A Reluctant Warrior
Gideon Could Easily Have Been Born in the 21st Century
On the surface, very little has changed from the days of Gideon, the fifth judge of Israel: we are still unfaithful to God, we still serve idols, we are still in bondage to our enemies, we still cry out to God to save us... and He still does. But underneath the surface, in the spiritual realm, EVERYTHING is different: Christ our Savior has come to live within us, He has broken the chains of slavery PERMANENTLY, He has defeated our enemies FOREVER, and He has made us MORE THAN CONQUERORS NOW.
So why don't we live that way?
The days of Gideon were very much like any other age: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," as Charles Dickens wrote in A TALE OF TWO CITIES. "Every man did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 17:6) There was an overarching Law, because the Ten Commandments had been given; but people picked and chose how much they would obey that Law, much as Christians do today. There was no unifying culture because the people of Israel were mixing in with the pagan cultures around them, contrary to God's will; and so new, diverse cultures were arising. It was very much like the United States today, with one significant difference: there was an oppressive government bearing down on the people. (Some might argue that that, too, is like the United States today; but that's hardly the case... yet.)