Well, we’ve finally come to Judges 8:4-21
Note to self: Be familiar enough with this segment of the story so that you can tell it in your own words with confidence.
The main battle is over the original odds of 300 to 135,000 has been reduced to 300 to 15,000 or from 1:450 to 1:50.
The 300 are in pursuit of the remnant of the invading army. They are exhausted and hungry. As they chase the Midianites they pass through two towns, Sukkoth and Penuel. In each of these towns they stop and ask for food for their men. In each of the towns they are rebuffed.
Judges 8:6 says
But the officials of Sukkoth said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?”
What does that mean, "Do you already have the hands of ...?"
Judges 8:6 (ISV)
“Do you have Zebah and Zalmunna in custody already, so that we should give food to your army?”
So, both towns reply with basically the same answer and so Gideon threatens them with torturing them with thorns and briers and tearing down their tower, their stronghold when he comes back through in victory.
Gideon then takes the army up to the Midianite encampment using a route that the enemy does not expect. It’s like the Midianites are watching for the Israelites from the south and Gideon attacks from the north. He has snuck up behind them.
So, they engage in battle. The Midianite army is defeated. Zebah and Zalmunna try to escape but they are captured.
As Gideon and the army head back to Ophrah (Gideon’s home town) they pass through Sukkoth and Penuel but on the way they capture a young man from Sukkoth and he writes out for them the names of the leaders of the town of Sukkoth.
When Gideon arrives in each town he repeats with the two kings in tow he repeats the words of each city back to them.
In Sukkoth he tortures the city leaders with thorns and briers
But in Penuel he not only tears down the tower but executes all of the men of the city!
Why? Because they did not trust him and give him bread.
Now, Gideon had confidence in what he was doing because he had knowledge of what the Lord had guided him through.
The Angel of the Lord meets in when he’s threshing wheat in the wine press
He has seen the Angel of the Lord vaporize the bread and meat of the offering
He has put the Lord to the test with two “fleeces”
The Lord directs him to overhear the dream and interpretation of the Midianites
Gideon has some history to go on.
What do the people of Sukkoth and Penuel have to go on, Gideon’s word? They may not even know who he is!
These people have been ravaged by the Midianites and their gang for the past seven years and they expect the same thing will happen this year.
They’ve seen the overwhelming host of foreigners and they’ve probably even seen this army of 15,000 moving past them and here comes an “army” of 300 chasing them.
I know exactly what the people of Sukkoth and Penuel are thinking. “They may be chasing the Midianites today but tomorrow most likely we’ll see the Midianites obliterating Gideon’s rag-tag group and then the Midianites will hammer us because we gave bread to Gideon and his gang.”
The men of Sukkoth and Penuel haven’t had the luxury of a visit from the Angel of the Lord. They haven’t taken the time to test the Lord with fleeces. They haven’t overheard the enemy prophesying of their own destruction!
All they have is Gideon’s word. Not much to go on.
It’s an entirely different thing when you have doubts and when someone else has doubts.
Aren’t you glad that we have a patient God?
How do we know we have a patient God? Just check out the apostle Peter! He's up and down and all over the place in his spiritual walk.
Jesus said to Peter - “Come follow me” - Peter left the boat and the nets and followed Jesus (Good)
The disciples in the boat - Jesus walking on the water - Peter walks on the water and then sinks (Good/Bad)
Peter says, “You are the Christ the Son of the Living God” (Good)
After Jesus had given a difficult sermon Jesus says, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God." (Good)
Peter prepares the Passover meal for Jesus (Good)
Jesus prophesies re: His beatings and crucifixion. Peter says, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." Jesus says, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." (Bad)
Jesus takes Peter, James and John to His meeting with Moses and Elijah
Peter says, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. (Curious)
Peter declares twice his sacrifice of leaving everything for Jesus
Peter says, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away. Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." (Good or Bad)
Peter sleeps while Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane
Peter cuts off the ear of the servant of the High Priest (Bad)
Peter denies three times that he even knows Jesus (Bad)
Peter ran to the tomb and goes inside (Good)
(For this I am taking the interpretation that agapao is a type of love for another that is absolute regardless if you have warm and fuzzy feelings for the person or not. And, the meaning of philos being a brotherly or close friend type of love. I realize that some say that the words are synonyms but I can't help but believe that they were arranged in this order in the text by the Holy Spirit for a reason.)
John 21:15-17
Jesus: “Simon … do you agapao Me?”
Peter: “You know that I philos you.”
Jesus: “Simon do you agapao Me?”
Peter: “You know that I philos You.”
Jesus: “Simon, do you philos Me?”
Peter: “Lord, You know that I philos You.”
After the Holy Spirit arrives on Pentecost Peter becomes a great missionary for God. (Good)
What if God had been like Gideon and only given Peter one chance?
What if the first time Peter disobeyed Jesus, Jesus put him to death?
What if the first time we disobeyed Jesus He put us to death?
But, let’s get back to Gideon and Israel …
In this part of the story where Gideon is punishing the towns of Sukkoth and Penuel the only mention of the Lord is to the men of Sukkoth is in
Judges 8:7 where He tells the leaders of Sukkoth
“Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”
By the time He passes through Penuel it has turned to
Judges 8:9b
“When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”
The Lord is no longer in there at all.
Gideon does not give the Lord credit for the victory in Battle
Gideon does not ask the Lord how he should treat the leaders of Sukkoth and Penuel
After this he kills the kings of the Midianites and goes home.
From the perspective of Israel
Israel had been whoring after foreign false Gods
God punished the Israelites using the Midianites
God sends a prophet to Israel - Israel does not respond
God raises up a hesitant hero, Gideon, through copious coaxing
God gives the small army He has chosen victory over the mega Midianites
Gideon goes home
Israel does not turn to the Lord but He gives them 40 years of peace
anyway
What does this mean to us on a personal level?
God is watching us just as He watched Israel.
God is proactive - He sent His Son, He sent His Holy Spirit, He sends His people
How will we respond?
When God sent His One and Only Son, Jesus, to live among us He was:
Mocked by the Jewish leadership
Punched in the face by the Temple guards
Spit upon by the Temple guards
Whipped to within an inch of His life by the Romans
Forced to carry His own cross to His own execution
Nailed to that cross
Pierced in His side with a spear to prove His death
When all of this was happening to Jesus do you think He, or His Father Who had sent Him was hoping that we would be like Gideon? Half heartedly obeying?
Would it be possible for God who gave His all to call us to a half-hearted, lukewarm love for Him? To a half-hearted, lukewarm obedience? Do you think He would want us to treat our relationship with Him like some kind of hobby that we do for an hour or so a week, a hobby that we can take or leave?
No! NO! NO!!!
He is calling us to full surrender. He is calling us to lay down our lives for Him.
Christianity is not something that can be played at, it is total complete commitment!
Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
