January 7, 2025

Judges 6:11-24  (HCSB)
The Lord Calls Gideon 11 The Angel of the Lord came, and He sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” 13 Gideon said to Him, “Please Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” 14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?”
15 He said to Him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 “But I will be with you,” the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.” 17 Then he said to Him, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that You are speaking with me. 18 Please do not leave this place until I return to You. Let me bring my gift and set it before You.” And He said, “I will stay until you return.” 19 So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to Him under the oak. 20 The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth on it.” And he did so. 21 The Angel of the Lord extended the tip of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. 22 When Gideon realized that He was the Angel of the Lord, he said, “Oh no, Lord God! I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face!” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it Yahweh Shalom. It is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites until today.

Christine Mullins
Here we are introduced to the next hero for Israel! Not exactly where we would expect to find a hero. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide from the enemies. This is not only difficult but also humiliating. To thresh wheat, you often want to be in the open air so the breeze could blow away the chaff. Even though this is a great place to hide from his enemies, God still found him. It is in this winepress where God will call the 5th judge and eventually Gideon’s faith would place him in Hebrews 11 (Hall of Faith). God called him: “mighty man of valor”. Gideon would doubt this title as he saw himself as insignificant. Gideon described himself as coming from the smallest tribe and the youngest in his family.
This is a reminder that God can work through anyone, even timid believers of little faith. A leader doesn’t always mean the boldest or most extroverted. God often works through believers who come from the least of the least. Where is God calling you to serve and are you hiding from His call?