34
THE KING’S BUSINESS
Barak pursued the enemy, v. 16; Joshua 10:19-20. All the host of the enemy fell by the sword, v. 16; Isaiah'43:17. Practical Points. 1. In the Crisis Israel cried to Go. 2. Whom God judges to be fit is best fitted to judge.
3. The command of God carries a certifi cate of success. 4. God distributes His gifts. 5. The woman and the warrior had each his place. 6. When the hour of deliverance arrives the hosts of the deliverer assemble. 7. God honors faith, for faith honors God.
JANUARY 17, 1915..
' UES'SON III
T he C all oe G ideon .
Judges 6:11-13; 33-40. (Commit vs. 14-16.) G olden T e x t : Blessed is the man whom thou choosest. —Ps. 65.4. EXPOSITION AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS.
v. 11. “And there came an angel of the LORD.” This should read “the angel of the LORD came.” There is a vast differ ence in Biblical usage between “an angel” and “the angel of the LORD.” “The angel of the LORD” is a very definite person in the Bible, a visible manifestation of Jehovah Himself, anticipating and foreshadowing His incarnation in Jesus Christ of Naza reth (see Gen. 16:7-10, 13; 21:17, 18; 22: 11, 12; Judges 2:1, 2; Gen. 18:1, 2, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20). Any one who will care fully study these passages will see that “the angel of the LORD” is clearly identi fied with Jehovah (note particularly Judges 2:1, 2; Gen. 16:10, 13). The angel of Je hovah was the Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, before His perma nent incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth. Abraham saw the “angel of Jehovah” ; therefore, Jesus could say “Your father Abraham saw my day and was glad” (John 8:56). “The angel of the LORD” never appears after the birth of Jesus Christ. The expression occurs in the Authorized Version, but is always a mistranslation, as the Revised Version shows. It was, then, our Lord Jesus who appeared to and spoke to Gideon. The circumstances that led to the angel of the LORD’S coming to Gideon are given in the opening verses of the chapter. Israel had departed from Jehovah, and in explicit disobedience to Goa had made a league with the inhabitants of the land (ch. 2:2). But there had been an es- pecial time of backsliding (v. 1) and the
oppression of Israel that resulted was one of the most terrible in all their history (vs. 1-6). In their extremity they cried unto Jehovah (v. 6), and God heard and the coming of the Lord Jesus, in the person of the angel of Jehovah, was God’s answer to prayer. But before the angel of Jehovah came, God sent them a prophet who recalled His goodness to them and rebuked their sin in not obeying His voice (vs. 6-10) : in God’s method of dealing with man, judg ment of sin must always precede deliver ance from God. It is not specifically re corded, but we are left to infer that the prophet’s words had a good effect, for God now, in answer to their prayer, sends them a deliverer in the person of Gideon. Gideon was only a humble farmer (v. 11) but by God’s grace, and through his response to God’s gracious call, he became one of the mightiest heroes of faith (cf. Heb. 11:32). Gideon’s father was still living at the time (v. 11, 30), but God passed over the father and chose the son. The father was a wor shipper of Baal (v. 25), but seemingly Gideon was not. God came to Gideon when he was alone (v. 11). He usually mani fests Himself to men when they are apart from the crowd and from the noise and hurry of the world. It is to be noted that He came to him when he was faithfully doing the humble work that God had given him to do (v. 11). It is thus that God always manifests Himself to men (cf. Exod. 3:1, 2; Luke 2:8, 9). If we wish the Lord to manifest Himself to us, we should not
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