Judges 6:15
King James Version (KJV)
And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
Translations
Judges 6:15 - Amplified Bible
Gideon said to Him, Oh Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
Judges 6:15 - American Standard Version
And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my fathers house.
Judges 6:15 - Bible in Basic English
And he said to him, O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
Judges 6:15 - Darby Bible
And he said to him, Ah Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father`s house.
Judges 6:15 - English Standard Version
And he said to him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."
Judges 6:15 - King James Version
And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
Judges 6:15 - La Biblia de las Americas
Y él respondiò: Ah Señor, ¿còmo libraré a Israel? He aquì que mi familia es la más pobre en Manasés, y yo el menor de la casa de mi padre.
Judges 6:15 - The Message
Gideon said to him, "Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan’s the weakest in Manasseh and I’m the runt of the litter."
Judges 6:15 - New American Standard Bible
He said to Him, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house."
Judges 6:15 - Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy
"Ah Señor," le respondiò Gedeòn, "¿còmo libraré a Israel? Mi familia es la más pobre en Manasés, y yo el menor de la casa de mi padre."
Judges 6:15 - World English Bible
He said to him, Oh, Lord, with which shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father`s house.
Judges 6:15 - Young's Living Translation
And he saith unto him, `O, my lord, wherewith do I save Israel? lo, my chief [is] weak in Manasseh, and I the least in the house of my father.`
Judges 6:15 - Additional Comments
See 1 Cor 1:26-29 - not many mighty are called, but God has chosen the weak things of the work to shame the mighty.
God was asking Gideon to lead His people to victory. God needed a military leader for His people, and He chose Gideon. It is amazing how God regularly selects those who don't appear to be leaders from a worldly viewpoint, but God has different criteria. We see this with Moses, David, Gideon, Peter, etc.
The people had fallen to idol worship, much because of a lack of leadership in Israel. In the same way we need leadership in our home.
Prov 29:18 (KJV) "Where there is no vision, the people perish..." The word for "perish" means are left unprotected, vulnerable.
A leader is one who creates a vision for the team he is responsible for, and brings his team forwards to work out that vision.
We, as men, are to be the leaders of our families (Eph 5:23), most importantly being the spiritual leaders of our family. Eph 5:25-27 gives us part of the vision we are to have.
We have been given the responsibility of leadership. You might deny or avoid it, but God, by giving you a wife and family, has given that responsibility to you. What does God say about this responsibility of leadership?
- Know that, whether we want it or not, God required much of us - Luke 12:48
- We will give an account about how we handled this role - Heb 13:17
How did Jesus lead His church? He was the ultimate servant leader - Matt 20:28.
So, how are we to lead?
- Create a vision for your family. Write it down. Say "this is who we are as a family".
- Bring them away from idolatry, in particular selfishness, by showing the way. By your example, show them "this is how you are to serve other people - watch me!".
- Train them. Deut 6:6-9.
- They will see what your real priorities are. They will not go where you are not going. You must make God a priority in your life.
- Bottom line. Be who you need to be, and teach them who they need to be.
The challenge - you may get resistance from outside (the Midianites) and from inside (vs 28-30), as Gideon did.
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