09/04/2008
Judges 6:11 - 12 (HCSB) 11The Angel of the LORD came, and He sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12Then the Angel of the LORD appeared to him and said: “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
Judges 6:19 - 24 (HCSB) 19So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to Him under the oak.
20The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth ëon itű.” And he did so. 21The Angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the Angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.
22When Gideon realized that He was the Angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face!”
23But the LORD said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.” 24So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it Yahweh Shalom (God is Peace). It is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites until today.
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More time had passed and the Midianites had begun to terrorize Israel. The Midianites would sweep in like marauders at harvest and steal the produce, so Gideon was thrashing in a wine-press, out of sight from spying eyes.
Notice the reference to the “Angel of God.” This reference is almost unanimously agreed to be the pre-incarnate Jesus.
In this case, the Angel of God comes and meets with Gideon. Gideon is skeptical and asks for a sign. We do not know what kind of sign Gideon had in mind, because he asks the Angel of God to remain until he can return. Gideon then leaves, prepares a meal of a goat and unleavened bread and brings it to the Angel of God.
The Angel of God then consumes the meal, as it were a burnt offering. Gideon realizes he is in the presence of God and is terrified.
When I read this passage what struck me was that Gideon’s first response was to serve God. I think in our culture, we have come to think of God as our servant; that is, when we have a problem, we call on God to bail us out, or when we need something, we pray for our desires. But do we ever really think about serving God?
If God is really who we say we believe Him to be, then the last thing we should do is treat him like our valet. God is not our gopher to fetch this or that, or to fix whatever problem we might have. He isn’t even our “daddy war-bucks” to write a check to satisfy our desires. We need to remember that our God is the creator of all things. His splendor and glory are unmatched and we should be terrified in His presence. Not terrified of His wrath, but terrified that our sins will condemn us.
In His grace, He overlooks our sins through the blood of Jesus. In His compassion He calls us “friend.” In His love, he claims us as children.
Nonetheless, we should think more about serving Him than being served.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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