Judges 6:22-24 Yahweh Shalom – The Lord is Peace
The days of Judges. Judge meant a deliverer. One who delivered the people and then became their governor. Everyone did what seemed good in their own eyes. No one left who had experienced the Exodus. They only heard of these miracles by hearsay. So they turned to the Baals, a religion of materialism and sensuality. When linked with Israel, more a fertility god. A god of nature. So they had their altars on the hills to Baal and his wife Asharah. To worship them you had to enter into immorality with the priest and priestesses. The Israelites had not been farmers. So in the early years they had poor farms, while the Baal farmers had good farms. The Baal farmers enticed them into worshipping Baal so that they too would have good farms. They did not forsake the worship of God completely but had Yahweh, along with the worship of Baal. That was the beginning of the end. Soon they forsook completely Yahweh. When they walked away from the covenant, the surrounding tribes invaded and defeated them. From time to time God would send a “judge” who remembered the truth of God and called the Israelites back to the covenant. They would bring deliverance. As long as that “judge” was alive, there was freedom but when he died, they often returned to captivity. So it was back and forth. One judge after another. At this time the invaders are the Midianites who had taken control. The Israelites were in hiding. Threshing their crops in secret so that the Midianites would not steal them. The Midianites could best be described as a modern day roving “motorcycle gang.” They were nomadic. While Gideon was in hiding, threshing his grain in a wine press in order to hide it from the Midianites, the angel of the Lord appears to him, under his fathers altar to Baal, and the Asherah pole beside it. Angel in scripture most times should be translated messenger. When angels appeared they came in a way that would seem normal. Not in a way which would cause them to say “fear not.” They seem to have been dressed in the garb of the day, so that you would not recognize them as being on special assignment form God until the conversation. In this passage, it speaks of the angel of the Lord in such a way that it may have been a theophany – God in human form. The angel addresses Gideon as a valiant man of God. “God is with you.” But Gideon questions. He doesn’t see God himself as God sees him. Gideon has missed the truth. God has not left them. They have left God. They were in a bad situation by their departing from the covenant, but they were placing the blame on God. They were waiting for God to come and do something. They were asking God where God was, while God was asking, “Where are you?” God comes to Gideon and commissions him to go forth. Gideon realizes he’s speaking with someone special, so he offers him a meal. This was not an ordinary meal but one special meal. A covenant meal… One for your best friend. He asked for a sign. Show me that this messenger is really from God. vs.
- Gideon realizes it is God. He realizes he is not in right standing
Shalom – more than peace. Whole. Perfect. Together. Finished. Complete. Also to make good. To make restitution. To be in perfect total health – Body, Soul, Spirit. A harmony of relationships. All transactions are complete. Nothing lacking between me and you. No debts of any kind.
- Shalom speaks to the greatest need in human life.
- I am whole with God. I am whole with my neighbor. I am whole within
So Gideon entered into wholeness – into Shalom (setting aside pride, insecurity)
- The blessing of the high priest, “And give you peace.”… Shalom.
In the offerings, Leviticus. The peace offering – an offering that celebrates the help you have received through the other offerings that have brought you into peace, Shalom. An offering with shouting and praising. A sacrifice of praise. The meat of this offering was not given to the priest but taken home. And you would call in your neighbors and friends. And as you were all feasting, you would recount all the good things that God has done for you. This had just become a ritual, but Gideon re-establishes it as a reality in his life. Israel did not keep this Shalom. More and more they turned to the idols which surrounded them. Isaiah prophesied that God would step in (Ch. 9) that one would come who would be the Prince of Peace, Shalom. Shalom focused in one Person. That Person would establish a kingdom of Shalom. Ezekiel saw this too and described Him as a Shepherd gathering His sheep into Shalom. A covenant of Shalom. No wild beast would touch the little lambs. God is the giver of Shalom because He is perfect peace in Himself. God does not have peace, He is peace.
- All the attributes of God —- Add up to Shalom, completeness.
God calls man to enter into this peace through covenant. He gives us this peace through the Lord Jesus Christ.
- The chastisement that would bring us peace fell upon Him.
Romans 5:1 – The Bible does not hide the weaknesses of man, i.e., Abraham, David, but then He shows us how they found Shalom. When we fail we try to pay the debt. All sorts of good works. But Christ has paid the debt that we might have peace. We don’t have to pay the debt. He has paid it. By committing ourselves to Him we receive that peace. He accepts us as He accepted David. David knew he should be stoned to death as an adulterer, but he got hold of God’s forgiving and transforming grace. We can have peace with God. Sin never to be remembered any more. We can have peace with our neighbor because we know we are forgiven. We also can forgive.
- We can hand them over to a wise and all-knowing judge and say let Him
Peace with my circumstances. Seeing not through my eyes but the eyes of God. God is in control. But life does not have meaning outside of finding purpose in God. Then we can find an ultimate outcome of good in any situation. Peace with my past. Peace with my present. Peace with my future. Back to the story of Gideon: He was forced to live out the Peace of God in the face of serious conflict. He obeyed God in destroying the “high place” and then built an altar to Yahweh. The people of the town are ready to kill him. In peace he confronts the enemy (his own neighbors and family). His peace is further tested in the story of his army going to battle… reduced to 300 men through the process of the instruction of the covenant. He goes into battle with the peace of God upon Him, and wins a victory because of the Covenant God who preceded him.
JUDGES – TRANSITION FORM MOSES’ TO JOSHUA’S LEADERSHIP
I & II SAMUEL – TRANSITION FROM JUDGES TO KING/PROPHETS
The next three books that cover the origins and life of David: Ruth, I Samuel and II Samuel. Next to Moses, David is the most important character in the Old Testament. Moses was the one through whom God gave the Law; and through David came Jesus, the grace of God in our humanity. Not only does David become the channel through whom Jesus comes, He is the living demonstration of God’s grace. Reading his life story, you will not be proud of him. God’s heroes are not perfect, just forgiven. He continually admitted his faults and responded to God’s grace, and so was called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 7:46). We will be studying Ruth, which deals with David’s origins; I Samuel, which deals with David’s anointing as King’ and II Samuel, which is the account of David’s reign.