A Stranger Comes to Visit
It was an early summer dawn, and Gideon was vigorously us-ing his flail to pound the wheat sheaves he had placed in the winepress. For the last seven years, during the wheat harvest, he had performed this task at the break of dawn. In his rhythmic efforts, he found great joy, each stroke strengthening his body and increasing his endurance.
Early morning was also a time he enjoyed being alone with his thoughts. As he worked, he thought about the previous day’s events and what he had to accomplish in this new day. He al-ways took time to say silent prayers and wonder how God was working in his life. Early morning was a relaxing and centering time for him.
Gideon was a muscular man who could perform these labo-rious tasks with ease. Each morning he would collect the wheat sheaves, sort out the waste, and drop the good sheaves into the outdoor wine press. He threshed the wheat each morning during the harvest but was always careful and wary as he worked.
The winepress had been dug decades earlier when grapes were available, and there was no risk of the grapes being spotted and stolen. Ever since the invasion of marauders from the east, however, wine-making ceased to occur. Now the winepress, dug ten feet in the ground, was used to hide the activity of making wheat into flour.
Finding a New Home
Seven years earlier, both of Gideon’s older brothers had been killed in battle when the marauders from the east invaded the land, forcing Gideon to take on many more tasks to help his fa-ther on their farm. Gideon knew he had to take the initiative to help his extended family find a new place to farm and live. His father’s farm was exposed and in the open—an area the maraud-ers could easily find and destroy.
Before he traveled into the wilderness, Gideon went to his familiar morning place to pray—a small outcrop on his farm that overlooked the valley. It was here each morning at dawn that he spent quiet time thinking about his day and praying.
His prayer this particular morning was to find a new home where his family could thrive. It had to be close enough to town and his tribe to prevent complete isolation yet hidden enough to be suitable for farming without being seen.
After praying, Gideon gathered food and water and went into the wilderness. The wilderness contained dense oak and pine trees. On the forest floor below the trees grew bushes with sharp thorns. The wilderness was a tangled and dense web of green.
It was now early summer, and the winter rains had disap-peared. There would be little rain for months, and the land would turn dry and dusty.
After an easy climb to the top of a hill, he found a vantage point that would help him narrow his search.
To the south, he saw a grove of trees with yellow waving stalks of wild barley surrounding the grove. The hills surround-ing the grove looked suitable for farming. He wondered if, in this hidden area, he had found a place to move.
As Gideon walked to the area he spotted on the top of the hill, he thought he saw dwellings hidden in the trees. The closer he got, the more apparent it became his eyes weren’t deceiving him. He headed into the grove, and before him was an aban-doned farm.
It appeared someone decades earlier had spotted the same grove and set up a place for their family. For some unknown rea-son, it was now abandoned. Perhaps the location was too iso-lated, or maybe the extended family had succumbed to disease. The reason wasn’t as important to Gideon—he would make it a safe haven for his family.
The buildings, while not in great shape, were repairable. He found an extensive set of hidden terraces that could be made ready for planting and harvesting. He knew it would take hard work to resurrect the terraces, which had become overgrown with weeds. However, this hard work would be better than liv-ing in fear and scrounging the wilderness for food.
As he walked the grounds of the abandoned farm, Gideon found an old winepress. Weeds and underbrush had grown in-side. When he went down into the winepress, he found he could easily remove the vegetation. The walls and floor were still in perfect shape.
The winepress, sunken ten feet into the ground, would be a perfect place to thresh wheat. He would be unseen and freed from the eyes of the marauders.
Upon emerging from the winepress, Gideon put his hands on his hips and surveyed the property. After his study, he be-came convinced this was a good place to live. He didn’t want to merely survive and live scared while hiding in caves, like others from his tribe. He wanted a place where his family could still farm and live a somewhat normal life.
This was the place. It would require months of hard work. But what others weren’t willing to do to revive this old farm, Gideon was. There would be the monotony of removing the overgrowth and long days of fixing the buildings. But he knew it was possible, and he would do his best. But first, he had to convince his father this was the right move.
After his brothers’ deaths, his father also began thinking about moving deeper into the wilderness to avoid any more ca-lamities at the hands of the invaders. His father knew danger lurked every day, but he couldn’t seem to make the effort to look for a new place. For Gideon’s father, the loss of his two sons and the despair of leaving his home had muted his urgency to move.
Gideon went back to his father and told him what he had found. Thankfully, his father liked what he heard and was re-lieved and grateful that Gideon had taken the initiative to find a new home. His father now had the urge to move forward. So, the two men went to the abandoned outpost.
Upon arriving, they walked the property without talking, looking at the overgrowth, the old buildings, and the surround-ing countryside. Occasionally, Gideon’s father would bend down and remove some weeds without saying a word.
Next, his father ventured to the buildings and looked closely at their condition. When he had finished surveying the property, he finally spoke, praising Gideon and telling him this place was perfect.
They agreed that this would be their new home. Over the next few months, they repaired the buildings and cleared the un-derbrush.
Gideon put in many hours helping his father restore the farm. The labor was hard, but his family would be safer than those who had chosen to stay put or hide in caves. If they were careful about concealing their activity, the marauders from the east would leave them alone.
A New Life in a New Home
Over the next seven years, Gideon and his extended family sur-vived and enlarged their outpost. They enjoyed enough prosper-ity that ten other men showed up on the farm to help out and reside. The men were drifters displaced by the invasion and had no place else to go. They, too, had now found a place of safety.
During these seven years, Gideon grew from a slender young adult into a muscular man. His demeanor stayed quiet and reserved, never really saying much—a respectful and indus-trious son. During this time, Gideon also learned prayer and hard work could turn a little into a lot.
These years changed the young man. While others slept, Gideon worked around the farm and put in long days. He grew to have superb endurance. For his father, Gideon was a valued helper, one he could trust without giving much direction.
Besides growing stronger and wiser, Gideon used the early morning time to grow spiritually as well. In the still of the morn-ing, he could be alone with his thoughts. During these times, he would pray and think about God. Though most others had moved away from God, Gideon grew closer.
He watched his prayers get answered. The answers came in unusual ways. Gideon knew the answers were meant for him be-cause they were so unique. The more these events occurred, the better Gideon got at observing God’s activities in his life.
The morning was a special time for the young man. Each night he went to sleep with anticipation of what the next day would bring. The quiet of the morning was a time Gideon rel-ished.
Meeting the Angel of the Lord
Ironically, life got worse for most in his community, but Gid-eon’s life improved because he was adaptable to change. Sure, he had to be more careful and work harder, but he grew stronger and closer to God.
Gideon was always excited by productive change. Worth-while change helped Gideon become a flexible problem-solver.
Now, seven years after the marauders from the east had forced Gideon’s family to move, his morning work in the wine-press was an example of his approach to life. The winepress he changed into a suitable place to flail wheat was now a place he hardened himself and grew close to God. The winepress was symbolic of Gideon’s adaptability, strength, and relationship with the one and only God.
The winepress was now used for a different purpose—to conceal the threshing of wheat. Situated ten feet below the ground surface and dug out to form a hidden circle, the wine-press provided a safe place for Gideon to thresh the grain unno-ticed. In addition, a stone wall surrounding the wine press further obscured his vigorous activity.
Each morning, Gideon warily looked at his surroundings, scrutinizing the area for strangers who might have observed his activity and any irregularities in his yard or the nearby hillsides. When he was sure it was safe, he went down into the winepress.
One day after surveying the landscape and feeling sure he was unseen, Gideon went into the old winepress with his wheat. A stranger came unnoticed and sat beneath a terebinth tree lo-cated near the winepress. The stranger waited silently.
When Gideon finished threshing and gathered the wheat, he effortlessly climbed out of the winepress and over the stone wall. Startled, he spotted the stranger. He thought he had been careful to make sure no one was around, but it appeared he hadn’t been careful enough.
He silently chastised himself for making this egregious er-ror, feeling he exposed his actions, dooming this day’s work and perhaps the annual harvest.
The stranger raised his head, looked up at him, and said, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor” (Judg. 6:12 ESV). Gideon narrowed his focus and suspiciously looked at the stranger. This comment bewildered and confused him. He thought to himself, Why would the stranger tell me the Lord is with me, and how is it that he calls me a man of valor?
He had always hoped the Lord was with him. Even though most in his community had given up on God, he hadn’t. Gideon had had many prayers answered by God, and he felt God’s pres-ence in all he did.
Gideon had also watched his local leaders conceal their ac-tivities and meet at night to complain about how the Lord had abandoned them. Yet Gideon, even though he had to work harder over the last seven years, never felt personally abandoned by God. Still, he somewhat understood why the leaders had felt abandoned by God.
Questioning the stranger, he said, “Please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then 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” (Judg. 6:13).
Normally Gideon was dutiful, respectful to his elders, and not this forward with his thoughts. His bold statement was driven by loyalty to his people.
He also wondered why the stranger said, “The Lord is with you.” Certainly, even in the direst of times, he sought God’s help and had often received an unusual but helpful response. But Gid-eon’s prayers for his community always seemed to go unan-swered. He wanted to believe the stranger. He had prayed for relief from God for his community, but few answers arrived for this prayer.
Ignoring Gideon’s question, the stranger further instructed the young man, saying, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Do I not send you?” (Judg. 6:14).
This comment further confused Gideon. How did this stranger know who he was? Was this a ruse by a spy? And more importantly, why would he be the one to save Israel?
As he looked deeply at the stranger, Gideon didn’t sense danger. Instead, he felt sincerity. He was caught off guard, and his mind struggled to catch up with the moment.
Then a strange, powerful feeling fell over Gideon, and he believed the stranger was speaking truthfully.
He still wondered, Who was this stranger to convey such a bold and quick message? Was this the Lord or perhaps even an angel of the Lord? And why does he assume I'm capable of accomplishing this wild request of saving Israel? And he wondered if the Lord had finally listened to his prayers.
He said to the stranger, “Pardon me, my Lord, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family” (Judg. 6:15).
The stranger replied, “I will be with you, and you will strike all the Midianites, leaving none alive” (Judg. 6:16).
Then, still somewhat skeptical but becoming hopeful that he was talking to God or an angel, Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talk-ing to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you” (Judg. 6:17-18).
The stranger replied, “I will wait until you return” (Judg. 6:18).
Gideon went to his family’s house, and as he walked, he felt compelled to believe the stranger was either God or an angel. Af-ter all, the stranger even knew that the marauders from the east were Midianites.
Gideon felt cautious yet compelled to press forward. He was also wary because what the stranger said about him saving Israel seemed impossible.
As Gideon prepared the offering, his mind raced; was this really a divine conversation? He thought about all those nights listening to his elders by the campfires, hearing how God had abandoned them and left them to contend with the Midianites, the marauders from the east.
There was much for Gideon to digest. Finally, overwhelmed by his racing mind, he steadied himself by focusing solely on pre-paring the offering for the stranger.
