The Lord Sent A Prophet…

The Lord Sent A Prophet…

The story of Gideon can teach us so much about ourselves, about God and about our relationship to and with God which is the reason we come back to this story again and again. It is one of those stories that continues to unfold before us with each reading. It is absolutely alive with God, with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, redemption and salvation. It is all there.

And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, that the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; and I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice. ~ Judges 6:7-10 KJB

The children of Israel have abandoned God to the point of God sending them a prophet, a messenger if you will. The prophet reminds them of what God has done for them, just like He does for us today. God is always there, always going before us, clearing the space and pushing our enemies out of our path. We respond by jumping back in the path with our enemies and then cry out that our life has gone astray!! The exact same response as Gideon and all of the children Israel. God hands them the land of milk and honey, they disobey, begin worshipping other gods and the next thing you know everything has fallen apart.

The good news is redemption and salvation. Not only can we have it, through confession and repentance, but the children of Israel have it is well. We simply need to recognize, and accept, our Christ Identity and begin living in what God has called us to be. If we live in our Christ Identity and be what God has called to be the task we perform, called work, will fall into place. We will find ourselves doing exactly what fits with our Christ Identity. Ever hear the phrase – “If you do what you love you will never work a day in your life.” What do you think that is referencing?

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. ~ Judges 6:12 KJB

Just a moment before Gideon was living in fear to the point of dressing wheat in a winepress!! Talk about living in fear!! Wheat kernels in a winepress, what a mess that would create! When a person lives in fear they do all kinds of crazy things.

Now, a minute later, an Angel of the Lord appears before Gideon identifying him as a “mighty man of valour”. This is how God works in our life. We see chaos, fearful situations and our world falling apart. On the other hand, the Lord our God sees His children whom, for some reason, are not living in the identity in which He created, in which He strengthens and in which He guides, protects and will not allow them to be overcome. Step in and get out of His way and let God.

Either the Scripture is the divine Word of God teaching us how to live and how to be a reflection of God, or it’s nothing more than a historical account of events.