trust! And was there not in that appellation "mighty warrior" a sound like the echo of national expectations -

like a call to arms? One thing at least the Angel immediately gained. It was - what the Angel of His Presence

always first gains - the confidence of Gideon's heart. To the unknown stranger he pours forth his inmost

doubts, sorrows, and fears. It is not that he is ignorant of Jehovah's past dealings, nor that he questions His

present power, but that he believes that, if Jehovah had not withdrawn from Israel, their present calamities

could not have rested upon them. The conclusion was right and true, so far as it went; for Israel's prosperity

or sufferings depended on the presence or the absence of Jehovah. Thus Gideon's was in truth a confession

of Israel's sin, and of Jehovah's justice. It was the beginning of repentance. But Gideon had yet to learn

another truth - that Jehovah would turn from His anger, if Israel only turned to Him; and yet another lesson

for himself: to put personal trust in the promise of God, based as it was on His covenant of love, and that

whether the outward me ans to be employed seemed adequate or not.

But Gideon was prepared to learn all this; and, as always, gradually did the Lord teach His servant, both by

word, and by the sight with which He confirmed it. The reply of the Angel could leave no doubt on the mind

of Gideon that a heavenly messenger was before him, Who promised that through him Israel should be

saved, and that simply because He sent him. It is not necessary to suppose that Gideon understood that

this messenger from heaven was the Angel of the Covenant. On the contrary, the revelation was very

gradual. Nor do the questions of Gideon seem strange - for such they are rather than doubts. Looking

around at his tribe, at his clan, and at his own position in it, help through him seemed most unlikely, and, if

we realize all the circumstances, was so. Only one conclusive answer could be returned to all this: "I shall be

with thee." The sole doubt now left was: Who was this great I AM? - and this Gideon proposed to solve by

"asking for a sign," yet not a s ign to his unbelief, but one connected with worship and with sacrifice.

Jehovah granted it. As when Moses sought to know God, He revealed not His being but His character and

His ways (Exodus 33:18; 34:6), so now He revealed to Gideon not only Who had spoken to him, but also that

His "Name" was "Jehovah, Jehovah God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness

and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin."

It would be almost fatal to the proper s piritual understanding of this, as of other Biblical narratives, if we

were to transport into it our present knowledge, ideas, and views. Remembering the circumstances of the

nation, of Gideon, and of Israel; remembering also the stage of spiritual knowledge attainable at that period,

and the difficulty of feeling really sure Who the speaker was, we can understand Gideon's request (6:1-17):

"Work for me a sign that THOU (art He) Who art speaking with me."  250 It is difficult to imagine what special

sign Gideon was expecting. Probably he had formed no definite idea. Suffice it, he would bring a sacrificial

gift; the rest he would leave to Him. And he brought of the best. It was a kid of the goats, while for the

"cakes," to be offered with it, he took a whole ephah of flour, that is, far more than was ordinarily used. But

he does all the ministry himself; for no one must know of it. To dispense with assistance, he puts the meat

and the cakes in the "bread-basket," 251 "and the broth in a pot." Directed by the Angel, he spreads his

offering on a rock.

Then the Angel touches it with the end of His staff; fire leaps out of the rock and consumes the sacrifices;

and the Angel has vanished out of his sight. There was in this both a complete answer to all Gideon's

questions, and also deep symbolic teaching. But a fresh fear now fills Gideon's heart. Can one like him, who

has seen God, live? To this also Jehovah gives an answer, and that for all times: "Peace to thee - fear not -

thou shalt not die!" And in perpetual remembrance thereof - not for future worship - Gideon built an altar

there,252 and attached to it the name, "Jehovah-Peace!"

2. One part was finished, but another had to begin. Jehovah had called - would Gideon be ready to obey?

For judgment must now begin at the house of God. No one is fit for His work in the world till he has begun it

in himself and in his own house, and put away all sin and rebellion, however hard the task. It was night

when the command of Jehovah came. This time there was neither hesitation nor secrecy about Gideon's

procedure. He obeyed God's directions literally and immediately. Taking ten of his servants, he first threw

down the altar of Baal, and cut down the Asherah - the vile symbol of the vile service of Astarte - that was

upon it.253