And Gideon perceived that he was an angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! for because I have seen an angel of Jehovah face to face ...
Fire has just leapt from the rock and burned up the meal Gideon prepared. His visitor then vanished, and only then does the truth hit him. His cry is not joy but alarm. He now knows who had been standing in front of him, and he expects that meeting to cost him his life.
Gideon does not say he saw "an angel" in general terms. The title he uses is far weightier. It explains why he feared for his life — and also what he did not actually see.
It troubled Gideon to realise how great this person was whom he had seen — the Angel of the Lord, not just "an angel" (v. 22). For God had said to Moses, "man shall not see me and live" (Ex. 33:20). It is true that God's glory is too great for us to take in. But the Angel (the Lord Jesus) had appeared to Gideon in the form of a man. So Gideon did not see the greatness of God's glory, but only a very limited showing of God.
What changed here was not the visitor, but what Gideon understood — and the dread did not last.
Gideon does not seem to realise that he has been face to face with the angel of the Lord until He has departed. Then he is overwhelmed with the solemn fact, and dreads the consequences. But grace quickly reassures him, and he builds an altar to the Lord — Jehovah-Shalom, "Jehovah is Peace."
This dread was not a one-off panic. Meeting this visitor had the same effect on others in the Old Testament. And it had to happen before Gideon could fight anyone.
The presence of God withered him up, and he knew it. That is the usual effect, seen again and again in the Old Testament, of meeting the one called there the angel of Jehovah. The very thing that passed the sentence of death on his nature also strengthened him. So Gideon builds an altar, trusting the word given to him... This is the prime necessity — peace, then work; but no service is safe until the person is secure and at peace.
Commentators differ on how to read Gideon's alarm. Some see the normal effect of God drawing near. One writer compares Gideon with Abraham, and calls his fear weakness.
This is another mark of weakness. We do not see this fear in Abraham, in similar circumstances. But Jehovah will give Gideon the confidence to stand before Him.
Gideon's instinct — that being this close to God should finish him — was not superstition. One writer takes it as an accurate verdict on human nature, and as the very thing that fits a person for battle.
He is now certain that he has seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. That very certainty makes him afraid, until His word calms him: he will not die. For us too, whenever we grasp that the Lord is present, we also feel the sentence passed on the flesh. This is where the power to walk rightly comes from, and the energy for the warfare we are called to. "Now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself." Christ crucified confirms this sentence, and He is also our deliverance from ourselves. So, "crucified with Christ," we may still live — no longer we, but Christ living in us.
One meeting did two things to Gideon at the same time.
Gideon had spoken to Him with a secret sense that it was Jehovah. Now he knows for certain: he has seen the angel of Jehovah, of God, face to face. It was a real revelation. It was enough to reduce him to nothing in himself, and that is what it did. But it was also enough to make him strong in his walk among others, who had not known Jehovah in the same way.
- Face — The one Gideon met was the Angel of the Lord, whom one writer names as the Lord Jesus. His terror fits who was standing there.
- Fear — The dread only broke over him once the visitor had gone, and it rested on a known word: no one sees God and lives.
- Flesh — That fear is an accurate sentence on human nature. Anyone brought near to God feels it, and Scripture says: "now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself."
- Freedom — The sentence of death on self is not the end of Gideon. It is the start of his usefulness. Reduced to nothing in himself, he is made strong to stand among people who had never met God like this.
- First things first — Peace comes before work. No service is safe while the servant is unsettled with God. Commentators differ on whether Gideon's alarm was weakness or the right response.
And Jehovah said to him, Peace be unto thee fear not; thou shalt not die.
Gideon has just realised who his visitor was, and he is sure the sight will cost him his life. God answers with a word of peace, and commentators treat it as the moment Gideon became fit for service.
His fear was not superstition. It rested on a word God had already spoken.
Gideon was troubled when he realised the greatness of the person he had seen. It was the Angel of the Lord, not simply "an angel" (v. 22). For God had said to Moses, "man shall not see me and live" (Ex. 33:20). It is true that God's glory is so great that we cannot take it in. But the Angel (the Lord Jesus) had appeared to Gideon in the form of a man. So Gideon did not see the greatness of God's glory, but only a very limited showing of God.
Nothing Gideon does changes him. God's word does the work, and the same pattern runs through Scripture.
Now Gideon knows that he had seen an angel of the Lord face to face, and he is filled with fear. But the Lord said to him, "Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die." So he receives from the Lord a further qualification for service — a soul at liberty, at peace before God. God had revealed Himself to His servant, and the effect was terror. But the terror passed away when the Lord spoke peace. We need not enlarge on this, as it is the history of every soul brought into the presence of God (see Isa. 6; Job 42; Luke 5).
God speaks peace right after fire consumed the offering on the rock. That order matters.
The fire of judgment consumed the offering, and the result for Gideon was peace. To be a servant of God, you must know the work of Christ for yourself, and the peace that flows from it. You must be sure that peace has been made, because of what has passed between God and Christ. You must be sure of what God, and not Gideon, thought of the sacrifice. Such is the foundation of all Christian service — how much it has been forgotten! If we have not peace ourselves, how can we proclaim it to others?
One writer turns this into a warning about service.
Whatever our own failure, Jesus is still the same, and the value of His work is unchanged. God never says to a soul, "Peace be to you. Do not fear," because of service. We are in danger of putting service in the place of the burnt offering.
The same answer of peace appears again later in Scripture.
Here we have the answer that produces peace, and, with peace, worship. It is the same with the risen Jesus. After suffering death, He reveals Himself to His disciples with the same words God uses here, and lays the foundation of the Church gathered together in worship. In Luke 7 we find the same experiences in the woman who was a sinner. She believed in the person of Jesus. His grace had made Him her all; but she did not yet know that someone like her was pardoned and saved, and might go in peace.
This meeting left its mark on Gideon in two opposite ways.
It was a real revelation. It was enough to reduce him to nothing in himself, and it did. But it was also enough to strengthen him greatly in his walk among others who had not known the Lord in the same way. God may not use visions like this now, but it is always like this when He raises up a special instrument to deliver His people.
Gideon takes God at His word and acts on it.
The very thing that put the sentence of death on his nature made Gideon strong. He builds an altar, trusting the word given him, and calls it Jehovah-shalom. So he lays hold of the word of peace and acts on it at once… There is no ground for deliverance in God's way. There is no proper basis for His intervention, except the removal of all barriers between God and our souls. This is the prime necessity — peace, then work; no service is safe until the person himself is settled and at peace.
- Fear. Gideon expects to die. He has seen the Angel of the Lord face to face, and God had said, "man shall not see me and live."
- Word. The terror does not fade on its own. God's spoken word of peace ends it.
- Ground. Peace came after the fire consumed the offering. It rests on the accepted sacrifice, never on the servant's work.
- Reach. The risen Christ greets His disciples with the same words, and a sinful woman in Luke 7 learned that someone like her could go in peace.
- Order. Peace first, then worship, then work: no service is safe until the servant himself is at rest before God.