Jehovah-shalom

TO READ: Judges 6:1-24

Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and named it “The LORD Is Peace.” The altar remains in Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer to this day.

Judges 6:24

The Lord is peace, as Gideon discovered, and he built an altar to the Lord with that very name. The Midianites were harassing Israel and destroying and plundering its crops. Gideon must have been scared to bits because he was threshing wheat in a winepress, and no one normally does that (Judges 6:11). People usually threshed wheat on the top of a hill so that the wind would carry the chaff away.

The angel of the Lord came and sat under a tree and watched him. After a bit the angel said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!” (Judges 6:12). (He must have said that with a smile!) Then the angel of the Lord told Gideon he was going to use him to save Israel from the Midianites.

If you think Gideon was frightened before, you should have seen him then! He began to come up with all sorts of excuses. Then the angel of the Lord revealed his power. Realizing that he had been arguing with God himself, Gideon was paralyzed with fear. Then the Lord said to him, “It is all right. . . . Do not be afraid. You will not die” (Judges 6:23).

Fear petrifies, punishes, and paralyzes us. Fear of what others may do to us, fear of what we cannot do for others, or fear of what God may do to us if we do not do for others —all can be dealt with by Jehovah-Shalom, who is our peace.