Judges 6:
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”
And the LORD said, “I will wait until you return.”
19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah[a] of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
23 But the LORD said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Wow. This text is so rich when you READ it. Lol. But Let’s stick to purpose. Today, we’re talking about Jehovah Shalom. Gideon was one of those men who longed for peace. Have you ever had a situation where you wish all the wrong things would stop happening to the right people? Gideon was like that. He was troubled because he thought God had lost His “pizzazz”. He was not the God that his ancestors spoke of. But as we read on God restores his faith…little by little. and He says the words “peace. you shall not die”.
I have pondered on these words all morning, and it seems like there can be so many meanings that can come out of it. I have no idea whether God was talking about the war, or about the fact that Gideon just discovered that he was talking to God. What I do know though is that Gideon was highly turmoiled on the inside and God knew this. So God spoke to the innermost parts of Gideon and told him…every part of him that was confused and unsure, that was fearful…”Peace, you’re not going to die” . One thing is certain, when He said that, Gideon built an altar. An altar is only built when there is conviction of what God has said.
When your mind is racing and you have a million thoughts a day about worries of yesterday, today and tomorrow, it can get pretty cluttered in there. People say to me sometimes “you’ve got a lot on your mind”. It’s in these times that we call on God to be our peace. Our Jehovah Shalom.
So what’s going on with you? Do you have trouble in your job, in your relationships, in your mind? Are you worried? Anxious? Not certain what will happen tomorrow? Call on Jehovah Shalom. He will confirm and reaffirm you that there is Peace…and He will not let you die.
Prayer: Lord. Be my Peace. Don’t just give me peace. Be my Peace
