Judges Series #9 Life Cycles
“God Empowers the Timid and Insignificant” PT 2
Review
We find a universal cycle introduced in the book of Judges.
It is a cycle that plays out at all levels of life: nations, states, communities, families, churches, individuals.
Sin-Slavery-Supplication-Salvation-Service
The author weaves three main “take away” messages (life principles) all though these journals of Israel’s history in the Promised Land.,
Sin continually causes bondage and enslavement.
God mercifully grants deliverance from slavery.
God powerfully enlists the unlikely to precipitate the unimaginable.
I. Cycle Identified 1-2
II. Cycle Illustrated (Seven examples) 3-16
A. Othniel 3:1-16 God empowers the faithful
B. Ehud 3:17-30 God empowers the weak
C. Shamgar 3:31 God empowers with whatever is available.
“Start where you are.” “Use what you have.” “Do what you can.”
D. Deborah 4 God empowers the disenfranchised
INTRODUCTION
Last week we introduced a farmer named Gideon who grew up in an idol worshiping family from a renegade Tribe in Israel – Manasseh. They, along with their fellow Israelites, grew up trusting Baal to bring them success.
Finally, God decided to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of Baal and the futility of trusting him for life. Again, we see that sin results in hardship intended to get our attention and expose the objects of our trust and devotion. No matter what we say we believe, our actions expose who or what we really trust. Who is the object of your trust?
Where to we spend the bulk of our resources of time and money? What occupies our thinking and dreaming?
What triggers anger or fear?
E. Gideon God empowers the fearful and insignificant. This cycle begins just like the rest.
1. Sin
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD
The sin of Israel, as before, centered in their rejection of God and embracing of someone or something else as the central focus of their lives and object of devotion.
2. Slavery
and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. Judges 6:1
The Midianites descended from Abraham through his wife Keturah who he married after Sarah died.
They settled east of the Jordan near the Dead Sea.
Moses married a Midianite and hung out in this area after fleeing from the Egyptian Pharaoh. Moses’ father-in-law was Jethro a priest of Midian.
It is the same area where Moses received his commissioning at the burning bush. Midian allied with Edom, Amalek Moab and Ammon to resist Israel’s occupation.
The Israelites trusted Baal to bless their crops and grant prosperity and fertility.
God allowed the Midianites to decimate their sources of food in order to demonstrate the futility of Israel’s trust in Baal to meet their basic needs.
3. Supplication
And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD.
God made it clear that He certainly does look out for them but they refused to listen to His instructions intended to keep them out of trouble.
“I rescued and protected you but YOU have not listened to My voice.” Sin leads to bondage and difficulties.
“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you” (Isa 59:1-2
4. Salvation
Notice God specially chose a person, not necessarily a specially gifted person.
As has been clear throughout these cycles, God often chooses the most unlikely people as His instrument of deliverance. Gideon stands as a striking illustration of this principle. God granted Gideon a special encounter with Jesus. “The LORD is with you”. He addressed him by what He would make him -- “O mighty man of valor.” He would grow from coward to conqueror. God sees the potential while we focus on the problems. God focuses on availability not insecurity.
Gideon first aired his frustration with God’s apparent neglect. He blamed God for not rescuing them out their difficulties.
And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
Who did the forsaking anyway? Israel did the forgetting and the rebelling. Whom were they sacrificing to for blessing in their lives? They looked to Baal for blessing. The reason God allowed them to suffer such loss was because they had rejected Him and turned to idols for blessing. We sometime ignore God and then blame Him for the results of our indifference and rebellion. An idol is anything we pursue other than God as the source of wellbeing and blessing. Where we spend our resources, what dreams occupy our thoughts, what we fear losing exposes what we really trust to fulfill us.
God commission Gideon to save Israel. God sent Gideon just as He sends to be His ambassadors. Gideon recognized that someone greater than an angel stood before him. The reality of the Angel of the Lord was greater than anything he had ever experienced with Baal. Gideon was accustomed to sacrificing to Baal. He demonstrated his allegiance to the Angel of the LORD by asking Him to stick around while he ran home to prepare a sacrifice.
Regular angels do not accept worship. This is obviously a personal appearance of Jesus. Gideon put the sacrifice on a rock as instructed and the Angel of the LORD brought fire out of the rock to completely consume the sacrifice a gesture of acceptance of Gideon’s worship. But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. Gideon gained a new perspective through this encounter with Jesus.
God reinforced courage in this fearful man. Peace, memorable encounter, promise of His presence and protection diminished his fear. None other than the Almighty promised Gideon’s safety and success. Now before Gideon could steer Israel away from idolatry, he need to stamp out idolatry from his own family. The Angel of the LORD instructed him to take care of the family altar to Baal. Gideon did as the Angel of the LORD instructed but did it during the night because he was afraid of not only his family but also the men of the city.
Courage is not the absence of fear but obedience in spite of the fear. Gideon obeyed in spite of his fear. The town’s people violently reacted but Gideon’s father stepped up.
But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar. Judges 6:31-32
So far, we have a call, a commission and a consecration. Next God prepared Gideon to confront the enemy. Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. The enemy came over to pillage the land as they had done for the last seven years.
The Holy Spirit “clothed” Gideon. This completes the collusion of each person of the trinity in this account. Yahweh sends “His Angel (Jesus) who sends the Holy Spirit.
The term indicates putting on of clothes symbolic of a change in status. Tamar put on the clothes of a prostitute.
Men were clothed with priestly clothes. The repentant clothed themselves with burlap. Here, God clothed Gideon with His Holy Spirit. Because of the Holy Spirit’s work, Gideon courageously summoned men from surrounding tribes.
That call brought men from Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali. God stirs His warriors to action through His Holy Spirit. Paul encouraged timid Timothy in his pastoral ministry. I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 2 Timothy 1:6-7
In spite of Gideon’s encounters with God to this point, the prospect of battle still unnerves him.
He concocted a plan to verify God’s protection.
Then Gideon said to God, "If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken." And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. Then Gideon said to God, "Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground." God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground. Judges 6:33-40
We all need the confidence stirred by affirmation of God’s presence and promise.
God already promised His power and protection.
He promised to deliver the enemy into Gideon’s hands.
He promised he would not die. He promised His presence.
Still it was not enough. Fear is a powerful thing. At its core, fear is fundamentally a failure to take God at His word.
Many draw the wrong conclusions from this account. This account does not prescribe a particular action but simply describes Gideon’s action. Gideon’s actions demonstrated weak trust in God not a strong one. Yet God did not give up on Him. He did not give up on His disciples either but encouraged them to take courage. Neither does He give up on us but encourages us to fear not. With a troop of 32,000 men, God communicated the next step.
At first call, the odds were 135,000 to one. Now the odds are still not all that great -- 135,000 to 32,000 (4 to 1 odds)
Man has a tendency to explain away or discount God’s intervention and glorify our invention.
The LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me.' Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.'" So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.
Still not enough, so God proposes a little test to whittle them down even more. After the test, the odds ended up 450 Midianites for every Israelite. (135,000 to 300). God plus none still makes a majority. Impossible odds never intimidate God. An all-powerful God has NO limitation. He chooses to include frail people in demonstrating extraordinary results. It reminds me of Jonathan going against the Philistine encampment.
Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few." 1 Samuel 14:6
King Asa well understood the principle.
Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You." 2 Chronicles 14:11
Of Course so did the apostle Paul.
I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10
With God’s clear affirmation in hand, Gideon waited for the next step. Realizing that pockets of fear still persisted in the heart of Gideon, God appeared at night and told Gideon to take his servant down to the Midianite camp and listen to the chatter.
Even after three affirmations and three signs, God reaffirmed His promise. But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp, and you will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp."
So he went with Purah his servant down to the outposts of the army that was in the camp. Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
The odds had not changed. It was still very intimidating. When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, "Behold, I had a dream; a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian,
Barley was a poor man’s food. and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat." His friend replied, "This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand." When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Perfect response to the realization of God’s promise.
Effective worshippers make the best warriors. Gideon returned from his personal worship service to lead his band of 300 men into battle. He divided them into three groups of 100 to surround the enemy with trumpets and torches covered by a pitcher. Just before midnight. Gideon instructed them to blow the trumpets uncover the lambs and shout “For the LORD and for Gideon” at his signal.
They did just as they Gideon told them and God did just as He promised Gideon. The army in all their confusion in the blackness of the night started running all around and killing anything that moved in the dark, which happened to be each other. The Midianite army took off in the night and the men of Israel form the surround tribes joined in the battle against the retreating army.
Chapter 8 records the mop up action where Gideon pursued the leaders of the Midianites whose troops had been devastate from 135,000 to 15,000. Gideon captured the leaders and the rest of the army scattered in a panic. It is clear why Gideon appears among the numerous examples of people who trusted God. It would be natural for the people to rally around someone who had just delivered them in such a phenomenal manner and invite him to continue to lead them.
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” Judges 8:22-23
As we see, Gideon did not want to rule. As noble as his response sounds, I am not sure God agreed. He raised Gideon up to lead. His alternative drug the people back into idol worship. He asked them to contribute gold earrings acquired through their plunder of the Midianites. The text tells us they collected nearly 50 pounds of gold, which by Tuesday’s price would have been worth nearly $1,058,000. It was not likely he used it all but out of that collection; Gideon molded a gold ephod that became an object of worship and an obstacle to his family and the people. After rejecting the throne, Gideon apparently lived like a king.
In spite of all this, the people lived in rest for forty years during the days of Gideon. Gideon acquired numerous but unnumbered wives and concubines from whom he produced seventy sons.
At Gideon’s end, another cycle began.
As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. Judges 8:33-35
POINTS TO PONDER
Our reoccurring principles emerge once again.
• Sin leads to slavery.
• God mercifully grants deliverance
• God empowers the improbable to bring about impossible.
God used Gideon in spite of his background and heritage.
God used Gideon in spite of his unremarkable stature.
God used Gideon in spite of his apparent insignificance.
God used Gideon in spite of his fears.
God can use us in spite of whatever reason we think might exclude us.
What picture of Gideon’s life do you suppose God put on His wall of carries in His wallet?
All that is necessary is availability and obedience in spite of fear.
Like Gideon, we have been called.
Like Gideon, we have been commissioned.
Like Gideon, we have been cleansed.
Like Gideon, we have been called to confront the enemy who binds us and our family.
Like Gideon, God promises His presence and His power through the Holy Spirit.
Do you wonder what God has commissioned you to do?
Of course, God commission us all to reach and teach followers of Christ.
The ultimate calling for us all is to draw attention (glorify) to our blessed Lord and Savior.
How do we do that?
Don’t think that only those who engage in formal ministry for the Lord glorify him.
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Colossians 3:22-24
It is obvious from these verses that everything we do has importance and potential to draw attention to Christ in us.
Since God exists…
Since God created all things...
Since God orchestrates ALL THINGS for our good and His glory…
EVERYTHING is important.
Make sure He is the reason you do what you do.
Be available! Listen for His direction – get in the game!
Be obedient! Do what He tells you. Use what He gives you!
