Anointed to Lead

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And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. -- Judges 6:12 (KJV)

In Judges 6, the Israelites were under the oppression of the Midianites who would destroy their crops and provisions. They often had to hide their produce to survive. They cried out to God in their distress, and He reminded them how he had delivered them out of Egypt and settle them in their own lands. An angel then appeared to Gideon while he was threshing wheat in a wine press to hide from the Midianites. The angel’s greetings startled Gideon when he said, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.” (Judges 6:12) His question to the angel was, if the Lord is truly with them, then why was His people experiencing so much oppression? He asked the angel where were all the miracles which his father told him about and why God brought them up from Egypt and had now forsaken them and delivered them into the hands of Median. Gideon's questions and frustrations were the exact reason why the angel had come and in fact, his passion concerning the issues at hand pointed to his role in their deliverance. “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you.” (Judges 6:14)

Gideon's response shows that he was startled and surprised by the angel’s instructions. His protest was, how could God expect him to save Israel, when his clan was the weakest in his tribe as he considered himself the least in his father's house. The angel shared with Gideon the antidote to his fears, which was that the Lord would be with him and he would defeat the Midianites as one man.

As the story unfolds Gideon defeated the enemy with a small army as God instructed him to reduce the initial draft. God used Gideon with a small army to demonstrate that it was His presence that would win the battle and not Gideon's strength or might.

Saul had a similar response when God called him through Samuel to lead as the first King of Israel. “And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me.” (1 Samuel 9:21, KJV) It may not be accurate to say these men had an inferiority complex; rather, they lived in a context where people were often valued and measured by their tribe, family standing, and lineage. While Gideon’s leadership was marked by dependence on God, Saul’s was ultimately undermined by pride and disobedience. Perhaps he had not overcome his insecurity and sense of insufficiency enough to rely on God to help him to succeed.

After Saul’s reign became misaligned with God’s will for his people, God sent Samuel to anoint another man who, within his family appeared to be the least among them. When Samuel turned up at Jesse’s house to anoint one of his sons as King David was not even invited to the family meeting. Rather he was busy in the fields looking after sheep and it was only after God had rejected each of Jesse’s other sons. It was only when He made all seven of them pass before Samuel that David was even considered. I imagine how Samuel may have been wondering if he heard God right the first time because when he was at Jesse’s house he had seen what seemed like all his sons and God said no to all of them. Samuel had to ask Jesse if these were all his sons. He responded that there was another one who's the youngest and he was keeping the sheep. Samuel told Jesse to send and fetch David because he did not plan to leave without anointing somebody as none of his sons in the house had been chosen by God. Once David entered the house, Samuel heard God clearly, ‘arise, anoint him, for this is the one.’ (1 Samuel 16:12)

The summation of my story is to reflect on the how God uses seemingly insignificant people to become great leaders. God uses the foolish things of this world, the base things, and even the weak things to accomplish His glory. Human qualifications and prerequisites don't determine Gods’ assignment and to whom He ascribes glory. We often look at the outward appearance when we consider people's background; what they're bringing and sometimes their qualifications to determine the value we place on them. Often God would use a person of no significance to demonstrate to us that His power surpasses our understanding.

Gideon did not see himself as a mighty man of valor. Saul considered his tribe and family to be the least among his people. I think David had a sense about who he was in God given how much time he spent alone with God. His family however did not place as much value in David, and he was the least in their imagination that God would choose to anoint as king. Perhaps their assumption was based on David's age. There may have been other realities that were at play in his situation. Whatever their assumption was it was God who made the final decision and in each of these stories it was God who made the choice as to who He had chosen to anoint to lead.

“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.” (Psalm 118:22, KJV)