GIDEON INTERRUPTED
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Judges
chapters 6 through 8
Gideon lived
during Israel’s 4th apostasy and its resultant servitude under the
harsh hand of the Midianites that had come like a plague of grasshoppers. The
conquerors designed “to leave no sustenance for Israel” (6:4-6). Their cruel effort
being one of a number of historical attempts to eradicate the Jew.
He was the
youngest son of Joash, his father a practicing idolater of the clan of Abiezer
in the tribe of Manasseh. His family was a minor one. Sacrifices to Baal were
common among the whole clan. Gideon became the chief leader of Manasseh and the
fifth recorded judge of Israel. The record of his life is found in Judges 6
through 8.
Gideon thought of
himself as a nobody. If the pop psychologists of that day offered a self-esteem
program they would have had him on their bulk mail list. He did however
exercise considerable courage brought on by dietary dispossession.
So there he was
flailing away at clandestine civil disobedience working in a cloud of dust when
God interrupted his labor as part of the Hebrew resistance. He reacted by
questioning God and then putting himself down then challenging God for absolute
proof of calling him to lead. Sound a tad bit reluctant?
Once assured, in commitment
Gideon did things God’s way. Ways that were unorthodox then: special forces and
psychological warfare among them. (7:7-22)
Then soon after
the dust of the fleeing Midianites settled came the after-victory challengers from
among those freed from oppression. Sometime later Gideon during his rule he played
the religious political game that though his solution settled the nation it was
a snare.
Responding to God’s
call for beyond talents and gifts service in light of the first 2 commandments
and 1Corinthians 13 is a delightful and yet fearful thing. Not the least of
which is once the high points are past, maintaining consistency for the rest of
the term; a practice that Moses and Gideon had serious difficulty with.
EBB4
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