Judges 6:14
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 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?
The word came after seven years of Midianite oppression. The Midianites, nearly destroyed in the days of Moses but since grown numerous and powerful and thirsting for revenge, joined with the Amalekites from the south and others from the eastern border and deserts, and seized the opportunity when God's protecting hand was withdrawn from Israel.
The invaders swarmed into the land in multitude like locusts with flocks and herds. They came when harvests ripened and remained until the last fruits were gathered. They stripped the fields and robbed and mistreated the inhabitants from the Jordan to the Philistine plain. Those in the open country were forced into walled towns, fortresses, caves and mountain fastnesses.
The oppression came because by their sins Israel was separated from God and His strength was removed, bringing them into subjection to the very nations they might have subdued. This belonged to a repeated cycle of backsliding and chastisement followed by confession and deliverance, in which God did not utterly forsake His people and a remnant remained true. When in distress the people gave heed to the Lord's reproof and confessed their sins, God raised up Gideon as a helper to break the oppressor's yoke.
The call came while Gideon was secretly threshing a small amount of wheat under the Midianite oppression. He was taken from the humble work of threshing to serve as God's instrument. His ordinary labor was part of the setting from which he was prepared for service.
In the verse God appoints Gideon as one of the faithful and valiant men raised up to put down idolatry and deliver Israel from its enemies. Gideon is commissioned to save Israel from the hand of the Midianites, with the promise that he will save his people. The Lord's sending gives the mission its authority, so that Gideon's own sense of weakness and the people's discouragement do not cancel the divine call.
The command to go in this strength means to act in the strength Gideon has because God has given it and sent him. That strength rested on God's choice and gracious favor. The fact of God's sending gives reason to act, joined to the further assurance that God will be with him. So he could go forward and conquer with confidence in the power behind his own strength.
The verse shows a pattern in which God calls people from humble work to carry out His appointed work.