Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. Judges 6:24
Jehovah- Shalom the Lord our Peace.
Here the title is ‘shalom’ meaning completeness, soundness, welfare, and peace. The word ‘shalom’ is used in many ways and has a slightly different connotation than our current cultural understanding of the concept. In ancient Hebrew culture it meant many things.
Here are the ways the word is translated in the scriptures.
close (2), ease (1), favorable (1), friend* (1), friendly terms (1), friends* (2), greet (1), greet* (5), greeted* (1), health (1), how (1), Peace (2), peace (153), peaceably (1), peaceful (2), peacefully (3), perfect peace (1), prosperity (3), rose (1), safe (2), safely (7), safety (6), secure (1), state (1), trusted (1), welfare (14), well (17), well-being (5), who were at peace (1), wholly (1).
The word shalom was often used as a greeting or a closing / goodbye. Here in this scripture it was used by Gideon as a testament to his encounter with an angel of the Lord. The angel’s message to Gideon was one of direction against a huge army that was overwhelming and very scary to Gideon. The angel then told him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” That’s when Gideon made an alter to the Lord and applied the title ‘Lord is Peace’ (Jehovah-Shalom).
Has your Lord ever asked you to do something that made you fear? Has the Holy Spirit ever asked you to deliver a message to someone and you feared their reaction to you and the message? Peace is the third fruit of the Spirit listed in Paul’s letter to the Galatians (5:22-23).
The Lord will ask His messengers to bring a message that won’t always be greeted with joy, in fact, most prophets OT and NT were given messages that were almost always misunderstood, rejected, or hated. The Lord will ask us to do things WAY out of ‘comfort zone’. Why? Almost always it’s a lesson in growth and maturity. We must learn that there are things we can only do … with… Him. Our own efforts will only take us so far, always short of what the Lord wants for us. We were made to be co-creators with Him. To be ‘yoked’ together — as Jesus suggests that we join Him. We were made to be His Temple where He would dwell.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to BE with you, in every way. It’s His fruit that He wants to plant into your life. It’s His gifts to others that He wants to activate and give through you. He wants to teach, show, and guide you into His kingdom principles and ways. His lessons will always challenge you, test you, and could cause you to be uncomfortable because He almost always asks you to step out of your usual ways of doing things. His instructions always require … faith.
Is He your .. peace? Have you ever asked Him to give you His peace? To help you grow peace in your life? Go boldly to Him in humility in prayer pouring out your heart and your need for His Peace.
For He truly is Jehovah-Sholom, the Lord our Peace.