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God Raised Gideon as the Next Warrior

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[Judges 6:12]

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."

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When harvest time came, the people of Midian, a country in the southern part of Israel, attacked Israel and took away all of their crops. This made the Israelites afraid. So the Israelites made holes in the mountains and built caves and mountain fortresses to protect themselves.

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However, such hard work was also useless. But when harvest time came again, not only the Midianites but also the Amalekites and other people from the east came up, encamped and took away all of their crops, cows and donkeys.

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The Israelites were suffering such difficulties because they ignored God and sinned in front of Him. The Israelites were so distressed that they could no longer bear the pain. So they started to cry out to God for help.

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God heard the cries of the Israelites and sent them one prophet. Through this prophet, God clearly showed them the great grace of God that was given to them and told them what they were doing wrong against God.

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Also, to raise a leader for the Israelites, God sent an angel. To find a person that God would raise up, the angel got to a place named Ophrah and sat under an oak tree.

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At that moment, one young man hid from the Midianites and was threshing wheat in a winepress. While he was threshing the wheat, he became startled because one man was already sitting under the tree. He thought he had gotten caught.

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Suddenly, the angel of the Lord said to the young man,

"The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

This young man was the great judge that would lead Israel, he was Gideon.

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Upon hearing that God is with him, Gideon said to the angel. "I cannot agree to that. If God is with us then why is He leaving us to suffer by Midian? Did God throw us away?" Gideon asked to the angel of the Lord about the question he always had in his heart until now.

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The Lord said to Gideon,

"I will give you great power so believe that and fight the Midianites in the strength you have. Then, I will give you victory over the hands of the Midianites."

God promised to raise the cowardy and weak Gideon as a great warrior.

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However, Gideon was afraid and he had no confidence.

"How can I be the leader of Israel? I cannot do that. I am even the weakest in my house."

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The angel of the Lord said to Gideon once more.

"No, that is not it. I will surely be with you. You will strike down all of the Midianites like striking down one man."

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Gideon wanted to check if he really was a man sent by God. So he asked for proof to the angel of the Lord.

"If you really are a man of God, show me proof.

Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering for God and set it before you."

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Gideon brought offerings to give to God and the angel of the Lord told him to set them on a rock. Then, told him to pour all of the soup he had brought. Gideon followed the words of the angel.

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The angel of the Lord held out the tip of the staff he was holding in his hand and touched the meat and the bread (unleavened bread). Then, fire came up from the rock and burned up all of the meat and the bread (unleavened bread) completely. Then, the angel of the Lord disappeared.

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Only then did Gideon realize that he had been talking to a man sent by God. Gideon shouted, "Lord God, please save me. I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face." The Lord appeared to Gideon and said, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

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At that place, Gideon built an altar to give sacrifices to God. Gideon realized that God is with him, then he became a different person. Gideon changed to a person with great faith. He believed that if God was with him, he could win any battle with the Midianites. Just like this, no matter how weak a person is, if God is with them, then they can change to a very brave person who does not fear anything and can handle anything. I hope that such faith is within the hearts of all you dear friends in this worship service today.

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