Oh my Lord where has September gone...and I am literally asking our Father this question....I can not believe and have trouble fathoming how much more quickly time goes by as I have gotten older...epiphany...Since God has been around forever...that would explain how things happen in the blink of an eye for Him! Does this make as much sense to you as it does to me? I know sometimes the way I get to my answers may seem a bit circuitous...but at least I do get there! God understands, since He is the one who created me.
Yesterday our church service was indescribable! Our pastor, Pastor Don Wolabaugh is the most amazing bible teacher I have ever had the pleasure of listening to and learning from!
Pastor took us thru Judges 6, 7, and 8. Do you know that Gideon went from being a scaredy cat to being a mighty man of valor! Gideon had a problem with fear as a youngster and he had never really dealt with it, that is until God said he had to!
1. The Midianites came to destroy Israel. And this was because Israel was in sin.
2. There was nothing for the Hebrew people to eat, nothing for their cattle, because all was destroyed by the Midianites. This is all because Israel was in sin. They were worship- ing idols. Ohhh this is not a good thing...
3. Gideon was hiding while he was threshing wheat...remember they were not able to get to the store to buy a loaf of bread...so Gideon was threshing the wheat, some versions say by the wine-press and some say in the wine-press...Gideon was doing this there because he was hiding...And an angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said to him, "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." This is where Gideon starts to deal with his issue of fear!
4. This is how God and Heaven see Gideon, how does God and Heaven see you?
5. So Gideon says to the angel, come on if God is with us than why is all this happening to us? Have you ever asked this question? I have and upon some self examination I can usually come up with a reason or two, why unpleasant things are happening...we have to be walking with God in all parts of our lives for good things and/or blessing to be present from God!
6. Gideon wants a sign, if this is really an angel of the Lord or the Lord Himself and this being is telling Gideon that he can save Israel from the Midianites, then Gideon wants a sign! So what does He tell Gideon to do...He tells Gideon, first of all understand, that I will be with you!
Judges 6: 16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites asone man.
And in the next verse Gideon asks for the sign...17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
So Gideon is beginning to understand that this really is God or in the very least, an angel, and that he needs to Honor God with a present, a "Thank Offering," if you would...19 And Gideon went in , and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak,and presented it.
And the angel of the Lord tells Gideon when he has come again outside, exactly what he is to do with the offering...20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. And what does Gideon finally realize? 22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said , Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. 23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die .Why is it that some of us are such doubting Thomas'?
So Gideon then goes about building an alter to God, he realizes some of the wrongs that the Israelite people have been doing.
That night when Gideon is sleeping the angel comes to Gideon in his sleep and tells him to take his fathers Bullock (young bull) and take it to where Gideon's father had built an alter to Baal and had grown a grove of trees. And the angel told Gideon to tear down the alter, and cut down the trees and then place the trees on top of where the alter to Baal had been and place the bullock on top of the trees as an offering to God.
So Gideon took ten of his servants and went and did as the angel had instructed him to do, but since Gideon is still dealing with fear, he did all this at night...can you imagine how surprised everyone was when they saw the grove of trees gone and the alter to Baal gone...I imagine that this was probably an area of beauty...oh well Gideon, great job!
Well I am going to continue on with these Chapters tomorrow morning so come on back and see what other amazing things God does with Gideon!
Blessings to you all!
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