Obey Afraid

Judges 6

For 7 years, Israel (the people of God) are suffering under the hand, the rule, the abuse of Midian (strife) and their compadre, their ally Amalek ( dwellers in the valley, those from below, Esau’s descendants, the brother who did NOT value his gifts and sold it for a pot of soup.) Israel (the People of God) hides in caves and strongholds in the mountains. They seem to be powerless and all they can do is, hide. They lost some of their identity, suffering from a national inferiority complex.

Whenever the People of God sow seed, Strife and Valley Dwellers attack and destroy the crop. This left no nourishment for the People of God, wasted the land and impoverished the People of God.

AND THEY CRIED TO THE LORD.  

There was nothing they could do about the situation. They had not one ounce of courage left. Their oppression was so severe that they could not resist or throw off this yoke of slavery. But they cried out to the Lord.

Then the word of the Lord came by a prophet who said to them: The Lord says: I brought you out of Egypt (a type of sin ) from the house of bondage. I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians (house of bondage) and out of the hand of all those who oppressed you and gave you their land, their inheritance. And I (the Lord) said to you: I am the Lord your God; Fear not the gods of the Amorites ( the sayers: the biggest tribe in Canaan and often used to mean all of Canaan) in whose land you dwell.  BUT YOU HAVE NOT OBEYED MY VOICE.

Disobedience always has consequences. We often disobey God, neglect His word and His covenant and then are at a loss for why we are receiving the reward of our behavior. This answers the “WHY?”

Now THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME. A visitation, a Divine revelation happens. This Angel of the Lord shows up 58 times in scripture. It is always the result of Divine Intervention.  The first time was in Genesis 16:7. Some believe that this is the Old Testament form of Jesus Christ (pre-incarnate Christ)

The Angel of the Lord shows up under a tree, terebinth or turpentine tree at Ophrah ( meaning: fawn) of Joash (given by the Lord) the Abiezrite (My Father is help).  Joash ( given by the Lord) has a son Gideon (Hewer, cutter, chopper) who was hiding in a winepress to beat out a little grain. A winepress was usually dug into the ground and this made a perfect hiding place. He had to provide for his family in secret so that Strife could not steal their bread.

The Angel of the Lord addresses him: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of courage.” Courage seems to be high on the list of things that pleases God. Joshua 1:7 Gideon’s answer is to question and even doubt what was said: “If the Lord is with us, why is all this befallen us? Our Fathers told us about God’s mighty works.” And Gideon makes the conclusion that God has forsaken them and handed them over to Strife.

It seems like the Lord ignores Gideon’s response: “Go in this your might,  - maybe if we see ourselves as weak and wanting we are better tools, vehicles in the hand of God – you shall save the People of God from Strife and poverty. This is a call to a mission. This is the unction that comes and lies in your spirit, in your gut. This is what makes you go and do even though you are terrified.

HAVE I NOT SENT YOU?

Now Gideon steps up his questions to doubt and excuses: How can I do this?  This was the response of Moses, Joseph, Joshua, Mary, Ester, Debrah, Saul, David etc… It seems God always choose those who do not think they are something. It seems like it is always the ignorant and unlearned fishermen that are called. Gideon’s excuse: My clan is the poorest and I am the least in my house. Maybe that Is why he was outside hiding in the winepress, beating out grain, because he was expendable.

SURELY I WILL BE WITH YOU and you shall smite Strife.  God does not give us a mission and then turn to be a spectator. He is with us in the frey. He is ever present.

Gideon’s response: “ If I have found favor in Your sight… then show me that it is You who speaks to me. “ This is a big question. If we know and are sure that it is God speaking to us, we have no other excuses other than direct disobedience. When God speaks, what is our response?

Gideon makes an offering and it is consumed as a burnt sacrifice, A sweet savour unto God. This proves to Gideon that it is indeed the Angel of the Lord and He built an altar, a memorial to God naming it: Jehovah Shalom – The Lord our Peace (as opposed to the oppression of Midian/Strife) The application is obvious. There will always be some sacrifice, even if it is only time, food, money, opinion of people etc. Our God is the God of the answer. He is our peace instead of Strife. He is our freedom instead of bondage. He is our riches instead of poverty.

No encounter with God is without a command to go and “do”.

 The first order of duty was to pull down the idols and offer them to God. These idols were the gods of the Canaanites, the idols of the other nations around them, those who kept them in bondage and poverty.

Second, he had to build a place of worship to the Lord God in proper order. Here he had to make a burnt sacrifice. He had to restore the worship. He had to rectify the honor that was given to other gods.

Gideon obeyed afraid, but he did what he was told. He snuck out at night and completed his task. This caused the upheaval he expected. They came to kill him but his dad protected him. Yet a war broke out with their oppressors. We often want the small thing, the key thing to be the entire war. It does not work like that. Before the victory there is often an entire war. Yet, we should not shy away from this because God fight for and with us. Victory is a sure thing as long as we follow God.

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD clothed Gideon with Himself and possessed him. This is of great importance if we will see the victory. We have to be clothed, filled and overflowed by the Spirit of God. There is no room for our own human ideas and emotions. We have to be Holy Spirit controlled.

Victory is a sure thing because God is in it. Victory is a sure thing when we obey. Obey afraid if you must, but just obey