B. Historical Significance

     1. It had been more than 200 years since Jehovah revealed Himself to His people as JEHOVAH M'KADDESH, Jehovah who Sanctifies. Joshua had died and the land had been taken and divided among the tribes. There was, however, no sense of national unity, no common government or worship. During this time :Every man did what was right in his own eyes."
( Judges 17:6 )

     2. After Joshua died the people began to forget God... again. They began  following the gods of the people around them.
          a. They forgot JEHOVAH-JIREH who  provided the sacrificial lamb.
          b. They forgot JEHOVAH-ROPHE who healed their sickness and made the water  drinkable at Marah.
          c. They forgot JEHOVAH-NISSI who had been their banner and the reason for their  victory over the Amelikites.
          d. They had forgotten JEHOVAH-M'KADDEHS who commanded them to sanctify themselves to Himself.

         Instead they corrupted themselves with the worshipping of other gods.  It was because of these things  that Israel had lost it's purity, peace, prosperity and liberty.

     3. Without spiritual vision they fell easy prey to the lust of the flesh. Every fall brought about punishment and misery - it was a chastening by God to awaken  them to their spiritual calling.

QUESTION: Who did God provide to deliver His people from their enemies?

QUESTION: What was the prerequisite for deliverance by God?

     4. Repentance brought deliverance through the leadership of the Judges that God had raised up.

     5. With every fall the sin got greater. God could not allow His people to live in the Land if they  were not  obedient to Him.  The deeper in sin the worse  the chastening, even slavery for the people of  Israel.  And this in the land of Promise. They were not fit in God's eyes to enjoy the land because of their  sin.

QUESTION: What is the 'cycle of the Judges'?

     6. Under the leadership of the Judges, It was a period of alternating prosperity and adversity, of  sinning and repenting, of slavery and deliverance. They would sin grievously , and in the depths  of their unfaithfulness, they would remember God and call out to Him. Hearing them, He would deliver them  and restore them. Only to be forgotten again once things got better and the circle would continue.

QUESTION: What do you know about Gideon?

     7. Gideon was a young man at the time of severe oppression by the Midianites. Israel had done evil in the sight of the Lord and He delivered them into the hands of the Midianites for seven  years. They had to live in dens in the  mountains. The midianites and their allies Amalekites  would ravage the land and  leave nothing for the Israelites.

     8. The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon  in a wine press where he was hiding from his enemies. He was given the  promise of  deliverance. Gideon, after some doubt accepted the promise and challenge. In faith he built an altar which he called JEHOVAH-SHALOM, in  confident anticipation of victory  and peace.

C. Theological Significance

     1. One of the most significant in the OT. It's various meanings harmonizes with  the doctrine of atonement as the basis for peace with God.
          a. It is sometimes translated as 'whole' ( Deut. 27:6 )
          b. It is sometimes translated as 'finished' ( Dan. 5:26 ) ( 1 Kings 9:25 )
          c. It is sometimes translated as 'full' ( Gen. 15:16 )
          d. It is sometimes translated as 'make good' (Ex. 21:34; 22:5,6 )
          e. It is sometimes translated as 'welfare' or 'well' ( Gen. 43:27 )
          f. It is sometimes translated as ' render' or 'pay'  ( Deut. 23:21 )
          g. It is sometimes translated as 'perfect' ( 1 Chron. 29:19 )

     2. All these translations together suggest a harmony of  relationship or a  reconciliation based on  the completion of a transaction, the payment of a debt,  the giving of satisfaction. Therefor it is most often and appropriately translated  'PEACE' about 170 times.

     3. It is also the word used in the 'peace offering'

QUESTION: What is a 'Peace Offering'?

          -It was one of the blood sacrifices where the blood shed was the atonement on which reconciliation and peace was  based. ( Lev. 3:1-5 ). In the peace offering this restoration of fellowship between God and man, broken by sin, but now    atoned for by the shed blood, was indicated by the fact that both God and man, priest and people, all shared in the offering.
Therefore,  it was a Sweet Smelling Savor to the Lord.

QUESTION:  Does this sound familiar? What is this look to ?

     4. Jehovah is perfect peace. He must be this if He is to be the source of peace for all mankind. His  thoughts and wishes for us are for peace. ( Jer. 29:11 ) ( Isa. 48:18 )

     5. Scripture is full of promises of God's peace for our lives.

ACTION:  Read      Lev. 26:3,6       Ps. 29:11      Isa. 26:12      Num. 6:24-26

     6. Gideon's name for Jehovah finds it's fullest expression in the NT. It is  frequently applied to God, who is called  ' the God of Peace'.

ACTION:  Read    Rom. 15:33        2 Cor. 13:11      Heb. 13:20

     7. It is indirectly applied to Jesus
           a.  John 14:27  John 16:33  Isa. 9:6  Prince of Peace   Luke 1:78-79

D. Personal Application

     1. Jesus accomplished God's peace for us. ( Rom. 5:1 ) ( Col. 1:20 )

ACTION: Read Phil 4:6--9

     2. It seems to suggest that the peace depends, in part, on the measure of our trust  and on the measure of our obedience .

     3. In ( Col. 3:15 ) we are told to let the peace of God rule our heart. To be spiritually minded is peace ( Rom. 8:6 )

QUESTION: What then could be the reason some Believers don't have peace in their lives?

          -It is because many Christians are carnally minded or worldly, they don't experience peace.

     4. Peace is a fruit of the spirit   ( Gal. 5:22,23 )

     5. When Gideon built an altar to God before gathering an army or formulating a battle plan, he was exercising faith. The only way a person can have the peace  of Jehovah-Shalom is by faith. Rom. 5:1 says ' Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' After we are saved and we attempt to live for God the Bible says ' the  God of peace shall be with you' ( Phil. 4:9 )

     6. It is Jehovah-Shalom who takes care of the Christian in times of discouragement and in the emotional   storms of life. Believers who are  tormented by their feelings need to know Jehovah-Shalom, the LORD our  Peace.