12/15 (Wed Advent midweek) – Judges 6:11-24 – 7:2-9 – You Shall Defeat Them as One Man

As we Gather

A tradition carried out in some places during the weeks before Christmas is the “Secret Santa,” in which a person leaves little gifts or notes of greeting and encouragement for someone else in a mysterious way. The “Secret Santa” does not reveal his or her identity until Christmas has come. The person who received the gifts may find that the giver was someone totally unexpected, even unlikely. In the season of Advent, we find ourselves awaiting God’s unlikely Messiah. He comes to earth not in power or splendor but in humility and simplicity. God’s plan of salvation is unexpected and unlikely and amazing. With eager hearts, we anticipate the arrival of our humble Lord and rejoice in the wonder of His coming.

Our God does not tend to do things in ways that appear powerful and impressive to the world. He chooses that which is last and least and lowly to accomplish His saving purposes. Gideon was from the weakest clan of Manasseh, and he himself was least in his father’s house. And yet he was the chosen instrument of God’s plan to defeat the Midianites who were oppressing Israel. For with the Lord, the last shall be first, and the humble shall be exalted. Gideon’s small and weak army would defeat Israel’s enemies “as one man.” This wonderfully prefigures how the one man Jesus would defeat our enemies through weakness. Though the infant Jesus did not appear to be a threat to sin, death, and the devil, hidden beneath His lowliness and humility was the very presence and power of God to destroy them. In Jesus, God and man are reconciled and united. In His perfect humanity, our sin is cleansed from us. In His death and resurrection, Satan and the grave are turned against themselves and thoroughly routed. For God’s power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).