T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S in any community. His very presence is a moral safeguard. TUESDAY, April 13. Judges 6:11-24. Gideon's Call. Our introduction to Gideon does not impress us with his courage, vs. 11, and yet the angel of Jehovah addressed him as a mighty man of valor. May this be the reckoning of faith, counting the thing that is not as though it was? We know that God acts by faith both in creation and in redemption. His justi fying grace declares the sinner right eous. His sanctifying grace makes the sinner righteous. In other words God looks at a guilty sinner and calls him a saint and then proceeds to make a saint out of him. In like manner He called Gideon a mighty man of valor and .straightway Gideon became a mighty man of valor. O God, call us what thou wouldest have us be and that shall make us so! The gifts and callings of God are without change of purpose on his part. WEDNESDAY, April 14. Judges 6:25- 32. Gideon’s Fidelity. Gideon had maintained his faith amid the nation-wide apostasy. In the orgy of Baal-worship he had been faithful to Jehovah’s altar. The beginning of a Divine deliverance must be moral and religious. The first test applied to Gideon settled his relation to the idol atry of his own household and placed him on record before the public as against the worship of Baal. He was truly named Jerubbael which means the antagonist of Baal. The path of pres ent duty faithfully pursued, always leads to higher attainments and greater achievements. There is a manifest ad vantage in taking sides on a moral issue as soon as possible. It saves much ex plaining and apologizing. There are times when neutrality is treason.
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THURSDAY, April 15. Judges 6:33-40. Gideon Encouraged. The severity of the Mosaic law has been over-estimated and exaggerated. From the first it was proclaimed that “ God was merciful and gracious, long- suffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” Ex. 34:6. H qw patiently and gently God dealt with the weak faith of Gideon, as in the case of Moses before him! Ex. 4:10-17. Upon the guilty and obstinate indeed His wrath must fall, but when He finds even a spark of faith, He deals very tenderly with it that He may fan it into a flame. An old writer has said concerning Gideon’s double ex periment, “ He that hath might enough to deliver Israel, hath not might enough to keep himself from doubting.” / To give Gideon further encouragement, the Lord, arranged it so that he heard a dream told by a Midianite, the interpre tation of which showed that the Lord had already inspired fear in their hearts.' FRIDAY, April 16. Judges 7:1-8, 16-21. The Victory of Gideon’s Band. Quality counts for more than quan tity. God does not say “ How many?” but “What kind?” Statistics are noth ing, principles are everything. Three hundred heroes are worth more than thirty thousand cowards. It is nothing for God to save by many or by few. Al though reduced to the point of utter hopelessness, Gideon made the most of what he had. The blaring trumpets, the crash of breaking vessels, the flaring torches, the sudden battle cry ,sounding through the darkness, did their expected work. Midian was stampeded and self-destroyed. The statement that God is on the side of the heaviest battalions is disproved by history. While Divine interposition does not preclude the wisest and most effective disposal of the means at hand, it is always true that “ the battle is not yours but God’s.” He
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