Did you ever have a burning bush moment?
Judges 6: Gideon doesn't encounter a burning bush like Moses, but something like it.
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Judges 6
I'm reading Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).
15 He [Gideon] responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16 The Lord [via an angel] said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.”
This encounter with an angel was Gideon's "burning bush" moment, similar to what Moses received in his first encounter with the LORD. Gideon was then willing to do as the LORD commanded and destroyed the public altar of Baal. He got away with it, too, as his father told the lynch mob to let Baal contend for himself against Gideon.
(In today's context, I would not endorse Gideon's destruction of other people's property, even if it's a shrine to Baal. But I do like the idea that a powerful divine being can hand down punishment by itself and doesn't need human help. Of course, Baal has no power.)
Gideon then tested God, imagining a wet fleece on dry ground, and the next day a dry fleece on dew-covered ground. Both happened as he requested.
So, Gideon had a divine encounter, which I believe was with his higher self, and tested his new powers. He did not know how to make the fleece wet on dry ground, or the fleece dry on wet ground, but he requested those things to happen and they did.
He put his faith to the test, and his higher self - the God in him - delivered.
Have you had a burning bush moment?
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