Today will be the last of my thoughts on Judges 6.  The Scripture is in blue.  If you haven’t read the previous, be sure to check out:

Day 1 & Day 2

²² When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

Gideon had just brought a sacrifice to Jehovah, who is also called “the Angel of the Lord” here.  Jehovah touched the sacrifice and it was instantly consumed.  I believe at that same moment Gideon’s heart was consumed with belief.  Now Gideon realized that He was in the presence of God…that also convicted Gideon because he was unbelieving in the presence of God.

²³ But the LORD said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

Scripture says that it’s impossible to please God without faith (trusting belief).  So, all of a sudden Gideon felt the pressing guilt that he was in the wrong with God.  He thought, “This is it, I’m done.  God’s gonna burn me up with that stick too.”

But that wasn’t God’s plan…”You’re not gonna die.”  God didn’t fill Gideon with a sense of awe and conviction just to smash him.  God did that to turn Gideon’s unbelief into belief, conviction into forgiveness and motivation to serve.

²⁴ So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Most likely that rock where Gideon’s sacrifice was made was used to become an altar.  Gideon named the altar after his experience with Jehovah God.  He called it, “Jehovah Shalom–The Lord is Peace.”

What about this drama makes you think peace? Is it because he made Gideon’s heart mellow? No, Gideon thought he was done for. Did God all of a sudden take away his enemies? Nope…in fact he gave him more of a scare than the Midianites would.  So how does this God-moment feel so much like shalom…peace?

Is it a peaceful moment when you feel that God has your number?  Is it peaceful when you have hidden what’s inside from everyone else, but you realize that God knows?  And no matter who else may know, what matters is that the awesome God of the universe sees your sin and unbelief.

If you feel like that, there is hope.  That means that God is convicting your heart, not to burn you up, but to bring peace out of it.

• You need to recognize why you feel guilty.  It’s wrong…no excuses.
• Believe that God is there, and take the help that He has prepared for you.  That help is Jesus Christ who died to take the sins of the world onto himself, and paid the ultimate price for them.
• Be sorry for your sins.  Ask Jesus to forgive you, thank Him for taking your sins away.
• Feel the peace of heart and mind that comes from making peace with God.

I mentioned David Letterman’s admission on Sunday. Last weekend he admitted to being the target of an extortion plot, and then he confessed to (at least some of) the things the blackmailer had against him. Even if the suspect goes to prison, we all know that the info will eventually come out. Letterman knew that too, and went ahead and uncovered the secrets before someone else could.

Luke 12:2-3 NIV says…

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

We face temptation all the time to do things in secret, and then we believe the lie that they will stay hidden.

Our perspective is that what happens in the dark, stays in the dark.

To be more specific…

• what happens behind a closed door, stays behind closed doors…
• what happens at the office, stays at work…
• what happens at school stays at school…
• what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom…and so on

But God’s perspective is very different from ours. He knows all that we do and think. He even knows the motivations behind what we do and think. And yet, with all that dark data, He still loves us and pulls for us to pass the tests that come our way through temptation.

Giving in to temptation has serious, serious consequences!  And even Letterman faces that.  Not only did he have to face up to this extortioner, he also had to testify about all he had done in front of a grand jury.  And on top of that just last night he made another announcement on the subject.  This time it was an apology to his wife about the affairs.  He said that she had been horribly hurt, and that he had his work cut out for him to attempt to make it up.

What were we thinking the last time we gave in to temptation?  I’m sure we were not thinking of all the consequences we would face when the things we did in the dark finally come to light.