Jehovah Shalom
“The Lord who is Peace.”
Judges 6
At the time of writing these words, Israel was living in fear of the Midianites. Their fear changed the way they lived, as we see Gideon threshing wheat in the weirdest of places — in a winepress. We also read of him hiding in mountains and caves (6:2). They were living under such oppression, hiding from their enemies.
Gideon and the Israelites saw this oppression as God abandoning them (6:13), yet God saw it as a consequence of their repetitive idolatry and rebellion. As they worshipped the Midianite gods, God handed them over to what they so greatly desired.
Gideon cried out to God (6:6), and the Bible is full of this language. The book of Judges especially has a unique repeated pattern of sin, judgment, repentance, and deliverance.
God called Gideon (through an angel of the Lord), but he admitted that he was from the weakest clan and was the least in his family. Sound familiar? “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). He uses the lowly to bring about salvation and freedom time and time again, especially in His Son, Jesus, who died to redeem all of creation.
Jehovah Shalom means “The Lord is Peace.” Gideon was crying out to God, knowing that only He could bring peace from the Midianites. He identified God as the source of ultimate completeness and harmony. As image bearers, we too are called to be agents of peace (1 Peter 3:8), humbling ourselves before Him, knowing that He has already overcome the world and will one day bring complete peace.