Possessing the Promises #4 – Gideon
Guess what? After Deborah, Barak, and Jael the Israelites do evil on the sight of the Lord.
• Midianites oppress them for seven years.
• Israelites forced to live in caves
• Midianites steal all their crops
• They cry out to the Lord for help
Little twist
• God sends an unnamed prophet to reveal the problem
8"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, `I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me."
• Another visitor arrives – this time an angel of the Lord. Nowhere in Judges do we see such personal attention given to the Jews from God.
• Goes to Gideon
• the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."
• Gideon’s response
JDG 6:13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, `Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."
JDG 6:14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?" 15 "But Lord, " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." 16 The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."
Then Gideon begins asking for signs of verification
• But first Gideon goes and prepares a sacrifice, which is a sign of respect, and significant seeing that food is rare with the Midianites around. He offers a goat and some bread.
• The angel then provides the sign that Gideon wanted
JDG 6:20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"
• Gideon builds an altar
• Later that night the angel comes back.
o First you have to take care of some personal business. Tear down the altar to Baal and the Ahserah pole and make an altar to the Lord and offer another bull.
o Gideon gets 10 servants and under the cover of night bravely does what the angel has requested
o In the morning there’s quite a commotion – Whoever did this must die? A sure sign of how idolistic Israel has become.
o Gideon’s father Joash, stands up for his son and says that if Baal is really a god and is upset let him deal with it himself
o This gives Gideon a nickname – Jerub-Baal which means let Baal contend with him.
• The Midianites advance and the Spirit of the Lord comes over Gideon and he calls fellow Israelites to arms. But before he goes into battle he asks for another sign. This time the famous fleece.
JDG 6:36 Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised-- 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew--a bowlful of water.
• Then again he asks for a sign:
JDG 6:39 Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.
• Convinced Gideon takes his men into battle, but before the battle begins God now has a request for Gideon.
o This army is too big – he’s got 32,000 men ready for battle.
o God says, Let anyone who is afraid go back. 22,000 men leave.
o Still too big, God says
o Take hem down to the water. Anyone who drinks from the water like a dog, let them go. Those who kneel down and bring the water to their mouths with their hands, keep them. Only 300 men pass this test. God has reduced the army from 32,000 to 300!
• During the night God comes back again.
"Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp."
• Gideon goes and just as he arrives he overhears two men talking about a dream one of them had -- "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed."
o This convinces the Midianite that the Jews would destroy them. Fear spreads throughout the Midianite camp while Gideon is beside himself with confidence. He calls his 300 men and he says, “Let’s roll.”
• His strategy is for each man to be armed with a trumpet, a jar, and a torch. On Gideon’s signal they are to break the jars, blow the trumpets, wave the torches and shout out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.”
• They do that and the Midianites go crazy – they all run away terrified. They turn on each other and the ones still alive run away. Another victory for God.
SONG: Faith is the Victory
There’s actually more to the story but let’s make some points at this juncture.
How could Gideon blame God?
JDG 6:13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, `Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."
• Gideon blames God
o Like watching Dr. Phil. It’s so obvious why there are problems.
o Gideon had no concept of the covenant established in Deuteronomy.
o We don’t enjoy the promises of God because we don’t keep our end of the deal.
o Look out your window Gideon.
o Are there things in our lives that have become so commonplace that we don’t even recognize them as sinful anymore?
o Reminds me of the story about boiling a frog: if you drop a live frog in boiling water, it will leap out immediately. But if you drop a frog in tepid water and gradually turn up the heat, it won’t notice and will eventually be frog soup.
o Prayer is not some spiritual 911. A relationship with God is not some mechanical process – in trouble press PRAYER!
How could he ask for so many signs?
• This does not mean God will not give us signs but a preoccupation with them can seriously impeded our carrying out God’s work. God had clearly revealed to Gideon what he was going to do.
• This is not a model of for discernment. These requests reveal a weak faith.
• We must be careful not to drag our feet in obeying God or to insist on this or that “sign” before we follow Christ. During his personal ministry, Jesus called those who demanded miraculous signs “a wicked and adulterous generation.” Furthermore, he told them that his resurrection from the dead would be the only sign given to them (Matt. 12:39-40). At some point, your demand that God give you a sign beyond Christ’s death and resurrection for you is an unholy “putting God to the test” – something Scripture forbids (Deut. 6:16) and Jesus refused to do (Luke 4:12). Jesus said his sheep would hear his voice and follow him (John 10:27).
• The call of God to your life is that you should walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). To walk by sight is to do what you can figure out is right to do; to go the places you can make safe enough to go; to do the things you can do to applause and with immediately happy outcomes; never to look foolish. To walk by faith is to do what God tells you is right to do; to go to the risky places he sends you; to do things the people of this world will laugh at and that typically are not appreciated; to look absolutely foolish to people who are judging things by the criteria of this world.
• Gideon got dangerously close to trying to force God to turn faith into sight for him! He got a call from God and a sign. Then he needed another. Then – if you won’t get angry – just one more! God won’t often be put to that sort of test and tolerate it. You and I have already had one and another and then more signs of God’s grace! To wait any longer to follow him just might cross the line with him and harden our hearts beyond the point of being able ever to repent and be saved.
• Asking for a sign is often an attempt to get out of doing what God wants you to do and Gideon uses every means available to get out of the mission!
• Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will. - Ben Stein, in his final column
Why does Gideon believe the Midianites more than he believes God?
• Sometimes we need skin
o Having just put five-year-old, Neil, to bed, I went downstairs to read a book. A terrible thunderstorm came up, with lightning and loud, house-rattling thunder. Neil started to call for me, “Daddy, I’m scared. Will you please come up here with me?” Well, I was in the middle of a very good part of the book I was reading so I shouted back, “Don’t worry, Neil, you’ll be alright. You know God loves you and is always with you.” “I know God loves me,” Neil cried back, “but I need someone with skin on.”
• This emphasizes the need for encouragement in the church. Sometimes we fail to live up to God’s expectations until someone with skin on tells us we can do it!!
How Patient is God?
• Can you believe Him?
• God responds to these repeated requests. He’s more interested in saving Israel than getting into a theological debate. He even uses the Midianite men to confirm the victory is His. God gives him even more than what he has asked for!!
• He has waited for you.
• Are you waiting for a sign? Stop waiting. Do it today! What else do you want God to do for you?
