November 19, 2024
Judges 6.24
Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace.
Yahweh Shalom occurs only once in the Bible, in Judges 6.24: “Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace”. The English phrase, “The Lord is Peace”, translates the Hebrew, Yahweh Shalom. As we noted yesterday the name Yahweh conveys the thought of being, or existing, or becoming known. The term Shalom refers to soundness, completeness, harmony and the absence of strife. It has been rendered by our English word, peace.
Have you ever noticed that our ideas and definitions of peace vary wildly, depending on what we are talking about? If I say, “speak now or forever hold your peace,” peace is defined by your acquiescence on an issue. But if I say, “I could use a little peace and quiet,” peace is defined by a lack of interruption to my day.
Judges 6:1-12, tells us of the Midianites' domination of God’s People. The Midianites have driven the Israelites into hiding and despair caused in part at least, the story tells us by the continual pattern of disobedience by the people of God.
Let’s take a bit of an overview of the situation.
- The power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.
- Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites invaded the country.
- They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.
- They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.
- Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help...
“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?" Now Gideon was not feeling like a mighty warrior and for good reasons. “But Lord,” Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." The Lord answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together," (Judges 6:14-16). The Lord calls him a mighty warrior. I wonder if perhaps the teaching here is that God sees what we can and will become in him, and not what we see in ourselves.
Gideon’s encounter with the divine presence transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, as Gideon is called to rise above his circumstances and become a mighty warrior, a light in the darkness to deliver God’s people. Judges 6:23 the angel speaks these words to Gideon, “Peace be to you. Do not fear, you shall not die”. As a result of these words, Gideon’s heart was infused with confidence and courage. He experienced peace in the truest sense. Building an altar to the Lord, he called it, “Yahweh-Shalom”, or “The Lord is Peace”. Come what may, he could now confront the enemy and undertake great exploits for God. His encounter with the God of Peace had taught him that he was not alone.
God’s peace gave Gideon comfort to fulfill the call of God. The comfort described in the Bible, carries a different meaning from our modern thinking of that word. Today, we think of comfort as a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or conflict, but the term comfort in the Bible is about the strength we need to keep going, it is survival power.
This story of Gideon reminds us of the comfort of Jesus words to his disciples in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” Then in John 20:19-21 in his resurrection presence the first words he spoke to his disciples was a repetition of “peace be with you.” What comfort the peace of God is for each of us.
What is your only comfort in life and in death? We ask. Our answer is “We Belong to JESUS.” This is the truth that gives us peace and survival power in “life and in death.” Our Yahweh-Shalom is with us, as he was with Gideon.
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