The Journey 9-6-13 Judges 5:31 - 6:24 (Message) “Gideon” - How Important is Spiritual Insight Anyway? “Yet again the People of Israel went back to doing evil in God’s sight. God put them under the domination of Midian for seven years. Midian overpowered Israel. . .” Okay, you have probably noticed that “yet again” phrase about doing evil is kind of a thread running through the book of Judges. Wow, God is patient and truly honors His commitments. I had a recent conversation with a couple I have not seen for years. We exchanged news about our children, their work, marriages and families. They have several daughters, we did not. The last of their daughters is about thirty, still unattached, and “mom” was sad and a little worried about that. To make matters worse, the daughter had committed herself to go and work in a refugee camp for three years, where it seemed unlikely she would meet someone. Her mother told her to make a list of the qualities she was looking for in a man of her dreams, to hold it before God, and to ask God to lead this man to her or lead her to this man. Personally, I think that is reasonable as long as one recognizes that God does not answer all our prayers like we would want, right? Well, the daughter made the list and against all odds a fellow American came to work in the same camp. . .you can work out the end of the story. She e-mailed her mother and told her that he exactly fitted the list; they are about to marry, and they will no doubt live happily ever after. Let the credits roll. Let the audience dry their eyes and leave the theater wishing this was true for them. I told you that story because Gideon is a guy maybe more like most of us. He would certainly be hesitant initially to make his list. I mean there he is, beating wheat inside the family winepress. This makes the story’s later Israelite audience snicker a little. Everybody knows (my word study informs me) that you beat out wheat in the most open place possible, preferable on top of a hill, so you can then hurl the beaten wheat into the air and let the wind carry way the chaff, and you are left with a nice stack of pure wheat. In CONTRAST, a winepress is a small structure, built in some sheltered place, where you can tread the grapes and let the pure juice flow down into the collecting basin. Crush wheat in a winepress! NOT. This IMAGE shows, and maybe that is one of the points, how “crushed” & humiliated the Israelites themselves are, and there is a perfectly good reason, the usual one that RUNS through Judges. What? Like I mentioned, bottom line, the Israelites have “behaved” in a way that offends Yahweh. LESSON, God will not honor “evil” behavior. Eventually, He will discipline (teach). Israel cries out, not unlike they did in Egypt and God speaks straight to them in return, apparently without too much sympathy, pointing out the way they deserve the mess they are in. Don’t most of us? Just asking. It illustrates the free and straight way Israel and God can speak to each other. One might then expect that God will wait for a spot of “repentance” before doing something, but that would suggest that the relationship between God and Israel is contractual. Even though they deserve the mess they are in (been there done that-me), and have done no repenting, God INITIATES (Calvary) the process whereby they will be delivered from their oppressors. Come on church, what LESSON does that teach? The pattern repeats the patter in Exodus, in my view. God appears to Gideon as God appeared to Moses, calls him to be an agent of deliverance, and Gideon shows as little enthusiasm and “insight” as Moses did, but id doesn’t make any difference. I loved this story as a kid and I still love it! The divine aide (angel) greets Gideon in the winepress, where he is looking over his shoulder every five minutes to make sure the Midianites are not about to arrive: “Yahweh is with you, mighty warrior!” The audience have to be snickering, perhaps even Gideon. Evidently he does not know about any prophetic message in which God had said, “You quite deserve the trouble you are in.” As usual, God does not answer his “Why?” even by point this out, but leaps over that to the question behind Gideon’s question. Gideon does not really want an answer to the question of say “theodicy.” (why this evil happening) He wants some action. See, just like us. The good news is, he is about to get some. The bad news perhaps is that he is the means of God’s deliverance being put into effect. I love it! Think about it, at one level, his incredulous response is quite reasonable. He has shown NO more leadership ability than anyone else in his obscure family. As was the case with Moses, God often determines to use someone who is a failure, without obvious potential and without religious insight, because God’s using someone (here it is) does NOT depend on that person’s leadership qualities or spiritual insight. Come on, think about it, God designates Gideon a mighty warrior not because he has potential that no one has noticed but simply because that is the way God intends to use him. Wow! In conclusion, what do you think about Gideon’s request for another sign? Possible further indication that he lacks adequate spiritual insight? Still God does not abandon him and get someone with say more “obvious” potential (it did occur to me perhaps there was no one). God simply gives him the sign. It is then it appears that Gideon realizes (duh) he has actually been in conversation with Yahweh’s aide (angel), and thus in effect with God, which is a slightly frightening fact, but God reassures him he has nothing to be afraid of. “Shalom to you,” God says, “Everything is fine; all is well,” And Gideon builds an altar there and calls it, “Yahweh shalom,” Yahweh is peace.,” “God makes things well.” And that my church family is the last Lesson for this A.M., God does indeed make things well. Ultimately in the “end” VERY WELL! Don’t you just love the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit! Love you gals and guys, pb
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 09:35:38 +0000
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