July 17, 2018 - Suggested Reading Judges 6 for July 22’s message on Matthew 5:1-12 in our summer worship service at 10am

“So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.”

Judges 6:24 (NIV)

This is the record of the beginning of Gideon’s ministry. Chapter 8 describes that God used Gideon to bring about a period of peace for forty years, now Gideon was a peacemaker and a hero of the faith with his name in Hebrews 11.

 Judges is a hard book to read for it contains many ugly truths about these heroes used by God, and Gideon is no exception for he is clearly a human with flaws, however we can see in this verse that Gideon understood at the beginning of his ministry that this LORD is peace. The LORD did not reveal Himself to Gideon to kill Gideon, rather the LORD revealed Himself to Gideon to bring true peace to Gideon. This peace for Gideon meant that God and he would work together to bring peace to the land. More than a cessation of war, true peace is cooperative, it is two parties living and working together. As you read the account of Gideon we might wonder when this peace will start, for he caused conflict in his hometown, and then in the Jezreel valley, and then at Sukkoth and Peniel. Well the peace started with Gideon’s encounter with the living God for the LORD is peace, and we would be wise to concentrate on that truth, for true peace for ourselves, our families and our communities starts with individuals encountering the risen LORD Jesus who is peace.  May we be peacemakers in our land.