What is it that makes a man “mighty” or “godly”? Such strong words, ones that we Christians strive to recognized as. We all desire to live up to the so-called spiritual giants that we read about in the Bible, characters such as David, Solomon, Peter, and Paul. We read about their lives and the words they wrote and we use them as examples of how godly people live. The question is what empowered these men to lead the lives they did? What is it that they had that we don’t? Let’s take a look at a maybe lesser known godly man from the Bible. From Judges (NKJV).
12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord,[a] if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
16 And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.”
And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”
So let’s walk through this…. If you go back and catch up on a bit of history, the Israelites are being oppressed by the Midianites. They have sinned in the eyes of the Lord, so they are now in the hands of the Midianites. And the Midianites are destroying the harvest and livestock of the Israelites. So in the beginning of our story Gideon is hiding in the winepress threshing wheat, so that the Midianites would not come and take it. Then the Angel of the Lord appears to him and addresses him as a “mighty man of valor.” (Allow me to point out again the fact that the man is HIDING in a winepress.) Not exactly the mightiest scene we have here. Gideon then proceeds to doubt the Lord, saying that the Lord has forsaken them by delivering them into the hands of the Midianites. The Lord then replies with “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel….” When the Lord refers to “this might of yours,” I would imagine that He isn’t referring to Gideon hiding in the winepress. Gideon again questions the Lord’s words, saying that his clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and that he, Gideon, is the least amongst his people. The Lord again assures him that he will defeat the Midianites as one man.
So, we have this mighty man, Gideon. He is of the weakest clan of Israel. Within his clan, Gideon is the weakest of the men. Yet the Lord appears to him and calls him a “mighty man of valor.” What’s to be seen here is WHY Gideon was a mighty man, and why he was able to defeat the Midianites as one man. Gideon was no powerful and mighty man. He was weak, hiding in a winepress, and he doubted the Lord, even when the Lord appeared and spoke to him directly. Much like all of us doubt the Lord in our lives. What made Gideon mighty and gave him the ability to do great works for the Lord? The answer is simple: The Lord. “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” Have I not sent you? That is what gave Gideon his might. Not any personal attributes that earned him the title, but that he was sent by the Lord. Gideon was able to defeat the Midianites not through his own power, but by the guidance and strength of the Lord.
You can try all your life, and nothing you do will make you a mighty or godly person. We will always fall short, but there is infinite might in our Lord. Being His chosen people is our strength and salvation. In the words of David “Although my house is not so with God, Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; Will He not make it increase?”
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