Judges 6:1-18.  We have been through 4 deliverers so far.  Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, and Deborah.  Now we come to the fifth and this story is much longer.  In three of the four the people turn from God and he brings people in to oppress them.  They then cry out to God and He brings a savior to the rescue.  In the most recent story we were told that Deborah was a prophetess and that the people would come to her for leadership.  Now in this fifth story we get more details.  First we learn that the people were hiding in caves and making forts for themselves.  We also see that the invaders are destroying and/or stealing their crops.  Also the invaders are using up all of the pasture land to the point that the Israelites had no sheep (meat and milk), no ox (used to plow the fields), and no donkeys (used for transportation).  When verses 6 says that they were “brought very low” I think that is understated.  It was a disaster!  The second way we get more details is when the people cry out.  Always before in the story God sends a savior.  This time though he sends a prophet who reminds them that God has done great things in the past but also reminds them that they keep honoring the false gods around them.  It’s kind of like when you disobey a parent and wind up getting hurt.  You run to them for help and they say, “I told you so.”  I was very good at that.

Next the story returns to the more familiar pattern of God providing a savior.  Even here though there is more detail given.  Today we will just meet the guy.  An angel takes form and sits under a tree in Israel.  The angel is watching a guy named Gideon who is hiding in  a wine press, a pit carved out of rock in a hill side where grapes would be dumped and smashed up into juice.  The juice would run out of the carved hole into another one below it where it would be collected.  By the way in Judges 6:32 we see Gideon’s name changed to Jerubbaal.  Gideon means “hacker or hewer”  like chopping down trees and Jerubbaal means “let Baal contend” (You can learn more about this sort of name changing in “What’s in a Name?”).  Baal was a god of the Canaanite and Midianites. So we find Gideon, the next deliverer, hiding in this pit beating some wheat to separate the seeds from the rest of the plant.  The angel calls him a valiant warrior and tells him God is with him.  This is basically the angel’s way of saying, “Hear all that crying for help?  Tag, you’re it.”  Gideon’s response?  “Sure we used to have a big God but He’s gone now.”  So the angel of the Lord then said, “go in your strength I have sent you.”  Let’s stop here for a minute.  Some Bible scholars believe that the term “angel of the Lord” indicates an appearance of God in angelic form, usually they identify it as God the Son rather than the Father or Holy Spirit.  In other words Jesus taking on a temporary form during these Old Testament appearances before he took on a permanent human form in Mary.  Verses 14 and 16 would tend to support this idea when they say “the Lord looked at him…”  and “the Lord said to him…”  Back to the story.  Next Gideon indicates that his family is too small to fight and he is not the leader of his family.  God then says basically “I’m with you, you could do it alone”.  Gideon still doesn’t give in.  He then asks for a sign.  He tells his visitor that he’s going to go get an offering and then he expects some proof.  So the visitor says he will wait.

It will be interesting to see how this story plays out but already there is some good stuff here.  I like it that God didn’t deliver right away.  The bigger issue for the Israelites was their relationship with God.  Saving them here and now would keep them alive for a while but not for eternity.  Of course I don’t like it when God doesn’t fix my little world right away, but I need to remember that the important part of life relates to eternity.  I think God wants us to have a  good and pleasant life but eternity is much more important, Matthew 16:26; Matthew 6:25-30).  I also like how patient God is.  How many times can one guy say no?  How many times can I say no?

God thank you for your patience.  Thank you for using ordinary people.  God help me respond to you when you send me. Thank you for using me.  Thank you for your power.  Help me hear and do.