The Hidden Option- Part 2 Series

INTRODUCTION

• VIDEO CLIP FROM DEFIANCE

• SLIDE #1

• Sometimes we can find ourselves in a situation that seems impossible, a situation of which it is hard to see a good way out.

• When we face the opportunity to make decisions in life, have you ever been paralyzed so much by the situation you did not know what to do?

• I bet if we look back at some of the decisions we have made in the past, we could all say we have made some we wish we had not made.

• There are many reasons we can fall prey to making poor decisions in life, from not looking at all the options, to looking at the options and seeing that our choice is going to end up bad, but we want what we want so bad, we think we will figure it out later.

• We can make bad choices when we do not realize there are more possibilities than we can see as we examined last week.

• Last week we talked about the fact that there are more possibilities than we can see, and God’s creativity can help us find them. Today, we’ll look at some practical ways to find the hidden option in your own impossible situations.

• Before we dig into our text, a brief amount of background information will be helpful.

• The book of Judges is a book about cycles, the cycle of the nation of Israel falling into sin, God allowing the country to go into servitude, then the people would eventually repent, then salvation would come when God would anoint a person that would be called a Judge to bring deliverance from the servitude to the nation.

• Then over time, it would all happen again.

• During the time of Gideon, we are in the fourth of the seven total cycles in which this happened.

• The nation was in dire straits when God tapped Gideon on the shoulder to deliver the nation.

• The Midianites, Amalekites and the Qedemites were all Bedouin raiders. They were desert people who overran the Israelites territory for the past seven years.

• They would wipe out the herds and crops. So, when God called Gideon, Gideon was hiding in a wine press trying to beat some wheat to use.

• When called convinced Gideon to do what God asked of him, Gideon was able to raise an army of 32000 men.

• That gets us to where we are today in our text.

• As we conclude our short series entitled The Hidden Option we will examine a well-an event from the well-known story of Gideon.

• We will examine how this reluctant military leader overcame impossible odds through a creative solution.

• Let’s turn to Judges 7:1-15

• SLIDE #2

• Judges 7:1–15 (CSB) — 1 Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him, got up early and camped beside the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘My own strength saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the troops: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained. 4 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one can go with you,’ he can go. But if I say about anyone, ‘This one cannot go with you,’ he cannot go.” 5 So he brought the troops down to the water, and the LORD said to Gideon, “Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog. Do the same with everyone who kneels to drink.” 6 The number of those who lapped with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men, and all the rest of the troops knelt to drink water. 7 The LORD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the three hundred men who lapped and hand the Midianites over to you. But everyone else is to go home.” 8 So Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops, who took the provisions and their trumpets. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley. 9 That night the LORD said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you. 10 But if you are afraid to attack the camp, go down with Purah your servant. 11 Listen to what they say, and then you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the troops who were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the Qedemites had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, “Listen, I had a dream: a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.” 14 His friend answered: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite camp over to him.” 15 When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, “Get up, for the LORD has handed the Midianite camp over to you.”