God's Naming Power

You are not being held in suspense any longer. I’ve repeated the words here again for you.

The farmer in the dell. The farmer in the dell.

Hi-ho, the derry-o! The farmer in the dell.

The farmer takes a wife…

The wife takes a child…

The child takes a nurse…

The nurse takes a cow…

The cow takes a dog…

The dog takes a cat…

The cat takes a rat…

The rat takes the cheese…

The cheese stands alone.

We can see Joash, as the farmer in his dell, and he has taken a wife. This is inferred, because he has a son, therefore he has a wife, common-law or otherwise. The wife has a son, whose name is Gideon, who takes a nurse. The nurse is specifically for the child. The nurse takes the child to school, among other things. You and I know, in past eras, that the nurse did more for the child than the parent, in many cases. Can you see the embodiment of nurse in the angel, who schools Gideon in the things of God? Does he not school Gideon in the way of God and how God sees him? The LORD is with you, mighty warrior. Judges 6: 12b

This gets even more interesting, for we want to know how the cow fits in. Remember, it is the nurse who takes the cow. The cow is the symbol of milk, that which is used as nutrition; sometimes called a complete food. When we look at the angel, God’s servant to Gideon, does he not feed Gideon with nutritious words, the milk of God‘s wisdom and goodness? Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you? Judges 6: 14b.

Now the cow takes a dog. A dog is said to be, man’s best friend. That which is nutritious, the Word of God, takes on the best Friend humans can have. His Name is Jesus. He who is God incarnate, is faithful to His servants, to be with them. Hasn’t Gideon been told by the Lord that He will be with him? The LORD answered, I will be with you. Judges 6: 16a.

What does Jesus take on? What does He bring to this farmer? What is there for which cats remind us? Yes, they catch rats, which are pests and enemies to all farmers. Follow on closely here. Cats kill the rats. Is it not the Lord Himself whose power is given to Gideon and his fighting men, to crush the enemy, the rats? Will you see the cat as the power and strength to destroy the enemy? Has not strength been given to defeat and exterminate the enemy? You will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive. Judges 6: 16b.

This end of the nursery rhyme says that the rat takes cheese but the cheese stands alone.

Now I ask you, is it not true that God is the Only Wise and indeed, He does use the foolishness of this world to teach us some life-energizing and life-alerting lessons? I wondered about the rat and the cheese and it was made so simple, I could only stare in wonder, love and praise, at what I was hearing and seeing.

Cheese is the treasure, the gold, the bounty, the victory of the rat. Rats steal and hoard cheese. However you wish to interpret these final lines, will you also share this? I’m shown the Midianites as rats, who steal the produce, the crops of the Israelites. God has given increase. God has given fruit. God has given the harvest. Alas! The Israelites cannot be the first to share their crops. Indeed they do not even get to enjoy any of these God given blessings. Why? Because they are stolen by ‘rats’. Will you see the cheese as representative of the produce stolen by the Midianites? So where are the Midianites now? In the hands of Gideon. Where are the rats now? In the hands of cats.

We know that the enemies have all been taken away, for God has given Gideon a sign to prove that Gideon really was hearing the Lord. Listen to Gideon. If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Judges 6: 17b. This alone is sufficient for us to believe and know that God gave his servant victory over the enemy.

However, when God gives victory to Gideon and his band of men, all the stolen treasures of the enemy, all the ‘cheese’, remain alone, no longer controlled, claimed and commandeered by the enemy. It is free to be returned to the Israelites.

You are the Lord’s worker. You are to be as the farmer. You too have planted and tended the seeds He has given you. However, there are enemies, rats, whose only business is to steal and boldly take what is yours. Be a Gideon.

Remember this silly old nursery rhyme and how the Holy Spirit has brought His undeniable and unarguable wisdom from it.

The cheese will stand alone. You will receive God’s share. Never Give Up!