Speaking of Gideon
Judges 6:11-16
When you think of a hero, you’re usually inclined to think of strength, great intellect, personal charisma and beauty, or enormous wealth, perhaps a profound drive for justice.
Today we are going to look a biblical hero. But our hero today had none of these. He lived in an environment that was idolatrous, the economy was bad and the people did what was right in their own eyes. In a way we could easily compare our times to Gideon’s day. He started out as a quiet peaceful farmer, but was transformed into a warrior. He was transformed in a sort of unusual way.
He was transformed when He experienced a personal encounter with God.
Today we are speaking a about Gideon.
During this time the nation of Israel was occasionally were led by judges who were raised up by God to call the people together for common good and to bring them back to proper worship of God. Typically there was a cry form the people for justice and salvation from an enemy and God raised up a leader.
Just before our scriptures today, the land had peace for 40 years. Then the people again start doing evil in God’s sight.
For 7 years God has allowed the people of Israel to be attacked and abused. They brought it on themselves because of their Idolatry and disobedience. They are living in the Promised Land and fighting all the different neighbors that they failed to remove when they first entered the land. They have even taken on religious practices strictly forbidden by God.
Judges 6:11-16
The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."
"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."
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?"
"But Lord , " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."
When we first meet Gideon he is doing the work of a farmer. He is threshing wheat, which is pretty normal stuff. Except of one detail, he was threshing wheat in a winepress.
You all know how to thresh wheat, right? The Bible talks about using oxen in the process. They would walk around a post and drag a log or a sled with weight or a person riding on it to crush the grain. For a smaller situation, you take a big scoop of wheat and pour it on the floor, use a round stick and lightly crush the seeds. Then you winnow the wheat. That is where a person tosses batches of crushed seeds in the air and let the chaff, the crusty outside blow away.
That is what Gideon was trying to do. Clean up enough wheat to feed somebody, maybe his family or to sell. However, he was trying to do this working in a winepress.
Normally a threshing floor was on top of a hill to take advantage of the wind from any direction. A floor might also be in a valley where the wind is fairly constant. The evening breeze caught the chaff and let the grain kernels fall to the ground.
A wine press on the other hand was normally down in a valley. It was a stone pool often carved out of rock. The grapes were smashed and the juice collected in the reservoir the collected in jars and wineskins.
An angel of God comes to Gideon at this moment. Gideon looks like a coward because it seems that he is trying to stay out of sight. Perhaps desperate to try to keep what he has out of the hands of the Midianites.
I guess if I had people that came to steal and destroy all I have leaving me with little or nothing, I would be pretty desperate as well. I would guess he is pretty disappointed about life. He is depressed about having to live in the hills.
This introduction to Gideon is not exactly a picture of strength and power or courage. It is hard the imaging that a man that is hiding out and avoiding his enemy is any kind of hero.
But, the angel appears and says "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."
I imagine that Gideon looks around wondering who the angel is talking to. When he is sure they are alone, he is thinking, sorry fella you have got the wrong guy.
I wonder what makes him react to the angel like he does? He seems to try to put this messenger on the defensive.
Is it the fight or flight reaction?
Is it his bitterness toward God that is suddenly set free by the surprise?
Does he even know at that first few moments that the angel is an angel?
Gideon tries to make a point, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?
Every group of people that pass by attack and take what they want from us. The Midianites are a constant thorn in our side. They have practically taken over all the farm land down in the valley after we planted the fields. No one is safe from attack.
Where are the wonders that our fathers talked about? Where is the God that led people out of Egypt? He has abandoned us. No more than that, He is punishing us by putting us in the hand of Midian.
Gideon is not exactly the poster child for encouragement and readiness. He is more likely the best example to represent a defeated people.
He is hiding and wanting to avoid conflict. And trying to place blame for all that is happening on God.
He neglects to mention how the people are acting. What they are doing and that they might have some personal level of failure and blame themselves.
Two things contributed to his cowardice: disappointment and timidity. Gideon was living a live a life of frustration and fear. He felt helpless and hopeless because it was obvious to him that God was not answering their prayers.
Gideon felt that he had nothing to offer to help improve things. He knew of no leader that was just waiting for the right moment to act. It was the farthest thing from his mind that he would be called to do something about the problem. The idea of being a leader was just too crazy for him to have even wondered about.
But he could point out with precision the things that were wrong. Even with his limited view sitting in a winepress he had an opinion.
He believes that He and his family and even the whole of Israel are victims in their current situation.
The angel does not address Gideon’s statements. He does not answer Gideon’s doubts or the frustrations. He simply says,
"Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand.”
I wonder what the look on Gideon’s face was at that moment; confused, shocked, worried?
The angel added, “Am I not sending you?"
I have heard people say, be careful what you pray for, because you might get it.
Gideon has issues about his environment and when he gets a chance to talk to an angel about it.
-- The angel says, that is why I am here. Using the strength that you already have, God is sending YOU to take care of the Midianite problem.
As far as we know, Gideon has had no personal experience with God up until now. His knowledge of God has come from the stories that speak of amazing actions performed by God on behalf of the chosen people. His faith is here say from stories that start more than 300 years ago, with just a few mentions of events in between. His faith is les about his personal knowledge and experience with God and more on family tradition. About remembering the stories where God showed up….But where had God been lately? From his perspective He must not have been very close.
It seems that Gideon is not real excited about this plan. He starts back pedaling and giving excuses. "But Lord , " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
-- Lord, You’ve got the wrong guy. My family is the least powerful in the whole state. We don’t have any power or influence at all. And I am the youngest of my family. I don’t own anything and everyone - everyone around here is my boss.
Folks, you need to realize something. When God calls you to do something, He is not looking for excuses. He is not looking for your ideas on His plan.
When God calls us He sees us differently than we see ourselves.
We see our inadequacies and failures. But God only sees our potential. He is not worried about the things that hold us back or down.
He calls us to His vision and his work and all that can be.
The Lord answers Gideon’s excuses by explaining that Gideon will not be alone.
God will be going with him.
God will be the one to perform the amazing actions to defeat the enemy. God will provided the strength and power required for success and salvation of his people.
However, he needs a person and a people that will demonstrate their dependence on God. That will set out to face the improbable and seemingly impossible because they go with God.
While our scripture this morning is focused on Gideon’s situation. We need to remember that he was not unique. The rest of the clan in Manasseh were all affected. And it seems that the tribes form Asher, Zebulum and Naphtali were likely under pressure as well.
God did not call everyone in these tribes to be Leaders. They all faced the same problems. It is very likely that most families hid their food and tried to keep a low profile and avoid the Midianites.
I don’t know how you view our world today. But I sometimes have similar thought that Gideon seems to have. The financial pressures, the job situations, the grocery prices, and the cost of gas. The Midianites are like the pressure of the economy, the Amalikites could perhaps be crime and morals and war.
When I watch the news and hear of peoples troubles I tend to want to hide out and ignore everything except what is directly affecting me and my family.
But God calls us to hold a different view. God calls us to go unto the world with our strength and do something with His help.
All Glory be to God!
