The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/judges/6.htm

The Midianites attack Israel. If you remember, Midian is the land where Moses fled to after he killed the Egyptian slave master and left Egypt. The country is now likely southern Jordan or far northwest Saudi Arabia.

The Midianites would raid the country, robbing the people of Israel of all of their food. At harvest time, they would have to hide to thresh the grain and hide it from the Midianites. Once again, God raised a judge to save Israel, and his name was Gideon.

And once again, we see where it is so easy to get distracted and turn from God, falling into the temptations of Satan, but if we confess, repent, and ask for forgiveness, we will receive it. But it has to be genuine, “for God knows the heart” and He will know if you are sincere about asking forgiveness or if you are just giving Him word salad.

Jesus (an Angel of the Lord) came to Gideon to tell him he was going to be the one. Gideon was threshing grain in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

Notice it says, “The Angel of God appeared to him”. I don’t believe that Jesus rode a horse to Gideon, or took a chariot, or took a taxi, but in His awesome powers and ability, He made Himself visible to Gideon.

Gideon had low self-esteem. He told Jesus that he was a member of the “weakest” clan in the land of Manasseh, and even in his own fathers house, he was low on the totem pole. Gideon did not have the confidence to do the job. No matter how you feel about yourself or your skills and abilities, God knows what you are capable of and will not ask you to do anything you are not able to do. But, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me”; it doesn’t matter who you are, when God calls on you, you can move mountains.

After Jesus left Gideon’s presence, Gideon prayed to God, and God instructed him to cut down the altar they had built to Baal. That was one of Israel’s sins they repeatedly fell into, worshiping idols. So Gideon did, but he was afraid of his father and the men of the city, so he did it by night. God can give you courage, can’t He?

When the men of the city saw their idol had been destroyed, they suspected Gideon, and asked his father to bring him out so they could kill him. But Gideon’s father, named Joash (you’ll see this named again later), was a wise man, and said that if Baal was a true god, he could save himself.

Now the Midianites and the Amalekites prepared to invade, but Gideon was warned by the “Spirit of the Lord”. Has the Spirit ever spoke to you? Did you heed it, or did you dismiss it? Sometimes the Spirit may be giving you a command from God, telling you God’s will and what He wants you to do, but sometimes the “Spirit” may present as your “conscience”.

Regardless, Gideon heeded the Spirit, and blew the trumpet to gather the Israelites to prepare for battle.

Now Gideon still had doubts about his abilities, and he was also second-guessing his faith. So he prayed to God, asking if what the Spirit had filled him with was true. So he asked God to perform two tests. If the Spirit was real, Gideon put out a fleece of sheep’s wool, and asked God that if it was true, make the fleece wet with dew, but leave the ground dry, and it was so. The second test was just the opposite; leave the fleece dry, but put dew on the ground, and it was true.

God can do anything, His power is awesome, His Will will be done. And slowly, Gideon’s faith and confidence grew.

Do you have self-doubt? Do you have low self-esteem? God does not want you to have an ego so large that you are prideful, but He does want you to know that you are capable of doing anything He asks you to do. And God calls on many, as we will see. He called on Abraham, He called on Joseph, He called on Moses and Joshua.

Be ready, because He might call on you.

Praise God, and God bless you all.