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11 Then the messenger of the Lord came and sat under the
terebinth in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. Joash’s son Gideon
was beating out wheat in the wine press to save it from the Midianites, 12 and
the messenger of the Lord appeared to him and said: The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior! God sees what we can become if we follow His
directions—something far greater than we are on our own. 13 “My
lord,” Gideon said to him, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened
to us? Where are his wondrous deeds about which our ancestors told us when they
said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ For now the Lord has abandoned
us and has delivered us into the power of Midian.” 14 The Lord
turned to him and said: Go with the
strength you have, God wants us to use whatever we
have to do His will; He will supply what we lack. This seems to be the same dynamic underlying Luke
9:1-6, Luke
10:1-11, and Philippians
3:12-16
and save Israel from the power of
Midian. Is it not I who send you? 15 But he answered him, “Please, my Lord, how can I save Israel? My family
is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the most insignificant in my father’s house.”
Same sort of objections made by Sarah, Moses, Jeremiah, and Peter. God used all of them greatly once they trusted Him and
started to act in reliance upon His direction/promises. 16 The
Lord said to him: I will be with you, and you will cut down Midian to the last
man. 17 He answered him, “If you look on me with favor, give me a
sign that you are the one speaking with me. 18 Please do not depart
from here until I come to you and bring out my offering and set it before you.”
He answered: I will await your return.
19 So Gideon went off and prepared a young goat and an ephah of
flour in the form of unleavened cakes. Putting the meat in a basket and the
broth in a pot, he brought them out to him under the terebinth and presented
them. 20 The messenger of God said to him: Take the meat and
unleavened cakes and lay them on this rock; then pour out the broth. When he
had done so, 21 the messenger of the Lord stretched out the tip of
the staff he held. When he touched the meat and unleavened cakes, a fire came
up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes. Then the messenger
of the Lord disappeared from sight. 22 Gideon, now aware that it
had been the messenger of the Lord, said, “Alas, Lord God, that I have seen the
messenger of the Lord face to face!” 23 The Lord answered him: You are safe. Do not fear. You shall not die.
God tries to put us at ease when He calls us to do His
work. Perhaps this is because He knows we are naturally afraid of in those
situations and he wants a relationship with us that is unimpeded by servile
fear. 24 So
Gideon built there an altar to the Lord and called it Yahweh-shalom. To this
day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
9 I will listen for what God, the Lord, has to say;
surely
he will speak of peace
To his people and to his faithful.
May they not turn to
foolishness!
11 Love and truth will meet;
justice and peace will kiss.
12 Truth will spring from the earth;
justice will look
down from heaven.
13 Yes, the Lord will grant his bounty;
our land will
yield its produce.
14 Justice will march before him,
and make a way for his
footsteps.
For you know the gracious act of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so
that by his poverty you might become rich. God really,
really, loves us
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom
of heaven. 24 Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass
through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of
God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly
astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “For human
beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Same dynamic as that
discussed in connection with Judges
6:14. Also the same dynamic
as Isaiah
55.
27 Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up
everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” 28 Jesus
said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new
age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit
on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And
everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or
children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be
last, and the last will be first.
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