This morning we are in Judges chapter 6. Judges chapter 6. Let's bow to the Lord in a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank you this day for providing us the place, the time, and giving us the desire to come here and to worship you. Our Father, this is indeed our great privilege and also our great duty, and we trust and pray, Lord, our great joy. Might we find in this day in this place all that we need for our own souls and also all of the honor and the glory that is due unto your name. Our Father, this is a special time and we pray that you would enable us to make the best use of it. We pray that you would take away those things from our minds that hinder us from truly focusing upon you and upon your word. Quiet all things, Lord, in the background of our minds and help us to be riveted upon what is before us. And Lord, not just so that we might have a spiritual uplift this day, but that we might walk from this place and fulfill faithfully and vigorously the duties that you have given us in this life. And our Father, we sense a special need in this time in which we live to be strengthened and helped to be steady and steadfast as we go about from day to day. Our hope, our Lord, is in you and help us to strengthen that hope in you this day. We pray today also, Father, for Sister Johnny. We ask that you would be with her in her ailment. And we pray, Lord, for strength for her that she might return soon to us. We pray for others who are hindered from being here. And we ask, Lord, that you would be near and close to them and whatever needs or concerns they have. We pray, Father, that there would be none that would come into this place today unaffected by your word. Lord, let man's words fall aside, but when all is said and done, let your words stand like a monument. And we pray that it would affect hearts. Now we commit these things to you, and we thank you for the opportunity that is before us. In Jesus' name, Amen. We began Judges chapter 6 last week, and just a very quick recap of what we looked at last week. We saw that having done evil once again in the sight of the Lord, that the Lord sold them into the hand of Midian. And we noted what an extreme oppression came upon them through the Midianites. An oppression, even though in length of time, did not last as long as the previous oppression, but in its nature was actually more oppressive than even that under Jabin and his captain Sisera. For these oppressors were like bands of robbers and plunderers that came into the land and destroyed crops and took their sustenance after they had labored so hard to bring it to harvest into fruition. And it was to the point that they had to hide what they could produce and even hide themselves at times from these just out of control plunderers that came into their land. And in the midst of this, we found that there was a man. Well, let me back up and mention the prophet. When the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, he faithfully sent a prophet. He wanted to deal with them spiritually before ever he sent them a deliverer. And so the prophet came and delivered a message of condemnation for what they had done. And then the next scene we opened upon was this man, Gideon, threshing wheat in a wine press so that he would not be detected by the Midianites, threshing out wheat with his staff, small amounts of wheat, which you could only do with the staff, not threshing it in the ordinary way on the threshing floor with animals. And the scene opens here as a traveler who was actually the angel of the Lord in disguise, if you will, came in the form of a traveler and sat under the oak tree near where Gideon threshed his wheat. And that is that is where we are now. So we have the circumstances before us. Gideon, he is distressed inwardly. He is distressed outwardly. And so as we proceed with this narrative, and let me say, by the way, that As I went through the lesson today, I was just trying to get a sense of what was actually transpiring here. I'm going to have to leave much of the application to you because I really struggled with where Gideon was at and what he was perceiving and what the Lord was doing with him as we go into this narrative. So as we proceed with the narrative, taking up in verse 12, I think we have to assume that the words of the prophet when he had spoken to Israel had had some effect on Israel. And I say that because we realize that as the Lord begins to deal with Gideon, that he is calling Israel's deliverer. Certainly, we would like to see a statement here somewhere that tells us clearly that Israel ultimately cried out over their sin after the prophet came. Beyond simply crying out because of the oppression of the Midianites, we don't see that, but I think that leaves us yet to think biblically through the matter and that at least to some degree, repentance had come, at least to some, and now The Lord is prepared to provide deliverance from that misery, and the first thing he is going to do is call the deliverer, who is Gideon. So as we turn our attention back to Gideon's encounter with the Lord and we pointed out, this is the Lord, the angel of the Lord is the Lord veiled. Surely his glory veiled, but it's his person here in a special way dealing with Gideon. And we see the Lord's initial words to Gideon. That says in the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said unto him, the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. Now, you may recall from the last lesson that it is suggested by some that as Gideon was threshing the wheat there in that wine press with his staff, that he was even at that time entertaining thoughts of Israel's deliverance. And the Lord's opening words here indeed appear to be an answer to the thoughts of his heart. The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. I see also a hint of this in verse 13, because it appears that these initial words that the Lord spoke to Gideon were taken by him to be inconsistent with Israel's present state, that which he was probably contemplating. And so it seems that Gideon made the immediate connection between what God was telling him and what Israel's actual condition was that he was reflecting on. Well, be that as it may, these words to Gideon, the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor, whether he fully comprehended it right away or not, were a great promise. This was a promise to Gideon right out of the beginning. A promise. You know, Gideon was personally concerned about Israel, but to what avail was this concern if he was just left to himself? You know, our concerns, to what avail are our concerns if they're just left to themselves? It doesn't avail too much, does it? I mean, he was hiding in this wine press to beat out a few kernels of wheat. What could he do? And here, I believe God is telling Gideon that he is empowering him for that which he so much desires. The Lord is with thee. And what greater promise is there than for the Almighty to tell anyone, you or I, that he is with us? And thus, having said that, the Lord addresses him, because the Lord is with thee, you are a mighty man of valor. That makes you a mighty man of valor. If the Lord is with a person, as he says he is here with Gideon, that person is clothed with strength. He's clothed with strength for that which the Lord would have him to do. So it was with Moses, was it not? The Lord was with Moses. And he was a mighty man of valor in his endeavors that the Lord had given him to do. So it was with Joshua when the Lord appeared to Joshua and said, I will be with you. And of course, it was with Paul, and we could point to many other saints in Scripture, but so it is with you and I. The truth comes down to you and I. Through God, we shall do valiantly. For he it is that shall tread down our enemies, if God is with us and never underestimate that statement, if God is with us and he has said he is with us, we shall do valiantly. Don't forget that we are not to to cower. When it comes to doing that which God has set before us to do. Gideon's response in verse 13, however, it seems to me. To be problematic. He said unto him, oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all his miracles, which our fathers told us of saying, did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. You know, maybe I'm missing something here because I looked at this and looked at this and struggled with this, but it seems to me that for a spiritual man and I believe Gideon was a spiritual man. that his questions seem to lack a certain apprehension, an apprehension of the evil of Israel's sin. Why is Gideon, especially after the prophet has come and said, this is the reason that you're in the fix that you're in your sin. Why is he asking these questions? I mean, at this point in time, there was there was an altar in his own father's house or on his own father's land? Did he not understand that it was such as that, that this had befallen Israel? That's why it had befallen Israel. Did he not understand that it was because of this that the Lord had ceased to help them? That the Lord was not displaying His almighty power in their behalf? Did he not understand It was because that he had forsaken and delivered them into the hands of the Midianites for their sins. Shouldn't this have been very clear to Gideon? I mean, these questions just don't strike me quite right. Why such questions? I don't have a chapter in a verse that says here's why Gideon asked these questions. And if you have any insight, I would appreciate to hear them. Sometimes the only way I can answer a question like this is to examine my own self. And my own tendencies, so I ask myself when I have been in times of great distress, surely as Gideon was here, do I find anything parallel to this? And I find that often when I am in such a situation as Gideon was that I am much more likely To bemoan my situation than to stop and consider that the distress is a result of my own doing. Isn't that the way we usually work? We're all concerned about the distress, Gideon's asking why the distress? And not focusing on the root cause of the distress. Spiritual people can do that. And it seems like I'm almost always, at least initially, concerned with deliverance from the distress, more concerned with that than tracing back and trying to see, well, where did this distress come from? What is the root of the problem? And so my only answer to Gideon's questions is along those lines, I conclude that He was showing a bit of weakness and doing that which we are all likely to do. But on the positive side here, he does identify with Israel, doesn't he? And he speaks for them as a whole. Why, then, is all of this befallen us? And that much is certainly commendable. It revealed that his heart was with Israel, that he was not separating himself from their dilemma. And I think that is a very necessary qualification for one that would be a deliverer for them. Well, we see the Lord's most gracious response back to Gideon in verse 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? You know, you look at this answer and you just you just have to appreciate our Lord. If I have even closely assess what Gideon said in verse 13, the Lord is most tolerant, is he not? He seems to tolerate the weakness of Gideon's questions, almost looks past them. And where would we be if the Lord did not tolerate our weakness? Day after day, he tolerates our weakness. Well, it seems like the Lord's main purpose here was to bring Gideon to understand who it was that he was dealing with. And to convince him from whence his strength was to come, I don't think Gideon yet comprehended who this visitor was. The visitor had engaged his his attention to be sure. But notice more closely the Lord's response there in verse 14, it included a very telling look as he spoke to Gideon. You know, there's something special about the statement and the Lord looked upon him. Could also be the Lord turned to him, he had his full attention. He turned his countenance fully upon Gideon, and he engaged Gideon's full attention back to him as he answered him. This eye-to-eye contact, total engagement. And almost unanimously, writers say that this was a gracious and a favorable and assuring look that the Lord gave to Gideon. And I don't think we can doubt that. And then with the look, the words, this thy might. This thy might go in this thy might, and of course, that is a reference back to the fact that the Lord is with him, that was his might. He's reminding Gideon, he's he's trying to get it into Gideon's head. I am thy might. I am with thee. This is thy might go in this thy might. And that is your strength. Well, so we see that there was the promise first, but included in this statement, there's something additional. There's a command. Go in this thy might. This is imperative. Go in this thy might. So now he's getting his his commission. He had the promise. He's getting his commission. And of course, we can't help but notice in this also that the person speaking in the first person had not I sent thee. And of course, we realize this is the Lord speaking to Gideon. And again, I don't think this is fully dawned on Gideon, but it might ought to have got his attention. Who is this that is promising me? Who is this that is telling me to go? There must be some authority here. Have not I sent thee? Well, again, you know, I think as we go through here, we see the light gradually dawning on Gideon as the Lord patiently deals with Gideon. But Gideon's reply back even to this seems to be a faltering reply, yet with some daunting apprehension of the matter. Verse 15, And he said unto him, O my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And Gideon here obviously addresses him With a term of respect, oh my Lord, as he had previously done in verse 12. But there's a slight difference here in the form of the word Lord. Then there is in verse 15 as Kyle points out, the form used in verse 15 is an emphatic form of the same word. There is, it suggests a heightened apprehension on Gideon's part. I think that this form of the word is far more often used in Old Testament with association with God himself than the other form is, which is a general term, as you know, meaning master or Lord that could be applied to both man and God. So there there seems to be some light dawning here with Gideon, there seems to be a little bit of a progress, it seems to point to the fact that he he's getting closer to apprehending that he's not simply dealing with a man or at least just any man. Now, though this reference to himself and his family may be an expression of humility. I think it yet shows some faltering or weakness in Gideon's faith. And I say that because he was thinking of his own weakness rather than the Lord's strength. Our faith never increases when we're thinking of ourselves, it can only increase when we are thinking of the Lord's strength and how prone we are again to do such as that. And do we not see here that there is a type of humility that can become an excuse? That's a subtlety that we need to watch out for. There's a type of humility that can become an excuse, whereas a true humility is going to throw us upon the strength of the Lord and in the end render confidence to us. Be sure that your humility is not one that stymies rather than strengthens you. True humility in the end will strengthen you, not weaken you. Well, the Lord comes back in verse 16 and says, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man or altogether as though they were one man, as though you were fighting one man. Now, this statement is rendered as emphatic. Surely. Surely I will be with thee, and no doubt it is emphatic. But looking a little closer at the word, I think the idea of because gets us a little closer to what the Lord is saying here, because he's answering Gideon's faltering. Gideon had asked, wherewithal shall I save Israel? How shall I save Israel? And the Lord's answer back, because I will be with thee. I will be with thee." You see, the Lord has to keep telling Gideon this. Gideon, that and that alone is your hope and the strength you are to go on. Now Gideon is going to get there. But you notice how patient the Lord is in getting him there. Because Gideon, I will be with thee. How hard we are sometimes to be convinced of the Lord's favor and of the sufficiency of his strength alone. We're pretty hard to be convinced in reality, aren't we? We're not as pliable, I think, as we think sometimes, and I think that this is a lifelong lesson for the believer. You don't learn it today and you're all set for tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day. This is something that you learn over and over and over. That's the way it is. Well, as we come to verses 17 and 18, there seems to be little doubt that Gideon is now beginning to see that he is dealing with the Lord either directly or indirectly. And he said unto him, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not, hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again." Well, Gideon is getting there, but he still wants to be more fully convinced of God's favor, of the favor I mean, this person that is speaking with him, whether he fully apprehends who he is, he's no doubt understanding that it's God's favor that is being forwarded to him. And he wants to be more fully convinced of God's favor. Perhaps this all seems too good to be true. And I recognize there's a couple of ways of looking at what is said here. It may be that Gideon's faith is displaying more weakness than strength. But on the other hand, I think we have to see that a faith that becomes strong is a faith that is laid on good footing. You know, the faith that is shouted out today is something that you just work up. But true faith is on good footing. Good faith is based on a knowledge of God and who he is and what he has done. And I tend to think that that by the grace of God, Gideon is laboring here to get his faith on good footing. As he speaks to the Lord in this way. He needed a strong faith for what lay ahead, you think about what lay ahead for Gideon and what he was going to be asked to do. He needed a strong faith. He needed to know the Lord and the Lord in his strength and his character. Well, there's no need, of course, to doubt the Lord, but there is room to question ourselves sometimes and to desire to be fully convinced on good grounds. You know, there are some things in life that I simply have no desire to attempt unless I am absolutely sure, doubly sure that it is of the Lord and that I understand as perfectly as possible His will. I want it to be very clear in certain matters, especially. And so I think that giving Gideon The benefit of the doubt, that's what he was laboring for, laboring toward. But we say he wanted a sign, well, much like Moses. Moses wanted a sign, didn't he? When the Lord was sending him back to Egypt to lead the children of Israel out, Moses wanted a sign. Now, Gideon wanted a sign that this was indeed the message from the Lord and that the message was true. Both Moses and Gideon wanted their calling or commission verified. They didn't want it to be in dispute, they wanted it to be without doubt. But the difference between Moses and Gideon is that here Gideon has in mind exactly what he wants to see, I think. And what Gideon wanted to see, at least on the surface, was if the Lord would accept a present. Or, as it is often translated, an offering. Kyle says that this was intended to be a sacrificial gift in the sense of a of a gift presented to God. Now, we're kind of leaning on him as that's probably accurate, because this is the word that is used for meat offering or food offering. Now, of course, this would not be a meat offering in the technical sense of the word or the term for Gideon was not a priest and there was no altar here, no ordained altar, no tabernacle. So in the technical sense, I guess it was not a meat offering, but in the situation, in the time and whatever, in Gideon's mind, He wanted to give the Lord a gift and he wanted to see if what the Lord would do with the gift. The question becomes, this was Gideon looking to see if the person would accept this gift and what would he do with the gift? Or was he simply showing hospitality to this stranger and trying to detain him until he gave him some Great, stupendous sign of some sort. Well, it was one or the other, and I don't, you know, it's not real easy to discern. It's very easy to read things into this. We simply ultimately do not know exactly what was going on in Gideon's mind, but I think we should strive for the best understanding of it from the text that we have. And if we do that, the first thing I know is in the text is that Gideon was seeking to prolong this visit. Depart not hence. Stay a while. The Lord had promised to be with Gideon in the momentous task of defeating the Midianites. Would he now then tarry with him? to encourage him? He kind of argues from the greater to the lesser, it seems. If he would be with Gideon in battle, would he tarry to reassure Gideon in this quiet hour of inward wrestling? So Gideon wanted to see that. Would he stay? Now, this really strikes a chord with me. Because there are times when it seems. When I'm struggling and the clouds kind of break and I seem to be see shining through. Great things from God's word, it just seems like, you know what I mean, sometimes you're reading and the Lord seems to open it up to you more than at other times, illumination. And it's at such times as that that I ask, is this just my own illusion or is it the Lord showing me something really great and precious? And it's those times that I desire the Lord to linger, depart not, stay with me, stay around a little bit. Don't let this go away. Give me some assurance of of of your word and what I think I see in your word. So, you know, whether or not that's a right application of the words, it's doubtless that one thing Gideon didn't want here regarding the sign is that the Lord would not depart. Stay around. The second thing we see. Is the hospitality that Gideon Intended. You know, I have mentioned the import of this present or this offering, but the thing I think Gideon wanted to see was if this person would tarry until he should bring forth my present. And set it before the. You know, there was going to be some preparation made. Gideon had not planned on a visit. He had not planned on a meal. And he had to go and make a certain amount of preparation. And it's very evident that Gideon wanted this person to accept his gift. He was anxious about that. If this person would be with Gideon in smiting the Midianites, would he now show him immediate favor by waiting on his gift and accepting it? If the Lord would be with him in the greater, Lord, will you be with me here right now? Just give me a token of that and show me immediate favor by accepting this gift. Now, again, this this may not be exactly the intent, but it's the way it strikes me. It strikes a chord because when we see in God's word certain things that we are to do, Are we are faced with trials? Or we are faced with enemies. That we are to confront. And it seems very impossible or difficult for us to do that. Is not the first thing we look for is immediate favor from the Lord. Will he tarry as we struggle through our prayers about these things? Will he accept our prayers concerning these things? If he will do that, then that gives me some assurance that I can do what it is he wants me to do. Face the enemy he wants me to face. Face the trial he wants me to face. Will he tarry as I struggle through my prayers? Will he wait patiently until prayer brings me to true worship and praise and confidence in him? Sometimes preparation takes a while, doesn't it? It takes me a long time sometimes. But if He will be with us through the heat of trials, will He not patiently wait with us through our prayers until they bring forth that which is worthy of His name and that which strengthens us for that which we are to do? What greater sign Could the Lord give you then to patiently wait while you get worthy offerings in order? Get your mind and heart in order. What greater sign could there be of God's favor? As he patiently waits for you to do that. It takes a while sometimes. Well, there is one thing that surpasses even this, and we're going to see it in a moment. But next, we want we notice the very gracious and favorable words from the Lord. I will tarry until I'll come again. Now, think about that, the Lord, the almighty. Tells Gideon, I will tarry. or I will dwell, or I will sit here patiently until you come again." The Lord of glory says that to a man. The Lord would sit while Gideon got his gift ready. The reality of the matter is that this had been true from the start, though. You know that? This is the very same word that's used back in verse 11, where it says, He came and sat under an oak near where Gideon threshed wheat. I pointed out there that He had come with deliberateness and with patience. He came to see from the very beginning Gideon through all of his questions and doubts until he was convinced of his calling and he was nerved for the task. The Lord had been tearing right from the start, but when he comes here and he just says it. That he says that he would carry. That is precious, I will carry. Until they come again. Now, of course, I think we understand that this was not a license for Gideon to prolong doubt or hesitation. No, because Gideon is making progress here. When the Lord patiently deals with us and waits for us, he is not indulging our doubt or hesitation. No, he is seeing us through them. There is one way to know that the Lord is caring for you. Because if he is, you will sooner or later make progress. You'll make progress. So I think we can go this far. Without forcing the text, Gideon wanted to see if this person would carry and accept the gift And he also wanted to see what he would do. With the gift or offering. That seems very obvious, doesn't it? What will he do with this gift? Well, upon the Lord's promise to Terry, we see in verse 19 that Gideon prepared a generous meal. And some have noted that these were very large proportions And you stop and think about this, how precious flour was when he's beating it out with a staff. And at some point out, this was a huge amount that he brought out. And if he had been hiding to thresh the wheat at this time, no doubt the Midianites were somewhere in the area. And what did the Midianites do? They stole their sheep and cattle. So imagine sheep and cattle were pretty precious at that point. And he brought forth a kid. He he brought forth a very general, a generous gift. Well, we see in verse 20 that this angel of God told Gideon what to do. With this meal, when he said it before him and the angel of God said unto him, take the flesh and the unleavened cakes And lay them upon this rock and pour out the broth. And he did so. Now some say that the idea here is that Gideon was instructed to lay out the meat and the unleavened cakes and pour the broth over the top of it. Kind of similar to when Elijah told the prophets of Baal to dump barrels of water on the wood for their sacrifices. He's going to really dampen it down. So it would not be easily caught on fire, I guess. I think that's the implication that some would make. But this did not hesitate, cause Gideon to hesitate or wonder. You know, it must have been obvious to him that the food he prepared was for something other than consumption, human consumption, I say that because that when the Lord told me to do that as though Gideon was almost expecting it. He didn't even question it. And he did so. He did it without a heartbeat, it seems like. If, and I say if, Gideon had intended this from the beginning to be an offering, it seems that at this point, He could have had little doubt that this angel intended to be an offering. Obviously, he was not going to eat it. And so in that case, this rock became kind of like an altar for the offering. Now, again, we know that this was not according to normal procedure for a meat offering. There was no priest. There was no brazen altar. But this was something the Lord had initiated, and so It sets no precedent for worshiping outside of the order that God has ordained. But the Lord had ordered him to do this in this case. Now, what transpires next is, of course, invites our imagination. It is striking. Here is a sign that is unmistakable. Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the flesh in the unleavened cakes. And there rose up fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh in the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. This was a miracle, wasn't it? This was this was a sign fire coming out of the rock. But it seems to me that The message it sent was greater than the spectacle. That it produced. And what was the message? Gideon's offering was accepted. It was consumed. You know, that's the whole idea of the burnt offering, it was consumed, it was accepted by the Lord. It was eaten, as it were. That was his way of eating it, accepting it. And finally, the departure of the angel was a sudden disappearance. And this completed the sign that Gideon had sought. It might went a little beyond that which he expected. He had requested that this person not depart until he brought forth his present, and the Lord had tarried. Until he brought it forth, he clearly approved and accepted it. And departed. But it seems that Gideon's initial reaction shows us that he did not. Immediately. Apprehend or perceive this approval and acceptance because. We noticed Gideon's reaction to this in verse 22, and when Gideon perceived That he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God, for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. Now, Kyle tells us that the construction of the words, Alas, O Lord God, always denotes one of two things in the Old Testament, either grief, great grief or great alarm. And in Gideon's case, it was one of great alarm. His fear and awe of the Lord and the fact that he was a mere man when such a thing as this occurred had seen him face to face, as it were, alarmed him greatly. And if there's any question of that, we will see the Lord's answer back to him. But it seems that he was concerned Even for his very life, he says, because or to this end, to this end. To this end, what end? The end that I'm about to be destroyed. To this end, I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. Well, I think If we ever had that experience, we would have the same reaction so much for those that claim to engage appearances of the Lord today. But this was a proper and no doubt the intended effect of this upon Gideon. When we wrestle with divine things, If we are not brought to an awe of the Lord and a sense of our total weakness and total vulnerability before him, I do not think our wrestling has produced sufficient fruit. But strangely enough, and here is the wonder and wonderful thing about this. There's something that accompanies a proper fear of the Lord, as it did with Gideon. Notice verse 23, his alarm was relieved. The Lord did not deny that Gideon had seen him. Rather, he confirmed Gideon's claim. I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face, but the alarm that he might die is relieved. Fear not, thou shalt not die. Here is the wonderful thing that accompanies a proper fear of the Lord. Peace. Peace. Peace be unto thee and then fear not. Now that seems somewhat of a paradox, doesn't it? When he was brought to this fear and then he was told to fear not. But again, a proper fear in respect of God relieves us of needless fear. Slavish fear. God had good intentions for Gideon. And he has good intentions for any that are in awe of him. Don't ever forget that. You want to know a sign of God's favor and that he has good intentions for you. Do you live in an awe of him? So we see Finally, in verse 24, that Gideon would commemorate the occasion. Then Gideon built an altar there under the Lord and called it Jehovah Shalom. And to this day, it is yet an ofrah of the Ezrites. It was a token of God's favor to him. And it was very fitting the name he gave it. The Lord is peace. Having gone through this, having feared as he ought, Gideon had peace. The Lord is peace. And of course, in closing, this ought to remind us of our altar and our emblem of God's peace with us. What is that? It is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ in this This commemoration or this memorial we have with us at all times and no matter where we are, we have that. Peace to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. I have shortened your intermission time, I'm sorry, but we'll take up and finish chapter six next time, Lord willing.