GIDEON: God sees more than we do...
Names are an important part of most cultures, and so often names get passed down from one generation to the next. I wonder if you know what your name means? Have you ever looked it up? Does the meaning of your name impact who you have become or who you are today?Gideon is a Hebrew name and it literally means "hewer" or "feller", as in someone who cuts down; it also seems to mean great warrior, perhaps someone who "cuts" down the enemy. The angel in our narrative calls Gideon a 'mighty warrior' (v 12); but what is interesting is that Gideon doesn't seem to be a mighty warrior or believe that he is a mighty warrior.
You see, the Midianites are consistently defeating and raiding the Israelites land and produce, so much so that the scriptures tell us that Gideon is threshing wheat in a wine press, which is totally bizarre, but it tells us that Gideon was trying to hide the wheat from the Midianites. Not really mighty warrior material to me! What is more, when the angel tells him that he will save Israel, Gideon's response is to tell the angel that he has the weakest clan in Israel and that he himself is the least (smallest).
Thank goodness the Lord sees beyond who we think we are, and with Him we can be and do anything for the Kingdom, all we have to do is be willing to allow God to use us. If you read the rest of the narrative, you will see that Gideon goes on to defeat all of Israel's enemies, and he even reduces the number of soldiers who go to fight, so that all the world would know that it was God who gave them victory and not in their own strength.
| 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. 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." (Judges6:11-16) |
Gordon Cook's wife, Joshua and Rebecca's mom, minster at St Giles. The Rev Melanie Cook.
This brings us to the end of the Month of Mission... A very big THANK YOU to our writers: Peter Langerman, Lungile Mpetsheni, Sipho Mtetwa, George Marchinkowski, Jayne Nyirongo, Pat Baxter, Shingi Masunda, Kim Brown, Lydia Neshangwe, Nigel Chikanya, Natalie Barnard, Reuben Daka, Rodney Brits, Michelle Black, Joan Brummer, Faresy Sakala, James Gray, Jerry Pillay, Zepheny Kennedy, Richard Mkandawire, Greg Howse, Mukondi Ramulondi, Teddy Zimba, and Melanie Cook. Thanks to Wayne van Heerden who helped with social media. Also a very big thank you to Ruth Armstrong who worked with me on the theme, recruiting writers and editing the contributions. I have been blessed by everyone's inputs, the encouraging comments and the enthusiasm that has been generated... SOLI DEO GLORIA!
