Judges 6:19

GIDEON'S SACRIFICE WAS MIRACULOUSLY ACCEPTED; THEN HE BUILT JEHOVAH-SHALOM

"And Gideon went in and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight. And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites."

"There went up fire out of the rock" (Judges 6:21). This miracle must have astounded Gideon, leaving him no room whatever to doubt the identity of his celestial visitor.

"And the angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight" (Judges 6:21). "In a very similar case of the angel who appeared to Manoah (Judges 13:15-20), the angel ascended in the flame of fire from the altar. It is probable that he did so in the present instance, though it is not expressly stated how he disappeared."[12]

"And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah" (Judges 6:22). Only the power of God could have wrought the wonder which Gideon had just witnessed, and the full realization of what had happened swept over him chilling his heart with fear. Gideon was familiar with the Five Books of Moses (Yes, they most certainly existed when Samuel wrote the Book of Judges), and the passage in Exodus 33:20 came instantly to mind: "No man shall see me (God) and live." The fear that clutched at Gideon's heart came from the knowledge that no man could see God and live.

"Alas, O Lord Jehovah, forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face" (Judges 6:22). "Gideon feared that the theophany, was an omen of his impending death."[13] However, the Lord reassured him at once,

"Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die" (Judges 6:23). Gideon's response to this assurance was to erect an altar there to Jehovah, which he called Jehovah-shalom. [~Shalowm] is the Hebrew word for "Peace."