Gideon - The Mighty Man Of Valor "Gideon’s 300” Part 6 Of A Series Series

Gideon - The Mighty Man of Valor

“Gideon’s 300”

Part 6 of a Series

Open Arms – July 9th, 2017

Over the past five weeks we have been looking at the life and times of Gideon who the Angel of the Lord called a “Mighty Man of Valor;” a name that didn’t seem to fit with the description of a guy that didn’t look anything like a brave and courageous man.

We have seen the downfall of Israel’s spiritual and economic condition and the mayhem that followed as they turned away from God and began serving Baal.

Gideon had become God’s man who was not very confident or faith-filled at all; but when God finds his man, he does not give up on him.

We saw how Gideon needed tons of confirming signs and assurances before he could cross the chicken line. However, he eventually did so, tore down the Altar of Baal and sent out the call for the most unlikely army ever.

32 thousand men answered the call and gathered at the Well of Harod which means Fountain of Affliction and Trembling while the enemy was gathered at the Hill of Moreh or Hill of the Early Spring Rain.

And last week we focused on how the Reduction of Arms took the Army of 32,000 soldiers down to a total of 300 men. And after one final confirming sign, the enemy soldier’s dream and its interpretation, Gideon comes back and tells his 300 that it’s time to arise and do what they came to do.

And now, we pick up the story in Judges 7:16 “Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. 17 And he said to them, "Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, 'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!'"

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.

20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers — they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing — and they cried, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!"

21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. 22 When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.

23 And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan."

Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. 25 And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb.

They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

I want to start by talking about the three things they were to gather up as they leave the camp in the middle of the night:

THREE THINGS:

1. A Trumpet or Rams Horn

2. A jar, which is a clay pitcher or clay vessel

3. A lamp, or torch pre-lit inside of the jar

Now we know this is an unusual armament but really? It’s hard to get it. Reduce your Army down to 300 and bring what?..... Seriously?.......... Really?.....

When we can see what these things represent we realize that they are the perfect weapons for the situation. Because, you see, the weapons of our warfare….

Ephesians 6:12 KJV, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

You see, some of us are not properly identifying our enemy. We are wrestling with things that are not even the real issues. We are targeting the negative or evil fruit but totally ignoring the root that fed the tree that produced the bad stuff.