I’ve got a younger brother named Gideon. “Gideon” means “Great Destoyer.” What a epic name. I love watching my brother introduce himself to people, sometimes he’ll add that his name means “Great Destroyer” and its fantastic seeing a little 7 year old explain that to an adult.
Gideon in Judges has a nickname. Out of all the “Nicknames” in scripture, I think Gideon has the coolest. It’s not a slight change in sound like Abraham to Abram or Saul to Paul. No, its an entirely different name with a totally different meaning- Jerubaal. It means “Let Baal plead for himself.”
Who was Gideon? Why was Jerubaal a good nickname for him? Was he a “Great Destroyer?”
After Joshua and Moses led Israel to the promised land, Israel’s mission changed. For the past 40 years the focus was getting a prepared people to the land promised to them by God. Now they were actually there and the mission became to conquer as much of that land as they could. Instead of having prophets that led a trek, God started calling “Judges” Amazing men and at least 1 women who were given legendary strength and leadership skills.
In Gideon’s time, Israel was in bondage to the Midianites. One day, Gideon is threshing some wheat when an angel visits him. There are 3 important things in the angel’s message to Gideon.
#1 “You are a mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12)
#2 “You will save Israel” (6:14)
#3 “Surely I will be with thee” (6:16)
Gideon is reminded of his identity, God-given mission/purpose, then he is given a promise that God will be with him.
So what does Gideon do with this knowledge? He acts. The first instruction he receives is to “throw down the altar of Baal” and replace it with a real altar to the real God. (6:25-26) He waits until its dark outside, grabs 10 of his buddies and they smash it.
When the people wake up and see what happened they get upset to the point that when they figure out Gideon did it- they wanna kill him. (6:30) This is where he gets his nickname.
“And Joash (Gideon’s father) said unto all that stood agaisnt him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him?. . .if he be a god, let him plead for himself. . .
Therefore on that day he called [Gideon] Jerubaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar” (6:31-32)
Gideon became a symbol to all the people that Baal was a false God with zero power. He was a reminder to the people to focus on the true God.
On Gideon’s resume, after “threw down the altar of the false God baal” you would see “led army of 300 against an army of 135,000 and won.” The plan was simple. It was also crazy according to worldly logic- Split the men into groups of 100, surround the enemy camp, yell “The sword of the lord and of Gideon” throw some lamps and blow some trumpets. Gideon trusted God and acted in faith. Because of following this plan, Israel was freed from bondage.
Gideon started out as a little guy who felt like he was the “least in his fathers house” (6:15) but by following God and being perfectly obedient he became a legend, a leader, and one of God’s judges. I believe he was able to do all he did because somewhere in his journey he started to fully believe those 3 things God told him through an angel.
I am a mighty man of valor, God has a work for me to do, and surely God will be with me.
Those became his “Why.” That’s what got him out of bed. That’s why he kept going. Strong “whys” are the most powerful source of motivation. “Whys” win wars. If your “Whys” become a part of who you are then you become unstoppable.
Find altars in your life that aren’t focused on the real God and throw them down. Replace them with altars to the true God. Then live like Jerubaal and be evidence that God is real and that He keeps his promises.
Do you believe you are a mighty man/woman of valor? If not, then ask God who you are. Listen. Then live like you are a mighty child of God.
Do you know what your divine mission is? I’m sure its different than Gideon’s. You can learn what God’s will for you is in many ways- for me it involved receiving my patriarchal blessing, serving a faithful mission, and being in the temple often.
God is with you. It’s a promise he makes regularly in scripture and you can trust it.
Keep the fire burning.
Leave a Reply