Gideon was beating out wheat in the WINEPRESS

[tonychanyt]

Threshing was the process of separating grain kernels from their stalks and husks. Normally, this was done in an open, breezy place where the wind could help separate the grain from the chaff. But there was a problem - an open space like that could be seen easily.

In the case of Gideon, Judges 6:

11 The angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

This was how the Bible introduced our hero Gideon - not on a battlefield or in a palace, but hiding in a winepress, desperately trying to preserve his family's food.

Yet the very next verse contains a striking contrast:

12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

God does not see us superficially. He sees deep inside us.