In the book of Judges we learned how Jehovah God told Israel, “I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage. And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land. And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but you have not obeyed my voice. And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites”, and in chapter six and verse twelve of Judges, we learn how, “the angel of the LORD appeared unto him” and called him a “mighty man of valor”, where we read,
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him,
and said unto him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.
The verse reads, “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, …” The writer began with the words, “and the angel” which means “and the messenger or envoy” “of the LORD” or “belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”, “appeared unto him” which means “revealed, gave attention to and was made known to him, Gideon”. The writer shared how Jehovah God’s messenger made himself known to “Gideon”.
The verse goes on to say, “… and said unto him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.” The writer continued with the words, “and said unto him” which means “and uttered, declared and proclaimed to him, Gideon”, “the LORD” or “Jehovah who is the existing One” “is with you” which means “exists alongside and accompanying you, Gideon”, “you mighty man of valor” or “you, Gideon, strong, powerful and valiant male human being of efficiency, wealth and ability”. The writer shared how Jehovah God’s messenger told “Gideon” that Jehovah God was accompanying him, and the messenger told him that he was a powerful and valiant man of wealth and ability.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn how the messenger from Jehovah God revealed himself to “Gideon” and told him that God was alongside him. He declared “Gideon” to be a strong and valiant man with efficiency and ability. This declaration is interesting because we remember that “Gideon” was hiding his “threshing” of the grain. God saw something in “Gideon” that he did not see in himself, and because God knows us as well, He desires to have a personal relationship with us through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was resurrected from the dead after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and equip us with His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and help us discover what He has put within us that may be unknown to us at this time. (See John 3:16: 16:13; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 3:20)
Next time we learn how Gideon says, “Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us?”, 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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