The Holt County sentinel., 1915-01-15

apostasy and servitude Of Israel. one
which seems to have affected chiefly
the four northernmost tribes ". 36).
In preparation for the call and work
Of Gideon, the sixth Judge. the chill
dren OF Israel cried unto heaven" and
God sent unto them . prophet who en-
couraged their tagging faith In Jeho-
,ah and turned them back TO him
t6:i.lO,. The now impoverished and
overridden israelites. who had enjoyed
prosp ,rity after their former deliver
ance. had again done evil and must
nrst Judge their sin and obey the voice
Of Jehovah before they could receive
q message Of hope and deliverance
through one Of Jehovah's prophets.
Goes Call TO Gideon.
!. Gideon In Prayer. w. It's. That
the angel Of Jehovah was = mani.
festation Of Jehovah In clear from
careful reading Of vers. 10. There the
first use 1T the word lord" 10 not cap
itaiized. whereas In q second In.
stance II IL ca tailed This angel
was u fureshadowing q the incarna.
ton IN Jesus II Nazareth. He In clearly
Identified with Jehovah ,see Judges
81. 2; Gen. 1910. ~. II. W. II was
thus that Abraham saw my day"
John \ sGi. The angel Of the Lord"
nj no time appears after Jesus came.
as the revised text shows. The no.
nudic Mdianitas brought ruin to IN.
rael ~ III. bitter fruit Of its sin. Then
was uttered the cry for relief FPS 1901.
The father ~ Gideon In passed by. for
he va. u worshiper Of HAL ~ 2bl.
They ~ ho bear ~, vessels Of the Lord.
those through whom he works. must
have clean hands Gods call TO Gid.
con cam. To him - while he vas
alone. ~ ~. was ,hr.shing wheat In
the hiding place ~ "a winepress. for
he dare not thr"sh In the customary
open place Of n threshing floor This
call cam. To HIN -, M he was faith.
fully performing HE duty. that one
nearest his h.nd ". II. Ex. 81. 2;
Luke .:S. ~
". Gideon In Doubt, w. t3.tS. Cid
| cons thought must have been one Of
Amazem"ni to well ne ~ doubt. His
| question. why then II all this befai-
len u.s." vat u most natural one and
one that men even now are asking
when they ar. IN great trouble. SUI.
ferinr and misery are not all to be laid
at Gods door, though he permit II. but
chiefly NJ the door of sin Us. - 20:
Iva. ~ I, % II IN possible that Gid.
con had not yet recognized his hoav.
"nly visitor icf v 81. The name
Gideon means "iiew'r' or "TrscfeIler"
and indicates, u. all eastern names do,
something Of his personal character
or appearance, Hence the Significance
of v. H. The Lord In the person OF
the angel looked upon him and said.
feeln. all OF his natural qualifications.
but with the emphasis upon the r.
Go In Thy might have not .
sent thee
Gideon Was the Aaent.
w. Gideon Assured, w. 1885. Gid.
cons first act on being assured OF this
heavenly communication was one OF
worship wv. 1920. His second one
Was to take ten picked men and over.
throw the altar to Baai. thereby dem.
onstratine the impotence OF HAL and
the utility OF calling upon him for
deliverance. tn. tribesmen at once
iisht upon him as having performed
THIS act and demand his death from
Joash, his father. who SEEMS 10 have
been sort Of caretaker OF the idol
". 25). These same men later become
Gideon's enthusiastic followers wv.
81. 36). Gideon thus translated theory
into action and gained confidence. Il
was one man against the community.
and to further rebuke them he erected
an altar 10 Jehovah ". 2s).
w. 0idson's Caution, w. 36-4o. Spur.
Eeon said that he never entered his
pulpit to preach without trembling,
and Gideon would have been more
than human. even after assembling his
army. had he been absolutely free from
doubts, We should never place an
"if' before any Of Gods promises, and
Jesus reprimanded those OF his day
when they demanded q Sign" (won.
der). but Gideon proved his heroism
In part by his caution. Gideon was
afraid OF himself but was sure Of God.
Once assured Of Gods leading he was
Wilma w tVuu oVV uru usdlubt tuS
overwhelming force OF his enemies. II
such q demand was a weakness God
dealt with II with marvellous patience
and tenderness, just as he condescends
to treat our weaknesses. The very life
Of the nation is at stake, everything de-
ponds upon .deon's success or failure.
Caution and courage are never far
apart, Caution A. the soul OF courage.
The fleece suggests q figure Of for.
ioIn Israeli" the dew. the presence OF
the Holy Spirit. In the old dispense.
ton the dew rested upon Israsl while
others were dry. In this dispensation
Israel Is dry while the dew Of God
rests upon the nations.
When God calls lift your soul In
prayer and follow In the direction Il
leads. AZ you lit your soul before
God II will wax or Wane II II vanss