And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORDis with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
The greeting came while Gideon was secretly threshing grain, threshing wheat, because of Midianite oppression. He was laboring in fear and hardship at a humble, lowly occupation on the threshing floor. The speaker was the Angel of the Lord, the Lord's messenger, who is the Son of God. He addressed Gideon as a mighty man of valor and declared that the Lord was with him, thereby naming his courage and integrity.
The greeting was God's call for Gideon to serve as His instrument to deliver Israel and its armies from their enemies, raising up a faithful and valiant man to put down idolatry and free the Israelites. Gideon was troubled by Israel's suffering and by his own discouragement and sense of weakness, and he questioned how the Lord could be with Israel while they suffered, longing for assurance that God would help. The words assured him of God's presence and announced the deliverance to be accomplished through him, encouraging him and calling him to courage despite his discouragement and sense of weakness.
His lowly occupation at his call was training for service in God's cause. God took him from that humble duty in a lowly position of life and made him the instrument in His hands for delivering the armies of Israel, proving that useful and honored workers in God's cause receive their training amid humble duties. The verse belongs to God's repeated dealings with Israel in backsliding and chastisement followed by confession and deliverance. It shows that God did not utterly forsake His people but kept a remnant true to Him and sent help when in distress they gave heed to reproof and confessed their sins, though after the deliverer died and the people were released from his authority they gradually returned to their idols.
The greeting came while Gideon was secretly threshing grain, threshing wheat, because of Midianite oppression. He was laboring in fear and hardship at a humble, lowly occupation on the threshing floor. The speaker was the Angel of the Lord, the Lord's messenger, who is the Son of God. He addressed Gideon as a mighty man of valor and declared that the Lord was with him, thereby naming his courage and integrity.
The greeting was God's call for Gideon to serve as His instrument to deliver Israel and its armies from their enemies, raising up a faithful and valiant man to put down idolatry and free the Israelites. Gideon was troubled by Israel's suffering and by his own discouragement and sense of weakness, and he questioned how the Lord could be with Israel while they suffered, longing for assurance that God would help. The words assured him of God's presence and announced the deliverance to be accomplished through him, encouraging him and calling him to courage despite his discouragement and sense of weakness.
His lowly occupation at his call was training for service in God's cause. God took him from that humble duty in a lowly position of life and made him the instrument in His hands for delivering the armies of Israel, proving that useful and honored workers in God's cause receive their training amid humble duties. The verse belongs to God's repeated dealings with Israel in backsliding and chastisement followed by confession and deliverance. It shows that God did not utterly forsake His people but kept a remnant true to Him and sent help when in distress they gave heed to reproof and confessed their sins, though after the deliverer died and the people were released from his authority they gradually returned to their idols.