Jehovah-Shalom

JEHOVAH-SHALOM

Jdg. 6:11-24

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. I’m going to see how good you are at completing a sentence. “FINISH THE SENTENCE:”

a. “I am ready to throw in the ______.” (towel)

b. “I’m just a bundle of _______.” (Nerves)

c. “I’m at my wits ______.” (end)

d. “I’m resigning from the human _______.” (race)

2. Wow! You got 100%! You’re the most uptight audience I’ve ever seen. Even the upright can get uptight!

B. TEXT

11 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.” 13 “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.” 14 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?” 15 “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.” 16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” 17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.” 19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

C. THESIS

1. We’re continuing our series tonight on the Covenant Names of God. We have previously covered Jehovah, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Rapha, and Jehovah-Nissi.

2. Tonight we’re looking at Jehovah-Shalom: it’s revelation, it’s meaning & the 2 kinds of peace, and the Source of our peace, Jesus Christ.

3. The title of this message is Jehovah-Shalom.

I. A NEW REVELATION OF THE CHARACTER OF GOD

A. REVEALED DURING TROUBLED TIMES

1. What more fitting place for God to reveal Himself as the “God of Peace” than the Book of Judges when the nation of Israel was in the midst of turmoil, chaos, and tribulation brought on by their backslidden condition.

2. The Bible is clear (Isa. 57:20-21) that “There is no peace,” saith my God, “to the wicked.” The root idea of the word “wicked” is “restlessness.” Worse than outward trouble is a broken relationship with God!

B. THE OCCASION OF THIS REVELATION

1. Israel, because of sin, was cruelly oppressed by the Midianites and cried out to God (Judges 6:2,7). Even Gideon needed reconciliation. Once he had made his sacrifice, he was called to deliver God’s people.

2. When Gideon realized he was before the Angel (Messenger of) of the Lord, he became afraid. Gideon had thought that Jehovah was actually against or opposed to Israel (vs. 13).

3. But Jehovah said to Gideon, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die” (vs. 23). Gideon undoubtedly then felt the peace of God come over him.

4. So he built an altar and called it “Jehovah-Shalom,” “The Lord is our Peace.” Jehovah would bring salvation, the deliverance, and the restoration necessary to give Israel peace; for peace was Jehovah’s will.

C. THE MEANING OF ‘SHALOM’

1. It is translated in the O.T. as “whole,” “finished,” “full,” “make good,” “welfare and well,” “render, pay, perform, perfect.”