Sun.’s Devo - Gideon’s Victory

Read: Judges 7:1-8:17, Luke:23:13-43, Ps. 97:1-98:9, Pr. 14:7-8 wolf and raven Gideon’s name means “a warrior” but today he gets a new name: Jerubbaal which means “Baal will contend”. The Midianites were big worshippers of Baal and were instrumental in teaching the Israelites to worship Baal with all its perverse sexual practices. Gideon had come up against them to fight but first God made him whittle down his men from 3200 to 300 so God would get the glory instead of Gideon. When Gideon needed encouragement, God sent him down to his enemies’ camp. When Gideon heard the dream and interpretation of the Midianite, he knew God was going to give him the victory. I love how God uses our enemies to encourage us. God told Gideon to place trumpets and empty jars with torches inside, in the hands of all of his men. Then he sent them out at night right when the guards were changing. They blew the trumpets, smashed the jars and lit up the sky with their torches. It was definitely the shock treatment. It sent out a fear and confusion into their camp that made them fight each other. They chased them through Ephraim and Manasseh’s land where they helped them. They captured Oreb and Zeeb which mean a raven and a wolf. We are these earthen jars with the Holy Spirit inside. The trumpets are our mouths proclaiming God’s Word. When we do this, we are broken and the Holy Spirit can come out and accomplish a victory. One of Jesus’ most profound statements was “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” If this could be our prayer every time we are offended we would walk in agape love. Another of Jesus’ statements on the cross that is the most misunderstood is “to day you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus wasn’t talking about heaven. He didn’t even go to heaven till his resurrection and he was the first to rise from the grave. So what is paradise? Paradise is a type of Eden. It is a place of future happiness. “To day” is not like an immediate time as we think of today. It could mean over time of God’s day which is 1,000 years. Time in Jesus terms is not time in ours. I think Jesus was talking about a state of rest that this man would go to wait for the resurrection of his body. The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice and may all the people see His glory!