Shalom, to you my Friend and Co-Minister in the Great Commission...
Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, "Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar." Judges 6:32 One of the most famous of the judges of Israel, and among the heroes of the Bible is Gideon. He became famous for, at first putting a fleece before God to make sure he was being called, and then by leading an army of only 300 soldiers, with no weapons, against the vastly more numerous and powerful army of Midian... and winning! Of course Bible critics and modern experts claim that such people never existed and such events never happened. They said that about David and others until, sure enough, the discoveries of archaeology proved them wrong. There has never been any trace or remnant of Gideon's existence...That was until just recently. Israeli archaeologists announced they uncovered a rare find in Khirbet el Rai, an excavation site in the land of Israel. What was remarkable about the find is that it was an ink inscription that dated back 3,100 years, to the time of the Book of Judges. And it was the first inscription from that time in which the letters actually formed a word. The inscription consisted of four Hebrew letters: yod, resh, ayin, bet, and lamed. The letters were related. They formed a word. They formed a name. The name was Yerubbaal. Yerubbaal is the original Hebrew name of what is translated in English Bibles as Jerubbaal. And Jerubbaal is the name of the Biblical hero - Gideon. And what's just as striking is the name Jerubbaal is not recorded as being given to others, but a specific name having to do with a specific event of Gideon's life - So the chances that it actually refers to the Gideon of the Bible increases. Beyond that, what were the weapons that Gideon used with his impossible army of 300 men? A ram's horn, a torch, and a clay jar. The inscription was found on the handle of a clay jar! Beyond all this, the fact that after over 3,000 years the name of Gideon/Jerubbaal has resurfaced - in this time and in our generation, strikes me as significant. The name Jerubbaal was given to Gideon because he had struck down the altar of Baal. The name signified that he and Baal were at war. It meant he was a warrior. He didn't accept the oppression of God's people. He stood up to the darkness, to the gods, to that oppression and against all odds, won the victory! So we likewise live in a time of darkness, of idols, of war against God's people, and against the odds. We must take up the same attitude and spirit as Gideon took up when he became Jerubbaal. We must not accept the darkness or the gods of this culture, but stand for God and His ways, fight the good fight against all odds, and prevail. Make it your aim this month to stand and fight like Gideon - and may God greatly bless you as you do!
Your brother and fellow servant in His love and service,
Scripture: Psalm 27:3 | Judges 6:32
