Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” - verse 4
Message: Gideon Defeats Midian
Time: Judges covers about 250 years from death of Joshua to birth of Samuel (1360-1110 BC). The people of Israel largely divided with different local triable judges. It was a period of stirring interventions by the Lord and also great disobedience on the part of the Israelites. Without a king, everyone did right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25).
What the Lord is Saying: I continue to be amazed at the simple themes I find in these passages of scripture. Gideon is an unlikely candidate for a deliverer, and yet he is someone real and authentic with challenges and it seems this unlikely person is the type of person God uses. God will use whoever to accomplish his purposes.
In Judges 7:2, "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.’ - This is a very telling verse on man and the temptation that arises in man and God sees the danger. There are 3 lessons I see in this verse. (1) God's will is when He does a work it is clear that He is working. God wants to work in our lives, but He wants to be our provider. He wants to get the glory and we need to always be ready to give it to him. (2) Our tendency in life is to think that we are the one's in life that achieve good things. Ephesians 2:8-9 is a favorite verse and the focus on that verse is God's grace "lest anyone should boast." Only God is good. We sing songs of the goodness of God. This is assaulting to our pride.
I read a book one time that spoke of the 7 deadly sins. It seems this was a classification that Tertullian first coined. These are 7 major vices of Christianity: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride. C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity - " It was through Pride that Lucifer became wicked: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind." To me, I feel that the idea of recognizing our sin and seeing our sin is one of the biggest areas that has been assaulted in our lives over the last 60 years. And every day I believe it is growing to be more and more of a problem in our lives. I notice it in my life as I grow older that it is not talked about as much. Instead, most church lessons and messages that you read focus on good behavior. Obviously, we want to live our lives in the best way possible, but our position in Christ needs to be focused supremely on the fact that we are sinners.
I mention this because we have a real problem making it clear that we are sinners. And the idea that certain sins such as boasting is one that God really makes a focus on for us today.
I think one of Satan’s biggest agenda items in recent years is to give everyone the idea they are going to heaven. Universalism - the belief that all human beings will ultimately be saved and reconciled with God, regardless of their faith or actions during their lifetime. And I think this idea has led people to not take church seriously and even now resulted in it not being relevant to our lives.
2 things to me stand out in this universalism push
1) Redefining sin as acceptable behavior.2) In the church, confusion about what salvation is.
I also think that out of fear of the world and being a light to the world, our sermons have shifted more and more to good behavior sermons rather than gospel centered sermons. Our world needs Jesus first and foremost. Like my son and his relationship with a girl. All the problems they have could be taken care of if both of them agreed on who they are in Christ. Having that basis is so key. It is one of the things we saw in our Art of Marriage class - how important it is for both partners to be committed to the Lord.
God though a process of having Gideon take the remaining people for battle down to a pool to drink water. The one's that lap the water like a dog would drink versus the one's that put their hands to their mouth. He one's that lap came to 300 and that was the number that will now fight. Kind of a funny story and yet a method was determined. Judges 7:7 says, "The Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.” We must be in an intimate relationship with God in order to hear hi may these types of things. God wants to work in our lives.
After this, a dream is head about a loaf of barley bread that rolls down to the camp and tumbled down and struck tents and the people. This dream, albeit again a little crazy, confirmed to Gideon that the Midianites would be destroyed. Gideon again receives a confirmation from God. Gideon needs this. And God provided it. Verse 18, "When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’"
This is it. This is the way the 300 will conquer all of these men. They will blow a trumpet. They will use the sound of a trumpet. It is fascinating to me to see the way God uses trumpets in the Bible. It is the means to announce. The trumpet can amplify and has no need of any technology to increase the sound. They had the trumpets they blew and then they also broke pitchers. Again, creating a sound, creating confusion. And then also torches in their hands. Sounds and fire. And the people fled. Eventually they ended up taking a hold of the two leaders of the Midian army - Oreb and Zeeb (verse 25).
It is done. They are captured. God did it. The people won't be boasting. Something was done that only God can do. I love verse 18 - For the Lord and for Gideon. It was okay to thank Gideon, but the Lord is thanked first. It is okay to thank people, leaders, men, women for their great work, but God gets praised first.
Summary: God defeats Midian through Gideon by reducing the army to 300 men so there will be no temptation to boast and God will get the victory and praise for the defeat.
Promise: From Tabletalk, "We cannot rest in our own strength or our own works to enjoy the salvation of the Lord. He alone can defeat the enemy, and He delights to use the most unlikely means to do so.
Prayer: God, you are to be praise. Above all. You are to be praised. Thank you for showing your great work in people's lives. You continue to do great things in people. It is your power and your glory. And you will use any sort of person. yes, we are to be obedient. Help the people of God to stay clear of the temptations of this world and the people and ideas that pull them away from Him. Lord, I see this too much in our country and yet we are still blessed, and yet that blessing is not often about giving you praise but praise in ourselves. Yet, Lord, I am struggling as I think about my Christian brothers in these 3rd world areas like Africa and India. I am not sure what they lack, but it seems they lack the leadership and resources to provide for their people. It is painful in a way. Yes, I love the privileges I have, but I hurt for them that have so little and struggle to even get to the next meal. I want to implore the people at my church to help them, to take their extra and give it to them. But how Lord? How do we help them properly. Thank you for these texts and their readings. Keep me consistent. Repair the damages I have done to my kids. Help them to be better people. They need your help O God.
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