I loved the story of Gideon as a child. How our Father called him…and the great victory that came at the hand of Gideon and 300 men. But as an adult, I found myself wondering why Father chose Gideon. 

When Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press for fear of the Midianites, I would have believed that Gideon was not a good choice for leading  Israel. He was fearful, doubted God, and the thing that recently struck home with me, he didn’t appreciate or understand who he was.

Listen to Judges 6:14-15. And the LORD  looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you? And he said to Him, “ O LORD, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

Out of his own mouth, Gideon declares that he is a descendant of Manasseh. Manasseh!  Firstborn son of Joseph. Jacob had laid his hand on Manasseh and Ephraim and blessed them before he passed away. He was one of Joseph’s two sons Jacob adopted as his own. Maybe his family wasn’t large. Maybe he was the baby. But for goodness sake, he had no idea who he was.

What a heritage. Why did Gideon not understand who he was? I have no idea. But as we continue through the account of Gideon delivering Israel, we find in Judges 7:18, “When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets all around the camp, and say, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’”

So, Gideon goes from scared and timid and unbelieving to sharing God’s glory? Asking the men to put his name equally with the LORD?

Judges 8:22-24 we find, “Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son’s son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian. But Gideon said to them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you. Yet Gideon said to them, ‘I would request of you, that each of you would give me an earring from his spoil.’’ Did this make Gideon wealthy? He used at least some of the gold to make a golden calf to worship. Did he forget Who called him?

At the end of chapter 8, we see Gideon has many wives and 70 sons…maybe he wouldn’t allow himself to be declared king…but it appears Gideon lived like a king with an extravagant lifestyle.

Gideon never seemed to understand who he truly was. How sad.

Are we like Gideon? Do we not understand who we are in Christ Jesus? Are we not aware of our spiritual ancestry? This was the lesson I found myself learning. To live as we should, we must understand who we are and whose we are.

Once again, just food for thought.