ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Monite ‘Okatopa 25, 2021

‘Oku ‘iate koe ‘a e ‘Eiki, si‘i to‘a tete‘e

“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

Fakamaau 6 (Judges 6)

(v. 11-13) Pea na‘e hā‘ele mai ‘a e ‘Āngelo ‘a Sihova, ‘o ne nofo ‘i he lolo ‘oke na‘e ‘i ‘Ōfila, ‘a ia ko e ‘api ‘o Soasi ko e tangata ‘Apiesa; pea ko hono foha ko Kitione na‘a ne tuki uite ‘i he tata‘o‘anga uaine ke puli mei he kakai Mitiani. Pea hā kiate ia ‘a e ‘Āngelo ‘a Sihova, ‘o ne pehē kiate ia, ‘Oku ‘iate koe ‘a e ‘Eiki, si‘i to‘a tete‘e. Pea tali ki ai ‘a Kitione, ‘Oiauē, Tangata‘eiki, kapau ‘oku ‘iate kimautolu ‘a e ‘Eiki, pea ko e hā ai kuo hoko mai ‘a e ngaahi fu‘u me‘a pehē? pea ko e fē ‘ene ngaahi ngāue fakaofo ‘a ia kuo talanoa‘ia mai ‘e he‘emau ngaahi kui, ‘o pehē, ‘Ikai na‘e ‘ohake kimautolu ‘e Sihova mei ‘Isipite? ka ko eni kuo li‘aki kimautolu ‘e he ‘Eiki, pea kuo ne tuku kimautolu ki he ‘aofinima ‘o Mitiani.

(v. 11-13) Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

 

David Guzik :: Study Guide for Judges 6

The Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree: When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, we recognize this is as a theophany – an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ, in human, bodily form, but before His incarnation in Bethlehem.

The description of the encounter with the Angel of the Lord shows that this is not merely an angel speaking on behalf of God. It shows that God himself, appearing in human form, spoke to Gideon:

· Then the Lord turned to him and said (Judges 6:14)

· And the Lord said to him (Judges 6:16)

Since no man has seen God the Father at any time (John 1:18, John 5:27) and by nature the Holy Spirit is a spirit without bodily form, it is reasonable to see this as an appearance of the Second Person of the Trinity, as an appearance of God the Son. However, this is not the incarnation in the same sense that Jesus was as a baby in Bethlehem. At Bethlehem Jesus was truly and fully human (while also being truly and fully God). Here, it is more likely that Jesus took the mere appearance of humanity, doing so for a specific purpose.

Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress: This was both difficult and humiliating. Wheat was threshed in open spaces, typically on a hill-top so the breeze could blow away the chaff. Wheat was not normally threshed in a sunken place like a winepress.

“This was a place of privacy; he could not make a threshing-floor in open day as the custom was, and bring either the wheel over the grain, or tread it out with the feet of the oxen, for fear of the Midianites, who were accustomed to come and take it away as soon as threshed.” (Clarke)

“So God called Moses and David from following the ewes, Elisha from the plough-tail, the apostles from fishing, washing, and mending their nets. He usually appeared to the busy in visions, like as Satan doth to the idle in manifold temptations.” (Trapp)

The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor! This was a strange greeting to Gideon. It didn’t seem like the Lord was with him and it didn’t seem that he was a mighty man of valor. Gideon might have turned to see if there was another person to whom the angel spoke.

“Wherein did that valor consist? Apparently, he was a simple man living a very ordinary life. The Angel found him about his daily duty.” (Morgan)

Where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about: Gideon heard about the great works of God in the past yet he wondered why did not see the same great works in his day. Gideon thought the problem was with God (now the Lord has forsaken us) – not with him and with the nation of Israel as a whole. In truth, Israel forsook God – God did not forsake Israel.

Yet to his credit, it bothered Gideon that Israel was in this condition. He was far from apathetic or fatalistic. “He is revealed as a man continuing his work with the bitterness of the whole situation burning like a fire in his bones.” (Morgan)