(Note: This message is edited from a sermon preached at First Baptist Church, Chamois, MO on October 9. 2022 and is not an exact transcription.)
Introduction: Gideon is mentioned here in Judges and he’s also one of those in the “Hebrews Hall of Fame” in Hebrews 11. I have to confess, the first time or two that I heard about Gideon I thought he was a real hero, kind of like a John Wayne or Sergeant Alvin York type of guy.
Was I in for a surprise! The story of Gideon is another one of God’s stories where He chooses and uses those who most people wouldn’t even dream of. We’ll see a bit of this in the message to follow. The main thing to remember is that Gideon was faithful. In God’s eyes, that was enough.
1 The conditions
Text: Judges 6:11, KJV: 11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
In the first 10 verses of Judges 6, the writer describes, again, how Israel had rejected God, the God of Israel to worship pagan idols. Most of Judges covers this horrible cycle. Now, at this moment, the Midianites and Amalekites, plus “sons of the east (some think this refers to various Arab tribes) were camped near Israel’s best land, waiting for harvest so they, not Israel, would grab-steal—the food and leave Israel with little of anything.
This had happened for seven years and I’m still amazed why Israel waited so long to cry out to the God of their fathers! Something that they should have realized—and who knows why they didn’t—was that “Baal”, one of the idols they had adopted as one of their “gods” was, according to Canaanite religion, the god of harvest and fertility, among other things (Eerdmans Handbook to the Bible gives more details). Why would they continue to worship a “god” like this who couldn’t stop enemies from stealing their harvest?
Even the message from one of the LORD’s prophets didn’t seem to have much success. His message in verses 7-10 appeared to land on deaf ears as there is no record of any repentance or moving away from the idols and back to the LORD, God of Israel. But let’s not forget, God always has one or a few who remain faithful. Gideon was one such man.
What’s odd, interesting, unusual (take your pick) is that Gideon, even though he was still, if not always, a believer in the LORD, his faith seemed weak at times. This was one of those times. Remember, the enemies had come up to Israel every year for six previous years, this making the seventh, and you could almost set your watch that when harvest time came, so did they,
Somehow Gideon was able to sow, tend, and harvest some wheat; we’re never told how much but I’m guessing it was barely enough to live on. At any rate, whatever he could harvest, he took to a wine press in order to thresh or process it there. Let’s not be too hard on Gideon, though: if he threshed his wheat in the open, it might have been suicide if the enemies caught him. I’ve never seen a real wine press but from what I’ve been able to find, the press had an upper section where people would stack or arrange the grapes and then stomp on them to produce juice. The second or lower level was, of course, where the fluid, liquid, juice, whatever you want to call it, would flow and then be collected.
The small amount of wheat Gideon did harvest would have been, perhaps, easy to toss into the air with the wheat falling in one place and the chaff (lighter, as I understand) would fall away. Some of it would probably fall into the lower part of the wine press, still mostly out of sight. Gideon would then be able to, somehow, get some grain back to his house and family.
And this is the setting for the story so far. Israel is under severe oppression, they’re living in famine-like conditions, and worst of all, and they still haven’t turned to the LORD by this time. Gideon is doing the best he could, trying to provide some food for his family, and I’m sure his faith was about as weak as it could be. Now imagine how Gideon reacted when he found himself face to face with a Very Special Visitor!
2 The conversation
Text, Judges 6:12-13, KJV: 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
Back in verse 11, we read the Angel of the LORD had come down and sat under a specific oak tree and observed Gideon. I personally believe, along with many others, that this Angel was Jesus, the Son of God, appearing in human form before He was born of the Virgin Mary many years later. At first, the Angel didn’t say a word, instead watching Gideon work at threshing his wheat. Now, at the most appropriate time, the Angel took the next step and spoke to Gideon.
Notice, also, in verse 12 that the Angel “appeared” unto Gideon. What this means is not clear to me, but my guess is that the Angel left the oak tree and moved closer to Gideon’s location. Gideon was probably still near the wine press at this time, maybe trying to collect the grain before he made his way back home.
That’s when the Angel of the LORD spoke to Gideon. He said, “The LORD is with you, mighty man of valor!” Now, this surely isn’t what Gideon thought of himself, as we’ll see in a moment. God sometimes speaks to us as what He sees in the future or what we’ll become, not what we are at the moment. Dr. J. Vernon McGee in his “Thru the Bible” notes observed a bit of sarcasm here; others have different opinions; my thought is God is going to give Gideon something he never dreamed was possible.
And here’s the proof: Gideon may not have even realized just Who this Visitor really was. It’s not always easy to tell in our English translations, but the Angel, speaking Hebrew, used the name YHWH (Jehovah as some render it) as the Name of Who was with Gideon. In turn, Gideon used a completely different word; the one sometimes translated “Lord”, meaning God; “lord”, or “master”. I’m of the opinion Gideon honestly didn’t know at the time he was speaking to God Himself, Who had come to visit him!
Oddly, Gideon replied with a very non-courageous answer. He asked if the LORD is with us (and that isn’t what the Angel had said, by the way), why had Israel suffered all that they had for so long. To me, this seems incredible: hadn’t he seen Israel basically exchange the LORD for Baal several years before? And Gideon asked further, where are all the miracles the LORD did for us as in days past? He answered his own question, though, when he admitted “the LORD has forsaken us and He gave us to the Midianites (paraphrased)”.
So now we come to a transition point. The Angel of the LORD had called Gideon a “mighty man of valor” even though he was not acting very brave or valorous at the time. Gideon replied to the Angel with a tale of woe, wondering out loud, “If the LORD says He’s here, why did all this happen to us?”
Fortunately, the LORD is very patient, even when dealing with a Gideon!
3 The commission
Text, Judges 6:14-16, KJV: 14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. 16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
Now, not only do I think the LORD has ultimate patience but He also has a broad sense of humor, as well. I mean, the LORD has already spoken to Gideon, calling him a “mighty man of valor”, and now He looks—stares, we might say—and tells Gideon, “You’re going to save Israel from the Midianites.”
And what does Gideon say in reply?
A some-kind-of-century BC equivalent of “You’re talking to ME?”! I don’t remember when that particular quote was first uttered, but it may have come from this incident here! Gideon surely didn’t believe what the LORD told him, at first, because again he comes up with an excuse. Doesn’t that remind us a little of Moses when God met him at the burning bush, and Moses made one excuse after the other as to why God couldn’t use him?
Gideon kept on trying to make excuses. The first one of this series was “my family is poor”, as if that meant anything in God’s eyes. After all, the whole nation had been slaves for centuries in Egypt and had to unlearn that mindset in order to become soldiers ready to claim what God had promised them. The Book of Joshua details this. Even some of the Judges who lived before Gideon didn’t have much in the way of riches but that didn’t stop God from using them to bring victory for Israel. So that excuse didn’t hold water.
Gideon didn’t stop there. He also said “I’m the least in my father’s house.” Some commentators take this to mean at least some of his brothers had died at the hands of the Midianites at a previous time (see Judges 8:18-19) and he was the only surviving son. Again, God is not going to reject anybody because they may be the last of a family line or if they were one of a large family. Sure, Gideon may have been afraid of dying and leaving his father without a male heir but—hadn’t the LORD, in the person of the Angel of the LORD, told him he was going to win?
And the LORD told Gideon, in no uncertain terms, “Surely I will be with you and you WILL smite the Midianites (the whole group) as (you would deal with) one man (my paraphrase)”. That seemed to be enough for Gideon, at least at this time.
Even so, Gideon knew he still wanted one additional sign. The LORD graciously allowed this.
4 The conclusion
Text, Judges 6:17-23, KJV: 17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. 18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. 19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. 20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. 22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. 23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
Gideon had heard the LORD tell him, more than once, that he was going to be the leader, or general, who would lead Israel to victory over the Midianites. By now, Gideon seems to be a little more comfortable with what the LORD had said. At the very least, he’s willing to offer a meal for the Visitor (remember, it’s anybody’s guess how well Gideon knew that God Himself was speaking to Gideon as the Angel of the LORD) much like Abraham had done many years before (Genesis 18).
Something that reveals a little of Gideon’s character is found in verse 18. He asked the Guest to please wait until he brought back a “present (meal)” and set it before the Guest. Ever courteous, the Guest replied, “I’ll wait till you get back.” Remember, Israel had been reduced to starvation conditions for the past six years, seven counting this time of “harvest but we won’t get any”, yet Gideon was willing to literally sacrifice the little he had for his Guest.
Verse 19 also describes how Gideon prepared the meal. He found a kid and made it ready. Several commentators observed that Gideon may have made “kabobs”, like our shish-kabobs, so that the meat would heat faster. Admittedly, it would take a while for any meat to heat either near a fire or being turned on a “spit”. Gideon also made some unleavened cakes from some (leftover?) fine flour (where did he get the wheat to make this?) and some broth, maybe soup or gravy. He took all this to where the Guest was staying.
Now comes one of the strangest episodes in Gideon’s life. The Visitor told Gideon to put the meat and unleavened cakes on a certain rock then to pour out the broth. Gideon did so, and I can’t help but wonder if he was thinking, “What am I doing, wasting all this stuff?”
But Gideon didn’t know the rest of the story. Once he had done as the Visitor commanded, the Visitor—the Angel of the LORD—touched the food with the end of His staff and caused fire to appear! The fire came up out of the rock (and THAT would have been something to see) and consumed everything. Even more amazing, after this took place, the Visitor—the Angel of the LORD—disappeared from Gideon’s sight.
And now Gideon realized, for certain, just Who he had been dealing with. He realized clearly he had seen the Angel of the LORD face to face and now he was afraid he would die! It’s easy for him to think so, as the LORD Himself had told Moses, “You can’t see My Face and live” in Exodus 33:20. Yet, Gideon, realizing he had seen the Angel of the LORD, also heard a final message for the moment. The Angel told him, “Peace be unto you; don’t be afraid; you’re not going to die (paraphrased).”
Let’s try to wrap it up here. Gideon, scared to openly thresh what little wheat he could harvest, was trying to thresh what he could in a wine press—secretly. The Angel of the LORD came to where he was and spoke several things to him. Gideon finally seemed to realize there was something special about this Guest but when he realized he had seen the Angel of the LORD face to face, he was scared. The LORD told him, though, “You aren’t going to die (today).”
That was the end of this first encounter with the LORD but Gideon wasn’t done. There was more for him to do, and this would involve dealing with some very hostile, very angry people.
Would Gideon pass this next test?
We’ll find out next time we come together!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
