After God sent a prophet to rebuke Israel, His second step was to approach a man named Gideon. Judges 6: 11-12 says:
Judges 6: 11-12
"And the angel of the LORD came, and sat under the oak that is in Ophrah, which was of Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was shaking the wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you courageous and valiant man."
When we read that an angel appeared to Gideon, we can not imagine a blond being dressed in white, floating in the air with two large wings. That image of an angel is nothing more than myths and imaginations. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that angels have wings or white clothes or that they are blond. What the Bible says is that they are "ministering spirits, sent for service on behalf of those who will be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1:14), for which they should be considered in that way.
Returning to our theme, observe how God greeted Gideon. He called him "brave and courageous man". Although he was a poor man who was shaking wheat to hide it from the Midianites. However, for God, Gideon was a brave and courageous man, a man who, as we shall see, believed and followed God, dutifully carrying out all that He commanded him to do. The following verses tell us what Gideon responded to the angel:
Judges 6: 13-14
"And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why has all this come upon us? And where are all his wonders, which our fathers have told us, saying: Did not Jehovah bring us out of Egypt? And now Jehovah has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hand of the Midianites. And Jehovah looked at him and said to him, "Go with this your strength, and you will save Israel from the hand of the Midianites." Did not I send you? "
Gideon questioned where God was when all these calamities happened. However, it was not that God was not with them, BUT THEY were not with God. In response to Gideon's question, God told him to move forward, assuring him that he would be the one to deliver Israel. "Did not I send you?" He said, it was God who sent him. That was not a mission that Gideon had taken for himself, he was there in the wheat hiding it from the Midianites. Most likely, he never thought that he would be the one to free Israel from the Midianites. However, we can say with certainty that what the angel told him gave him many reasons to think seriously about that proposal. In verses 15-16 they say Gideon's answer:
Judges 6: 15-16
"Then he answered him: Ah, my lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. The LORD said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you will defeat the Midianites as one man."
People easily follow someone they know well as a leader, for example a king, a general etc. But Gideon? Who would follow him? He was a complete stranger. However, once again God assured him that He would be with him. "Surely I will be with you" and you will defeat the Midianites as one man, "he said. That's why Gideon had no reason to be afraid. However, sometimes God promises something that as it is extremely good we are slow to believe it. We ask ourselves "will that really be so wonderful"? "Will God really give it to me?" That kind of thoughts also had Gideon. Verses 17-24 say:
Judges 6: 17-24
"And he answered: I pray you, if I have found favor with you, give me a sign that you have spoken with me. I beg you not to leave here until I come back to you, and take my offering and put it in front of you. And he replied: I'll wait until you come back. And Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread of an ephah of flour; and he put the meat in a basket, and the broth in a pot, and taking it out, he presented it to him under that oak. Then the angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened bread, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth. And he did so. And the angel of the Lord stretched out the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread with the tip; and fire came up from the rock, which consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread. And the angel of Jehovah disappeared from his sight. When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, he said: Ah, Lord Jehovah, that I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. But Jehovah said to him: Peace to you; do not be afraid, you will not die. And Gideon built there an altar to Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-salom, [a] which remains to this day in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. "
This is the first time we read that Gideon asked for and obtained a sign from God. Nevertheless, is not the only one. More ahead we will see more signals. Among them is the well-known sign of wool fleece. We are going to reserve comments on the signs that Gideon asked and the practice of asking for signals in general for later. For the moment, it is enough that before asking for a sign, Gideon knew the will of God in that situation. He did not ask for the sign to determine His will through her, but asked for it to confirm what God had already told him and what was His will. God responded positively to this request of Gideon, giving him what he wanted.
Although it is obvious that that day was very active spiritually for Gideon, that activity did not stop there but continued until the night. Verses 25-27 say:
Judges 6: 25-27
"And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take a bull out of thy father's herd, the second bull of seven years, and bring down the altar of Baal which your father hath, and cut down also the grove that is beside him; and build an altar to Jehovah your God on the top of this boulder in a convenient place; and take the second bull, sacrifice it for a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah image that you have cut. Then Gideon took ten men from his servants, and did as Jehovah told him. But fearing to do it by day, by his father's family and by the men of the city, he did it at night. "
God told Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal that his father had and also to cut the image of Asherah. The existence of the altar and the image and reaction of the people, which can be seen reading further, was angry when they saw them destroyed (see Judges 6: 28-30), confirm that the evil that Israel had done before the eyes of God was the worship of idols. It also shows that only a part of Israel turned to God and not all of them. Even so, on that part, God would save the WHOLE nation.
Judges 6: 33-35
"But all the Midianites and Amalekites and those from the east joined together, and they camped in the valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and when he blew the horn, the Abiezrites met with him. And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also joined him; He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, and they went out to meet them. "
It seems that the time had come when Gideon should carry out his mission. The enemies of Israel "the Midianites and Amalekites and those from the east" came together in one place. By that time, God had hastened Gideon to send messengers to summon the Israelites to join him. Notice that it was God who moved Gideon to come to the decision to start the fight at that time, rushing to call the people. This shows that it was God who planned the battle while Gideon was the one who carried out the plan. If God had not told him, it would have been impossible for Gideon to know what God wanted. If Gideon had not believed what God told him, that is acting on it, the will of God would have remained unexecuted. Therefore, the success of the whole operation depended on the cooperation between God, the commander, and Gideon, the executor .. It was not Gideon who decided and carried out, but God who decided and Gideon who carried it out. The principle is the same, as long as we want to follow God's will: God is the one who has to make us know his will - which he does, through His written Word or through revelation - and we are the ones who must walk under that will That is the only means that guarantees success in whatever we do.
