God sent His personal representative, the Angel of the Lord, to Gideon at Ophrah. Because He was the Angel of the Lord, He spoke with God's full authority.
Things were pretty bleak in Israel at this time. Whenever the Israelites planted crops, large bands of nomadic raiders would attack and plunder them leaving nothing for Israel to eat.
Because of the threat from the Midianites, Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine vat, a shallow depression in the rock. This was a safer location than the more exposed threshing floor.
The title given to Gideon by the angel--mighty warrior--is in sharp contrast to Gideon's reticence and overly cautious nature. Time and again Gideon required reassurance from God that he was the one called to accomplish God's will or that he was doing what God had called him to do.
Gideon was more like a "reluctant warrior" than a mighty warrior, but all his protestations to God were useless in light of the fact that God promised to be with him. And when the "Spirit of the Lord took control of Gideon" (vs. 34), he became that "mighty warrior" so named by the Angel of the Lord!
Now there are a couple of principles we can learn about God's calling and our response from the example of God's calling of Gideon.
First, God calls busy people. Gideon was threshing wheat when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him. If you are the kind of person who stays busy with your own business, then chances are you are the kind of person God can use to do His business.
Second, and more importantly, your own competence and expertise are not necessarily what God wants from you. When God calls you, He wants to enable and empower you to do His will.
So, in a sense we should all be reluctant warriors so God can empower us to be mighty warriors for Him!
"He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant" (2 Corinthians 3:6).
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