Read:
After the time of Deborah and Barak, there was a time of peace. But by the time of Gideon, Israel again turned from God (shocker!), and they were overrun by the Midianites.
But the Midianites were a little different than Israel’s enemies of the past. They didn’t try to enslave or kill anyone. Instead, they went after Israel’s crop. They knew God had given them abundant land, so every year the Midianites came around to collect everything the Israelites could harvest. The people were not only frightened, but starving.
Gideon tried to hide his harvest from the Midianites by threshing wheat in a pit. This may not sound like a big deal, but this approach was highly inefficient—out in the open, the wind could blow the chaff away, leaving only the edible wheat behind. But where Gideon was hiding, things didn’t work so efficiently!
Just as we have seen the repetitive cycle of sin, repentance, deliverance, and peace, here we see the repeated message from God: I am with you. The angel of the LORD calls Gideon a mighty warrior, but Gideon doesn’t believe it—after all, it’s pretty cowardly to hide and thresh wheat in a pit. So he asks God for a sign. And God, in his patience and understanding, answered Gideon’s request.
When Gideon realizes the messenger he is speaking to, the angel of the LORD, is actually God, he’s even more scared.. No one sees God and lives! God, in his mercy, told Gideon, “Peace! Do not be afraid.” In response, Gideon built an altar and called the place, “God is peace”.
Have you ever felt that peace of God? The stillness that says, “No matter what happens, God will always be with me. The strength that says, “I can do what God has asked me to do, by his strength and for his glory.” The rest for the soul that comes from knowing your sins are forgiven. Gideon felt that peace, and with God leading him, he was able to defeat the Midianites. And the land had peace for forty years.
Prayer: Dear God, help me to have this peace, the peace that comes only from you. Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Give me the peace of the soul that comes from a relationship with you. Amen.