Judges 6:15-16: “And he said unto him: ‘Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I serve Israel?  Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father’s house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.”

Gideon was called by God to save Israel from the Midianites and his response or excuse was that he came from a poor family and was the least in his father’s house.  The word used to express poor is two words, aleph hadal.  The word aleph has many usages in Hebrew.  It is used to express a weakness, being poor materially; it is used for cattle for being docile and even for learning.  The word hadal is used to express the idea of being poor, weak, and thin or of a lowly estate.

Within the context it is very difficult to believe that Gideon was excusing himself because he was materially poor as we learn later he had a number of servants at his beck and call.  That does not sound like someone living in poverty.  Also it would follow if his family was wealthy enough to have servants, then they must have had some influence.

Some commentators say that this is just a sign of the humility of Gideon.  Perhaps, but that appears to be more like just finding a good explanation rather than to think out of the Hebraic box and seek an alternative rendering of aleph hadal.  One rendering for aleph as I mentioned earlier is learning and a rendering for hadal is weakness.   I think old Gideon was using the same excuse many of us use today, I am just uneducated, unlearned how can God use me?

Then he offers up the further excuse, that he is least in his father’s house.  Some say he is referring to his tribe Manasseh which was the smallest tribe and he was the least in the smallest tribe. The Hebrew word for least that is used here is  tsaiyr which carries the idea of being insignificant or one who is easily ignored.  Gideon was sort of like the kid in the school play ground who was the last one left after each team chooses their members. Romans 9:21 talks of a vessel of honorable use and one made for dishonorable use.  Each household in those days had two clay vessels just inside the door for visitors.  One was for honorable use, this was a vessel that was filled with water for drinking.  It was usually the cleanest and newest vessel.  The second vessel was one for dishonorable use, which was the vessel where water was drawn to wash one’s feet.   This vessel was usually an older flawed vessel which was not cared for, it was not scrubbed or cleaned and was filled with a lot of crud. That was because its use was only for washing the dirt from people’s feet.

I don’t know about you but looking over my life and all my failures, I am convinced I was one of those vessels made for dishonorable use.  Oh yeah I have a lot of learning but I am no scholar. I can play the piano, but no one can sing along with me as I play, I have no sense of timing or rhythm.  I tried to fix the brakes on my car once – once, ended up taking it to a mechanic.  I tried to play football in high school, the only reason I made the team was because they could not get anyone else to come out for the team.  We lost every game and I can honestly say it was not my fault because I never got to play.  All my life I just wanted to be good at something at least good at one thing.  I fear I am just a jack of all trades and master of none. Look I am not being humble, I have good solid facts and witnesses to back me up on this.  I am just Joe Plumber, your average box car, no special talents or extra brain matter.  I admit, I interpret Gideon’s problem based upon my own personal life experience. I believe what Gideon was trying to say was, “Come on God, if you want me to deliver Israel then why did you short change me when it came to the talent and intelligence area.”  Do you ever feel that way, you don’t even read the invitation to a class reunion, let alone consider attending one. Who wants to see all their former class mates all with distinguished careers while you are just a..well, we just won’t go there.

So after a lifetime of failures and getting the short end of the stick I begin to feel God is calling me to write a blog or a book. The way I figure it, what the heck, I can’t make more of an idiot of myself than I have already done. But you know what, after a life time of living a Charlie Brown life style, I have learned one thing, if God is with me, then when I fall down flat, face down in the mud Jesus is right there taking a mud bath with me.

But soft, look at those words, “I will be with you.”  Those are really loaded words.  God said that Abraham would walk before Him, but Enoch walked with him.  Enoch walked with God and was no more, he was taken into heaven.  But say, it is not the word with that gets my attention, that is your simply preposition ‘im which is translated as with.  It is the word for be that gets me going.  The translators did not add that word be into their translation to fill in some gap. That word be is eheyeh, it comes from the same root as the word YHWH.  It is the very being, the very existence the very eternality of God that is with us. The very one that existed long before creation is with me and you and will continue to exist for eternity, without end and He is with me and you.   When I look at it from that frame of reference, well, you know what, it just doesn’t matter if God called me to clean up the mess in the back of my bus after someone spills their cookies or whether or not I write a book, it doesn’t matter.  It light of the fact that I have the eternal, God of the universe with me, what do I care if you can’t find my percentile on the GRE I have the God of the universe, the YHWH the one who is being, that is the one who exist, the creator, the everything He is with me. One day like old Enoch, I will just be no more because I will be where it doesn’t matter whether I can sing, play the piano or play football, it doesn’t matter whether I am ever good at any one thing.  What matters is that I will be with my creator who created me just the way I am.

I know I come across like some brilliant intelligent scholar (which I am not) but one day Toto will pull back that curtain and reveals this Hebrew wizard is nothing more than some friendly old guy holding his empire together with a lot of bluff and bluster.

So what does God have to say to all of us who are just a hang nail on that fickle finger of fate? God created each of us for a purpose and He will fulfill that purpose whether or not we have the intelligence, talent or skill. God is telling you and me the same thing he told  Gideon in verse 16, “Surely, I will be with thee.”  The translators translate the word ki as surely, it really means because.   Gideon asked, ‘Just what makes you think me, this big time Charlie Brown loser is going to deliver Israel?”    God says, “Because I am going to be with you.”