Jehovah Shalom - The God of Peace

Judges 6:11-8:35

We have been studying the names of God in Sunday School, but I wanted to share this week's name with everyone. Our worlds have been rocked by images of everything except peace this week. I don’t know about all of you, but between Afghanistan, COVID, and several genuinely heartbreaking circumstances closer to home, it has been hard. I have cried – I’m sure many of you have wept. I felt almost unqualified to talk about this name in this time. After all, what does a young, relatively healthy woman with a stable job have to say about peace that is particularly relevant when so many people in more difficult circumstances are struggling? That thought crossed my mind, and you know what…I don’t have anything to say. However, God says so much about peace. He reveals himself as our peace (Ephesians 2:14). Gideon encounters God as peace – so let’s read that.

The story of Gideon, and the pronouncement of this name are both quite bizarre if you give them careful consideration. Often, when a name of God is given, it is towards the end of a passage or story. It is almost something of a culmination. Yet, in this instance, the name of God appears very early in the passage (Judges 6:24).

The background for this account is that Israel had been rebelling against God. They were doing what was right in their own eyes – the constant refrain from the book of Judges.

As a result, God sent the Midianites and the Amalekites to punish his chosen people. The Bible says they were like locusts because they consumed everything. They oppressed Israel so badly that Israel actually cried out to God (6:6). Granted, they are still worshipping false gods, but they thought they’d give God a try since nothing else was working.

God sent a prophet that basically said…this is your own fault (6:8-10). They had not been obedient, even though God did amazing things to prove his power. Israel had chosen to worship false gods. They had not been faithful.

The story of Gideon starts in verse eleven. The Angel of the Lord appears. Gideon doesn’t realize who he is talking to. However, he is respectful (v. 13). Still, he doesn’t realize that he's conversing with God. Gideon asks for a sign, and then offers to bring a present. He fixes dinner and presents it to this stranger who has commanded him to defeat an entire nation. This man who has promised that Gideon can defeat an army because he will empower you to do so (v. 16). I might have questioned the man’s sanity, but even though Gideon doesn’t think the man is right about being able to defeat an army, he seems to think that something is different.

Gideon presents the food and this man sets it on fire. Gideon, rightfully so, panics. He thinks he is going to die because he has seen God (v. 22). Remember, Israel did not have the same level of access to God that we do today. Only the High-Priest could approach God's presence once a year under very specific conditions.

In the midst of that tumult, God pronounces peace (v. 23). Gideon is so grateful that he’s not dead and so in awe (and I would think more than a little relieved that God hasn’t forgotten/abandoned his people), that he builds an altar. The Lord is Peace – Jehovah Shalom. Gideon has an amazing moment. He experiences the peace of God, but we have more than two chapters remaining of Gideon’s life. We have two chapters filled with Gideon sneaking around at night, because he is too afraid to obey during the day. We have two chapters of Gideon asking for multiple signs because he is so anxious. We have two chapters of Gideon being scared because he only has three-hundred men. Two chapters of Gideon needing last minute reassurance – and after an impossible victory, he makes an ephod. It became a snare to his family (8:27).

Gideon’s story is complicated. It is full of worship and obedience. Yet, it is also full of terror and being led astray. I think we can definitely take Gideon’s life as a cautionary tale on some levels. Even someone who God has used mightily can fall. They can lead others to sin.

However, it is also an amazing account of a man who struggled and overcame. He hurt. He lost family members. He wrestled with fear and anxiety. Yet there were still many moments when he chose to worship. He still experienced God as his peace when he worshipped. He still served as a restraining and Godly influence on Israel through the end of his life.

In our lives, there is so much that is uncertain at this stage. Images of people falling from planes and knowing that Christians are being persecuted have haunted our souls. So many around us are sick. There is such division (even in the church). So many relationships have been fractured (seemingly beyond repair).

Peace…if you could bottle it, you wouldn’t be able to keep it in stock. People would pay millions to experience the freedom of a peaceful heart. I think it is the one commodity the world most desires, but it is also the most elusive.

See, if Christ is our peace, if peace is a person, then you must have the person to have peace. The problem isn’t that peace doesn’t exist, its that people don’t want it on God’s terms. We want peace, but not as much as we want to maintain control of our own lives. We must want him above all else – and then peace will be a by-product of our relationship with and obedience to the embodiment of peace.

We are invited to cast our cares on him (1 Peter 5:7). He has promised that he has overcome the world (John 16:33) despite the troubles we face. See, the beauty of God is that he is infinite. He does not run out or run thin. He can give me peace about the little issues. He can give peace to people facing the loss of loved ones. He can give peace to people facing terrorists who want to stamp out not only their lives, but also their testimony.

He is not wearied by our petitions. As the Christmas carol reminds us, “He knows our need, to our weakness he’s no stranger. Behold your King, before him lowly bend.” That is the key. We must bend. We must worship. We must praise…sacrifice…and obey.

When we surrender, he meets us in the swirling anxiety and uncertainty. He is the fourth in the fire. We will know peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7). He will give us himself.