Gideon

I have spent this morning in the Word and in prayer. For the past month, I have been asking the Lord to give me direction regarding certain things for this next semester. There is a song that describes exactly how I feel: "I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you...I lift my eyes toward the heavens, I tune my ear to your command, help me boast in my condition, you're the God and I'm the man." As I was praying and listening to this song, I felt like the Lord wanted me to read about Gideon.

[Summary of the story in Judges 6: Israel was disobedient to the Lord and began living in sin and rebellion. Because of this, God allowed the Midianites to oppress Israel to the point of taking all that they had. He then raised up a prophet who convinces the people of their sin. The Israelites then began to cry out to God for forgiveness. Following this, the Lord called Gideon, a man who was from a weak clan and was the least of his siblings. Despite these things, he was obedient after he made sure that it was the Lord talking to him. Gideon was protected as he did what the Lord told him. Then Gideon tested God by putting out a fleece twice to be sure that he was hearing from Him.]

Okay. So we have Israel who has disobeyed God (once more) and is being punished because of their sin and rebellion. God allowed the Midianites to attack them. Because God raised up a prophet, they are finally made aware that they are facing these things because of the decisions that they made to go against God's commands and they ask God to have mercy. He then raises up a man who doesn't have a high social status, or the qualifications that one would think would be necessary in doing the work of the Lord...but he was obedient to the call. I love that Gideon was so adamant about being sure that it was God's voice that he was hearing. [It sounds like me. I always have to ask God to confirm His word a million times before I act on it.] Now, we have a man who was called out by God to do something great: to change a nation! First, he was told to tear down the altars to Baal and to instead, "build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here" (vs. 26.) God blessed his servant with peace and it says that "the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon" (vs. 34.) Gideon, again, wanted to make sure he was dealing with the Lord God, so he put out a fleece and asked Him to make only the fleece wet with dew. It was done. Next, he put out another fleece asking for this one to be dry and the ground to be wet. It was also done.

This story isn't very hard to understand. Because of a nation's sin, God took things away from them. They were faced with consequences for their actions. Sometimes people get into the notion that God is only a God of grace. While it is true that He is a merciful, gracious God, we have to understand that there is judgement for our sin. If the Lord did not provide consequences to our actions that displease Him, I feel that the Bible would be a completely different book. We are called to live lives of holiness, through repentance, which requires turning away from our sin. It is changing our actions in order to be more like Christ. I feel like Christianity today has come so far away from this. Everyone always talks about God's grace and forgiveness rather than repenting and getting our lives right!

Commentator Matthew Henry says that "sin dispirits men, and makes them sneak into dens and caves."In other words, sin keeps us from fulfilling the call of God and causes us to go into places of darkness and despair. This is what happened to Israel. Their sin led them into hiding from the enemy. Until they realized their wrong and sought to turn from it, they did not have freedom. Repentance is the key. Sometimes God provides someone or something to make us aware that if we keep heading in that direction, there will be greater trouble. This is what He did when He brought the unknown prophet to Israel. And then, it was furthered by Gideon because of his obedience.

If there will be just ONE person to stand for truth and to be obedient to the Lord, it can change an entire nation. However, I do not believe it will happen until there is true repentance among the people. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." That's all it takes.