✯✶✰☆ Jehovah Shalom ☆✰✶✯ ✯✶✰☆ The Lord Is Peace ☆✰✶✯ by Diane Stortz ~~ Judges 6:24 "Then Gideon built an alter there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace." ~~ From Judges 6-7. "The Israelites had promised to obey God, but they didn't keep their promise. They stopped worshipping Him only, and they began to worship idols. So God allowed the people of other lands to fight with them and cause them trouble. The people of Midian came with their camels and livestock and camped in tents throughout Israel. They ate all the crops the Israelites planted. The Israelites left their homes and went to hide in the mountains in dens and caves. Finally, they cried out to God and asked God for help. One day, while Gideon was trying to hide some wheat from the Midianites, he suddenly saw someone who said to him, "The Lord is with you, mighty man!" Gideon felt small, and not mighty at all! "If God is with us," he asked, "why have all these bad things been happening to us? We need God to help us." "I am sending you to save your people from the Midianites," the visitor said. It was the angel of the Lord! "How can I save Israel?" Gideon wanted to know. "God will be with you," the angel said. "Can you show me a sign that this is true?" Gideon asked. "Now please wait here while I go and get a gift for you." The angel waited while Gideon cooked a meal... When Gideon brought him the food, the angel said, "Put the meat and bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it." Gideon did what the angel said. Then the angel touched the food with the tip of his staff. Fire sprang up from the rock. The food was gone, and so was the angel! "It really was God's angel talking to me!" Gideon said, feeling afraid. God answered him, "Don't worry, Gideon. Be at peace." Gideon built an alter to the Lord and called it The Lord Is Peace... Gideon called for me to gather with him to fight the Midianites, and many Israelites came. "There are too many," God said. "This is My battle, not yours." God chose just three hundred men. Gideon divided the men into three groups surrounding the Midianites' camp. He gave each man a trumpet and a torch inside a clay jar. When Gideon blew his trumpet, al the soldiers blew theirs too and smashed their jars so the torches could be seen. Instead of fighting with the Israelites, the frightened Midiantes ran away! ~~When we do something we know is wrong, we don't have peace. But because Jesus died for our sins, God forgives us and gives us peace. Sometimes, like Gideon, we may have a problem that worries or frightens us. Maybe someone in your family is sick, or maybe you have a hard spelling test coming up, or maybe someone at your school is a bully. But because God is with you and helping you, you can have peace. Jesus said, 'My peace I give to you.' (John 14:27)."
I am continuing with my one letter per month goal, with a letter aimed for younger kid (above), and for older kids. I also plan to send a personal letter every-other month, with photos and will respond if I have letters to respond to!
Dearest Friend,
Our next judge is Shamgar, and Shamgar ministries writes this:
"Who was Shamgar?
Shamgar was a modern day Rambo who confronted the evil of his day. You’ve probably never heard of him! There are only two verses in the Bible that mention the name of this obscure hero. God called Shamgar to be a judge. His mission as one of the judges of Israel was to deliver the people “from the hands of those who plundered them”. Shamgar took what he had, his oxgoad, and confronted this enemy. His obedience to his mission resulted in the killing of 600 Philistines and saved Israel. He was an ordinary man but yet he was an army of one empowered by an extraordinary God."
Here is one verse from Judges 3:31, "31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel." I am also including a map of ancient Israel with this letter, so you can see where the 12 Tribes of Israel lived. It also lists the 12 judges from the book of Judges that we are going through.
Did you know that there was a woman judge too? I will write to you about her next!
Much love,
Hannah
~~~
Happy Writing!
