Trust and obey God to enjoy Peace

*Be Inspired Bible Studies Thursday 11th October 2018*

*Topic:* Trust & Obey to enjoy peace of God

*Text:* Judges 6:7-24
And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites,  That the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;  And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;  And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.  And there came an angel of the Lord , and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi–ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.  And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.  And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.  And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?  And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.  And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.  And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.  Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.  And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.  And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.  Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.  And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord , Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God ! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.  And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.  Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord , and called it Jehovah–shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi–ezrites.
Judges 6:7‭-‬24 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/jdg.6.7-24.KJV

So the Topic says

*Trust and Obey God to enjoy the peace of God*
This is quite a straight forward topic..
We all understand what it means to Trust and Obey God.   Also thank God last Month we were blessed extensively with the monthly prayer and fasting theme which was peace.
So the peace of God is what we enjoy at all times even in the midst of life turbulence.
So from verse 1 to 6...
We were made to know that the children of Israel disobeyed God so bad. This led to them to be defeated by the Midianites for 7years.
They became subject to the Midianites. They destroyed their possessions because they disobeyed God. I pray we will not call the wrath of God on our lives due to disobedience in Jesus name.
So fast forward to verse 7... The children of Israel cried unto God because the Midianites had become proper terror to them. They were daily terrified. They were losing possessions.
Then God sent a prophet to them and God reminded them how He brought them out of bondage and gave them the land and took off their oppressors. He also reminded them how He asked them not to fear the gods of the Amorites yet they disobeyed Him.
After that an angel appeared to Gideon when he was winepressing to hide it away from the Midianites.. That was how terrified of the Midianites they were.
Mind you Gideon was a warrior..
Infact his name meant *Mighty warrior*
*destroyer*
*Tree feller*
The angel said to Him *_The Lord is with you mighty man of valour_*
Then Gideon responded if the Lord is with me... Then why is all this befallen us? And where is all the miracle He did with our fathers? Did He not bring us out of Egypt? But He has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

Hmmm...

Have you ever found yourself in the position of Gideon before???

I have...

Let me tell you, sometimes when the going gets tough you are pushed to question God.
As in you can still recollect all that He has done or He is doing but the present situation is just so unpleasant that you just start asking Him questions.
And does it strike you that this is like the second messenger from God to Gideon - the prophet, then the angel..
Yet Gideon was like, is that God still in our favour? like where is He..?

He parted the sea,
He turned the sea to blood, where is He?
And the Lord looked upon Gideon and said, Go in this thy might and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites; have not I sent thee?
Hmmm this verse is tricky. I think God Himself appeared to Gideon o... Because now the Lord is talking directly not through an angel; but let us carry on

And he said unto him..
Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? My family is poor in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house.
This reminds me of the Bible verse that says God uses the stupid things of the world to confound the wise.
Yes at times we think no me ... Never, I am only a lady how can I do that..?

No, I am not an ordained pastor how can I preach..?
No, I am not married, how can I counsel the married..?
I am not a parent, how can I counsel a parent?
Remember David was a shepherd boy, just an ordinary shepherd boy but the anointing Samuel placed on him made him a supernatural boy who used just a stone to get Goliath down.
Hello, are you done disqualifying yourself?
Why not just trust God and obey Him.
God saw all the others that were qualified before He came to Gideon.
And with all the 7 years loss Israel had suffered, I do not blame Gideon.
It takes supernatural understanding and ability to says yes I am going to do just that, nothing else.
God then answered Gideon by saying..

Surely as in with no benefit or iota of doubt *I will be with you and you will smite the midianites as one man*
Wao.. God gave him the assurance He needed to back His commandment to go against the Midianites.
Then the angel said to him.. Do not leave here, I will come back and bring forth my present and set it before thee...

Then Gideon responded I will wait..

Trust and obey...

Is God telling you to wait on Him even when it doesn't look like you can? Please do wait.
Don't think but why should I wait..? Don't question Him. Just Trust and Obey.
In those days they still made sacrifices with animals before Christ. So Gideon went and got a kid (goat)...

So those of you that refer to your children as kid.. Be corrected that is the term for animal not human being.

He got the sacrifice ready and the angel of God touched it with his staff and fire came out of the rock and consumed the sacrifice.

Okay wake up people... We have the one who's hand is fire🔥
His name is Jesus.. So all these sacrifice was before Christ.
Wake up don't engage in making sacrifice like killing animals as a Christian. It is not necessary again. The death on calvary replaced that.
Now we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and we name of Jesus as the weapon of our warfare.
But you can only truly use that if you believe in Him.
Let us move on...
At that point Gideon perceived that the person he had been conversing with was an angel of the Lord .. Then he panicked. God, I have seen an angel face to face..

His fear was, will I live to tell this encounter? Because in those days you do not see God face to face and live.
Do you now see why I said God appeared to him in the form of an angel..

My theology brain is saying that..
And the Lord said to Gideon: Peace be unto you, fear not, you will not die.
At that point Gideon built an altar unto God and called the name Jehovah Shallom.
Which means the Lord is Peace
Hmmmm....

What an interesting encounter Gideon had

From the beginning of the chapter the writer let us know the state Israel was in.
They lacked peace, they lived in fear and oppression.
But God is ever merciful.
He approached Gideon who himself was not even sure if He could do what was asked.
But when he started to listen and obey not only did He enjoy peace but cheated death.
Because he saw an angel face to face and instead of death God gave Him peace.
And he accepted and activated on that peace by building an altar.
And now we can talk about Jehovah Shallom, the Lord is peace.
What is it you are struggling to Trust God or obey Him on?
What is the encounter that has kept you terrified of every and anything?
Are you creeping around like the children of Israel?
What is it?.. Is it sin that has cause you to lose your peace?
God is calling you today.
Just as Gideon felt unqualified God is saying Trust me and Obey me and You will get rest
Let go of those ways that pull you against My will.
Stop worshipping Baal like the children of Israel?
I have not forgotten you.
Yes you have seen the worst so far but I am here to give you peace.
Allow me in.. Yes I make you qualified for that peace.
Let me fill you like never before.
Let me do through you those things you never thought could happen.
I do not lie.
I am not a man.
I do not need repentance because I am without blemish.
I am the Lord most High.
Just Let me be that God to you.
Hallelujah...

A song by Tasha Cobbs goes thus...

Lord If I find Favor in your sight
Lord please hear my heart cry
I'm desperately waiting to be where you are
I'll cross the hotest desert
I'll travel near or far

For your glory I will do anything
Just to see you
To behold you as my king I wanna be where you are
Is this your heart cry tonight.. Just as Gideon we have found favor in His sight and He has counted us worthy

🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤

There is a sweet anointing in the sanctuary
There is a stillness in th