were special people unto God.
He loved them so much and He would always fight for them against their enemies.
But whenever they turned their backs against God, He in turn would use their
enemies to punish them so as to win back their attention. Let us back up a
little bit and read from Judges Chapter Four, verse 1, “After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the
LORD. So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who
reigned in Hazor…” Jabin’s commander
at that time was Sisera. After 20 solid years of oppression by these people,
the Israelites cried to the LORD for help. That period Deborah, the prophetess
was in charge as a leader in Israel. She sent for Barak and told him what God
said. Barak was to lead the people to war against Sisera, the commander of
Jabin’s army. What was Barak’s reply? He told Deborah that if she was not
following him to the battle field he, Barak, would not go. He recognized that
God was with Deborah. Well, they went to fight the war and God gave Sisera into
their hands. He was killed by a woman named Jael. The Israelites were full of
jubilations after the victory (chapter 5), and in verse 31 we read that the
land of Israel had peace for 40 years.
By the time we
get to chapter 6 of the book of Judges, what do we have to say about the
Israelites? The bible states in verse 1, “Again the Israelites did evil in the
eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the
Midianites.” These people were so oppressive. The Midianites, the Amalekites
and other Eastern people invaded the land of Israel and destroyed their farm
lands. (6 v.4). By the time we get to verse 6 we see again that the Israelites
cried unto the LORD for help. Psalm 121: 1 “I
will lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come? My help comes from
the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” The Israelites acknowledged the
fact that only God can help in times of crisis. As usual, God sent a prophet to
them to remind them that He is their God, and that they should not worship the
gods of the Amorites but they refused to listen to His warning. It was in the
midst of this crisis that an angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, son of
Joash, under the oak of Ophrah, and he said to Gideon,
The LORD is with you, you mighty
man of valor!” (v.12). That was strange to Gideon hence he said to the angel. “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.” 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?”
