Who is God? Jehovah Shalom -- Lord Our Peace

Who is God? Jehovah Shalom -- Lord Our Peace 

Foreword

               There are many people who are in search of peace in their lives. They seek out various remedies to aid them in their quest for tranquility such as yoga, gambling, drugs, alcohol, excessive shopping, bad relationships, and more. Others may not follow such a destructive path for peace, but they try to obtain it in other ways that bring them no closer to it than when they first began. For example, many nations seek peace by signing numerous treaties and promising to destroy certain weapons. Governments seek peace by giving campaign promises where most are oftentimes broken. Educational systems seek peace by placing security throughout their buildings. Some families seek peace by burying their heads in the sand and never addressing the problems they have. Sadly, these things will never bring true peace until the Lord of peace is invited into the hearts of those seeking refuge. Nevertheless, those who have their faith in God know that He is the only one who is able to calm life’s storms and give peace to our troubled minds, hearts, bodies, and situations. 

Jehovah Shalom…Lord Our Peace

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7)

               The Israelites were always in a rebellious state. They repeatedly turned away from God and once His judgment came upon them, only then would they cry out to Him for help. Nevertheless, every time they cried out, He sent a deliverer to rescue them from those who wished to do them harm. One of those times was when the Israelites had been oppressed by some of their enemies –the Midianites. Whenever the Israelites planted crops for themselves, the Midianites, Amalekites and other surrounding nations would ban together and plunder all they had. Subsequently, the Israelites hid in caves, mountains, and wherever they could find safety. They, however, would have never had to experience such judgments if they had remained faithful to the Lord; therefore, He allowed it to teach them a lesson about obedience.

The Israelites had finally grown tired of their oppressors and cried out to the Lord because their enemies’ cruelty had been great. The Lord, in His loving mercy, heard their cries and responded by first sending a prophet to remind them of their sins and how He had delivered them in times’ past, then He promised to give them a deliverer. The Bible says, “Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. When the Israelites cried to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet, who said, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me” (Judges 6:6-10). Israel needed to be reminded that their suffering had been brought on by their own failure to obey the Lord’s commands. They had rejected Him in exchange for worthless idols. Nevertheless, He was willing to show them grace by giving them someone who would deliver them from their enemies despite their being undeserving of it.

               God chose a man by the name of Gideon to rescue the Israelites from their oppressors. He was the least likely to be chosen because his clan was the smallest of them all and he was the least in his family. Nevertheless, that did not stop God from choosing him. God often chose people who were the least to others to do the greatest work in establishing peace for His people. It did not matter where Gideon had come from but where he was going to go. An example of this was when God had chosen the next king of Israel to succeed King Saul. The Bible says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:17). God does not choose people based on man’s expectations, but He looks on the inside of a person and makes them into what He wants them to be. The Bible says, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).

               An angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon to let him know that he was the chosen one to rescue the Children of Israel. Gideon was in fear and thought that he would die because he had seen the angel face to face. Nevertheless, the Lord let Gideon know that he would not die and that he could be in peace, for he had been chosen to bring peace to His people. The Bible says, “But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites” (Judges 6:23-24). Jehovah Shalom, Lord Our Peace, is the calm to any storm that we may face just as He was with Israel. In a world that is full of anxiety, frustrations, insecurities, stress, and heartaches, we can be sure that Jehovah Shalom has it all under control. All we have to do is hand it all to Him for Jehovah Shalom is our Lord of Peace.