God's Mighty Warrior
The Israelites had been under Midianite rule for 7 years. Each crop season, the Midian people and their allies would attack Israel destroying all the crops and taking all their animals. Judges 6:6 reports, “Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.” I think this is a very telling verse about the spiritual approach of the Israelite people throughout the Old Testament: worship idols > crisis > cry out to God > God performs miracles and saves the Israelites > worship God momentarily > back to worshipping idols > cycle repeats. Sounds pathetic. But really, how much different is our spiritual approach in our lives?
But God is going to spare His wayward people. The angel of the Lord appears while Gideon is threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress (in an effort to hide the wheat from the Midianites, a chore typically done out in the wind to separate the chaff). The angel of the Lord assured Gideon, “Midian may have hundreds of thousands, but it’ll still be no contest for you. The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” (Judges 6:12).
Gideon is not buying it. He asks, “If the Lord is with us, why has He abandoned us to the Midianites?” I love how the angel of the Lord responds: “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?” “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together (Judges 6:13-16).”
To me this is a great exchange. Sounds a bit familiar I’m sure. I’ve been there, we all have. God calls Gideon a Mighty Warrior, the same guy whose clan is the weakest and he is the least in his entire family, the same guy who is threshing wheat in the bottom of a winepress for crying out loud. A mighty warrior. God sees us differently than we see ourselves, “You’re thoughts are not my thoughts” He tells us. Here is the logic I use: if the Lord is a warrior, and I am created in God’s image, than I must be a warrior.
Then the Lord tells Gideon to go with the strength he has in God. God didn’t give him any superpowers, didn’t clear the way, didn’t remove the Midianites. He was going to use Gideon to defeat the Midianites. We don’t need to have it all figured out, don’t need to be perfect, we just need Jesus.
The Bible promises us victory against impossible odds, all through Jesus Christ. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through [Christ] who loved us” (Romans 8:37). “For everyone born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4). “I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
Through Christ, you are God's Mighty Warrior.
But God is going to spare His wayward people. The angel of the Lord appears while Gideon is threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress (in an effort to hide the wheat from the Midianites, a chore typically done out in the wind to separate the chaff). The angel of the Lord assured Gideon, “Midian may have hundreds of thousands, but it’ll still be no contest for you. The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” (Judges 6:12).
Gideon is not buying it. He asks, “If the Lord is with us, why has He abandoned us to the Midianites?” I love how the angel of the Lord responds: “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?” “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together (Judges 6:13-16).”
To me this is a great exchange. Sounds a bit familiar I’m sure. I’ve been there, we all have. God calls Gideon a Mighty Warrior, the same guy whose clan is the weakest and he is the least in his entire family, the same guy who is threshing wheat in the bottom of a winepress for crying out loud. A mighty warrior. God sees us differently than we see ourselves, “You’re thoughts are not my thoughts” He tells us. Here is the logic I use: if the Lord is a warrior, and I am created in God’s image, than I must be a warrior.
Then the Lord tells Gideon to go with the strength he has in God. God didn’t give him any superpowers, didn’t clear the way, didn’t remove the Midianites. He was going to use Gideon to defeat the Midianites. We don’t need to have it all figured out, don’t need to be perfect, we just need Jesus.
The Bible promises us victory against impossible odds, all through Jesus Christ. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through [Christ] who loved us” (Romans 8:37). “For everyone born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4). “I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
Through Christ, you are God's Mighty Warrior.
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