“Now all Midyan, ‘Amalek and the others from the east joined forces, crossed the Yarden, and set up camp in the Yizre‘el Valley. But the Spirit of Adonai covered Gid‘on. He sounded the call on the shofar, and Avi‘ezer rallied behind him.”-Judges 6:33-34
Alrighty, so we’re told that literally hordes of Midianites and Amalekites had allied themselves with other forces from the east and descended once again upon God’s Chosen People.
They had set up camp in the valley of Jezreel.
It was the perfect place to set up military quarters because this area was one of the most fertile places in all the land of Canaan with plenty of crops to feed their soldiers.
Unfortunately for the Midianites, Amalekites and their Eastern allies, they were in for a rude awakening this time around.
Because right on the edge of the Jezreel Valley where they had set up camp was a little town called Oprah.
And living in Oprah was a man named Gideon.
And this Gideon would be God’s chosen vessel to rescue Israel and destroy her enemies.
Just in the nick of time the Holy Spirit arrived and “covered” Gideon endowing him with supernatural power and courage to wage a war against the oppressors now camped at his doorstep.
It would be a battle Israel’s enemies would never forget.
Let’s talk for a moment about the Hebrew terms used to describe the interactions of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures.
There are actually 2 words.
The first one is HAYYAH.
This word carries the idea of the Holy Spirit “descending on” or “falling upon” a man.
The second word is LABESH.
This word literally means “to envelope” or “to cover” as in to cover oneself up with a blanket.
It also carries the idea of wearing something like an article of clothing.
It is this term LABESH that is used to describe how the Holy Spirit came upon Gideon.
Gideon was so fully “covered” by the Lord’s Spirit that he now possessed supernatural power to perform works that would normally be humanly impossible on the battlefield.
In other places in Scripture where LABESH is used, we see that it gave other men the ability to prophesy and perform other miraculous feats such as healing others of incurable diseases and even raising the dead.
Of course, Gideon is a perfect example of what a man is capable of when the Holy Spirit covers him.
The brute muscle power of Samson is also an awesome portrayal of what happens when the Holy Spirit descends upon a man.
In fact, we’ll see both of these words often applied to the SHOPHETIM (Judges) in the Scriptures.
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