In the book of Judges we learned how Jehovah God told Gideon, “Go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent you? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man. And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in your sight, then show me a sign that you talk with me”, and in chapter six and verse eighteen of Judges, we learn how Gideon said, “Depart not hence, I pray you”, where we read,
Depart not hence, I pray you, until I come unto you, and bring forth my present,
and set it before you. And he said, I will tarry until you come again.
The verse reads, “Depart not hence, I pray you, until I come unto you, and bring forth my present, …” The writer began with the words, “depart not hence” which means “do not leave from this place”, “I pray you” or “I, Gideon, beseech, entreat and request of you, Jehovah God”, “until I come unto you” which means “till such time that I, Gideon, enter in and besiege you, Jehovah God”, “and bring forth my present” or “and present, offer, bestow and donate my, Gideon’s, sacrifice, gift and tribute”. The writer shared how “Gideon” asked Jehovah God not to leave him till such time that he approached Him and presented his gift to Him.
The verse goes on to say, “… and set it before you. And he said, I will tarry until you come again.” The writer added the words, “and set it before you” which means “and put, place and establish it, the gift, in front and in the presence of you, Jehovah God”, “and he said” or “and he, Jehovah God, uttered, declared, proclaimed and answered”, “I will tarry until you come again” which means “I, Jehovah God, shall remain and stay till such time that you, Gideon, return”. The writer shared how Gideon wanted Jehovah God to remain in that location till such time that he presented a gift to Him, and God told him He would stay till such time that Gideon returned.
When we consider the words in this verse, we see how “Gideon” presented an offer to God. He desired that God not depart from where they were till such time that he could return with a gift to present to Him, and God told Him He would stay. The amazing part of this story is that God allowed “Gideon” to make a deal, and because He loves to relate to all of us, He makes great efforts to have a personal intimate relationship with us. For example, He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and to be raised from the dead after three days. When we submit ourselves to Him, he will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and give us assurance that He will be present when we bring our gifts to present before Him. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:20)
Next time we learn how, “Gideon went in, and made ready a kid”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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