Having sounded the trumpet and rallied the troops Gideon finds himself now surrounded by an army ready to fight. That was when the doubts returned to his mind. Praise God for His patience with you when you have doubts about what He might be asking you to do.
Gideon sent messengers to summon the people to follow him. Gideon got excited and got carried away. He ended up with an army of thirty two thousand men! How often do we get a favourable response to prayer, and then rush off into our own ideas?
Then the Lord's Spirit gave Gideon strength. So Gideon blew the ram's horn. When people are affected by the Holy Spirit, this can lead to strange happenings in church gatherings. God is looking for people yielded to Him, who will let Him use them to sound the battle cry.
If Baal is a god, let him defend himself. There are many demonic forces in the world today trying to deceive believers and non-believers alike. The Bible tells us there is only One True God, He is all powerful, and that Jesus is pleading our cause at His side.
Tear down your father's altar dedicated to the god Baal and cut down the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah that is next to it. Idols have real authority, there is a spirit behind them that is not of God and does not seek to glorify Him in any way.
The Lord said to him, Calm down! Do not be afraid. How many times in the New Testament did Jesus tell us to be at peace? But then on another occasion He told us He had not come to bring peace but a sword! How do we reconcile these verses?
Old Testament belief was that if a person saw the face of God, it meant death. Jesus is the manifestation of God we can see and still live. Jesus is the God who came to earth to live and to die in order to reveal His heavenly Father to us.
Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread made with 18 quarts of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. Then he went out and presented them to the Messenger of the Lord under the oak tree.
I will be with you. The answer to everything comes in these words. Every problem, every stress at work, at home, in the family, every accident, every sickness. Anything the enemy throws at us finds its antidote here. Whatever we suffer from, we would do well to remember these words.
Gideon reacts to being chosen by the Lord by giving all the excuses as to why he cannot do what God is calling him to do. He tells God his situation, as though the God who sees all and knows all, did not have these facts. With God ALL things are possible.