DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS

Wednesday, January 17, 2007                      Venerable Anthony the Great, the God-Mantled

10th Vigil of Theophany: Judges 6:36-40

Epistle: Hebrews 13:17-21                                                                       Gospel: St. Luke 6:17-23

 

Types of Baptism ~ Dependency on God: Judges 6:36-40, especially vs. 37: “.... if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that Thou wilt deliver Israel by my hand, as Thou hast said.”  We Christians pray to God that He will remove our delusions and to fill us with “faith, hope, and love” so we may walk “in all of God’s commandments.”  Six attitudes may be noted in this account from Judges.  If we will cultivate them, God will help us to know His will, live as He commands, and avoid delusion.  The six attitudes can best be understood within the context of the whole of chapter six in the Book of Judges.

The first six verses of the chapter illustrate how God will allow us to be “brought very low” (Ps. 141:8 LXX) if we do that which is “evil in the sight of the Lord” (Jdgs 6:1).  The Prophet of God solemnly warns that it is we ourselves who create the wasting of our lives when we “have not given heed to [God’s] voice” (vss. 10).  In the verses that follow, Gideon is revealed as a man who has cultivated the six essential attitudes that transformed him into one fully dependent upon God and ready to obey however the Lord might command him.

1) Gideon lived humbly before God despite the conditions of idolatry in society around him (vs. 10): he accepted the necessity to thresh his family’s wheat not openly but covertly inside a winepress.  As Christians let us humbly accept the afflictions that God allows to come upon us.

2) Observe Gideon’s thought when “the angel of the Lord” spoke to him personally: “The Lord is with you” (vs. 12).  In Gideon’s reply and question you see his attitude that placed the state of God’s people as a primary consideration even ahead of his own needs: “why then has all this befallen us?”(vs. 13).  His example is a prompting to consider first and foremost “the good estate of the churches of God.”

3) When the angel of the Lord encouraged Gideon to “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian” (vs. 14), this godly man disclosed a full awareness of his limitations: “my clan is the weakest...and I am the least in my family.”  Let us learn from him to accept our dependency on God for strength and resources and not upon ourselves alone.

4) As God’s angel declared, “I will be with you” (vs. 16), Gideon understood that God was confronting him, and his first response was reverence (vs.18).  Let us hunger for worship.

5) Gideon discerned through worship his own unworthiness before God: “Alas, O Lord God!  For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face” (vs. 22).  Let none of us consider ourselves anything more than sinners in need of God’s rich mercies and compassion.

6) When God evoked these five essential attitudes in Gideon, He could then proceed to direct His servant upon a course of action to confront idolatry - even within Gideon’s own family.  As the Septuagint text shows, Gideon obeyed.  He did not hesitate to challenge his fellow countrymen, “Do ye now plead for Baal?...if he be a god let him plead for himself” (vs. 31 LXX).  Then, as Scripture shows, “the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon” (vs. 34), and he mustered a host of supporters to act with him from the other tribes of God’s People.  May we obey God from our hearts and know the indwelling of the Life-giving Spirit, for by obeying, we may hope for the Spirit’s fiery strength and direction.  God can use us for impossible tasks!

Finally, notice just in the verses of today’s reading that even when Gideon believed the Spirit was leading him, he was careful to guard against delusion.  He sought a sign from God to “know that Thou wilt deliver Israel by my hand” (vs. 37).  Let us always approach God’s will guarding against delusion, testing our own ideas as we seek to do only His will.

Direct us, O Lord, by Thy wisdom that we may accomplish only what is pleasing to Thee.

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