Gideon: God who obeys Chapter 1

 Before an over confident and self indulgent judge named Samson is another doubter and faithless judge named Gideon. Let's scan Judges 6-8

Only faith can please God? Let's challenge this thought.

He is not a popular choice of many readers and I admit too I am one of them. Gideon is the least of my favorite but the nature of God always chooses the impossible ones, the hopeless ones like Gideon where there is no faith at all, put God into test, three times. 

Gideon is already a leader of his people from the smallest clan but largest tribe of Manasseh, one of the sons of Joseph. His life of leadership was never easy at all for Gideon experienced real hardships where no faith is allowed to grow, his case always spells a hopelessness, always running from his pursuers the Midianites. Gideon met a lot of failures, probably deaths that only reality can explain the impoverished people where faith is an expensive thought to believe. Because he has no faith at all Gideon was even found by the angel of the Lord threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from Midianites raiders.

The angel of the Lord sat down under the oak tree and randomly spoke to one of the man who looks anxious and feels weak and helpless the angel uttered: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

Mighty warrior? It might be too much to call Gideon that because whenever there is a raid from their clans, he runs and hides. He chases things and hides. That all what he is good at. And now one fine day an angel is calling him "a mighty man of valor," or warrior, or a hero?

Gideon may have not heard the angel of God so clear, so he said: "Pardon me my Lord?"

"To pardon" is a total disconnect. Our guy named Gideon is not what it seems to be when the angel found him. In fact Gideon is nameless buddy but not totally clueless of who God is. 

Then, instead of dropping to his knees Gideon stated his rants and dismayed spirit he said: "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.”

AC

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