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    After Joshua there was no strong leader to unite the people of Israel for over two hundred years. During this period the twelve family territories were more like loosely affiliated states than a unified nation. Even their loyalty to the almighty God who had given them the land was tenuous. Over and over again the Israelites drifted off into serving and worshiping the false gods of their neighbors. Forgetting the true God and serving these stone and wooden gods brought weakness, defeat, and oppression into their lives.

    To help restore the people to him, God would raise up a leader, because he still loved his people in spite of their failures. These leaders brought Israel back to God at least seven times during these notorious years.

The angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior!” Then Gideon said, “Sir, if the LORD is with us why are we having so much trouble? Where are the miracles our ancestors told us he did when the LORD brought them out of Egypt? But now he has left us and has handed us over to the Midianites.” The LORD turned to Gideon and said, “Go with your strength and save Israel from the Midianites. I am the one who is sending you. JUDGES 6:12-14

    Some of the most unlikely people became God’s instruments, among them Gideon. Gideon had heard the stories of Israel s all-powerful God, but he had experienced only hard times and the silence of God. The Israelites had turned away from God to worship Baal, so God had removed his protection and had allowed the Midianites to invade and devastate Israel.

    One day Gideon was threshing his family’s wheat in secret so the Midianites wouldn’t seize it, when an angel found him and enlisted him to lead God’s rescue operation. When Gideon questioned why God didn’t show his mighty power as in the past, God responded by making hesitant Gideon into one of his most courageous leaders. (After all, God’s mightiest work is always the transformation of people.)

    This reluctant risktaker checked and double-checked to make sure this was actually God talking to him, and before each foray he made certain of God’s presence. Gideon tore down the altars to Baal, he led three hundred brave soldiers in a rout of the Midianite army, and he won freedom for Israel. The people wanted to make him their king, but Gideon proclaimed his God as their king. God had transformed a man, rescued his people, and punished the godless Midianites.

    God intervened and used his chosen leaders to rescue Israel from the corruption of false gods, and after each rescue the people would return to God and make sincere promises. But repeatedly, after several years the next generation would yield to those surrounding evil influences and turn away from God.

Reflection: Gideon’s need for double-checking God wasn’t so much a checking for God’s will as it was a checking for his presence. Gideon knew the task, but he needed more than one assurance that God was still in the task with him. We have the same concerns, don’t we? When our tasks are beyond our perceived abilities, we have difficulty trusting God to be there, to be faithful. Yet, behind the scenes he is always molding circumstances and sending us into experiences that call forth the strengths he planted in us. The amazing truth is that God is willing to continually meet us in every task and prove again and again that he is faithful. What a loving God we have.