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I call Gideon a “mighty man of valor” because that’s what the Lord called him.
Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites (Judges 6:11, ESV).
The Midianites had oppressed the Jews for seven years. Being a nomadic people, they wandered into Israel during harvest to steal the wheat. Thus, Gideon was threshing his wheat in a winepress to protect the harvest from the Midianites.
The angel of the Lord says to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
HHHHMMMHHM — Gideon, the “mighty man of valor” hiding in the wine press, threshing wheat so he couldn’t be seen by his enemies, the Midianites — doesn’t sound that mighty or valiant to me.
Gideon then makes his interview with the angel of the Lord even worse as he expresses his doubt in the goodness of God and whether the Lord has forsaken the Israelites.
Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian (Judges 6:13).
That’s not the talk of a mighty warrior, but would we — if we lived in ancient Israel, or even today in the current state of our lives — act differently if the angel of the Lord appeared to us?
Many scholars believe that the “angel of the Lord” was a personification of eternal Jesus before His “born of a virgin” time on earth. Colossians 1:16 indicates that by Jesus, all things were created through Him and are held together now.
Now, talking to Gideon, the Angel of the Lord (Mighty Jesus) calls Gideon to. . .
Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you? (Judges 6:14)
In answer to God’s calling him to save Israel from the Midianites, Gideon continues blowing up any sense of his “valiant warrior status” with this comment. . .
Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house (Judges 6:15).
Hiding in a winepress from his enemies, doubting God’s goodness, and now downgrading himself and his family with a poor self-image, this fearful, doubting, and timid Gideon is the man called a “mighty warrior of valor” by Jesus.
And by God’s grace, that’s exactly what he became. As we read later in the Book of Judges, Gideon commands the soldiers following him to “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand” (Judges 7:15b).
From winepress to warrior — the difference being the Angel of the Lord. Whatever we encounter today or tomorrow, let’s remember this promise. . .
The angel of the Lord (Jesus) encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalm 34:7-8)
Jesus calls each of us to be mighty warriors of valor!