Yet again the People of Israel went back to doing evil in God’s sight. God put them under the domination of Midian for seven years. Midian overpowered Israel. Because of Midian, the People of Israel made for themselves hideouts in the mountains—caves and forts. When Israel planted its crops, Midian and Amalek, the easterners, would invade them, camp in their fields, and destroy their crops all the way down to Gaza. They left nothing for them to live on, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. Bringing their cattle and tents, they came in and took over, like an invasion of locusts. And their camels—past counting! They marched in and devastated the country. The People of Israel, reduced to grinding poverty by Midian, cried out to God for help.One time when the People of Israel had cried out to God because of Midian, God sent them a prophet with this message: “God, the God of Israel, says,
   I delivered you from Egypt,
      I freed you from a life of slavery;
   I rescued you from Egypt’s brutality
      and then from every oppressor;
   I pushed them out of your way
      and gave you their land.
   “And I said to you, ‘I am God, your God. Don’t for a minute be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.’ But you didn’t listen to me.”
 One day the angel of God came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, whose son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, out of sight of the Midianites. The angel of God appeared to him and said, “God is with you, O mighty warrior!”
 Gideon replied, “With me, my master? If God is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracle-wonders our parents and grandparents told us about, telling us, ‘Didn’t God deliver us from Egypt?’ The fact is, God has nothing to do with us—he has turned us over to Midian.”
 But God faced him directly: “Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven’t I just sent you?”
 Gideon said to him, “Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan’s the weakest in Manasseh and I’m the runt of the litter.”
 God said to him, “I’ll be with you. Believe me, you’ll defeat Midian as one man.”
 Gideon said, “If you’re serious about this, do me a favor: Give me a sign to back up what you’re telling me. Don’t leave until I come back and bring you my gift.”
   He said, “I’ll wait till you get back.”
 Gideon went and prepared a young goat and a huge amount of unraised bread (he used over half a bushel of flour!). He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and took them back under the shade of the oak tree for a sacred meal.
 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and unraised bread, place them on that rock, and pour the broth on them.” Gideon did it.
 The angel of God stretched out the tip of the stick he was holding and touched the meat and the bread. Fire broke out of the rock and burned up the meat and bread while the angel of God slipped away out of sight. And Gideon knew it was the angel of God!
   Gideon said, “Oh no! Master, God! I have seen the angel of God face-to-face!”
 But God reassured him, “Easy now. Don’t panic. You won’t die.”
 Then Gideon built an altar there to God and named it “God’s Peace.” It’s still called that at Ophrah of Abiezer.
Where are the miracle-wonders our grandparents are telling us about? I love the way that our human nature is to immediately blame God even if it is our disobedience that causes us to be far from God.
This story speaks so my about grace. If my daughter spoke to me how Gideon spoke to God how would I react? God’s reaction is graceful and he gives the sign that Gideon requires. It is with this sign that the awesomeness of God is revealed again and Gideon realises that as well as God being gracious and loving perhaps he might need to reconsider his attitude and those of his nation.
Sounds like God being the perfect father……..just like me!!!!! (I wish!)
It\’s funny really that the Israelites don\’t seem to learn their lessons. God had saved them from Eygpt and eventually brought them to their new land but still they don\’t listen to Him…with predictable consequences!
Sadly we often seem to be in the same boat. We forget how God has dealt with us in the past and so get into problems in the present. Sometimes we (I) just need to spend some time in the busyness of our lives to remember what God has done for us and what He has promised in the Bible. Maybe then we can keep our eyes on Him and avoid the need for our own personal (and corporate) Gideon.
\’With me, my master? If God is with us, why has all this happened to us?\’
Interesting that Gideon thinks that God is with them when all is going well, and that God can\’t possibly be with him when it was all going pear shaped. But then how often do we view God like that…. our relationship with Him is fantastic when nothing gets in the way and then when testing/trying times come, as they always will, we forget that God is with us and we try to do things in our own strength. Just because difficult things happen doesn\’t mean that God is not with us and we (I) have to remember that God is with me and I can put my trust in him no matter what! I pray that God will give me the strength to cope with those difficult situations and to really trust that He is there with me in all things!