DAY 15: GOD CHOSE GIDEON

 THE RHEMA WORD FOR TODAY

(A DAILY DEVOTIONAL WITH PREACHER SAM)

 

TOPIC: GOD CHOSE GIDEON

DATE: 15 SEPTEMBER, 2020

BIBLE READING: JUDGES 6

MEDITATION/MEMORY VERSE: JUDGES 6:12 (AMP)

And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O brave man.”

 

Who is Gideon? And why did God choose him?

From our Bible reading, we understand that Gideon was a chicken hearted guy, full of faithless and doubt in the possibilities of God. Why will God choose a chicken hearted guy to be a judge in Israel, and a ruler of His armies? Why will God raise up a faithless guy to do a job that requires strong faith? Let’s journey through the life of Gideon and see what we can learn and why God chose him.

After the leadership of Deborah, the Israelites went back to do evil in the sight of the Lord (Judg. 6:1), and just as it has been written in Leviticus 26:14-17, that if they disobey and break God’s covenant by rejecting His decrees, He will bring sudden terrors upon them. They will plant their crops in vain because their enemies will eat them. And the reason for such action is to discipline them and cause them to repent.

So after several years of bondage, the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help (Judg. 6:6); they had to return back to God in submission. Then the Lord sent a prophet to remind them of His faithfulness and point out their faithlessness unto Him (Judg. 6:7-10). It was after the wakeup call that God sent the angel of His presence unto Gideon (Judg. 6:11). We can conjecture that Gideon was one of those who repented; so one thing we can say from here is that God saw Gideon’s obedience to Him after the wakeup call.

What the Angel of the Lord said sounded like a sarcasm, right? Because Gideon was chicken hearted. But no! It is a word of encouragement; a prophetic declaration that will change his status. Words are really powerful, he had to speak life into Gideon to set it ready for the task ahead (Prov. 15:4; 18:21).

Gideon’s response and reaction may look like questioning God’s authority (Judg. 6:13; Rom. 9:19-21). But no, he was seeking for answers as to why things aren’t going well in Israel- that’s a heart that God seeks for, a heart for His people. It is not wrong to ask God questions and seek answers, Jesus did on the cross (Matt. 27:46). But it is absolutely wrong to question His authority- He is a sovereign God (Rom. 9:19-21). And to know that Gideon wasn’t questioning God’s authority, but seeking for answers with a big heart for His people, the Lord Himself said to him, “then use your great power and go save the Israelites from the Midianites. I am sending you to save them.” (Judg. 6:14 ERV).

Gideon’s chicken hearted response showed how humble he was. God also chose him because he was humble, and God needed a humble man for the job so that he could take the glory (Judg. 7:2, 7). Though his chicken heartedness made him to test God (Judg. 6:17; Deut. 6:16), but God understood and overlooked his challenge because like what Gideon had said, ‘no longer miraculous signs,’ even all the prophets were gone and he didn’t know how it would end (Ps. 74:9). So He accepted Gideon’s challenge.

And after the whole thing, God had to start the revival in Israel from his household. And there’s nothing spectacular about the voice of God, the same ancient paths (Jer. 18:15); the still small voice (1 Kings 19:12) came to Gideon to pull down his father’s altar. Gideon could have acted that he didn’t hear God well or he could have acted in doubt, ‘get behind me Satan.’ But no! He recognised the voice of God and he acted in obedience- that was the beginning of his faith journey.

And even when the truth was revealed that it was Gideon who pulled down his father’s altar, his father stood in defence for him- proof that he had been revived. And because of such revival and reawakening, he got filled with the Holy Spirit and that Spirit in him caused men to come to his rising (Judg. 6:34).

Even after carrying that Spirit of God, he still tested God. Why? We understand the first time that there were no signs in Israel, but he had seen enough signs, then why did he test God. He even knew he was pushing God too much that’s why he begged God not to be angry (Judg. 6:39).

Well, we can agree that the Spirit of faith (2 Cor. 4:13) had not been released then, because Christ had not yet been glorified (Jn. 7:38-39). So he needed a level of faith for him to function effectively in his calling. And in the next chapter, Judges 7, we see Gideon’s faith and Israel’s victory.

Many of us are like Gideon. We feel hopeless, dejected and unloved, but God is speaking to you, ‘you are brave, you are chosen, you are loved.’ Gideon, a nobody became a somebody- a hero of faith. With God, your story and status are changed. Gideon felt like a weakling, but God transformed him into a leader.

 

DECLARATION: I AM BRAVE! I AM CHOSEN! I AM LOVED! I AM NOT A WEAKLING! I AM A STRONG LEADER.

 

FURTHER STUDY: JUDGES 7