The army of the 300 defeats the Midianites and the men of
Ephraim are called upon to come and help.
They rally to the cause and capture and kill the two kings, Oreb and
Zeeb. They are angry with Gideon for not
calling on them sooner so that they too may get glory and participate in the
defeat of the hated peoples who have made their lives a misery for the last
seven years. Gideon presses on further
and asks for rations for he and his men from some of the surrounding
peoples. They are in fear of these
remaining Midianite rulers and so refuse to help Gideon lest he lose and they
are then punished. Gideon is confident
he will prevail and leaves behind a threat but how could they take this small
army seriously? Indeed, he is successful
because the Lord is with him.
Did John fully understand his testimony concerning Jesus as
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? Did he know that Jesus was going to die on
the cross? Did he know that it was not
just for the Jews that He would die? Two
of John's disciples go after Jesus based on John's testimony and when Jesus
asks what they are seeking all they can ask is "Where are you
staying?" That is all they wanted,
a hotel recommendation? They couldn't
have known what to say in response, it wasn't possible to say, "The
Messiah" without seeming a bit silly.
Jesus simply says, "Come and see." They couldn't that moment imagine what they
would see.
Peter uses some potent language here. He says of the people of Israel that they: "denied
the Holy and Righteous one, killed the Author of life, acted in ignorance, as
did your rulers, and they are to turn from their wickedness. Is this the same man who denied Jesus before
a slave girl on the night of Jesus' trial?
Something has happened to make Peter the mighty man of valor he believed
himself to be. As he preaches this
sermon he connects Jesus with the prophet of Deuteronomy 18 that Moses promised
would come, not just the Messiah of the prophets. Jesus is the answer to all their questions,
the one all of them expected, the prophet and Messiah rolled into one package
and they killed Him but God raised Him up.
He is their savior and they put Him on a cross, but they can receive
forgiveness if they now, posthumously, believe in Him. How strange that must have sounded to
them. Strange like the plan God had for
the conquest of Jericho and the victory by Gideon over the Midianites. Remember Isaiah 55.
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