Pointing to Jesus

Judges 6:24- Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

Jehovah Shalom is another one of God’s names, and it means The Lord is Peace. Shalom can also mean completeness  well-being, welfare, safety, or prosperity. It was the name that Gideon named the altar that he built after an angel of the Lord came to him. The Lord said to Gideon in Judges 6:23- “Peace to you. Do not fear. You will not die.”

At the time of Judges 6, the Israelites were being oppressed by the Midianites. God had allowed the Midianites to oppress them because they had done evil in His sight. They had turned theirs back on God and practiced idolotry. The Midianites would steal the Israelites the food as soon as it was planted. They would also steal their livestock.  As a result, the Israelites were fearful. They built caves and dens and hid in them.

The Israelites then cried out to God, and God sent them a prophet and then sent them Gideon. Gideon was also hiding from the Midianites, threshing wheat in a wine press so that the Midianites would not steal the wheat. This was the unrestful, unstable, and fearful  situation that was happening when the angel of the Lord came to Gideon. He called him a man of valor and told him to save the Israelites from the Midianites. Gideon asked how he was going to do that because his family was the weakest in Manasseh, and he was the least in his fathers house. The Lord told him that He would be with him. Gideon asked for a sign that it was the Lord. Gideon made food for Him, and the fire consumed the meat and unleavened cakes.

Gideon then knew it was the Lord, and he was scared because he knew it was God that had appeared to him. That brings us to verse 23 when the Lord tells Gideon to have peace, not to fear and that he was not going to die. Immediately after this, Gideon builds the alter to God and names it, The Lord is Peace.”

That same night, God tells Gideon to tear down his father’s Baal altar and the Ashterah pole and build an altar to God on that hill. Gideon took 10 of his servants and did what God told him to do.

From this story, we see that peace is not the absence of conflict or the absence of fear, but it is the presence of God. Twice, God told Gideon that He was with him. Knowing that he had seen and talked to God, and knowing that God was with him gave Gideon the confidence to do what God asked him to do which was a big task.

Peace isn’t just what God gives us, it’s who He is. We could be in the middle of conflict or a painful circumstance and still have peace. Peace doesn’t mean we’re not going to feel fearful, but we don’t let the fear control us or keep us from taking action or trusting God because we know that God is with us and for us.

God didn’t take away the problem of the Midianite oppression. He told Gideon that He was going to be with him as Gideon would do it. Gideons’ family or Gideon didn’t become the strongest or greatest before God called Gideon to defeat the Midianites. God told him that He would be with him, and that was called to do it.

Our backgrounds, circumstances, or feelings don’t supercede God’s call on our lives. We can have peace knowing that God is with us. We can trust God to be who He said He- our Peace.  God’s presence is peace. Hear God speak to you- through His Word, through worship and praise music, through the Holy Spirit. Get into God’s presence until God’s presence gets into you.

Don’t settle or be satisfied with anything less than God’s peace. Pursue peace by pursuing God’s presence. Read what God’s Word says about God’s peace and how His presence and peace go together:

When Moses was talking to the Israelites and Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:6,8: Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”  It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

After Moses died and God was speaking to Joshua about leading the Israelites in Joshua 1:9- “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 23:4– Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

God speaking to the Israelites in Isaiah 41:10– “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”    

God speaking to the Israelites through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 43:2- When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Jesus, speaking to His disciples in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20-And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I pray that God’s peace will rule in our hearts just as Paul the apostle says in Colossians 3:15a- And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…

There are many other verses about peace in the Bible. I encourage you to look them up. Listen  to a sermon about peace. Listen to songs about peace. Actively pursue peace. The pursuit for peace is not passive- it’s active.

Let’s let God’s promise of His presence fill our hearts with His peace.

Shalom, Shalom,

Desiree