177. Lord Shall Rule
Judges 8:23 And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you.
After Gideon (and God) delivered the people from the Midianites, they wanted him and his sons to rule over them, foreshadowing the Israelites later desire to have a king to rule over them. God consented to His people and gave them Saul as king. Samuel had warned them that the Lord is your king and ruler; you don’t need a human king. And the rest is history, as recorded in the Samuels, the Kings, and the Chronicles.
Gideon refused to be king and assume the rule for himself and his sons. The reason for his refusal is this: “The Lord shall rule over you.” This Gideon spoke in faith, and it turned out to be a true promise for all the people of God through all ages. He himself did not know the far-reaching extent of this simple word. The Lord did, and does, and will rule over God’s people spiritually through time and actually in eternity.
When Jesus entered earth He declared: “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” The kingdom has come in the person of the Christ, and the Kingdom is the spiritual rule of God over all the believers in Christ, who are under His sovereign Lordship in the invisible and eternal Kingdom of God. This prophesied sovereign kingdom rule is a return to Paradise before the Fall. Adam, and we are in Adam, did not want anyone to rule over him. So he fell. And the history of earth people ever since exhibits the folly of rejecting the Rule of God. Basically, he couldn’t believe that God was good. So humans and all Creation live under the rule of sin, Satan, and death. But the Lord promises to regain sovereignty and rule over His people for their good. This promise is fulfilled: The Lord shall rule over you. And that’s a good thing. Thank God for His Kingdom Rule.