"So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and..."
The literal reading of this phrase, in the Hebrew language, is "So the Spirit of the LORD clothed Himself with Gideon." R. Clyde Ridall, writing in The Beacon Bible Commentary, says, "God 'put on' Gideon as one puts on a garment. That is, the Holy Spirit became incarnate in Gideon." We've heard the phrase, "clothes make the man"? The idea, of course, is that clothes make the wearer. But not so here. Here, the Wearer (The Spirit) makes the clothes (the man). What an incredible picture, revealing an amazing truth! This gives new meaning to the admonition,"be filled with the Spirit". We aren't much to speak of alone, each of us with our own wear and tear, but He puts us on as His own and all of a sudden these "garments", these men and women, take on color, uniform purpose, and unique strength. He is the very life of the what He has put on. This One, the Spirit of God, is revealed throughout the Old Testament, but explodes on the scene in the New Testament. What the Spirit of God was, in the time of the Judges, with men like Gideon, giving power (ability) to do what could not be done on their own, the Spirit of God must be, and even much more so, to the church (to you and me) today. He comes to desperate hearts, putting them on as His to wear, and makes them a force to be reckoned with. Let it be recorded again, of any of God's people, "So the Spirit of the LORD clothed Himself with__________; and..." Only He knows what the "and" of our life will be, but one thing is certain, we'll never know the "and" of God without our name in the blank. Fill in the blank and let Him fill your heart and life.
The literal reading of this phrase, in the Hebrew language, is "So the Spirit of the LORD clothed Himself with Gideon." R. Clyde Ridall, writing in The Beacon Bible Commentary, says, "God 'put on' Gideon as one puts on a garment. That is, the Holy Spirit became incarnate in Gideon." We've heard the phrase, "clothes make the man"? The idea, of course, is that clothes make the wearer. But not so here. Here, the Wearer (The Spirit) makes the clothes (the man). What an incredible picture, revealing an amazing truth! This gives new meaning to the admonition,"be filled with the Spirit". We aren't much to speak of alone, each of us with our own wear and tear, but He puts us on as His own and all of a sudden these "garments", these men and women, take on color, uniform purpose, and unique strength. He is the very life of the what He has put on. This One, the Spirit of God, is revealed throughout the Old Testament, but explodes on the scene in the New Testament. What the Spirit of God was, in the time of the Judges, with men like Gideon, giving power (ability) to do what could not be done on their own, the Spirit of God must be, and even much more so, to the church (to you and me) today. He comes to desperate hearts, putting them on as His to wear, and makes them a force to be reckoned with. Let it be recorded again, of any of God's people, "So the Spirit of the LORD clothed Himself with__________; and..." Only He knows what the "and" of our life will be, but one thing is certain, we'll never know the "and" of God without our name in the blank. Fill in the blank and let Him fill your heart and life.
No comments:
Post a Comment