A Glimpse of Near Eastern Hospitality
Judges 6:11-24
A number of years ago my family and I were traveling south from upstate New York, where we lived, to North Carolina, where my parents lived. My wife and I intended to drive the 13-hour trip straight through. We were traveling through New Jersey about 10:00 PM when the weather turned bad. I stopped at a convenience mart for gas and to find a suitable hotel in the area. I pumped my gas and went in to pay. I asked if the man who waited on me if there was a hotel nearby that would be safe for my family and me. He responded that I would have to drive a ways because there were none in the area. I thanked him and turned to leave. He said, “If I wasn’t working, you could stay at my house.”
Number one, I’m an American from the South. We have all of our niceties that we say, but I’m not going to take someone and their family in for the night just because the weather is bad.
I turned and said, “I’m a stranger and we have four children. You would take us into your home for the night?” He responded, “Yes.” And with a smile he said, “You don’t understand Middle Eastern culture.”
I thanked him and left not knowing how to take the conversation.
Now having traveled so much, I wouldn’t be as shocked. I still don’t think I would take such an offer, but I’m blown away by hospitality in different places around the world.
But Gideon did so much more. He asked the stranger to wait while he killed, dressed, and cooked a goat and a large amount of bread. This would have taken several hours. Obviously, he intended for the stranger to carry at least the bread with him.
The direction of the story of Gideon’s call is so much more, but look at a simple application.
As believers we are to serve one another. When is the last time you showed hospitality to a stranger? Holding a door for someone is simply common courtesy. No, you don’t have to invite them into your home for the night or cook them a meal, but do we reflect the light of Jesus to people?
In a dark world, consider ways you can spread light. Who knows, God may bring someone across your path that is searching for answers you may have. Use courtesy as a way of opening the door to point them to Jesus.
The Context of Judges 6
The call of Gideon
The Angel of The LORD - Referenced in Judges 6:11, 12, 20-22, but explained as The LORD in Judges 6:14, 16, 23 ff.
Gideon called Him Lord (Adonai) - Master, a term of respect
LORD (Yahweh) - The Self-Existing One
The LORD appears to Gideon but Gideon does not recognize Him - Judges 6:11
Gideon recognized that this was The LORD - Judges 6:22 and particularly Judges 6:24
This appearance of The LORD is a preincarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ - the Lord Jesus appearing before His Incarnation. This is called a Christophany. Most refer to this as a Theophany - an appearance of God before the Incarnation. Because God appears in bodily form, this can only be the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Second Person of the Trinity, God The Son is the only One who has a body.
Love it 😊