The kiddos and I were reading about Gideon the other day for school. There were a couple of things that stood out to me about Gideon that I hadn’t realized before.
First of all, I think Gideon has been painted in a negative light due to the fact that he was threshing his wheat in a wine press.
Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.
Judges 6:11
But you know what? I think Gideon was one smart guy. If you look at the verses preceding this statement, you will see that the Midianites were destroying all the food sources of the Israelites.
Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.
Judges 6:4
So, I happen to think that Gideon was a very ingenuitive guy!
The second thing I noticed, was that when the Angel of the Lord came, Gideon desired to give an offering to the Lord. Guess what he gave? Verse 20 gives us the answer,
So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them.
Wow! In the midst of this terrible trial, while Gideon is trying to preserve food for his family, he gives an offering of food! Isn’t that what the Lord desires to see in His people, a heart willing to give out of need, when giving or even obeying is a true sacrifice. When it costs us something, and we cannot see how we will make ends meet….
Yes… Gideon, the mighty man of valor.