Mighty Warrior
The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Judges 6:12
READ Judges 6:11–16
Diet Eman was an ordinary, shy young woman
in the Netherlands—in love, working, and enjoying time with family and
friends—when the Germans invaded in 1940. As Diet (pronounced Deet)
later wrote, “When there is danger on your doorstep, you want to act
almost like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.” Yet Diet felt God
calling her to resist the German oppressors, which included risking her
life to find hiding places for Jews and other pursued people. This
unassuming young woman became a warrior for God.
We find many stories in the Bible similar to Diet’s, stories of God
using seemingly unlikely characters to serve Him. For instance, when the
angel of the Lord approached Gideon, he proclaimed, “The Lord is with
you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). Yet Gideon seemed anything but
mighty. He’d been secretly threshing wheat away from the prying eyes of
the Midianites, who oppressively controlled Israel at the time (vv. 1–6,
11). He was from the weakest clan of Israel (Manasseh) and the “least”
in his family (v. 15). He didn’t feel up to God’s calling and even
requested several signs. Yet God used him to defeat the cruel Midianites (see ch. 7).
God saw Gideon as “mighty.” And just as God was with and equipped
Gideon, so He’s with us, His “dearly loved children” (Ephesians
5:1)—supplying all we need to live for and serve Him in little and big
ways.
By Alyson Kieda |
Who are some other Bible characters God used
despite their weakness to accomplish much for Him? How has God moved
you outside your comfort zone to serve Him?
God, I’m so thankful You don’t see me as I
see myself. Help me to see myself as Your dearly loved child capable of
doing big and small things in service to You. | | | | |
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Judges 6 follows a pattern seen often in the
book—Israel’s evil resulting in oppression, followed by Israel crying
out to God, and God responding with deliverance. Judges 6 also differs
from previous versions of this “pattern” in ways that indicate that both
the evil and suffering in Israel is intensifying. In Judges 4, after
the Israelites cry out for God’s help, Deborah immediately takes action.
In chapter 6, however, after a much more extensive account of the
Midianites’ oppression (vv. 2–6), God responds to the Israelites’ cry
for deliverance by first chastising them (vv. 7–10).
Gideon emerges as a reluctant judge, his story echoing Moses’
commission. Both lacked confidence in their ability to act as God’s
agents, but He commands and sends them anyway (Exodus 3:10; Judges
6:14). Both are granted signs of God’s presence and a promise that God
is with them (Exodus 3:12; 4:1–9; Judges 6:16–23).
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