Gideon - Judges 6+

I have run across Gideon twice recently and love the story. It's a great story. There is so much about human nature and God's nature in this story. I am guest speaking at an retirement home service this Sunday. I think I will speak about Gideon.

I heard this as part of the Sunday evening service Judges 6:11-24a. The reader actually read some of what came before but I do not have this on the service bulletin.

"The angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hid it from the Midianites. (Notice Gideon was wise here. Fear had nothing to do with it. He could not win this batter. Why fight a losing battle?)
The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you you mighty warrior." (You know Gideon does not deny here that he is a mighty warrior. This just starts him on a rant. Gideon is probably willing to go to war, if only he knows he can win.)
Gideon answered him, "But sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian." (The angel got him worked up. Gideon is incensed here. He is incensed at their situation. He is incensed at God. God can use this kind of passion. Be careful what cause or problem gets you incensed. God may send you to fix it.)
I did that the other night. I spoke to a person about how blessed they were. That got them going. They went on to tell me how bad things were. They were looking at all the bad but I was still right they were very blessed in other ways.
The angel does the same thing here. He knows what to say to get Gideon going. Isn't it strange that Gideon opens up like this to a perfect stranger?
Then the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hearby commission you." He responded, "But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manassah, and I am the least in my family." (Judging by the fact that he owns a winepress and has wheat to threash this is probably an overstatement at best. Gideon wants assurance that he will win. He is not willing to follow up on a losing cause.)
The LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them." (Notice we have switched from "the angel of the LORD" to simply "the LORD".) Then he said to him, "If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Do not depart from here until I come to you, and bring out my present, and set it before you." And he said, "I will stay until you return."
(Gideon goes in and prepares a meal which becomes a sacrifice. This seems a lot like Abraham's meeting with the three men (angels) and the oak of Mamre. It's hospitality. And its a test. Gideon openly speaks of a sign here. He remembers Abraham's example, perhaps, and knows that this will get him the understanding that he wants. Is he speaking to God or not? We too should test all spirits. God is patient and waits. Cooking an animal kid this has got to take hours. Then when the angel burns up the food Gideon freaks out.)