{"id":474,"date":"2025-11-25T17:25:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T17:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inhiswordwithtimothy.com\/otp\/?page_id=474"},"modified":"2025-11-25T17:25:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T17:25:40","slug":"gideon","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/inhiswordwithtimothy.com\/otp\/gideon\/","title":{"rendered":"Gideon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Judges 6:11\u201312<\/strong><br><em>\u201cAnd there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah\u2026 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The story of Gideon stands as one of Scripture\u2019s clearest testimonies that God often calls the least likely to accomplish His greatest purposes. Gideon did not come from power, prestige, or strength. His background reveals weakness, national despair, and spiritual confusion\u2014yet the Lord raised him up as a judge to deliver Israel. Understanding Gideon\u2019s background deepens our appreciation of the God who equips those He calls, and who works through human insufficiency to display divine power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Israel\u2019s Spiritual and National Condition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Before we look at Gideon personally, Scripture sets the stage with Israel\u2019s tragic condition during the time of the judges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Season of Widespread Apostasy<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Judges 6:1 declares, <em>\u201cAnd the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.\u201d<\/em><br>The cycle of sin that marked the period of the judges continued: rebellion, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. The generation after Joshua had abandoned the commandments of God and embraced the idols of the nations. Their disobedience opened the door to divine judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Oppression Under Midian<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">For seven years, God allowed the Midianites, along with the Amalekites and eastern peoples, to ravage the land (Judges 6:1\u20136).<br>Their oppression was economic, emotional, and spiritual:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">They destroyed Israel\u2019s crops.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">They left Israel impoverished and fearful.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">They drove God\u2019s people into hiding\u2014living in caves and strongholds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This national humiliation forms the backdrop of Gideon\u2019s calling. Israel was desperate, broken, and crying out to God (Judges 6:6\u20137).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gideon\u2019s Family Background<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Family of Limited Influence<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Gideon was from the tribe of Manasseh, a tribe not known for national leadership. In Judges 6:15, Gideon describes his family as <em>\u201cpoor in Manasseh\u201d<\/em>\u2014not politically powerful, not militarily strong, not socially influential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">His Father\u2019s House and Idolatry<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Gideon\u2019s father, Joash, had an altar to Baal and a grove dedicated to Asherah on his own property (Judges 6:25).<br>This reveals two critical realities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Idolatry had reached into Israelite households<\/strong>, including those who should have been guardians of the covenant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Gideon\u2019s background included spiritual confusion<\/strong>, growing up in a home where the worship of the LORD and the worship of idols were intertwined.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Gideon\u2019s first act of obedience was not defeating Midian but tearing down the false altar in his own backyard. His background shows a man surrounded by compromise, yet chosen to confront it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gideon\u2019s Personal Condition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fearful Yet Faithful<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">When the angel of the Lord first appears, Gideon is threshing wheat in a winepress (Judges 6:11).<br>This detail is not accidental:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Wheat was normally threshed in open spaces to allow the wind to separate the chaff.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">A winepress was an enclosed pit\u2014an unusual, inefficient place to thresh grain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This paints Gideon as a man hiding from Midianite raiders. He was resourceful but fearful. Yet the angel calls him <em>\u201cmighty man of valour\u201d<\/em>\u2014not because of who he was, but because of who God would make him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Man Questioning God<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Gideon asked, <em>\u201cIf the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?\u201d<\/em> (Judges 6:13).<br>His questions reflect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">His awareness of Israel\u2019s spiritual decline<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">His struggle to reconcile God\u2019s promises with present suffering<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">His limited understanding of God\u2019s plan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This is a man shaped by hardship, wrestling with doubt, but still responsive when God speaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">God\u2019s Call on an Unlikely Servant<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strength from the Presence of God<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The Lord\u2019s response to Gideon is not to rebuke his weakness but to promise His presence:<br><em>\u201cSurely I will be with thee.\u201d<\/em> (Judges 6:16)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Gideon\u2019s background of insignificance becomes the platform for God\u2019s sufficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Raised Up for Deliverance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Despite his fear, Gideon obeyed God:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">He tore down the idol in his father\u2019s house.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">He gathered an army when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (Judges 6:34).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">He faced Midian with only 300 men so that the victory would clearly belong to God alone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">His background reveals the pattern God still uses: He takes ordinary people shaped by difficulty and turns them into instruments of deliverance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Gideon\u2019s background teaches that God\u2019s calling does not depend on human strength, noble lineage, or personal confidence. Gideon came from a small tribe, a compromised household, and a place of fear and confusion. Yet God chose him, called him, cleansed his household, empowered him, and used him to deliver an entire nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">His story reminds us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">God sees potential where we see insufficiency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">God calls us in our weakness and equips us by His presence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">God often works through the least likely to accomplish the most extraordinary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Gideon\u2019s life is a testimony that the Lord is not limited by our past\u2014He is glorified when His strength transforms our weakness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Judges 6:11\u201312\u201cAnd there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah\u2026 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.\u201d Introduction The story of Gideon stands as one of Scripture\u2019s clearest testimonies that God [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-474","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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