Read: Judges 6
The story of Gideon is almost comical. The Israelites, only
fairly recently settled in the land of Canaan after the exodus, are being
attacked by their neighbours, the Midianites. There are no kings, and
effectively no formal government at the time; Israel is led by “judges”, people
chosen for their military prowess or wisdom. At this time, however, there is no
clear leadership.
As the story begins, Gideon, a farmer, is hiding himself and
any produce he can from the rampaging Midianites who are laying waste the land.
He is terrified. When the angel of the Lord appears suddenly in front of him
and addresses him as “you mighty warrior” Gideon is dumbfounded. Surely the
angel doesn’t mean him? He is, as he points out, the least in his family, which
is part of the weakest clan in the tribe of Manasseh. The angel is adamant,
though, and eventually Gideon, however fearfully, accepts the challenge of
confronting the Midianites. He is a wonderfully human character, a mix of
courage, fear, foolhardiness and genuine faithfulness to God.
·
·
The angel
sees something in Gideon which he cannot see in himself, that he is a “mighty
warrior”. Has someone else ever seen something in you which you have been blind
to?
No comments:
Post a Comment