Jehovah Shalom // Judges 6:7-24

JEHOVAH SHALOM

 

Today we look at a story that focuses on a man named Gideon, who was from the tribe of Manasseh. You know the story…Gideon gathers an army of 32,000 men, prepares for battle, yet God instructed him to reduce the number of soldiers, down to only 300 men which some believe were old fat men that couldn’t bend down and lap the water…

 

Gideon and his small army surprised the Midianites in the middle of the night and soundly defeated them. The Israelites celebrated their victory, and Gideon became a respected leader among them.  The land would have rest for forty years during Gideon's leadership.

This story is all inspired from an altar that Gideon built based on a divine revelation of Yahweh Shalom, the Lord is Peace.

 

Many of the corrupt Canaanite tribes had been allowed to remain; and Israel adopted their cultural and religious practices. There would be a repetitive cycle; a vicious cycle of apostasy, oppression, and deliverance.

 

“[T]his period is generally referred to as the Dark Ages. In the end the Hebrews became like the Canaanites. They thought like them, lived like them, and worshipped like them.” - –Preben Vang and Terry G. Carter

 

As we reflect on the oppression and influence of these surrounding nations like Midian, we can be deeply warned of the dangers of Idolatry.  Where does Idolatry come from?  How does it develop?  What is it the result of?

 

John Calvin says that the heart of man is an idol factory, and no matter whether you live in India where there are 3 million graven images, or whether you live right here in the USA, where there are stadiums built to gather and worship our favorite athletes, entertainers and sports teams, or restaurants on every corner to help us indulge in our favorite delicacies.  Idolatry is all around us and many time is produced inside of us…

 

TRUTH PRINCIPLE #1 — IDOLATRY IS THE RESULT OF:

 

1) The People of God FORGETTING what the Lord has done.

“Memory is a powerful thing. In an important sense we are defined by our history. We are what our history has made us, and without a clear memory of it we can forget who we are.…There is a necessary connection between knowing the Lord and knowing the “work” he has done. To “not know” this great work was to “not know” the One who did it” - Barry G. Webb

 

2) The People of God FORSAKING what the Lord has said.

Obeying the voice of the Lord here is a reference to the law that was given at Mount Sinai.   We are so busy listening to all the other voices in the room that defines ethics and morality, and worship and proper social and economical virtue,  that God speaking the Ten Commandments it sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher….or we have the radio tuned to the wrong frequency, and we are listening to FM radio when God is talking on AM radio, or maybe subscribed to so many channels on YouTube, we don’t even know which book or chapter to start reading in the Bible, and its possible that we have so many friends on Facebook, that we don’t even get God’s words in our newsfeed anymore…or better yet, you’re like the teenager who puts his hands on his ears and says I don’t want to listen to you right now…

But God reminded Gideon, the voice of the Lord is so important, and yet we forsake it…we forsake hearing Him say I love you, I have a plan for you, I don’t want to harm you, I want to give you hope and a future. Which leads to the third reason for idolatry…

 

3) The People of God FORFEITING what the Lord has promised.

Tony Evans says …”you can be in the promised land and at the same time out of the will of God you can be in the place where you’re losing where you ought to be winning… you’re defeated where you ought to have victory”

 

Sometimes in our idolatry, God will raise up an oppression a problem, a trial, that will create a deep insecurity, fear and anxiety…Idolatry will always breed drama in your life and sometimes God sits back and lets the drama unfold, only to allow you to get to a place where you are ready for His appearance, just as He did here with Gideon.  The Drama and the troubles and the trials of life often times will drive us to question God in our faith…And God is not put off by our questions but rather invites them into a conversation , only so that the drama of your life would unfold the revelation of who Yahweh really is!

 

Here in Judges 6:13-18, Gideon would ask four questions before Jehovah Shalom would be fully revealed.  They could be summed up as:

 

1. Does God really care about us? — a challenge on His COMPASSION
2. Will God care for us? — a challenge on His ABILITY.
3. Does God know what He’s doing? — a challenge on His WISDOM.
4. Does God keep His promises? —  a challenge on God’s INTEGRITY

 

After this conversation;  So Gideon prepares an offering, and presents it to the Angel of the Lord, and a fire comes out of the rock, and consumes the offering completely.   Gideon then perceives that He was in the presence of the Angel of the Lord and that he had seen Him face to face… then Gideon hears the Angel of the Lord speak, Peace be with you, do not fear, you shall not die…and then Gideon builds the altar and names it Jehovah Shalom.

 

Gideon knew that he had found favor with God and His presence was with him.  These are the two ingredients of Divine Peace: God’s FAVOR and His PRESENCE.

 

Jesus would reveal Himself as Jehovah Shalom, the night before He was crucified.  John 14 records that Jesus tells his disciples, In this world, friends you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world, my peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you, I go to prepare a place, but I leave my Holy Spirit with you, you can’t see me, but you will hear me…

  

• Jesus showed and proved His compassion on the cross.
• Jesus showed off His ability in the grave.
• Jesus promised His wisdom through the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit.
• Jesus prepares His Father’s home for you even now that one day you will be with Him

 

So you ask, “Where is peace to be found?” This question is answered clearly and powerfully in

Isaiah 26: You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. (vv. 3–4)

 

Peace is found in trusting the person who controls all the things that you don’t understand and knows the secrets of all the unsolved mysteries of your life, because He planned them all…The more you meditate on his glory, his power, his wisdom, his grace, his faithfulness, his righteousness, his patience, his zeal to redeem, and his commitment to his eternal promises to you, the more you can deal with mystery in your life.

Why? Because you know the One behind the mystery is gloriously good, worthy not only of your trust but also the worship of your heart.

 

It really is true that peace in times of trouble is not found in figuring out your life, but in worship of the One who has everything figured out already.  — Paul Tripp