Hi Mike,

I have a question about Gideon. When he prepares the offering to the angel of the Lord, he first prepares the meat and then the unleavened bread and then pours the broth into a pot. The angel then tells him to put the meat and bread on the rock, then says to pour the broth over it, then the angel sets it on fire which means he’s purging it. What I want to know is, what is the broth, and what is the point of pouring it over the bread and meat in Jdg 6:19-22?

Thank you,
J____

Hi J____,

Thank you for your question, and thank you for being with us each Sunday. You ask me what the broth is that God instructs Gideon to pour out over the bread and meat.

Jdg 6:20 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.

The first thing we need to remember is that we ‘live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

These instructions to Gideon are spoken by “the angel of the Lord” and are therefore “proceeding out of the mouth of God.”

Jdg 6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

This tells us that “the broth” is poured out on us as we present our bodies as a “living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.”

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

The “reasonable service” is better translated as “reasonable divine service” as the Concordant Literal Version and most other versions have it.

Rom 12:1 I am entreating you, then, brethren, by the pities of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice, living, holy, well pleasing to God, your logical divine service,

So when we see Christ on the cross, we should see ourselves there with Him, and when we see Him as an offering of any kind, we too, should think of ourselves as an offering being made to God with Christ. After all we are plainly told:

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Christ is to be living His life of sacrifice within us. That makes us “as He is… in this world.”

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what [ is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: n evertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

If ‘Christ lives in me’ then I really am “as He is in this world.” I am a “living sacrifice.”
So what does all of this have to do with the broth that Gideon poured out over his offering to “the angel of the Lord.”

The broth is the water in which the meat of the offering was cooked. So, if we are “as He is” then we too, are prepared to be presented to the Lord in the boiling broth of the offering.  What is it that we are in when we “present our bodies a living sacrifice to God?” We are in the broth. What is this water in which we are being cooked in preparation of service to God. It is the fiery word of God which is also referred to as a fiery sword and a fiery commandment

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Deu 33:2  And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

But God’s Word is also called “water,” and it is this “water of God’s word” which cleanses and purifies us, just as the fire cleanses us.

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Christ tells us that His words are spirit:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

I hope this has answered your question. The broth that was poured out over the meat and the bread is the word or spirit of God by which we are “sanctified and cleansed.”
God bless your desire to know the things of the Spirit.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike