#Do You Know Who You Are?
Daily Reading: (Judges 6:11-16):
“The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
There will be fearful times where we might be afraid of something in our future but the words of God will fill you will faith and initiate a boldness inside of you to be courageous in the present. In the process of immersing ourselves in the story of Gideon we will see what God has already done in the life of a believer - and the question becomes who do you identify with? Do you identify as your new self a courageous champion warrior in Christ or as your old defeated wimpy self before Christ transformed your life?
The Israelites were in a bad situation because sin robbed God’s people from the abundant harvest that should have been rightfully theirs (Judges 6:1). Finally, the people of God reached the point that this was a bigger issue than anything they could resolve for themselves that they cried to God for help (Judges 6:6).
The text reads that Midian or the Midianites “so impoverished” and that Hebrew word means to be brought low. They were brought so low to the point they cried out. This is a demonstration of God’s great love and His grace- they were doing evil which opened the door for the enemy to come in and steal from them, and God uses the situation where they were brought low to help them recognize their need for God.
The angel of the Lord is as a theophany - an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ, in human, bodily form, but before His incarnation in Bethlehem.
It shows that God himself, appearing in human form through Jesus, spoke to Gideon:
This is important for you to see because Christ gives us a new identity just as He did for Gideon. Jesus calls Him as He will make Him not as He was (Judges 6:11-12).
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Good question. If God is with us- why does evil things happen?
The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
I am on a rescue mission and I choose you to go. Instead of focusing on the problem (sin) and the consequences to the problem Jesus provides us His salvation- the solution to our sin problem. Gideon was perfectly positioned to be used by God because Christ was with Him. The last possible choice was chosen because this demonstrates that salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone (Judges 6:15).
If you keep believing the lies of the enemy you are allowing the enemy to continue to rob the blessings of Christ from you. See yourself as God sees you, who Christ in you has already made you to be, a mighty warrior. For us, to have faith to see God work remarkable things through our lives we need to remind ourselves that God’s favor is on our lives (Judges 6:17).