Meditation

Hi there,

The name (and the promise) Jehovah-Shalom appears once in the Bible, in Judges 6:24.

Israel had been under Midianite oppression for seven years, reduced to hiding in caves and living in constant fear. It’s in that setting that God calls Gideon, a hesitant, unlikely leader, to step forward.​

Gideon is threshing wheat in secret when the angel of the Lord appears and calls him to deliver Israel. When he realizes he has encountered the Lord, his immediate reaction is fear, expecting death. But God responds with reassurance: he will not die.

Gideon builds an altar and names it “The Lord is Peace” in response to this deliverance, which is really an assurance. God’s presence brings assurance in the middle of fear not only at our deliverance from it.

So "Peace" is not the absence of conflict; it means being made whole, being calmed, and being held secure, in the presence of trouble.​

Gideon names God as peace, not because the battle is over, but because God has spoken into his fear and assured him of His presence in trouble​.

Today's text is Judges 6: 17-24. I have provided verses 11-16 for context in grey below. Copying these is optional!

The verses to copy are in black. If you'd like to read the full chapter, I've linked it here.​

¹¹ The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. ¹² When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

¹³ “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴ The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

¹⁵ “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

¹⁶ The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”​

¹⁷ Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. ¹⁸ Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”​

¹⁹ Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.​

²⁰ The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. ²¹ Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

²² When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

²³ But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

²⁴ 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.

Encouragement

³ You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.​

Isaiah 6: 3

Bonus: This short video explains more about the origin and meaning of the name Jehovah-Shalom.

This study is inspired by a remarkable artwork I found on godsfingerprints.com. You can learn more about the background and purchase it here.

(Links are not affiliate links, and I am not compensated for any purchases.)

​Andy

God's Word In Your Hand

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