The story of Gideon is an interesting one. Jesus came to him and the Bible called Him “The LORD,” “The Angel of the Lord,” and “The Angel of God.” God was going to save His people, the Israelites through this man, who was the least of the weakest clan. God chose him for that reason, so that people would see that it was God, not man, that saved them. Something we in this society need to remember. No man will save us. Only through Jesus Christ, through His death and resurrection, through His blood, are we saved; not through any good deeds or how good we are, but what He has done and how good He is. Same with our country. No president or no one in Congress will save us from the mess we are in. We need to pray to God for our leaders and our country and this country needs to repent and turn toward Him so that He will heal our land.
So, God called Gideon to trust Him and He would work through him. As Gideon steps forward, God uses him with 300 men to defeat the army of Midian. At first, Gideon had doubts. He had excuses. He asked for a sign…a couple times. God had patience and gave him the faith he needed. He reminded him that He would always be there for him and that He would do the work through him. So the story begins…
Judges 6:11-24
Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” 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.”
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?” So he said to Him, “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.” And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
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. Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”
So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them.
The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
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. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
For me, there are three lessons I learned from this story. The first, is God can use you to do His work no matter who you are, no matter what excuses you may have. The second is that He deserves the glory for whatever you do because it is Him that does great things, not me. The third is that no matter what I am going through, no matter what I am doing, no matter what challenges I may face, no matter where God send me, He is always by my side. Throughout scripture He reminds us that He is with us. He promises that He is always by our side.
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Hebrew 13:5
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.”
Deuteronomy 31:8
And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 4:31
(for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
1 Samuel 12:22
For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people.
1 Chronicles 28:20
And David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God—my God—will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.
Isaiah 37:28
For the LORD loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
1 Samuel 10:7
And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you.
1 Chronicles 17:2
Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
Matthew 28:20b
…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
My Daily Scriptures 