Liza

I guess this was God's way of showing man how futile his efforts were at living a sinless life - he just had to keep on sacrificing animals. This would have brought him to a point where he would have thrown up his hands in despair because, truly we cannot be good on our own. We need Jesus, we need the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin. God showed man that he needed more than an animal sacrifice - it was a foretaste of Jesus' coming. So, animal sacrifices were never adequate.

God promised Gideon 2 things - His presence and a mighty victory for Gideon. When the Lord calls us for His task, He will also equip, and more than that He will be with us. In Paul's weakness, he was told - My grace is sufficient for thee. That was the same Paul who said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The pot is not strong, but fragile. What the pot contains (the Holy Spirit) is the source of power. Lord, be with me in all that I do. Give me a fresh in-filling of your Holy Spirit. Let me walk in obedience to Your voice along the paths You choose. May your name be glorified in me, in all my thoughts, words, deeds. Help me to remember at all times that you are with me and I can never fail when You are on my side. Amen.

Confession, a lamb without blemish, laying sin on lamb by the laying of hands and killing the lamb - all this was done by the sinner. Today, because of Jesus, God's precious Lamb, we don't need to go through the all this. We have a Lamb who died once for all our sins. He is perfect/sinless and His one time death has paid the price for all my sins. Realising I am a sinner and daily confession on my part is still necessary. Slaying an animal is not.

God saw Gideon as a mighty warrior. Gideon saw himself as the 'least'. That is mainly because we focus on our flaws and shortcomings, and we cannot see God's glory, power and promises. Also, Gideon would have constantly seen Israel at the receiving end - of defeat! So he believed his eyes and not what he had heard of God's awesome power in delivering Israel from the Egyptians. When God calls us to do something, we can get so overwhelmed at the job on hand and focus totally on our inadequacies, that we in effect are saying that God's promises do not hold true for us. He has promised me that He will never leave or forsake me, and I believe I can do all things through Christ - but since my eyes see differently, I tend to believe my physical eyes. I think that results us in not living life as God intended us to.

We are quite distanced from all the slaughtering that is needed to place meat on our tables, and yes, this is the result of people being out of touch with the farming way of life. Most of us find the thought of blood repulsive. I think that since we don't see any slaughtering, we don't really internalise what an animal sacrifice is. I have been mulling over the "Lamb"- though, I've read it several hundred times, and have even taught that Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb, but now, as I REALLY pondered, I felt my heart breaking for the innocent lamb that had to be made sin, for sinful man. I am fallen, and I feel sorry for a lamb which had to die for no fault - what about God the Father, whose very essence is love - He made His beloved Son a Lamb for my sake. As I look at just this one verse, all I can see is God's deep passion for humans, His unbelievable love, the immense price He paid to give me life.

The prophet told Israel that they had worshipped the gods of the Amorites - they had broken the 2nd commandment. I personally feel they had broken the first commandment - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, strength. When we cease loving God, we can break all the other commandments. The Israelites had seen God's mighty deliverance and provision in the past, even when they did not deserve it and the least they could do in response was honour Him. I am saved through Jesus' death on the cross - though I had not earned it in any way and sometimes, my love grows cold. Other 'gods' creep into my heart. Then I get a warning from God ( because He is so gracious). I must admit, if I am not attentive, I can miss the message. I think when we get into a fix because of our heart attitudes, we should not just feel sorry for ourselves or retreat from God, but sit before Him and search our hearts - listen to Him.

Anger is the right response to sin. I as a parent, get angry with my child for deliberate disobedience. We are told to be angry and not sin; not to let the sun go down on our wrath (Eph. 4:26). So obviously anger is a reponse to certain actions, and it requires expression. Our Father is the perfect example of how to express anger correctly - at the right time and to the right extent. His anger is never to destroy me, but to build me up and draw me closer to Him. Capricious or uncontrolled anger would result in hurting and possibly even destroying the person. It would not result in anything good. God's holy and loving (though this is sometimes difficult to accept) anger is concerned about drawing us into His Kingdom and building us up.

John the Baptist was talking about a sacrifice - "who takes away the sin". That would have, in the minds of the audience, referred to the sacrificial lamb. A lamb that was perfect. Without sin. But made sin. The Jews believed that they were chosen (which they were - God chose Abraham, and chose to reveal Himself continuously to Israel). They were commanded not mingle with the Gentiles, or intermarry with them. Now, "sins of the world" would include these sinful Gentiles too. This was definitely radical (and probably also unacceptable), but I am so glad He came!

Gideon believes God is responsible for all the trouble that Israel is undergoing. God has "abandoned" Israel and "put them" at the Midianites' mercy. He is probably even doubting God's power - the power that delivered his forefathers from Egypt. He is wrong. God is ALMIGHTY. Sin is what has brought this situation upon them. The sin of not giving God His rightful place in their hearts. Gideon is so busy looking at his problems that he cannot see God and His power. He is focussed on the smallness and weakness of Israel, Manasseh and himself. He is even beginning to believe in God's lack of power because he cannot accept what the Lord is saying to him. Many times we are like that. The problem looming in front looks so much bigger than the Awesome, Almighty God we say we trust in. We are in the danger of thinking that God is not big enough or powerful enough, and sometimes, even loving enough. Also, we are so shortsighted as to imagine that everything 'I' am going through is ONLY for me. Poor me. God doesn't love me/ care for me any more.That is so wrong - we are the ones with the cold hearts and He needs to get our attention or refine us. God touches our lives, the lives of our loved ones, our acquaintances... Here God was concerned about Gideon, his family, Israel. He wanted to draw them all nearer to Him, and this was the only way He could get their attention. I need to remember when I go through a 'trial' that God is so much bigger than any problem! It is so much easier to see how great He has been once the storm is over! When going through a 'trial' I need to be less "short-sighted" and keep my eyes on Him. ALWAYS. Liza