Daily Manna | Thursday, August 1, 2019
Scripture: Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. Genesis 45:20
Note: Judges 6:16, “And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.” Attitudes of respondents are affected by direct instructions, depending upon the kind of person or personality involved in issuing the instruction. Gideon’s encounter with the personality in this narrative was an angel of the Lord, but whose identity was yet to be confirmed to Gideon. All that Gideon could tell from his interaction and demeanour was that he could be a man of God of a sort.
It’s not every time that people are blessed to have a full dossier on a person, having to meet for the first time. It’s quite possible to assume so much about the person based on the person’s appearance; the type of dressing, the type of vehicle the person drives or the kind of house the person lives in. A combination of bits and pieces of information quickly put together, is used to draw a general conclusion. Although this may be a logical way to provide guidance based on available information, they could sometimes be grossly misleading.
It’s not all that we see with our naked eyes that’s true or reflects the nature of a person. In the mind of Gideon, this was a nice gentleman he had encountered that seemed to have something special, a clout about him. Gideon hadn’t met him before. The man was a total stranger to him but seemed to be sharing encouraging words of motivation. Gideon had probably heard this sort of motivational speeches on countless occasions. None of them was yet to really tick for him regarding his expectations on Israel.
A prophet had earlier been sent by God to Israel, to prepare them for the coming deliverance that was about to take place. Gideon likely would have heard about the prophet. In his mind, this was probably a sequel to the earlier prophetic declaration that amounted to nothing. Gideon was fully convinced he was either dealing with a nice gentleman with the ability to encourage others, a man of God or a prophet, who might or might not have the revealed word of the Lord. That was why Gideon asked for a sign to confirm if it was the Lord that was speaking to him.
Food for thought: May the eyes of our understanding be opened to the revelation of God’s word, that we may know the depth and width of His love.
Declaration: May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:18-19
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
