Location can be a forshadowing too
“6: 11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.”
Threshing wheat is a part of a process that separates the grain (wheat) from the chaff (dry scaly casing). Gideon was found in the wine press, by the angel of the Lord.
–It was custom to thresh wheat on the threshing floor (A threshing floor is a specially flattened surface made either of rock or beaten earth where a farmer would thresh the grain harvest. The threshing floor was either owned by the entire village or by a single family. It was usually located outside the village in a place exposed to the wind.-Wikipedia)
–But Gideon was found not at the threshing floor but in the wine press.(wine press was a large basin where men would tread grapes. Each style of press exerts controlled pressure in order to free the juice from the fruit (most often grapes). The pressure must be controlled, especially with grapes, in order to avoid crushing the seeds and releasing a great deal of undesirable tannins into the wine.-Wiki)
Gideon was in the wrong location.
Gideon was staying out of sight from the Midianites(:11), this was the reason for the odd location.
The site Gideon calls this meeting later in verse 24 is “Jehovah-Shalom”(the Lord is Peace). This tells us that Gideon has seen God. The angel is a type (this was Jesus!!!)
- in verse 19 that he gave bread and broth (as an offering).
– the bread and broth was place on a rock and consumed by the fire from the rock as the angel (Jesus) stretch out His staff.
This is why I write this.
- Gideon was hiding in the wine press. This is where we notice that Christ was revealed to him (:12) (All men because of Adam have been cursed with being in the wrong location. We need to be in Christ but because of sin and sinful nature we have been born separate from God—See we should be at the threshing floor, but we are out of sight in the wine press.) But do you see that Christ (the angel of the Lord) came to him. He began to tell him about the redemption that was coming to his people. The angel of the Lord sat and spoke with Gideon. Later Gideon brought food that was consumed by God.
*Christ (the angel of the Lord) knew His location. He saw the wine press, He knew what its purpose was. Christ didn’t leave Gideon without reassuring His power for the redemption of God’s people. He consumed the meat and bread at the wine press, then left. Though Gideon later still needed reassurance (like we all do) the angel gave a foreshadowing of Matt, Mark, Luke and John. Christ’s blood was stepped on, beaten out of, and pour out like wine (-wine press). The bread and meat was consumed by the rock. (Christ death and resurrection was for God’s grace to consume our flesh and the nature of sin its pursues.)
Location: 1. Wrong place 2. Wine press
Characters: 1. Gideon 2. Christ