Throughout the book of Judges we find God intervening in miraculous ways to bring deliverance to the Israelite people who are being oppressed in all kinds of circumstances. Gideon is the focus of one of those God-interventions. As we follow Gideon’s story we will find that the amazing revelation God gives Gideon is also what God wants to highlight to us today. So let’s follow the story.
Faced with a promise
The land of Canaan that God had promised to the Israelite people was a very fertile land. God Himself describes it as “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exod 3:17) and the 12 spies who go in to check it out verify that it is (Num 13:27). The Canaanites who are already in the land attribute this abundance to their fertility god Baal. When the Israelites take over the land, God clearly instructs them not to take on the detestable practices of the Canaanites or to follow their gods (eg. Deut 18:9-12).
Faced with a choice
Being an agriculturally-based society that was heavily dependent on having good crops, the Israelites are then faced with a choice. Maybe they should worship both the Lord God (Yahweh) as well as Baal (as the Canaanite god of fertility) in the hope that the obvious abundance would continue.
Compromise is something each of us face today. We are all familiar with that little voice saying that we might miss out on something “good” or that we anticipate we will enjoy, rather than make the more difficult and sometimes sacrificial choice to follow God alone. The Israelites chose to have “a foot in each camp” rather than fully trust that God would supply.
Faced with the consequences
The thing is that choices always have consequences. Worshipping Baal also meant taking on the lifestyle of Baal worshippers. In other words, we take on the lifestyle of our compromise. For the Israelites, this included every kind of sexual perversion imaginable, prostitution, witchcraft and even murder. Anything was permissible in an effort to “appease” Baal and ensure a good crop. Because of this, God lifted His protection from them and gave the Israelites fully into the hand of the Midianites (who were Baal worshippers) for 7 long years (Judges 6:1).
As a result, they came into a place of poverty. You can read about it in Judges 6:1-10. The Bible says they became “greatly impoverished” or “emptied” (v. 6). But their poverty actually came about as a result of their own disobedience and compromise.
Face to face with God
It’s into this place of disobedience, poverty and oppression that God suddenly intervenes.
“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to [Gideon], and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
Judges 6:12 (NKJV)
While we may not see an angel like Gideon did, God will often speak to us through the Bible, through other people, or through an inner voice. And like Gideon, we often rationalize what God is saying to us by asking “why?” “where?” and “how can I?” Gideon certainly did not in any way see himself as a “mighty man of valor” (see Judges 6:11-22).
But here’s the thing. It wasn’t about Gideon; it was about God. In the narrative, the angel disappears, but God continues to speak. He gives Gideon a revelation about Himself – and this is the revelation we need to catch hold of today.
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.’ So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Judges 6:23-24 (emphasis mine)
The Hebrew word for “peace” is Shalom which means wholeness, wellbeing, completeness, peace – far more than our English word “peace” conveys. God suddenly stepped into their poverty, emptiness and destitution bringing His wholeness, completeness and peace. This is such a revelation to Gideon that he builds an altar and names it Jehovah Shalom (or The Lord (Yahweh) is wholeness/completeness/peace).
Facing the battle
The very same day that Gideon builds the altar (by which he is consecrating himself fully to God and acknowledging God as the source of wholeness), God tells Gideon to begin dealing with the root of their current poverty – the worship of Baal.
Having a revelation from God usually leads to action of some kind. Judges 6:25-29 shows us that even though Gideon’s faith was not very great, he does follow through, destroying his father’s altar to Baal. There was to be no more compromise. This becomes the first step towards the Israelite people returning wholeheartedly to God and to God’s blessing.
The amazing thing is that Almighty God has never ceased to be Jehovah Shalom. And this revelation still challenges every area of compromise for us too – where we have sought to find fulfilment apart from God. You might like to take time to respond personally to God after reading this. And may God graciously wrap you in His love as you do.
In the next post we will see how this revelation of Shalom continues into the New Testament.
