Last week in verses Judges 6:1-10
Israel had been committing spiritual adultery
That’s not a term I made up
Many of the prophets used the term adultery because it was graphic
We are to be the bride of Christ
God disciplined them in an attempt to bring them back to Himself
He gave them measured discipline
They cried out to God for relief from the oppression of the Midianites
Judges 6:7-10
(7) When the Israelites cried out to Him because of Midian, (8) the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.
(9) I delivered you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.
(10) I said to you: I am Yahweh your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey Me.’”
He don’t know who this prophet is
He recounted the glorious things God had done for Israel
He recounted the commandments of God
Here’s an easy word to overlook in verse 10 - “fear”
“Fear the Lord” as an exact translation shows up 49 times in the Bible
Psalm 111:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge
Proverbs 9:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
Proverbs 15:33 - The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom
If the fear of the Lord is wisdom and knowledge what is it called when you fear something or someone other than God? Foolishness and ignorance! Actually, it is sin and all sin is lawlessness and rebellion!
Then the prophet makes the pronouncement, “But you did not obey Me!!!”
One curious thing is that he never called Israel to repent and to turn back to the Lord.
Was the Lord just saving His breath?
Now, here’s a curious question … how long was it between when the Lord sent the prophet and when the Angel of the Lord came to have a chat with Gideon?
Pastor Karenlee and I like to watch some of the police shows on TV. Some of them are just soap operas filled with all sorts of filthiness but a few, a very few attempt to be somewhat realistic.
One thing that they try to do in order to solve a crime is to piece together a timeline of the crime and those involved.
Who was there at the time of the crime?
Who had witnessed the crime?
You can even see this in old shows like Matlock and so when we jumped from the prophet in Israel to the angel of the Lord visiting Gideon it made me wonder how long was the period between the two verses? A day. A week? A month? Several months?
There is probably no relevance or the Lord would have said how long it was, that’s just the way my mind works …
So, let’s move on to the next section …
Judges 6:11-24
(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.
Now, that’s a pretty amazing passage, is it not?
Let’s look again at Judges 6:11
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.
Here is a fascinating thing. We know this is the angel of the Lord because we are told who it is. But even though we know because we’re told, do we really know who it is?
Sometimes we know that name of the angel; Gabriel or Michael
Sometimes the phrase is given as “the Angel of the Lord” and other times it is given as “an angel of the Lord”.
ESV, NASB, HCSB, NIV, NKJV
“an angel of the Lord” never appears in the OT
“the Angel of the Lord” only appears throughout the OT and only once if any in the NT and that is when Joseph is having his vision or dream and being told not to be afraid to take Mary home as his wife.
Now, look at this combination of phrases from verses 12-24
(11) The angel of the Lord came and sat down
(12) When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon
(14) The Lord (Yahweh) turned to him and said
(16) The Lord (Yahweh) answered
(18) And the Lord said (this is substituted for “he said” for identification
(20) The angel of God (Yahweh) said to him
(21) Then the angel of the Lord
(23) But the Lord (Yahweh) said to him
(22) When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord (Yahweh), he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord (Adonay Yahweh)! I have seen the angel of the Lord (Yahweh) face to face!”
The angel of the Lord speaks as God, identifies Himself with God, and exercises the responsibilities of God
References to “the angel of the Lord” cease after the birth of Jesus.
Whatever the case, whether the angel of the Lord was a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ (Christophany) or an appearance of God the Father (theophany), it is highly likely that the phrase “the angel of the Lord” usually identifies a physical appearance of God.
OK. That’s interesting and not just interesting but very important as well.
Israel is in spiritual rebellion.
The Lord sends a human prophet to speak to Israel on behalf.
Then He takes on human form to actually have a conversation with Gideon.
Now, this is critically important. In these instances Jesus or Yahweh does NOT become human as Jesus did. He simply took on the appearance of a human. Jesus was the only fully human - fully God incarnation.
Next week we’ll get into just what that conversation entailed but what can we ask ourselves from what we’ve talked about this week?
This world is in spiritual rebellion. And you are either with God or against Him. You are either in the Kingdom of God or your not and the same goes for me and every human who has ever lived. There is no dual citizenship.
So, we need to know. Am I in good standing with God? If you were taken to court on the charge of being a devoted disciple of Christ would there be enough evidence to convict you? Not just do you go to church but a life driven by an overwhelming love for God and thankfulness for Jesus allowing you the privilege of being saved. This is a radical, life changing event and if a person doesn’t know for certain that God has become the passionate center of their life then most likely they have not become a child of God.
We have the Word of God as a testimony to us just like the Lord sent a prophet to Israel over and over and over and over. We are without excuse!
God was so intent on saving us from ourselves and the sin we wallow in that He sent His one and only Son, His only begotten Son, Jesus to die on a cross so that we might have eternal life if only we will come to Him in repentance and trust Him with our eternal souls.
We are to live lives to glorify God as we live here on earth. Are we?
We will all meet Jesus face-to-face one day. How would you feel if you were to come into the presence of God face-to-face today knowing the your recent past?
Would you be able to boldly enter into the presence of God?
Invitation to Communion
