Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
Gideon said to Him, “Please Sir, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the LORD brought us out of Egypt?’
But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” Judges 6:12-13 HCSB
Do you ever feel abandoned by God? If so, then you need to ask yourself who actually walked away? Our passage today is a small excerpt from the historical account of Gideon. Judges chapter 6 begins as many chapters of the Old Testament by saying, “The Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD.” The Israelites had a hard time keeping it together. They were the LORD’s chosen people, He loved them, but He did not withhold punishment when they did wrong. They lived in this vicious cycle. They would love the LORD and do well, then they would fall into sin and get themselves in a jam. God would give them over to other countries to be oppressed or even taken captive by them. They would cry out to God. God would save them. They would do well for a bit and then begin all over again. Sadly, I can really identify with the Israelites.
In Judges 6, they have sinned and God has punished them by causing them to fall under the oppression of the Midianites. They would grow wheat for their food. The Midianites would come in, take it, trample it and destroy the Israelites food supply. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he was literally hiding from the Midianites threshing wheat. Imagine that you are in fear and hiding and this angel of the LORD appears and addresses you as a mighty warrior? I’m sure Gideon felt anything but mighty. He tells the angel that he is the youngest son of the weakest family in his land. But the angel of the Lord tells Gideon that He will be with him and he will strike down the Midianites as if they were only one man.
Have you ever felt helpless in a situation? Have you ever felt like you just wanted to curl up in a corner and hide? Imagine living in a land where you did all the work to grow your own food only to have these people come in and take it. Imagine having to hide out to have food to eat. Gideon is in a tight spot when the angel of the LORD appears to him. He doesn’t feel like a mighty warrior, he feels small and insignificant. He feels helpless and defeated. But, God is not asking Gideon to defeat the Midianites on his own. He is telling him that He will be with him every step of the way. He will help him to be strong. God calls Gideon a mighty warrior because this is what he is going to be. In Gideon’s own eyes he is weak and helpless. In God’s eyes, he is a mighty warrior. God calls it like He sees it.
The Israelites have sinned and they are being punished. We don’t get a free ride when we live in sin. The Israelites were not in this miserable position because they had put God first in their lives and was being obedient to Him. They were being punished because they had abandoned God and were sinning against Him. God had literally handed them over to the Midianites and allowed this oppression to take place. When we deliberately sin against God, we no longer live under God’s protective umbrella. When we deliberately sin, we become an enemy to God (Romans 8:5-7). In Exodus 23:22 God told the Israelites He was sending an angel with them to protect them and that they should listen to him and not defy him because if they did He would not forgive their acts of rebellion. But, he tells them if they will carefully obey him and do as God says, then He will be an enemy to their enemies and a foe to their foes. God fights our enemies when we are obedient to Him.
In Judges 6:7, the Israelites cried out to the LORD. God sent a prophet to explain to them how they had messed up. And then the angel appeared to Midian and began the process of rescuing the Israelites once more.
Midian felt as though he was the weakest guy around. But, he trusted God and went from a weakling to a mighty warrior. You can do the same.
Have a great day!