“If God is a God of love like you say he is, then why didn’t he stop the attack on the twin towers?” That was the question my unbelieving friend asked me after the 9/11 attacks. Gideon asks the same question of the Angel of the Lord in v. 13. Why has God allowed the Midianites to oppress his people so severely that they are almost destitute? Gideon had to hide in a winepress to thresh his grain, for example, fearing it would be stolen. The answer in this case can be found in verse 1, where we learn it was because they had turned from God. The prophet God sent called upon them to turn away from their idols and worship him.
God had big plans for Gideon, who saw himself as the weakest of the weak (v.15). But first he had to demonstrate he was willing to stand up for Jehovah by tearing down the altar of Baal and using the wood from the Asherah pole, (which honored the fertility goddess), to make a burnt offering to the Lord. By doing so, he would declare Jehovah to be superior to the gods of the Midianites. Gideon had his doubts, but when he saw God’s power demonstrated (vv. 20-21) he was convinced. God ended up using him to defeat the Midanites with only 300 men.
Back to my skeptical friend’s question: Does God still allow suffering to call our hearts back to him? Does a nation that has for the most part turned its back on God deserve his blessing? As we prepare to celebrate Independence Day, it may be a good time to pray for God’s mercy on America, and ask him to revive his church to be the spiritual light in the darkness that will call our people back to him.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV).
Jim Jensen
Extended Scripture: Judges 6–8
