God Calls Gideon

Transcript

GRS 2-51
12/3/2006
God Calls Gideon
Judges 6
Gil Rugh

We are studying the Book of Judges together, and so I direct your attention to Judges Chapter 6. Gideon’s judgeship covers a number of Chapters. In fact, Gideon is one of the greatest of the judges and more time is given to his judgeship than any other of the judges recorded in the Book of Judges. There are about 100 verses as we have it broken down covering over three Chapters, 100 verses spread over three Chapters on Gideon.

Samson is second if you are interested in those kinds of things, there are 96 verses on Samson. They are spread over four Chapters, but less verses. I didn’t count the words, so I can’t give you, maybe who gets the most words. But you get an idea, Gideon is a very important person, he will be listed in the heroes of the faith.

In Hebrews Chapter 11, with many others but I would say it’s a great honor to have not only the record of the Old Testament but then to be marked out as one of the giants of the faith that God recognizes. The Book of Judges is not a pretty Book if I can put it that way. It’s an unpleasant time in Israel’s history, it’s the time of chaos when everyone did what was right in their own eyes, there is no central authority. These judges are raised as delivers in certain areas of the land. I was looking over a map in an atlas and they lay out just the different areas where the judges where.

Let me take a moment to do that, sometime this week, in a Bible atlas some of those will just mark out, the judges by name and where they were located and you see they are spread throughout the land that was given to Israel. So they are not central authorities in the sense as a king that unite the nation. The Book of Judges is characterized by apostasy and rebellion on the part of God’s people, that’s always unpleasant to read about, that God’s people continually rebelling against Him and have to come under His discipline, experiencing the pain and hardship that sin always brings to a life.

But the bright spot in the Book of Judges is God is a faithful God. He does not abandon His people and through the time I recorded judges over 300 years we find a faithful sovereign God working His purposes and preparing His people for what He has for them and the establishing of the monarchy with Saul and then David that will follow the time of the judges.

You remember the cycle; Israel sins against God, God put them into slavery to their enemies. After years of slavery and hardship, they turn to God, Israel turns to God and asked for his mercy and deliverance and then he sends a judge that will be his human instrument to deliver Israel from their bondage. And then they have a period of time when they are free again from slavery and serving their enemies, but then they slide back into their sin and the cycle goes all over again.

Beginning in Chapter 6, you will note the end of Chapter 5, the last line, the land was undisturbed for 40 years that was a result of the ministry of Deborah the prophetess and judge and Barak who served as the military deliver under Deborah’s time of being a prophet at Israel and exercising judgeship in Israel. Result of that deliverance was 40 years of quiet, and freedom and liberty in the land.

But then Chapter 6 opens up with that cycle, then the son’s of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, you have noted it is terribly difficult for God’s people, whether we are talking about Israel in the Old Testament, the church to date to stayed focused spiritually in prosperity and quiet times. I don’t like difficulty, I don’t enjoy hard times, but I have to say I need them. It’s so easy when things are all going well and we are prospering and we are healthy and it seems like any difficult we have a minimal, to lose our spiritual focus and you can’t park, so it’s like being on the incline, if you are not going up, you will be going back and that’s what happens to Israel.

After 40 years of quiet and being able to enjoy the land, the blessings of God, they begin to deteriorate, so it’s Chapter 6 opens, then the son’s of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian seven years. When it says that Israel did the evil this is not just a single act as we move on through this Chapter, they actually have turned and become actively involved in the pageant worship of the Canaanites. Baal, Asheroth, Gideon is going to be raised up as a mighty deliverer, but he is in a family, Gideon’s father is a worshipper of Baal and maintains a centre of worship of an Asheroth and idol to Baal.

So this slide, the 40 years of quiet, but then it’s just not an overnight change. As you get towards the end of that 40 years, last part of those years, Israel has turned away from God over time, so by the time as discipline comes, they have settled into a pattern of Idolatry and unfaithfulness. That doesn’t mean Israel was faithful during those 40 years, it just means that there was no enemy subjugating them for 40 years. But they weren’t using that time to honor God as they should have.

So the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian for seven years and its seven harsh years. The area where Gideon is with the Midianites were up towards the Sea of Galilee south, little bit of the Sea of Galilee, so more in the northern part of the land. Midianites being on the eastern side of the Jordan River, across the Jordan, the Trans Jordan area, remember two and half tribes have their land. But the Midianites have assembled power, take control over the region and then come in across the Jordan and subjugate that portion of Israel also, it’s a harsh time.

Look at verse 2. The power of Midian prevailed against Israel because of Midian, the sons of Israel made for themselves the dins which were in the mountains and the caves and the strong holds. It was so bad that the Israelites made caves; some of you have been to Palestine and know something of the terrain and seen some of that even caves there and so on in that various parts of Palestine. What they did to make these caves and dens is that when the Midianites would come into the land, Israel would have a place to go to and hide; they have to leave their homes. The Midianites aren’t here all the time; we will see in a moment what he says about their coming in.

Verse 3, for it was when Israel had sown that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites, and the sons at the east and go against them. So the Midianites are the leaders in this, but it’s a coalition, the Amalekites and another people to the east of the land of Canaan and joined to be a coalition to subjugate the Jews. Now you know in verse 3 it was when Israel had sown Midianites were somewhat nomadic and at harvest time is when they come into the land because then they can appropriate the crops and thus they are gaining food and so on for themselves.

So they would take the crops, the livestock and so on and when they left, the land had been devastated, destroyed. They sweep through and take everything of value for themselves, then they return back to their area because there was nothing here that they want anymore and Israel has left devastated because what you are going to do, you don’t go to the grocery store and order things in those days. There is not food to be sent in from the outside, so now you are left on the verge of starvation because you depend on the crops and this is the cycle and pattern, the Midianites and their allies are of large number.

Verse 4, they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza. So you see the breadth of their influence here and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep or ox or donkey, they will we come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come up like the locus for number where they and their camels were innumerable and they came into the land to devastate it.

They come in there in an overwhelming multitude, Israel retreats from their homes and city areas to flee into the caves and hiding places but you can’t take all your livestock, you can’t take your food supplies, so all those things are less now for the enemy to take for themselves. So what Israel has is the little bit of food maybe they were able to hide away and now they are left to endure another year of hardship p and famine and suffering, they come like locus for number. They and their camels were innumerable as you are aware camels are a vital part of life in desert region.

Camels could travel a 100 miles a day carrying a heavy load and they can go for four or five days, three or four days without food or water. I mean they are great asset. Well, the Midianites and their allies they have so many camels, I mean, you can really count them, so they come sweeping in here and they come load up the camels and the wagons they would bring and take everything. Verse 6, So Israel was brought very low because of Midian. So verse 1, they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and that’s their rebellion, their sin.

The last part of verse 1, the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian seven years, you see the sovereignty of God here, this is the direct discipline of Lord and the life, those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, he chase him on every sum that he receives. If we are without discipline we are illegitimate, you can’t be a child of God and sin and just is nothing, if you can sin and there is no discipline is because you are illegitimate, Book of Hebrews develops that.

So you have the discipline of the Lord, the sovereignty of God and all this. So now you have in verse 6 the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, that cycle. Now seven years pain and hardship and starvation and they are crying out to the Lord for deliverance. Interesting, they know the Lord can deliver them and now they turn to him. Verse 7, now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord on account of Midian that the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel.

Interesting here, he doesn’t say he sends a judge to deliver them, now you have a prophet send first and it maybe that Israel needed this reminder about their sinfulness. It’s like flocks all conversions as we use the title, when pressure is on, when difficulty comes into the life, people say, oh, God, deliver me, God at you will rescue me if you will give me my health back if you will, I will serve you.

Men often do that without any concept that they are sin and they are guilt. So and they are crying to the Lord, the Lord responsible, the first person he sends is a prophet to tell them of their sinfulness. Verse 8, the Lord send a prophet to the sons of Israel and he said to them, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, it was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery, I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians, from the hands of all your oppressors and dispose them before you and gave you their land and I said to you, I am the Lord, your God, you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites and whose land you live, but you have not obeyed me.

You, the nation Israel have experienced my blessings, you saw my power but you have chosen to be a disobedient and rebellious people. Just come back to Chapter 2 of judges, this is very similar to the message that the angel of the Lord gave on a previous occasion in the cycle of the Judges and verse 2, Chapter 2, verse 1, now the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim and he said I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers and I said I will never break my covenant with you. As for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitance of the land, you shall tear down their orders, but you have not obeyed me, what is this you have done.

So you see the similarity and the messages, God’s people need that constant reminder that God expects obedience, not just expects it, he requires it. And if there is disobedience, there will be discipline and so Israel is reminded of the cause of their situation. Beginning with verse 11 you have the call of Gideon and you have the appearance again of the angel of the Lord which we have seen as a divine figure, the pre-incarnate Christ. When we read the account in Chapter 2, the angel of the Lord said, I delivered you, I brought you up out of Egypt, so he is a divine person, he is the pre-incarnate Christ, and he personally appears to Gideon.

I mean, these individuals have had remarkable opportunities to have God appeared to them and directly communicate to them. He communicate in another ways like through the prophet, but now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belong the Joash the Abiezrite: as his son Gideon, now that’s why we have this, why is the angel of the Lord sitting under the oak that was in Ophrah that belong Joash because Joash is the father of Gideon and Gideon is here beating out wheat in the winepress in order to save it from the Midianites. You see how serious the condition is?

Where is he threshing the grain in the winepress, the wine press is where you beat out the grapes for wine, but there is an closed area and he is trying to get some grain prepared that can be hidden from the Midianites when they appear in the land again. Angel of the Lord comes and there is a recognition as we will see here of a divine personage when he comes in the appearance somewhat of a man as angels do in the Old Testament, he is the angel of the Lord, but he comes like a manhood and sits down under this tree.

And verse 12, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, to Gideon and said to him, the Lord is with you oh, valiant warrior. This indicates that Gideon has been marked out by God for a special task. The Lord is with you and Gideon will recognize this as a special call to him, and he is called a valiant warrior. This is probably in the context of what God has planned for Gideon saying the Lord is with you, oh, valiant warrior is really a statement of what God has in mind for Gideon. He is going to be with Gideon and if you just jump down to verse 34, you will see the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon.

I mean, really the statement that you have here by the angels of Lord is prophetic. The Lord is with you because he is pulling you out and he is going to enable you to be the deliver of Israel and he will be a valiant warrior. The deliverance on Gideon’s part is remarkable deliverance with a relative, at least small handful of men and Gideon is a man of great courage and a man of great faith as the account will unfold.

Verse 13, then Gideon said to him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us, where are all his miracles which our fathers’ told us about saying did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian. Well the answer are already been given through the prophets message in verses 70 to 10, the end of verse 10, you have not obeyed me. But Gideon’s questions are natural if I can say that in light of the reality of the situation, I have marked some of these, then Gideon said to him, oh, my Lord if the Lord is with us.

Second question, why then has all this happened to us and where if, why, where, I mean, if it’s true the Lord is with us and you just said the Lord is with you, oh valiant warrior and Gideon takes that and he is with me and I am here as part of Israel, he understands this in the context of Gods’ plan for the nation. If this is so, why has all this happened? Where is the power of God I keep hearing about?

In our past and you see why the message of the prophet is necessary and from Gideon’s perspective the Lord abandoned us, we are being destroyed, it’s a hand and mouth existence as we would say. Here I am hiding in the winepress trying to beat out a little bit of grain to sustain our life. I mean, and yet we were told the stories and know the account of the mighty God and his deliverance of the nation but he has abandoned us. We are in the verge of going under if you will.

The Lord looked at him and said, go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you? The angel of God doesn’t give a direct response to the questions, if, why, where. The angel of Lord just looks at him and says you go in your strength and deliver Israel, have not I send you; you see the authority that is represented here. Gideon’s’ response, oh, Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? I mean, he either recognition of the authority of this person and that he may well be the manifestation of God that comes clear in a moment.

My family is the least in Manasseh, I am the youngest in my father’s house, I mean, you have taken that nobody into nobodies. I mean, how do you expect me to deliver Israel, I mean, here it comes to this single individuals beating out grain, hiding the winepress and says, all right, I want you to go out now and deliver Israel. I mean, what do you want me to do?

I think the threshing implement I have and go out and defeat the Midianites like the locust. I mean, I can’t even count them and I come from one of the smallest household families in the tribe of Manasseh and I am the youngest in that. It becomes somewhat of a pattern and there is a place for proper humility to recognize that you can’t do it in your strength.

Turn over to the Book of Jeremiah, there are several we could use, but I like Jeremiah. Jeremiah Chapter 1, we have to be encouraged by these reminders is not by my ignorance, by strengths but by my powers says the Lord. We can come up with all kind of reasons, how can I do it, what could I do, I am not that kind of significant person, I don’t have that kind of influence. We are not talking about what you can do in and out of yourself; we are talking about being an instrument in the hands of God and what God can do with little or nothing.

So God calls Jeremiah, in verse 4 of Chapter 1, the word of the Lord came to me saying, before I found you in the womb, I knew you before you were born, I consecrated you, I have appointed you a prophet to the nation. Then Jeremiah’s response, the last Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak because I am a youth. God says don’t tell me you are a youth, just a youth, you go everywhere I send you, you speak everything I commend you and I am with you. That’s the key, I put my words in your mouth, verse 10, I have appointed you over the nations and over the kingdoms.

So there it is, Jeremiah’s first responses, I can’t do it. We noted Moses back in Chapter 4, verse 10, Moses, I am not eloquent, I can’t speak, I can’t do it and the proper place and it’s good for us to have a proper humility and to recognize our own weakness but it’s not good to project and therefore say God cannot accomplish his work through me because God can only do it through the mighty the powerful, the strong, the important, the great because it’s Gods’ power that does it and he often takes the weakest, the most insignificant to do his work. So that he gets all the glory and all the credit, we saw that at the end of first Corinthians, Chapter 1.

Come back to Judges, Chapter 6, look at verse, again the answer is, at the end of verse 14, I have send you and then you come to verse 16, the Lord said surely I will be with you. So you have the authority of the Lord and you have the presence of the Lord, the Lord said to him, surely I will be with you, thus victory is sure, you will defeat Midian as one man. Authority for ministry comes from the Lord, it takes the buying appointment, he is the authority for our ministry as his people, as his servants and the enablement comes from him so that’s everything.

Turn to the New Testament, two passages, Mathew 28, you know be careful we have to learn these lessons from the Old Testament and we read about these individual like Gideon and he comes from a small family and he is the youngest in the family, he is in that sense the poorest choice, one of the least likely and yet God calls him and appoints him and promises his presence in the great commission, in Mathew, Chapter 28.

Look at verse 18, Jesus came up and spoke to them; this is after of course his resurrection, now he is meeting with his disciples in Galilee. He said to them, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, go and make disciples of all the nations. So you see, he is the one with authority now as the resurrected Christ here gives the command, make disciples of all the nations. You realize you got a group of nobodies here, these are the men that all scattered, scared to death when you were arrested in the garden. These are the individuals who hide in a room with locked doors for fear they are going to be arrested and executed next.

I mean, let’s get serious, let’s look for some likely candidates to evangelize the nations, but the one with all the authorities says no I pick you. And then you have the same assurance, down the verse 20, Lord, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So you have his authority and his presence, we have to look at one another passage, Hebrews Chapter 13. Hebrews Chapter 13, and you know it doesn’t matter, the context, the assurance of god’s presence is what makes the difference in Hebrews Chapter 13, verse 5, make sure that your character is free from the love of money being content with what you have.

But here you are talking about contentment with your physical provisions, why? Because he has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. I mean, that’s enough, that’s the provision, that’s the assurance and the way it is put here. Some of you have studied a little bit of Greek, I know construction # two negatives put together and you have that repeated here when it says I will never, I mean, I will never under any circumstances, at any time, desert you, nor will I ever, both of those who what they called that # construction.

I will never ever under any circumstances or any reason forsake you, one person translated, I will never, never, never dessert you, I will never, never, never forsake you. I mean, that absolute assurance, so that means in every circumstance, in every situation I am assured of the presence of my God. What else do I need? I should worry about money, I mean, be content, be free from the love of money, be content with what you have, he said, I will never leave you, in him I have everything I need, right.

So whether we are talking about going toward in the Old Testament going out do evangelize under the great commission or living with the provision he makes day by day, the issue is still the same, he is the one with authority, so I follow his instructions, his commands and he is the one that assures me that he will be with me, that guarantees the success of what I do. So a proper humility is fine, I recognize I can’t do nothing in my own strength. But when I carry it to the point it can’t be done, now I sees to the humble and I would become arrogant to tell God what he can and cannot do.

And so I take great comfort in what is promised to Gideon because I realize I have these promises because they are continued and given, right down here to Hebrews in very practical ways that we have to live with day-by-day. You know sometimes think of those things and say boy if I have been there at Gideon, I would had been ready to lead the charge too. Always easy for me to see myself being that hero with a faith in someone else’s situation. But for me the challenge is to be that hero of the faith you will in the situation and circumstances which God puts me and for these Hebrews, it’s under this kind of pressure so the promises are the same.

Come back to Judges, Chapter 6, verse 17, Gideon says to him, if now I have found favor in your sight, then show me your sign that it is you who speak with me. Gideon asks and his attitude evidently is right in this because there is no rebuke in it and God response and gives him his request. So he is not challenges the angel of the Lord in the wrong sense here. He says if I have found favor in your sight, show me your sign that it is you who speak with me.

You don’t understand Gideon now here is a person that if you look at them who seem to be an ordinary human being. Remember when God came down and spoke with Abram and Sarah listen # I mean just came like three people who stopped by and really you, please do not depart from here to I come back to you and bring out my offering and lay it before you, I mean, he was to bring an offering to him, if you indeed are the Lord, the angel of the Lord, I want to present an offering to you and have the assurance that it is you.

So there is no question that here I will serve you but I want reassurance here that it is you. And the angel Lord says, I will wait here, you got do, you have to do. Now remember this is biblical times, you got to go kill the animal, prepare it, cook it, you got to go make the bread, you just don’t go get something out on the freezer and pop it into the microwave and sit back.

But the angel of the Lord says I will wait. So verse 19, Gideon went into prepare the young goat, so you got to go out, pick out the best goat, kill it, cut it up, prepare it, cook it, makes the flower, a need for flower which is about a bushel, this is going to be a significant offering. I mean, Gideon is aware and knows he may well be in the presence of the angel of the Lord, so he brings a significant offering in the preparation here, he put the meat in the basket, put the broth in the pot, brought it out to him under the oak and presented them to him, so here is my offering for you acknowledging your person.

The angel of God said to him, take the meat and the unwoven bread and lay them on this rock and pour out the broth. so here you have the rock there, he puts these items, the meat, the bread on the rock, then you pour the broth over it, the angel of the Lord said to him, so you put that on, does it. The angel of the Lord, verse 21 put out the end of the staff that was in his hand, touch the meat, the unleavened bread, fire sprang up from the rock, not from the staff, from the rock and consume the bread, the fire sprang up from the rock consume the meat, the unleavened bread, the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

The end of verse 17 Gideon asked, show me a sign that as you who speak with me, it is you, you are really the angel of the Lord, the Lord in my presence. But what more could you want, the offering presented is consumed by fire, supernaturally coming out of the rock and then the angel of the Lord vanishes. Verse 22, when Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, he said alas oh, Lord, God for now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. The Lord said to him, peace to you, do not fear, you shall not die. His fear is that maybe he will die, remember Exodus 33:20, God said to Moses, no one can see my face and live, something to be in the presence, the angel of the Lord that Gideon recognizes more than just an angel.

This is the angel of the Lord, this is divine personage and he could be consumed being in the presence of the holy God. The Lord said to him, we are not told, this is a voice from heaven that the angel of the Lord reappears says, the Lord said to him, it could be the angel of Lord reappears, it can be a voice from heaven we are not told, peace to you, do not fear, you shall not die. Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it Jehovah-shalom, Jehovah-shalom, the Lord is peace.

To this day it is still an Oprah of the Abiezrites which we are not even sure if you look on a bible atlas it will probably have Oprah listed with a question marked by it because some of these cities we are not sure exactly are these location precisely any longer. You know it’s interesting how the Lord deals with Gideon here and what he says to him in verse 23 peace to you, do not fear.

Then he builds an altar and named it the Lord is peace in light of the assurance given to him that Gods peace is his. Here we are, great suffering going on in the land, Gideon is experiencing that suffering, that hardship. He is on the brink of impending war, I mean, it he had been instructed to be a valiant warrior and go out and deliver Israel and it’s in that context the Lord comes and reveals himself in the context of peace. And now Gideon can build an altar in honor of the Lord, an altar to the Lord and name it Jehovah-shalom, the Lord is peace.

In this context, there is peace and that prepares Gideon now to secure in the Lord, experience his peace, the confidence that peace brings, God’s intention for us, nothing has changed. Gideon still doesn’t have an abundant harvest, the Midianites haven’t just disappeared. But now I can build an altar and name it, the Lord is peace and God has promised him peace, peace to you, don’t fear, so that assurance.

Now the difficulty for me, I just like to stay there in Oprah and just let the Lord wipe out the Midianites and do whatever need, but no. So now Gideon is instructed to start out and the first instruction would be a hard thing. Now on the same night, when all of this takes place, the Lord said to him, take your father’s bow and a second bow seven years old, pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father. Gideon lives in a household that is devoted to idol worship, cut down the Asherah, I mean, that’s Paul that is a symbol or a statue of symbol of ideate, part of the pagan worship of Canaan, the Baal, you have Ashtaroth and Baal that comes together. Cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the Lord, your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bow and offer, burn offering with a wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.

So I want you to cut down your father’s alter to Baal, cut down the Asherah wouldn’t Paul to as a pagan worship. I want you to use that wooden Asherah to be the fire to burn an offering you are going to make to me. Now this is a dangerous thing, verse 27, let you know the seriousness, Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord as spoken to him and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

I mean, you just don’t step in here and come in and destroy the altar to Baal and destroy the Asherah. I mean, these are people devoted to their worship, I mean, think of it, you go into a Muslim company today and you are just going to file the centre of worship in honoring Jehovah and Mohammad and so and you think will that be a fatal action. Well, even in his own father’s household, their commitment to Baal is so strong; these things in his own household and those part of the family there might turn against him and kill him for doing such a thing.

So he does it at night when nobody will be watching, everyone will be sleeping and we see what happens. I think it’s important to note that where Gideon has to start is not leading a charge as I thought about this, I would have thought if I was linked the plan, I would have had Gideon go out and defeat the Midianites and all of them and their allies. Then come back and destroy Baal because now he had had some leverage because he would approve that God was with him, he would have demonstrated that he was the mighty servant of God because he destroyed the enemies, then you can come back and destroy Baal and the Asherah that is there.

God does it the other way around. First we are going to take care of the idol worship in your family. Well, who is Gideon, remember he is the youngest in the family, I mean, now I am putting my life on the line, who is going to believe, what am I going to do, you know there is no compromise with the Lord. We have to go back to Mathew Chapter 10, verse 34. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth, I did not come to bring peace for the sword, I came to set a man against his father or daughter against your mother and a daughter in law against your father in law, a man’s enemies will be the members of his household, you loves father, mother more than me is not worthy of me, he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, he who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

You see the demands are the same, Gideon in the starting point, as you step out and be identified with me and as my servant and as a worshiper of me and that starts writing your own family and you have to be willing to pay the price and we don’t know what that means, that only divide the family, may set family members against me. Well, if you love them more than me then you disqualified from being a follower of mine. Back here Gideon is in the same point, Lord, is this the best place to start?

Now we don’t say, have you said this but he is afraid. Let me just say, being a faithful servant of the Lord, demonstrating the courage of the Lord doesn’t mean you are fearless. It means, even when you are afraid you obey. Gideon then realizes the seriousness of the consequences, he is afraid, he is afraid of his father’s own family and household, but he obeys. Sometimes think, I wish I was fearless, I wish I had courage or true godly courage is obeying God even when you are afraid. I mean, isn’t that the difference, anybody has boldness when there is nothing to be afraid of.

But in the midst of fearful circumstances Gideon steps out. Verse 28, when the men of the city rose early in the morning, behold the altar of Baal was torn down, the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, the second bow was offering on the altar which had been build, they said to one another, who did this thing, they searched and enquired and they said, Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.

Gideon is not standing up there in the smoke of the rebel saying I did it. He did it, but there is no sense in operating yourself so they have to go around and easily found out, the men of the city said to Joash, bring out your son that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, indeed he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it. Now what is Joash going to do, he is an idol worshipper. We know later pagan man like Herod the great will execute his own sons, his own family members, where is Joash going to be and Joash said to all who stood against him, will you content for Baal or will you deliver him whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning.

If he is god let him content for himself because someone tore down his altar. I love that; if he is god, let him content for himself. So therefore on that day he named Gideon, Jerubbaal meaning the one who contents with Baal because he had torn down his altar. So now you see a turning within Israel, Gideon’s’ obedience and first we have to deal with the idol worship within the family and as a centre within the nation here, then we can step out from here.

And you have Gideon step forward and do what god tells him, now Gideon’s father stands with him and that is enough that the people now settle down. Then verse 33, all the Midianites and Amalekites, the sons of the east assembled themselves, they crossed over and camped in the valley of Israel, so now they have made their move into the land again to do their destructive pattern. So the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, key statement, Gideon won’t do this in his own strength, the spirit of the Lord came upon him, we are going to see this with other judges as well as characteristic in the Old Testament, the spirit of the Lord comes upon certain individuals at certain time to empower them and enable them for ministry.

We do our ministry in the power of the spirits who dwells us and here the spirit of Lord does come to provide the power and enablement, for Gideon, he blew a trumpet, the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. So it comes from this family, extended family if you will, he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, they were also called together to follow him said Asher, Zebulun, Naphtali they came up to meet together. So these tribes particularly in this region around up in the area of the Sea of Galilee that all surrounding extended area come together.

Then Gideon said to God if you will deliver Israel through me as you have spoken, behold, he one more sign, he wants, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor, if there is dew on the fleece and only and it’s drying all the ground then I will know that you will deliver Israel through me as you have spoken, it was so. When he rose early in the morning and squeeze the fleece, he drain dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water with the grounds dried.

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 do on the ground. God did so that night it was dry in the fleece, dew was all on the ground and we won’t get into Chapter 7 but Jerubbaal who is Gideon now goes forth. And these particular assurances given to Gideon, I would say they were lack of faith by keep in mind that Gideon doesn’t have the full revelation of God that we do. He live in the midst of the land that has gone pagan, he can’t go search out the scriptures like we can and so God is pleased and this happens through this period of time to give special revelation, we sometimes talk about the fleece of Gideon and people, well, they say, well, I am putting out of fleece. Well, why don’t you do it like Gideon did with the angel of Lord, why don’t you ask for something bigger, why don’t you have them bring down fire and consume something, not someone, something and demonstrate his power.

There maybe times we ask for assurances from God, reassurance, but God’s plan today is primarily he works through his word, we have a completed revelation, we discern the will of God through the word of God. And that consistent taking in of the word and obeying the word enables us to discern the will of God and areas where the word of God does not directly speak.

Am I going to take this job or this job, am I going to move to a new city, am I going to stay in this city, am I going to buy a new house or am I going to stay on my existing house, am I going to go in for this operation or should I just wait and see, all kind of these things come and the word doesn’t say, this is what you should do. Sometimes I just have to go and say, Lord it’s in your hands, in light of your word here, I am waiting on you, sometimes I ask Lord, give me your peace in this situation, sometimes I say, Lord, I am not sure, I am not, but it seems this is the path, I am in a place now I can’t delay a decision, I have to make a decision, Lord, I do want your will and I am going to proceed and ask that you will overrule if it’s not the right decision.

I mean, I go forward, I may not be able to go out and put a fleece on the ground in my yard and have the same response, I may not have the angel of the Lord appear to me and bring out fire from the rock and do it. But I have the same God who has given me his promises, I have the completed word, I can come and now the Lord is with me. Hr id one who appeared as the angel of the Lord is my savior, the one I know that has all authority, the one who promise me, he will never ever, ever leave me.

So I have so much more than Gideon had, I mean, think about it, you know how much of the word of God had been given at this time, I think Gideon didn’t have a copy to carry around with him. We have this in forms that is so portable, some of you, small bible, you put in a purse or part of it you put in a pocket, we just carried around here at always, those men and women were not so blessed and so God is still revealing himself and giving additional revelation and manifesting his presence and his will in these ways. We think oh, I would rather have it that way, would be so much more clear. No, because we have to live his life, still we have these unique cases, these special times brought out, brought in Gideon’s overall life, we have so much more than they had and so blessed, so our obedience should be so much more complete.

Another example of faith, we have to get into Gideon’s life and savory by the time we get to the end, there will be some failures in Gideon’s life, but he is a mighty man of faith that will be used mightily of God and has given some great appearances and assurances by the manifestation of God to him.

Let’s pray together. Thank you Lord for your work during this time in history, raising up a man like Gideon, manifesting yourself to him and revealing your will. Lord we pose and consider how greatly blessed we are to serve you today, to have your spirits, take abrasion in our lives within our bodies to dwell there permanently, to have the assurance of your son that he will never leave us, he is with us always even to the end of the age, the promise of your peace in the midst of difficulty and trial for he said in the world you have tribulation, be a good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Lord we would desire to be faithful servants, willing to trust you, not losing sight of our own frailty, our weaknesses, but Lord we would not attempt to do your work in our strength and we are in all that you chose to manifest your strength through these earthen vessels. Lord we pray for the days or the week before us that we would be faithful servants, obedient servants, even in times when we are afraid. Lord may we be obedient that would be found faithful we pray in Christ’s name, amen.