Possessed by God
"But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him, and he blew a trumpet, and [the clan of] Abiezer was gathered to him" (Judges 6:34, Amplified Version). I love this verse, although it wasn't nearly as powerful the first times I read it. Most versions translate it a bit more safely. For example, the NIV simply says, "The Spirit of the LORD came on Gideon..." But the fact is, the Hebrew word used for "came on" means "to put on a garment or to clothe oneself." This is not a side of God I learned in Sunday School. Most people probably don't even know it's Biblical. We can believe God will touch our hearts; but what God did to Gideon encompassed his entire being. He completely engulfed him with Himself. Why would God even want to do such a thing? Let's look at Gideon for a moment. An angel appeared to him and told him he would deliver Israel from their oppression. Gideon looked at himself and ...