Judges 6: Mighty Warrior?

Gideon is someone you may be able to relate to.  Called by God to do something great (and scary!), Gideon is unsure and nervous.  Yet God is able to use Gideon's weakness to showcase His strength!

When we first meet Gideon, son of Joash, he is saluted by the angel of the Lord: "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior" (vs. 12).  Later, the angel says to Gideon, "Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you" (vs. 14).

But are "might" and "mighty" really the most accurate words to describe Gideon?  God may see a strong warrior when He looks upon Gideon, but here is what else we are told about him in the Bible:

• At that first meeting with the angel, Gideon is beating out wheat in the wine press (vs. 11).  This is not what a wine press is for.  But Gideon was doing his work there "to hide it from the Midianites."  Earlier in this chapter, we heard how the Midianites would destroy the produce of the land (vs. 4).  Gideon was being sneaky because he was fearful.  Not exactly a sign of "might."

• Gideon's first reaction to the angel's commission is to plead weakness.  "But sir, how can I deliver Israel?  My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family" (vs. 15).  Gideon acknowledges that he is a weak member of a weak clan.  Yet his objection isn't important to God.  Why?  "I will be with you" (vs. 16).

• When God commands Gideon to pull down his father's altar to Ba'al (which just goes to show you how far Israel had fallen) and cut down the sacred pole, Gideon complies - "but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night" (vs. 27).  Again, the picture of Gideon is hardly that of a bold, mighty warrior.

• Still unsure of God and himself, Gideon tests the Lord by laying out a fleece (vs. 36-40), and not just once but twice.  The first time Gideon asks the Lord to make the fleece wet with dew while all the ground around it is dry.  After precisely this happens, Gideon asks for a second sign - that all the ground may be wet, but the fleece dry.  This, too, happens.  (If you've ever heard the expression "laying out a fleece," Judges 6 is where that expression comes from.)

If you've ever felt that God must have a high opinion of you based on what He asks you to do and how you feel about your capabilities, consider Gideon.  God used him in a mighty way - not because Gideon was necessarily mighty, but because God is!