Gideon and the Angel

Gideon and the Angel
Judges 6:1-24

Now in the time of the judges, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and so the LORD let the people of Midian come against them for seven years, and after that the children of Israel cried to the LORD because of the Midianites. So the LORD sent them a prophet to tell them how the LORD God had brought them out of Egypt, and how they had disobeyed the LORD.

One day an angel of the LORD came and sat under an oak tree where Gideon, the son of Joash, was cutting wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel said to Gideon "you mighty, courageous man, the LORD is with you." Gideon replied "Oh my Lord, if the LORD is with us, then why has all this happened to us? didn't the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD has abandoned us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites." Then the LORD said "You go and you shall save Israel from the Midianites. haven't I sent you?" But Gideon said "Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? my family is poor and I am least in my father's house." So the LORD said to Gideon "Surely I will be with you, and ;you shall kill the Midianites as one man." Then Gideon said "If now I have found grace in your sight, show me a sign that you have talked with me.....do not leave until I come to you and bring you a present." So the angel of the LORD said "I will wait until you come again."

Then Gideon went and prepared a baby goat and unleavened bread (that means bread that has been made without something to make it rise, like yeast or baking soda) He put the meat in a basket, and put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to the oak tree and presented it to the angel of God.

The angel said to him, "Take the meat and the bread and lay them upon this rock and pour out the broth." Gideon did as the angel directed him. Then the angel of the LORD put out the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the bread and a fire came up out of the rock and burned up the meat and the bread. Then the angel disappeared from Gideon's sight.

And when Gideon saw that he was an angel of the LORD, he was very concerned and said "O LORD GOD!. I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face." And the LORD said to him, "Peace be to you...do not be afraid: you shall not die." So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it Jehovah-shalom which means "The Lord Send Peace".

Memory Verse: Judges 6:12 "And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said unto him "The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor." (KJV)

Questions:
1 Why did the LORD let the Midianites come against the children of Israel?
2 Where was Gideon when the angel of the LORD came and spoke to him?
3 How did Gideon respond when the angel told him he would save Israel?
4 What miracle did the angel perform?
5 What did the LORD say to Gideon when Gideon was afraid because he had seen an angel of the LORD?

Answers:
1Because they had not obeyed the voice of the LORD.
2Cutting wheat behind a winepress to hide it from the Midianites
3 HE asked how he could save Israel because his family was poor and he was the least in the house.
4 When the angel touched the meat and bread that had broth poured on them, fire came up from the rock and burned up the meat and the bread.
5 the LORD told Gideon "Peace be to you, do not be afraid, you shall not die."

Vicki C. Gross/February'05