CHAPTER 6.—Judges 6:11-24
THE UNSEEN FRIEND
CRITICAL NOTES.— Judges 6:11. There came an angel of the Lord.] Rather, “the angel of the Lord came.” The reference being to one particular person known already by that name (ch. Judges 2:1-5). He almost always personated Jehovah, or speaks in His name (Exodus 23:20-22; Ex. 3:23; Exodus 14:19). He is generally supposed to have been the Messiah, the Son of God, anticipating the appearance He was to make in human form in the fulness of time. He had other names, such as “angel of His presence” (Isaiah 63:9). “Angel of the covenant” (Malachi 3:1). Some think also that the “Shechinah,” and “the glory of the Lord” are names of the Messiah.
Sat under an oak]. Sat down under the oak, or terebinth tree—one special tree of that kind, noted perhaps for its size, its umbrageous character, and its convenient position, so that it formed a suitable public meeting place. Some think there was a grove, or cluster of trees. Such a tree, of magnificent proportions, and wide-spreading branches, would afford a most grateful shade in a land of so much sunshine—comp. the “palm-tree” under which Deborah sat in performing her functions, as a prophetess (ch. Judges 4:5); also the “juniper tree” under which Elijah rested (1 Kings 19:4). Certain trees were certainly of great importance in those times (Joshua 24:26; Genesis 35:4). A well was also an object of great importance, as in the case of the well “Harod” (ch. Judges 7:1); the well of “Hagar” (Genesis 16:14); the well of “Bethlehem” (2 Samuel 23:15-16); and “Jacob’s well” (John 4:6).
Which was in Ophrah]. So described to distinguish it from a place of the same name in Benjamin (Joshua 18:23; 1 Samuel 13:17). This Ophrah was a small town in the south-west of Manasseh, in the hill country, and near to Shechem. It was inhabited by a branch of the Abi-ezerite family, or clan. It appears to have been a secluded spot, in a rugged country, with rocks all round. Abiezer was a son of Gilead’s sister (1 Chronicles 7:18). The name is given as Jeezer in Numbers 26:30, but Abi-ezer in Joshua 17:2, and also here.
That pertained to Joash the Abi-ezrite.] Joash, the father of Gideon, was head of the clan or house of Abi-ezer. The little town of Ophrah was Gideon’s place of birth, of residence, and of burial (ch. Judges 6:11-24; Judges 8:32).
His son Gideon.] The name means hewer or feller, which well corresponds with what he did in hewing down the image of Baal; also with his being a man of great muscular strength, and a warrior. But for what reason he got the name, we are not told. Some think it was given him prophetically, He was the youngest son of the family, perhaps the only son now left (ch. Judges 8:18-19). He was the fifth judge in Israel.
Threshed wheat.] It was customary in those times, and in early times generally, for those who owned property to engage, both themselves and the members of their family, in manual labour connected with their establishments. The ancient Roman senators did the same, Cincinnatus, Curius, Scipio, etc. הֶכַט to beat out with a stick—not to thresh in the strict sense (Deuteronomy 24:20; Isaiah 27:12).
By the wine-press.] The usual manner of threshing wheat was to do it on open floors, or in places in the open field, that were rolled hard for the purpose with threshing carriages or threshing shoes, or else with oxen, which they drove about over the scattered sheaves to tread out the grains with their hoofs. Only poor people knocked out the little corn that they had gleaned with a stick (Ruth 2:17), and Gideon did it so now, showing the extreme distress which prevailed in the laud when a family such as his were reduced to adopt such an expedient as this. He beat it out in the pressing tub גַּת; which like all wine-presses was either sunk in the ground in a hole dug out, or else was a hollow scooped out in the rock (Keil). In either case, the purposes of concealment would be served. The men of the desert would not expect to find wheat in the wine-press; being in a pit, or hollow of the rock, it was not likely to be discovered; oxen not being employed in the process, there would be no lowing heard; and there being no machine, there would be no hum-drumming noise such as it usually makes.
הָנִיס to make it safe from, lit. to make it fly from (Exodus 9:20). Threshing was usually performed by oxen (Deuteronomy 25:4) upon floors (2 Samuel 24:18) prepared for the purpose. At this season the operation of Gideon could be done in the wine-press, for the vintage season was four months after the wheat harvest.
Judges 6:12. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him.] It had already been said, “he came and sat down under the oak.” Now it is said, he appeared. This implies something more than a stranger coming within sight. It seems to intimate that he made a revelation of himself to him. The Hebrew word used justifies this rendering; for יֵרָא is only used when the invisible Divine nature becomes visible (Cassel). It also corresponds with the fact, that after the interview he vanished out of sight. The angel who came forward to withstand Balaam was for a time invisible to him (Numbers 22:23; Numbers 22:25; Numbers 22:27 with Judges 6:31; Judges 6:34; 2 Kings 6:17). Gideon was the only judge to whom the angel of the Lord had yet appeared in calling him to his special work.
The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.] This, though a common form of salutation (Ruth 2:4), seems to have been spoken with significance in the present instance. The angel speaks of Gideon in a manner which appearances seem to justify. He was a young man, of noble countenance, of muscular build, and great natural strength; like the son of a king (ch. Judges 8:18). Perhaps, too, in this statement there is some slight intimation of the destiny or work reserved for Gideon; q. d., Jehovah has marked thee out as His instrument for doing a great work, being naturally so well fitted for carrying it out, and he is now with thee and in thee for this purpose.
Judges 6:13. O my Lord, if Jehovah be with us, why is all this befallen us? Gideon’s heart was sad, because of the loss of his own brethren (ch. Judges 8:18-19), as well as because of the national calamities. But one thing encouraged him to speak out his mind with confidence to this stranger. He struck the right key-note in addressing a true Israelite. When the whole land was full of Baal, it was a relief to hear a voice raised in honour of Jehovah; and Gideon thought he recognised in this utterance of the stranger the true ring. It was the vein in which Gideon’s heart loved to go out. Doubtless he had loved to think of the bright days of old when Jehovah was held to be Supreme, and all went well. And often must he have wished to find some congenial spirit with whom he could hold intercourse about the melancholy state of religion, throughout all the coasts of Israel. He was a man of the type referred to in Ezekiel 9:4; Malachi 3:16-17; Isaiah 62:1; Isaiah 62:6-7. He therefore felt that this stranger, from the few words he had let fall, was a friend of the right stamp. But he did not know, nor suspect, at this stage, that he was addressed by a person of mysterious dignity.
His language means simply, O sir! how can you say Jehovah is with us, when all this has happened to us? It is impossible that our true King can be among us, when things are brought to the very last extremity! The wave of desolation that is passing over the land is clear proof of the absence of our God; for what god can contend with the God of Israel? His arm is never shortened that it cannot save, etc. (Isaiah 59:1). But it is as He threatened in Deuteronomy 31:16-17. How can we for a moment suppose that the Lord is with us, when “He has delivered us into the hands of the Midianites?”] into the grasp of (lit. the palm of the hands). The word here translated forsaken means the same as castaway (Romans 11:2). Because they were brought so low as to burrow in the ground like beasts, and hide themselves in dens and in caves. Gideon’s reply is significant, as showing what his heart was full of at the time, and God, who looks especially at what is passing in men’s hearts, saw that from the state of his heart, he was a man of the right stamp to undertake the work of the people’s deliverance.
Judges 6:14. And the Lord looked upon him] i.e., He turned round with expressive gesture, and said in the attitude and tone of giving him a solemn charge. Not the angel, but Jehovah (as in Joshua 6:2). This charge to go and deliver Israel manifestly implied the assumption of a prerogative, which belonged only to Israel’s God—the Keeper and Shepherd of Israel. The closing words specially imply this (הַלֹא) “have not I sent thee?” (Acts 7:38). This phrase is a strong assertion of the fact, that the speaker had commissioned him. It is the same as saying, “Does not my statement, now solemnly made, bear witness to the fact that thou art commissioned?” (ch. Judges 4:14; Joshua 1:9).
From the hand of Midian.] From the grasp.
Go in this thy might, and thou shall save, etc.] This is the formal commission given by the Keeper of Israel to him whom He had chosen for His instrument in effecting their deliverance. He now has a duty laid down for him to discharge. This involves a responsibility for himself, and a call to others to assist him in the work. Two things had been referred to as constituting a source of great strength. Jehovah was with him, and as regards his natural equipment as a man, he was a mighty man of valour. Both these are included in the phrase, “this thy might.” It might be said he had an additional source of strength in the fact, that Jehovah had now formally commissioned him. For this necessarily conveyed a promise, that He would in all respects qualify him sufficiently for the performance of the work. He sends “none a warfare on their own charges” (1 Corinthians 9:7). “His God would command his strength, and would make perfect that which concerned him.” His own natural strength, though a small matter compared with the special Divine resources, which would be open to him, would yet not be despised; for it was God’s natural gift, and in its place would go for something.
Judges 6:15. O my Lord! wherewith shall I save, etc.] Rather, O Lord God. He now addresses the stranger as Jehovah; believing from His speech, and whole manner, that he is a Divine person in human form. As such an idea seems too grand for any man to comprehend in a single moment, and as Gideon expressed no great surprise at the discovery made, we are disposed to think that here, as in many other parts of Scripture (as Peter’s Sermon on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:14-36; Acts 2:40; Peter’s Sermon in the house of Cornelius, Acts 10:34-43; Paul’s Address on Mars’ Hill, Acts 17:22-31—in all which, as well as other places, we have only the heads of the sermon delivered, and not the full verbatim report), we have only an abridgment or outline of what was actually said. It is enough, if the statement given conveys an infallibly accurate conception of what took place, although the whole of what was uttered is not recorded. If more had been said on this occasion than is here given, the discovery of the Divinity of the speaker may have come more gradually on Gideon, than seems to have been the case from what we read in the page.
Gideon does not question the ability of the speaker to accomplish the salvation of Israel. He is only full of doubts, about his own miserable qualifications for the task. “To choose me for so great a work seems passing strange. I am the last person in all Israel to be thought of. Manasseh, my tribe, itself has less influence than the others, for it is only a half tribe, to the west of Jordan. My family, or house, is among the poorest in Manasseh. And I am the least in my father’s house. I am in every way disqualified for so vast an undertaking.” Doubtless the thought often crossed his mind—“O that Israel were free! How cheerfully would I assist, were but an opportunity given, for lifting the nightmare from off my nation! I would lay my life on the altar, did I but see how the Church of God could be restored to freedom and honour.” Now the answer comes, which solves the difficult problem, “I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man,” i.e., as easily as thou couldst smite one man, or, at one blow. This was He who had been a wall of fire around Israel hitherto, and who had wrought all the miracles, which the fathers spoke so much of to the children. It was He who fainteth not, neither is weary, in turning round the wheels of Providence. Thus assured, Gideon questions no longer the possibility of the work being done.
My family is poor] lit, “my thousand (Numbers 1:16) is the humblest in Manasseh,” referring to the divisions and sub-divisions made in Exodus 18:25; Micah 5:2; Deuteronomy 33:17. These were tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands. The “thousand” meant the expansion of the family so as to include several sub-divisions.
I am the least in my father’s house.] The person of least influence—as being the youngest, and his name therefore coming in at the bottom of the roll on all occasions. Also perhaps because of his singular modesty and disinterestedness, as he seems to have underrated his own qualities, and spoken highly of the merits of others. He was in the family of Joash, what David was in the family of Jesse—the least respected boy in the family circle. But God chose them both to do His work.
Gideon had hesitation, but it was the hesitation of modesty and self-distrust, not the hesitation of unbelief. He did not question God’s power, but his own. Compare with the hesitation of Moses (Exodus 3:11, etc., Judges 4:1-14); of Barak (ch. Judges 4:8); of Saul (1 Samuel 10:21-22); of Joshua (Joshua 1:1-10); of Jonah, (Jonah 1:1-3); of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:6); of Amos (Amos 7:14-15). “The least fit are usually the most forward, and the most fit are the most backward, to undertake great offices (ch. Judges 9:8-15). True humility is the usual companion of true greatness (2 Corinthians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 3:5; Ephesians 3:8).” (Pulpit Com.)
Judges 6:17. If now I have found grace in Thy sight, show me a sign. אוֹת]—A miraculous sign. Gideon thought if the mysterious stranger would but eat and drink with him, it would be a conclusive proof of two things: first that he was really human, and next that he was friendly in his intentions (Luke 24:41-43; Acts 10:41; John 21:9-13). But beyond that he was anxious for some decided proof that God had really called him to this work. He wished doubtless to see some work done which only God could do, to prove that it was really Jehovah that was calling him to this work, and it was no delusion. To none of the other judges was such favour shown. But the circumstances were such, as to necessitate a special degree of encouragement, to be given to him who should act the part of a deliverer. The tide of sin was strong, and the infliction of judgments was heavy. Gideon would have many a hard battle to fight all around him, as well as in the open field against the stern foe. He must know that the God who had done wonderful things for His people aforetimes still lived, and that His love to Israel was as strong as ever it had been in all the ages of the past.
The phrase, found grace in Thy sight, is common in Scripture (Genesis 18:3; Genesis 33:10; Exodus 33:13; 1 Samuel 27:5; Esther 7:3).
Judges 6:18. Depart not hence, etc., till I come and bring my present]—offering, or sacrifice. The word minchah may stand for either. The Sept. and Vulg. render it sacrifice. We understand it rather to mean a gift offered to God as King, a meat offering—such food as was given only to the specially favoured guests (Speak. Com.). It was a kind of eucharistic gift presented to God as King (Leviticus 2:1-6), the unbloody meat offering. In Genesis 4:3-5 it means sacrifice generally. To have accepted a meat offering at Gideon’s hands, would have been to confer on him the honour of His friendship, and the favour of His protecting shield.
Judges 6:19. Gideon made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes.] Here are two things in which Gideon showed especial respect to the stranger. He gave him a kid. Animal food is never provided except for visitors of superior rank, when a kid, or a lamb, and sometimes even a calf, is killed (Genesis 18:7). The other circumstance is, that the ephah was generally the quantity used for a whole household of ten persons, being nearly a bushel of flour (Matthew 13:33). It was equal to tenomers, yet one omer was the daily portion of manna allowed to one person, as being amply sufficient to supply all wants (Exodus 16:16). To present a whole ephah to one person therefore was a mark of the deepest respect; and more especially at such a time as this, when great scarcity prevailed all over the land.
Unleavened cakes.] Not soured, but sweet. Also these were quickly prepared, and were best suited as an offering to God (Genesis 19:3; Exodus 12:39; 1 Samuel 28:24; Leviticus 2:11).
Presented it.] Set it before the stranger, and awaited his commands (Amos 5:25). In this interview with the angel, Gideon did not wish any others to be present, and so to dispense with assistants he put the flesh into a basket, and the broth into a pot, and brought it out himself.
Judges 6:20. Angel of God.] Elohim, not Jehovah. Yet it is the same person who is spoken of, implying that both are one. This rock] or stone, used as an altar on which any thing was laid that was presented to God—an unhewn rock (Exodus 20:25).
Pour out the broth] as a drink offering (Genesis 35:14). (Speak. Com.)
Judges 6:21. End of the staff that was in his hand]—that which a traveller carries with him (Genesis 32:10; Exodus 12:11). The sign of fire was given (Leviticus 9:24; 1 Chronicles 21:26). This was the answer to the request made in Judges 6:17. It implied the acceptance of Gideon’s offering (Genesis 15:17; 2 Chronicles 7:1; 1 Kings 18:38). It had also a deep symbolical meaning.
Judges 6:22. Alas! O Lord God!] lit. O Lord Jehovah—an exclamation sometimes of vexation and disappointment (as Joshua 7:7), and sometimes of apprehension that some terrible issue is to come out of what is happening (Jeremiah 4:10; Ezekiel 4:14; Jeremiah 32:17). Here it expresses dread at having seen the angel Jehovah, or God Himself, which according to the popular belief, no man could do, and continue to live. This belief seems to have had for its foundation, Exodus 33:20. But what was really seen on this occasion, and indeed on all other occasions, was not the actual Person of Jehovah, but only the appearance of a man personating Jehovah (Genesis 32:24; Genesis 32:30-31; John 1:18; John 14:9; ch. Judges 13:21). (See also Exodus 20:19; Exodus 33:20; Deuteronomy 5:24-26; ch. Judges 13:18).
For because I have seen.] Lit. for therefore, an idiomatic phrase, which is only a strong form of using the word because (Lias). Others translate it for to this end have I seen an angel—that I might die (Keil). The former sense, which indeed is that of the A. V. seems better (Genesis 33:10).
Judges 6:23. The Lord said, Peace unto thee, etc.] He said, probably by vision, or some audible voice, not by inward suggestion so likely, Peace is meant, not Trouble, by this visit. It has been given to comfort you (Jeremiah 29:11). You are mistaken in your fears. Comp. John 20:21; John 20:26; Genesis 21:17; Genesis 16; Daniel 10:12; Daniel 10:19; Matthew 28:5; Luke 2:10; Luke 24:36-38).
Judges 6:24. Built an altar unto the Lord. etc.] Partly out of gratitude for the sparing of his life; partly to mark the spot as sacred, where so glorious a Person had stood; partly to express his sense of the honour that had been done to him; and chiefly perhaps, to consecrate the place where he had received a Divine commission to become the saviour of his people. He manifestly did not intend to make this altar a spot, on which sacrifices might be regularly offered in Divine worship. This would have been expressly condemned as being against the fixed law appointed for Divine worship in Israel. Only in the place which God should specially choose to put His name there, was it allowable to offer sacrifices in the way of regular worship (Deuteronomy 12:5-6; Deuteronomy 12:11-14). The mere semblance of departure from this rule was denounced as a great trespass of Divine law (Joshua 22:16; Joshua 22:19; Joshua 22:28). But any place where God appeared was in some sense sacred, and Gideon’s object appears to have been as described above. It was especially a memorial and witness of the theophany vouchsafed to him, on the occasion of God’s sending him forth to be the saviour of His people.
Jehovah—Shalom.] Jehovah—Peace. Comp. the names, Jehovah-jireh, (Genesis 22:14); Jehovah-nissi (Exodus 17:15); Jehovah-Tzidkenu (Jeremiah 23:6); Jehovah-Shammah (Ezekiel 48:35). Here the phrase means simply, “The Lord, is peace”—or peaceful. It is similar to the New Testament name of God—“the God of peace.” But that is a fixed and permanent name, denoting the settled attitude of God in dealing with guilty men, now that the great propitiation has been made. In Old Testament times, the light shed on God’s character was more flickering. The force of the title on this occasion was, that the Divine visit made to Gideon was one of peace—peace to himself, and peace to Israel. Jehovah’s anger was now turned away, and now He was to bless His people with peace (Isaiah 12:1; Psalms 29:11).
MAIN HOMILETICS.—Judges 6:11-24
THE VISIT OF THE UNSEEN FRIEND
Israel’s darkest night had come. Her last star had gone down, and a pitiless storm swept through all her borders. The enemy had come in like a flood, and swallowed up her every possession. Her beautiful land was turned into a wilderness. Her cornfields were wasted; her fig trees were barked; her vines and olives stripped bare; her harvest fruits were destroyed; and her children were compelled to burrow in the ground for habitations, or to flee to the mountain crags, or to dens and caves, in their search for shelter from their marauding foe. For seven long years, this sinning people lay helpless and bleeding, under the heel of the oppressor, learning the sad lesson, that the greatest enemy of man is man.
But man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. Though no sign in the horizon indicates that help is at hand; though the heavens do not thunder against the oppressor, and the stars in their courses do not fight against him, though no powerful army comes to the rescue, Israel is yet not without a Friend in this hour of extreme peril. one who, though unseen, has been a deeply interested witness of the tragic scene, now steps forward to act the part of a Friend in this emergency. Silently, as the dew falls, and unobserved, he shows himself. As a traveller, staff in hand, but of princely form and expressive countenance. He enters into conversation with one of Israel’s disconsolate sons; a few simple words are spoken; a command is given; a flash of fire springs out of the hard rock, and the stranger disappears. But, during that short interview, a rift begins to appear in the clouds of Israel’s distresses. And though, for a moment the secret is kept, soon it appears, that a movement has begun, which will quickly put another colour on the whole course of events. It gets whispered that He who walks on the waters, and gathers the winds in His fists, has already sent forth the word—Be still! and ere long there must be a great calm! Such is the matter we have now to consider. Though it was the visit of only one friend, His presence to Israel at this time was invaluable. The sheep, however numerous, can do nothing against the attack of the lion without the Shepherd. Little children, in an emergency, are helpless without the presence of father and mother.
1. The Unseen Friend.
1. Who He was. “The angel of the Lord appeared to him” (Judges 6:12). It might be read, the angel-Jehovah. It was manifestly not one of the ordinary heavenly messengers, who, however superior they way be to men, and however brilliant they may be both in wisdom and prowess, yet dare not assume the prerogative of Deity, or speak in the name of Jehovah. But this is always done by him who is styled the angel-Jehovah. The name Jehovah is given him interchangeably with that of the angel of the Lord (comp. Judges 6:11-12; Judges 6:20-22 with Judges 6:14; Judges 6:16; Judges 6:15). None, however, could claim to speak and act as God, and show that he possessed the power of God, but He who really was God. Only one Person corresponds with this description—the second Person of the glorious God-head, who was, in the fulness of time, to become “God manifest in the flesh,” and who now by anticipation, at special seasons, made needful revelations to His Church.
He is sometimes called “The Messenger or Angel of the Covenant” (Malachi 3:1), “The Angel who redeems from all evil” (Genesis 48:16), and “The Angel of His Presence” (Isaiah 63:9).
This friend of His people, if still unseen, is no longer unknown, for “He was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, etc.” (John 1:14). In the man Christ Jesus, we have one who is all, and more, in these New Testament times, than the unseen Guardian was to the church of old. In Him we have not an angel, but a man associated with the Divine name, Who is at once “bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh,” and yet is also “the Mighty God, and the everlasting Father,”—whose appearances are no longer shadowy and vanishing, but are for ever fixed in the form of a man at the helm of universal power, “far above all principality, and power, and might, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” We must know Who He is, where He is, and what power He has to preserve every one of His people, till they reach the world of glory.
2. The relation which He bore to Israel. That this angel was something more than a mere spectator of the sufferings of God’s people, however sympathetic, is abundantly manifest from the accounts given of Him in the different places where He appeared.
(1.) It was this angel Jehovah that appeared in the flame of fire in a bush, when Moses was called to arise and deliver Israel from bondage (Acts 7:30). It was He who announced His presence by saying, “I am the God of the Fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” and who gave as the reason for His coming down, “I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people, and I am come down to deliver them.” Thus He stands to Israel in the close relation of being their God, and claiming them for Himself as His special property. He was their Owner or Possessor.
(2.) But He was also their Redeemer, for it was the same Divine Person who spake to Moses at the bush, who also sent him to Pharaoh with the message, “Let my people go that they may serve me;” it was He who sent all the plagues on Egypt, who destroyed the first-born of that country, and brought out Israel with a high hand, who went before them in the pillar of cloud, dried up the sea for them to pass over, went in behind Israel to protect them from the Egyptians, and finally brought the waters on Pharaoh and all his host, so that they were drowned in the sea (Exodus 3:10; Exodus 6; Exodus 7-11; Exodus 12:29-42; Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 14:19-31).
(3.) He also became their Lawgiver. For we are told (Acts 7:38) it was from this same “angel that Moses received the lively oracles to give unto us, on Mount Sinai.” Then He appeared clothed with all the Majesty and authority of the Supreme Jehovah, and exhibiting a special jealousy for all His Sovereign rights in His own Person. We hear of Him also (4 as their Guardian Angel, specially appointed to take charge of this people, during their wilderness journey, to conduct them to their journey’s end, and to put them in possession of the promised inheritance (Exodus 23:20-23). The language is used by God the Father, “My name is in Him,” implying that He, too, is God. This arrangement was confirmed in Exodus 32:34; Exodus 33:2). But there is a marked difference in the two passages quoted; in the one case it is “Mine angel shall go before thee,” in the other it is, “I will send an angel before thee.” In the former case, it is the special angel, the angel-Jehovah, that is referred to, who has no compeer among the angels of God; in the other case, it is one out of the common class of angels. Moses fully appreciated the vast difference, and prayed earnestly that He who represented God’s presence might be sent, and no other. Only one could take this place—the Son of God, the Second Person of the Godhead, whose office it is to reveal the Father, and therefore to represent His presence (Exodus 33:12; Exodus 33:14-15). The language “my presence” is emphatic; it is the same as saying, “He who represents my presence shall go with thee.” Hence the reference in Isaiah 63:9, “The Angel of His presence.”—(See Henderson in loco.)
It was specially in His capacity of Guardian Angel that He now appeared—as “the Keeper of Israel”—their great Friend, who had them in charge, to lead and guide them, to defend them from all enemies, Genesis 48:16, and bestow on them all the blessings of the covenant; but also to see that they should act as an obedient people, and keep the covenant of their God. The relation was thus most intimate and manifold.
To the Church of God on earth in these latter times, the Saviour is intimately allied. With every member of it, He becomes personally and intimately associated on the day when he receives Christ as his Saviour. He then gives himself to Christ, and Christ in all His fulness gives himself to the believing, penitent sinner. From that moment they become one, and are more intimately allied than brothers of the same family circle. Jesus is ever afterwards known as that sinner’s friend, his Redeemer, his Lord and Master, his Guide through Life, his Guardian in danger, his Keeper at all times, his Shepherd to provide him with pasture, and prevent him from wandering, and his Bestower of all the gifts and graces contained in “the everlasting covenant.”
3. His constant presence with them. Though seldom seen, He was ever present with this people to bless them, and to do them good. Being His redeemed ones, and chosen for Himself as His peculiar people, He took the deepest interest in them, and in terms of the promise made, followed them to the place of the appointed rest. In fidelity to the trust given Him by Jehovah, He watched over them every moment, lest any hurt should arise to objects so beloved; and, in all their journeyings, He bore them as on eagle’s wings (Isaiah 27:3; Deuteronomy 32:9-11; Exodus 19:4; Isaiah 63:11-14). All through the trackless desert He guided them, with sleepless eye caring for them, Himself unseen (Psalms 107:2-7), saving them at one time from such enemies as the Amalekites (Exodus 17:13-14), again from the fiery flying serpents (Numbers 21:8), again from the curse of Balaam (Numbers 22:31-35; Numbers 23:5; Numbers 23:16; do. 23), and again from the armies of two mighty kings on the threshold of the territories of the Canaanites, Sihon and Og. He also dried up the Jordan before them, and appeared as the Captain of the Lord’s host, when the wars against the Canaanites were about to begin (Joshua 5:13-15). It was by His mighty power also, that all these nations were slain before the sword of Joshua (Psalms 44:3).
Jesus still goes personally with every one of His people, every step of the way, on to the place of the promised rest, Himself unseen, but not the less really taking charge of His redeemed ones, treating them substantially in the same manner, and acting on the same principles as of old. His language is, “Lo! I am with you alway unto the end.” He is “the Beginner and the Finisher of their faith” (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 12:2; Hebrews 13:5; Psalms 73:24; 2 Timothy 4:18).
4. The rarity of His appearances. It might be thought if He was so closely allied to this people—more intimately related than father to children, brother to brother, or husband to wife—then it is singular He should so seldom show Himself. If His presence is so essential to the safe conduct and the comfort of His people, why does He not oftener look through the window, showing Himself through the lattice (Song of Solomon 2:9)? Nay, if, in point of fact, He is always near, why does He not give unmistakeable signs of His presence? How much might not the consciousness of His presence do to cheer His people under their sorrows, to lighten their burdens, relieve their anxious fears, and enable them to run with patience the Christian race! Yet we hear of His appearing only once to Joshua on the threshold of His great work, only once, too, at the time when the people were left without a leader, to see if they could of themselves obey the covenant of their God (ch. Judges 2:1-5), and now a third time after a lapse of more than 200 years when the whole nation was brought to the brink of ruin. Why should it be so?
(1.) These visits were too precious to be often repeated. It is but glimpses of glory that can be expected on earth. It is not the normal state of things to make revelations of the Divine brightness in such a world as this. It would be a departure from the fixed rule to do so. The cases are therefore strictly exceptional; and even the glimpses which are given are made only to the people of God. There was only one Mount of Transfiguration scene permitted to the disciples in this world, and that quickly came and quickly vanished. This earth is too polluted a spot for any long continued enjoyment of the Divine presence.
(2.) The rule in the present state, is to walk by faith, and not by sight. This rule is necessary for putting the soul through a most healthful discipline, and enabling it to learn lessons which it could learn so well in no other way. It becomes the means of acquiring a degree of self knowledge from experience, which it never could arrive at otherwise—the knowledge of its entire spiritual helplessness, its want of a righteousness of its own, its innate treachery, its difficulty of loving God, and trusting in Him when unseen, and many other things of a very humbling character. It leads to a gradual exposure of the human heart to itself. It is also the appointed means of our justification before God, through the merits of the Saviour, and so illuminates the fact, that we deserve no manifestations of God’s brightness whatever. Hence, till we learn this lesson thoroughly they are but sparingly made. It is also the means of producing our sanctification, of enabling us to overcome all opposition to our entrance into heaven, and preparing many of the materials of the joy of that state. (1 Peter 1:7; 2 Corinthians 4:18).
(3.) Our sins and backslidings prevent many visits. (Isaiah 59:2; Hosea 5:15; Hosea 6:1, etc.) From those who obey not His voice, but cast His laws behind their backs, He hides His face, and they receive little or no manifestations of His favour, as in the passages quoted (see also Isaiah 57:17; Isaiah 1:15). This was realised often in the days of the Judges, and never more than during the period referred to in this chapter. On the other hand, “His secret is with them that fear Him,” etc. (Psalms 25:14); to the man who walks before Him with a perfect heart He reveals Himself, as to Moses (Exodus 33:11, also 18–23). “The meek He will teach His way.” “To that man will I look, even to him that is poor,” etc. (Psalms 25:9; Isaiah 66:2). “To the man that keepeth His commandments, He will manifest Himself to him” (John 14:21; Genesis 18:17; Genesis 18:19).
5. His appearance at the proper moment. He saw all His people’s affliction at the hands of these cruel sons of the desert, and though they were punished less than their iniquities deserved, His heart was yet touched with pity for them, and long ere the full cup of merited suffering was emptied, He appeared as He did to Moses in the bush, to tell them how “in all their afflictions He was afflicted,” and that now in His love He was come to redeem them. At that point, when they had bitter trial of the severity of the rod on the one hand, but had not yet experienced any wholesale destruction of human life on the other, though nearing that point, the angel appears. His heart yearned over them, as if they had “received at the Lord’s hand double for all their sins” (Isaiah 40:2). At the moment when the metal was beginning to consume, He at once snatches it from the fire. Already a famine seems to have begun (Ruth 1:1), and had the terrible incubus from the desert continued to rest longer on the land, the people must soon have perished in tens of thousands. But just then He appeared for their rescue, “according to the multitude of His loving kindnesses” (Isaiah 63:7). He who “sent out a strong west wind, and swept off the swarms of locusts that covered the land of Egypt, so that there remained not one in all the coasts” (Exodus 10:19), now does a similar thing with these barbarous hordes (Judges 8:10; Judges 8:12; Judges 8:28).
The Jews have a proverb that, “when the tale of bricks is doubled, then comes Moses.” The Redeemer of Israel cannot see the destruction of His people. He never departs from this rule—“I will correct thee in measure. I will not make a full end of thee.” Other nations were mere common property. His people were His jewels. “I gave Egypt for thy ransom,” etc. “I have engraven thee on the palms of my hands.”
6. The purpose of His appearance. He came to rid the land of the enemy and grant salvation to His people. In that people, notwithstanding their present apostasy, He saw the church of the living God, the only people that represented the true God in all the earth, the people whose history carried in it the germ of a great Divine plan, to be revealed to future ages, by which the Divine glory would be far more brightly illustrated than in any other manner, down through unending time. Through this people the name of Jehovah should become known and worshipped, among all nations, in the future of the world’s history. But now all their prospects as a nation were placed in great jeopardy. Wherefore “He looked, but there was none to help; He wondered that there was none to uphold; therefore His own arm brought salvation,” etc. (Psalms 63:5). He appears on their behalf, according to the jealousy He bears to his great name. Formerly He came as a reprover of their sins (ch. Judges 2:1-5). Now He comes to raise up a deliverer, whom He will employ as an instrument to save them from all the consequences of their sins.
The land has first to be purged of its sins. Till that is done, the finger of Jehovah will not be uplifted for salvation. The work of reformation must be proved to exist. Baal’s altars must be thrown down, and the altar of Jehovah erected in their place. It must be made visible, that the name of Jehovah is again accepted as that of the God of Israel. Battle must also be bravely given to the terrible foe, that brooded like a nightmare over the rich plains of Israel. For an undertaking so difficult, no ordinary qualifications were required. The whole power, indeed, came from the Divine Deliverer Himself. Yet, as God is always pleased to work by means, He employs the fittest instrument that can be found.
Notwithstanding all our sins, it is wonderful how often our gracious Redeemer appears for our salvation, when, for many strong reasons, we might have expected Him to come for our destruction (see Psalms 106:43; Psalms 106:45; Psalms 78:37-38).
7. His manner of revealing Himself. He comes in a tone, or manner suited to the conduct, or condition of the people at different times. There is design and meaning in the manner, as well as in the expressed purpose of revealing Himself. Now, there are no lightnings in His hands. He is not compassed about with dark clouds. No earthquake heralds His coming. The earth does not shake and tremble at His goings. The pestilence does not go before Him, nor do burning coals spring up under His feet. He comes like the small rain on the tender herb. As a wayfaring man, leaning on His staff, as if wearied with His journey, and sitting down to rest. He comes peaceably, and not in anger. He disturbs not a leaf on the tree, though it were easy for Him to scatter the everlasting mountains, and cause the perpetual hills to bow. All the power of omnipotence slumbered in His arm; the strength of many armies lay in His word. But He keeps back His resources out of sight, He hides His power from observation to see whether men will trust His word. He will make no vain show of His resources, but put forth only the one atom of His power, which is needed to justify faith in His Divine character.
8. His personal character.
(1.) He is Almighty. There are no cases of distress too hard for our heavenly friend to remove. He is able to make “the worm Gideon thresh the mountains and to make the hills as chaff.” “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Gideon’s faith was not difficult to awaken. It was kindled at once, when he saw the fire spring up from the rock, and consume the sacrifice. He believed that behind that there was infinite strength—that, indeed, this was He who had done all the wonders from the days of the land of Egypt. Neither should more proof be needed to believe in the resources of the “Captain of our Salvation,” when, besides many other evidences, we behold this one, that He is able to pour out the Spirit from on high, the universal Comforter of the church of Christ. This is the greatest of all the forms of power which God puts forth. Then he creates the soul anew.
(2.) He is faithful. He never forgets nor forsakes the objects of His charge, though centuries had now passed since first He received it, when this people became a free nation. During that long period His faithfulness did not fail, but, amid all the lights and shadows of that greatly chequered history, this covenant-keeping Friend was at his post, and brought His charge safely through every peril according to the terms of his trust. “Those whom the Father gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost” (John 10:28-29; John 6:39; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 4:8; do. 18).
(3.) He is tender. It is not His manner even to “break the bruised reed.” He does not now break forth into a severe reprimand of Gideon, for seeming to find fault with God’s Providence in allowing His people to suffer so much while He stood aloof from them. Though Gideon was charging his God foolishly, He yet knew that at heart he was an Israelite indeed, but was overwhelmed with sorrow at the condition of affairs in the land. There were also other wounds made in Gideon’s heart, and now bleeding afresh, arising from the loss of his brothers at Mount Tabor, who were there barbarously slain by Zebah, and Zolmunna. These wounds he now tenderly upbinds (Psalms 147:3). Instead of upbraiding, He speaks to him “good and comfortable words.” “The Lord turned and looked upon Peter.” How tenderly He deals with the weak side in His disciple’s character, his unsteadfastness to his Master in the hour of peril!
(4.) He is full of sympathy. He felt the afflictions suffered by the various tribes, as if they had been His own. “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” He was now virtually saying to them anew, “he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye.” The pain of the members of the body goes at once to the head, the fountain of sensation (ch. Judges 10:16; Zechariah 2:8). “I have seen the affliction of my people, have heard their cry, and know their sorrows, and now I am come down to deliver them.” It is as if He could not enjoy His repose in heaven, while His people were suffering such cruelties on earth. When they are persecuted, it is He that bleeds. “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” This truly is a Friend in need, and a Friend indeed.
(5.) He is unchanging. His general character is given, as being “without variableness, or shadow of turning.” He is the same trustworthy Friend now that He was in the days of Joshua, when He brought the people into the land, or as in the days of Moses, when He led such a large congregation safely through all the perils of the wilderness. “Having loved His own, who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
“Nor death, nor life, nor earth, nor hell,
Nor time’s destroying sway,
Can e’er efface us from His heart,
Or make His love decay.”
“Mine is an unchanging love,
Higher than the heights above,
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death.”
(6.) He is undying. “He carried them all the days of old,” and still while generation after generation dies, He lives on through all ages the ever-present, ever interested, ever-watchful Protector of His Church. For three centuries already He had led this people through all changes, and still to this day, He was as much as ever “mighty to save.” His name at first, when He took this people by the hand, was given as the great “I am”—the ever-living, self-existent One. And now as far on as the days of Gideon, He is still “the Lord of Hosts, strong and mighty in battle.” David sings of Him as One “of whose years there is no fail.” Isaiah adores Him as “The Everlasting Father.” Jeremiah rejoices in “His love as an everlasting love.” Micah hails Him as One, “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” And when he changed His form from angel to man, we find Him in the latest ages of the sacred record, “walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, as One like unto the Son of Man,” proclaiming as He looks towards the limitless future, “Behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:13; Revelation 1:18). Through all time, His language to His people is, “Because I live, ye shall live also.”
II. The instrument of His choice.
Though God could accomplish His purposes among men, without the intervention of any human instrumentality, it is His fixed rule to act in all ordinary cases by the use of means. Even in cases where miraculous power is employed, this rule is not departed from; for the miraculous power is employed only to do what ordinary means could not do, or it is put forth in special cases to prove that the power comes directly from God. But where ordinary means can serve every purpose, these only are employed; and, when selected, they are always of the fittest. God always honours the use of natural means, for it is the order He has laid down in His creation, and He must respect His own arrangements. Miracle is therefore the exception; natural means the rule. Hence, on this occasion, Gideon was chosen to act as an instrument in God’s hand in doing the work. He was chosen because of his natural qualifications fitting him for the work; and other qualifications were specially given to him to render him still more qualified.
1. He was selected by the Angel-Jehovah Himself. (p. 143). This appears at once from reading the narrative without any confirmatory statement. It was the angel’s express command, that gave Gideon the right to act as a saviour to his people, and this too made him responsible for fulfilling this mission. He was not merely an extraordinary character created by extraordinary times. Several have been so raised up—such as Buonaparte, Washington, Alfred, Cromwell, Knox, and others. But the heroes of Israel were nothing without the Divine aid and guidance of Him who called them to the work. They were always held in the hand of another, and had to obey the will of that other. There was only one real Deliverer, in all the ages of that unparalleled history—the Angel-Jehovah. As held by Him, Israel’s heroes were invincible under any possible circumstances; as acting of themselves, they were weak, and as other men. If then all the power really came from the Angel-Jehovah, manifestly He must choose His own instrument. The commonly received rule, vox populi, vox Dei,” does not apply here.
2. He was taken from a very unlikely place. Othniel was taken from the tribe of Judah, Ehud from Benjamin, and Barak from Naphtali. For the most part God finds His instrument at hand, where the danger is to be met. He does not need to bring him from afar, for anyone close at hand He can make serviceable for His purpose. The danger now to be met, was partly in the tribe of Issachar, and partly in that of cis-jordanic Manasseh. Of all places in the land, in this half-tribe of Manasseh idolatry was the most rampant; and precisely here was the instrument of the angel found. No places suffered more from the inroads of these spoilers, than those which formed the richest portions of this tribe, and none had so determinedly put aside the name of Jehovah, and addicted themselves to the worship of Baal. The old Canaanites had continued in Megiddo, Dor, Ibleam, Taanach, and Bethshean (ch. Judges 1:27). All over this district the altars of Baal were upreared, and there were none zealous enough, or powerful enough to deal with this public scandal, among the people who were pledged in every way to worship only Jehovah. In the heart of this country Gideon was found. It might be said, can any good thing come out of idolatrous Manasseh? and the answer might well be given, Come and see! It is like Saul of Tarsus being taken from among the Pharisees, or Dionysius the Areopagite taken from Athens. He who could raise up an Obadiah in the court of Ahab and Jezebel, can also bring forth a man to fell the image of Baal all over the land, from the very headquarters of idol-worship in his day.
3. In what circumstances did the Angel find him? It is always an important question to ask, where a man is found, or how situated, when God calls him, in the case of conversion from sin to God, at the day of death, or some special occasion of duty when a stern act of self-denial is required. Moses when called was in the “backside of the desert,” a most lonely spot; David was found following the ewes; Elisha was ploughing in the field with oxen; the Apostles were washing and mending their nets; and Gideon was threshing wheat. Similarly Cincinnatus, Curius, Scipio (Roman Senators) were called from agricultural pursuits to occupy high positions in the State—Joseph was even called from a prison to occupy the seat next the throne in Egypt. These were all doing their duty in some humble station meekly and uncomplainingly, content with the lot which God had marked out for them—“faithful in that which is least.” So it was with Gideon. But his thoughts were not in his work. They were with the Church of God, its sorrowful present and its dark future. If any work was to be done for that Church, he was just the man to throw his whole heart into it.
4. The immediate reason of the Divine visit. Most probably in answer to prayer. In the severely abridged account given of all circumstances in the Book of God, it is little wonder if we do not hear much of Gideon’s private exercises before his God. But we can hardly suppose such a man of faith and zeal for the cause of God, to be other than a wrestler with God in secret, that he “would arise and plead the cause that was his own.” Partly in answer to these prayers did the angel come to him. Also his concern was deep at the low state of true religion in the land. Most of those around him were “hasting after other gods.” Jehovah’s altar was deserted; Israel had fallen into the sins of the old Canaanites; and now the tide of judgment had come up in all her borders to such a degree, as to threaten the extinction of the nation. Gideon’s heart was wrung with grief when he saw Jehovah’s name so much dishonoured (Psalms 119:136; Psalms 119:158). Often must he have “sighed and cried in prayer, as he thought of all the abominations done in the land.” If he could but see a way, he was heartily prepared to lay himself on the altar, to devote himself for the emancipation of his country, and for the re-establishment of the worship of God in the land. On the principle, therefore, that God honours them that honour Him, he is now chosen of God to do the greatest work which that age admitted of, in rescuing his bleeding country from ruin, and restoring the name Jehovah to honour and worship all over the land.
5, His personal fitness for the work. His good qualities were manifold, all marking him out as a suitable agent.
(1.) His physical qualities. These, though inferior to others, are yet in their place important. God does not despise any gifts or faculties, with which He Himself has endowed a man. It was an element of fitness for the work on this occasion, that Gideon was a “mighty man of valour;” that he was of princely appearance, was physically strong, and able to go through much bodily hardship; and, further, that he was skilful in the use of weapons, and a chivalrous champion in the field. That a bold and dauntless spirit was needed to meet the emergency was most manifest. One who would skulk behind the bush, and conceal himself from all danger, was of no service whatever. Neither could he be Israel’s leader on such an occasion as this, who could not bravely set his face against terrible odds, and who, though faint with toil, could not yet pursue. But Gideon was robust and muscular, of sinewy, iron frame, and firm nerve. And his whole bearing in this remarkable juncture was marked by intrepid courage and invincible resolution.
(2.) His mental qualities. These are of a higher order, and pre-eminently needed in the conducting of a great enterprise. We do not say he was a man of more than average learning, just as he was not a kings son, nor a prince of the tribe to which he belonged. To be pre-eminent in rank or learning was not essential. But the possession of great natural shrewdness, of sound judgment, and quick discernment; ability to grasp at once the full magnitude and great difficulty of the work before him; the possessiou of wisdom and tact bow best to lay out the few resources within his reach; constructive power in arranging the best plan, or order of battle; fertility in devising expedients and manœuvres, and ways of taking advantage of all the shifting scenes and incidents of the crisis; especially the power of managing men, inspiring hearts with courage and hope to which they had long been strangers, wakening up even the faint hearted to a pitch of enthusiasm, to have the soldiers thoroughly in harmony with their leader, and to gain their entire confidence, and to be able to bring the whole force to bear as one man on the object which is sought to be gained—all these qualities Gideon did possess in an eminent degree, and so was eminently the man for the occasion on this side of his character.
(3.) His moral qualities. These are higher still, and in these Gideon yet more excelled. To be able to rise with the occasion, to realise the worth of the precious interests with which he was entrusted, to appreciate the value of the right moment when it occurred, and to lose not a moment in seizing it, to lose himself in the greatness of his duty, and have no other thought but nobly to discharge it, to be daring and dashing in his movements, while yet full of caution and self-restraint—these are the features which distinctly mark the man of God’s selection on this occasion. Who could have thought that the same man should have been so humble, diffident, and shrinking—so overpowered with a consciousness of his own weakness, putting himself down as less than the least in all Israel, and entirely losing sight of himself in his sympathy with his suffering brethren, and the sacred cause now almost lost, which had been committed to their hands? Yet, these are the very features of character, which fit a man for true greatness in the Church of God. “Before honour is humility.”
Though so disinterested and unselfish as to suppose that the angel’s salutation did not apply to him personally, when He said “The Lord is with thee” but rather to the people of Israel as a whole, and so he replied—“with us;” and though he entirely passed over the flattering allusion to his being “a mighty man of valour,” yet, with all this low estimate of himself, when summoned to do work for his God, he rises to the strongest conviction of the sacredness of his duty, and becomes fearless and defiant of danger, when he has reason to believe that his God is with him ordering the battle.
(4.) His religious qualities. These are highest of all. Pre-eminent among these was the fact of his deep sorrow for the sins of the land. This was distinctive of such men as Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, and David, who did so much in their day to bring down a Divine blessing on the land when it seemed to be forsaken of its God. Now it appears to have been so with Gideon. That there should have been so much of Baal, and so little of Jehovah, in Israel in these past years, appears to be the undertone of his lamentation in his first answer to the angel. And the same spirit comes out more decidedly when, in obedience to the Divine command, at great risk to himself, he cut down the grove and the image of Baal. His readiness to obey the Divine call, when assured that he really was called of God, is most beautiful. For his only objection is, not that the sacrifice was too great to make, involving in all probability the loss of life itself, but that he was so weak an instrument to be taken into God’s hand. He was able to do so little. So glorious a cause would suffer by being put into such unworthy hands. But when assured that he was really called, he readily obeys—a pleasing contrast even to the case of Moses, who seemed for a time most unwilling to enter on the duty which God imposed upon him (see Exodus 4:10-14). Gideon seemed never to murmur at any measure of self-sacrifice, which his call to this duty would entail upon him. His whole manner seemed to say, “Here am I send me!”
He had true loyalty to the God of Israel. Though all besides should follow Baal, and though Baal’s altar should be raised in his father’s house, and be acknowledged by all its inmates, he would bow the knee only to Jehovah. He was not ashamed of the name of his God, neither was he afraid, though he should stand altogether alone. If it must be so, he shall be
“Faithful found among the faithless, faithful only he.”
But his chief characteristic of all, was his faith in the God of Israel as his own God. It was the entire trust he placed in his God, and the full confidence he had in Him that enabled him to face the huge mountain of difficulty that lay before him. His case was greatly like that of the stripling king, who was first brought into notice by his faith, when he said to the doughty giant, “Thou comest to me with sword and spear—I come to thee in the name of the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45). Gideon’s heart was given to the God of Israel, and he seemed never to doubt but that He could repeat in his own day all the wonders of the old time, were He but to decide so to do. It was certainly a splendid illustration of faith, and one most glorifying to God, for a man to set himself to the task, without a murmur, simply at God’s call, of advancing with a handful of 300 men, to meet a host of warriors numbering 135,000, and hope firmly that he would gain a complete victory because the God of Jacob had promised to give His presence. His confidence in his God carried him over all the fear he might naturally cherish from man.
III. Lessons taught by the interview.
1. True mourners for sin are sure to meet with God as a Comforter sooner or later. (Matthew 5:4; Isaiah 57:18; Jeremiah 31:18-20.)
2. No case of suffering in this world is so extreme, as to have no comforts left. Gideon lost much by the avalanche of ruffianism, that rolled in upon him from the desert, but still he has some wheat left to thresh, and still has provision enough to set before a distinguished stranger. If temporal things were all swept away together, God is still left, which really means that all is yet safe (Psalms 16:5-6; Habakkuk 3:18). Elijah was for three years without house or home, without friends or money, and yet God kept him. Many can still sing, “The Lord is my Shepherd—I shall not want.” Look at the ravens (Matthew 6:26). What myriads of sea-fowl are seen on the wing amid the inhospitable climate of the Arctic regions! Where do they all find food among perpetual snows, fields of ice, and frost-bound land?
3. All practical difficulties in Providence should be carried to God for solution. Gideon would end all his soliloquies by committing the whole case to God in prayer. “Hezekiah spread out the letter before the Lord” (2 Kings 19:14). “Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 20:4).
4. Privations of earthly comforts are no loss in the end to God’s true children. But to want spiritual blessings is a dead loss, which nothing can ever compensate (1 Timothy 6:7-8; Psalms 37:37-38; Proverbs 14:32). Hence the wisdom of Matthew 6:33.
5. God’s presence is the beginning of all true joy. The Angel-Jehovah’s presence was really the presence of God, which implies the presence of all peace, all power and protection, and all blessing of every name, but only to God’s children. All can sing—
“God is the treasure of my soul,
The source of lasting joy,
A joy which want shall not impair,
Nor death itself destroy.”
(Psalms 4:6-7; Psalms 16:11; Psalms 17:15; John 17:24; John 14:23, also Isaiah 41:10; Isaiah 43:2).
6. A true-hearted Christian feels for the whole brotherhood, as well as himself. This is the spirit of all Gideon’s utterances to the angel.
7. The best of men sometimes grievously misinterpret God’s Providences. Gideon’s logic was just the reverse of what it should have been. Our tears often blind our judgment.
8. Correction for sin is a sure sign that God has not left us. He wishes to save us from the precipice. He would destroy the cancerous root while it is yet time. “He that spareth the rod hateth the child, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” “You only have I known, … therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities” (Proverbs 13:24; Amos 3:2; also Hebrews 12:6-8). “Sins, not afflictions, prove God’s absence.”
9. Sometimes the best of men pass through the world unknown. “He was in the world—and the world knew him not”—though it may have benefitted much by his prayers, and Christian influence in a small circle (John 1:10; John 1:26). The martyrs were unknown—
“’Till persecution dragged them into fame,
And chased them up to heaven.”
Such a man as Gideon would have remained unknown, had not that God, who seeth not as man seeth, brought him to light. He was not likely to come to the front himself, filled as he was with humility; and he was little appreciated by those around him.
10. Despondency is always unworthy of a true Christian. His true motto is—“I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.” “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” It is only a weak faith that desponds. “All the promises of God are yea and amen through Christ.” What a fund of strength!
11. It is highly important to see that we have a firm foundation to our faith. This was really what Gideon wished to be at, and his request was granted.