Series: Here comes the Judge!
The book of Judges:
It is the history of the Judges of Israel and is connected with the previous book of Joshua, as a “link in the chain of books.” It describes the history of Israel under different leaderships, governments and their deliverances from other powers for about 410 years of history.
Purpose of the book of Judges:
The book of Judges aims to demonstrate that defection from Jehovah incurs severe punishment and servitude. Only by turning back to God can restoration be enjoyed. Thus the judges were charismatic leaders, raised up by God to deliver His theocratic people. Only by heeding their Spirit-directed message and following them in deliverance against their enemies could restoration be accomplished. The OT judges performed two functions. By divine power and Spirit-anointed leadership they delivered the people from enemy oppression. Having accomplished this, they ruled over them and administered government in the name of Israel’s God… Since the book reports seven apostasies, seven servitudes to seven heathen nations, and seven deliverances, it is evidently put in a symmetrical form (From: The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary).
Author: Is believed to be the Prophet Samuel.
Outline of Judges:
I. Introduction to the period (1:1-2:5)
A. Political conditions (1:1-36)
B. Religious conditions (2:1-5)
II. The period of the judges (2:6-16:31)
A. Religious condition of the entire period (2:6-3:6)
B. The judges (3:7-16:31)
1. Othniel (3:7-11)
2. Ehud (3:12-30)
3. Shamgar (3:31)
4. Deborah and Barak (4:1-5:31)
5. Gideon and Abimelech (6:1-9:57)
6. Tola (10:1-2)
7. Jair (10:3-5)
8. Jephthah (10:6-12:7)
9. Ibzan (12:8-10)
10. Elon (12:11-12)
11. Abdon (12:13-15)
12. Samson (13:1-16:31)
III. The double appendix (17:1-21:25)
A. The idolatry of Micah and the Danites (17:1-18:31)
B. The crime at Gibeah and its punishment (19:1-21:25)
m.f.u. – from Unger’s.
Unger’s notes the following: “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). This sentence, frequently and earnestly repeated, gives us the keynote of the whole book of Judges. Each tribe took thought for itself how best to secure and maintain an adequate territory, so that separate interests of all sorts soon became prevalent and regard for the general welfare was more and more forgotten… The children of Israel did evil against Jehovah, though He had manifested special favor to them; He therefore sold them into the hand of various enemies; they then cried to Him in their trouble; He raised up a deliverer who saved them; the land had a period of rest; again the people sinned; and the same cycle was repeated.
Key Verse of book: Judges 2:16: “Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.”
Note this verse says that the judges where raised up by God!
Gideon: “Mighty Warrior”
Part 1
Thesis: God called Gideon a “Mighty Warrior” even when he did not look like it but we must remember that God sees what we do not see and we in turn must trust him and answer the call.
Introduction:
Opening Illustration: DEFINING MOMENTS OF FAITH
Several years ago Jeff Strueker was a US Army Ranger posted in Mogadishu, Somalia. Today he is a master of divinity student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
For him Oct 3-4, 1993 were the defining moments of his life. He was one of the troops called on to go into the center Mogadisu to secure a building as part of a larger operation. The movie “Black Hawk Down” came out about a year ago chronicling the events of those two days.
In the first trip into the city he and most of his friends got out through a hailstorm of bullets. One man was shot and killed. It was then that he felt the fear. He began to pray. The humvee was painted with blood as they escaped the city with their dead and wounded comrades.
The news soon worsened. A helicopter was shot down. The team received orders to return to the melee. Yet, his men understandably couldn’t fight in the bloody humvees. Struecker spent the next 30 to 45 minutes cleaning. No running water. Only sponges and buckets.
"I began to talk to the Lord. I thought I was going to die," he said. Feeling his fear grow, he began to ask God to protect him. But his prayer soon changed.
"I’ll never forget this for the rest of my life. ... A scene appeared in the landscape of my mind. The scene was Jesus in the Garden. ... He clearly and honestly knew that he was going to die. ... He also showed that he did not want to go to that cross and die. And I knew that I didn’t want to die that night. But Jesus courageously said, ’God, not my will, but yours be done.’
"If I die tonight, that’s fine, as long as your will is done," Struecker said. For the first time in his life, Struecker -- who had been a Christian since age 13 -- was prepared to die. "God spoke to my mind and my heart and said, ’I’ve been protecting you every day of your life,’" Struecker said. "He did not tell me, ’You will live through the night.’ He simply showed me my life has always been in his hands."
Struecker and his men returned to the field of fire in Mogadishu that night and fought with a God-given courage. The sergeant first class would later be awarded the Bronze Star Medal "V" for valor. "I fought differently that night than everybody else ... because of my faith," Struecker said. God had given him a "supernatural peace" in the midst of pandemonium, further firefights and an ambush that nearly blew his humvee off the road.
"I began to understand God’s omnipotent power," Struecker said. "He was orchestrating every single bullet that was fired that night. ... The peace that I had was not only for my own life, but for the lives of my soldiers. If any of them were to get shot, then that was part of God’s sovereign plan." And God chose to preserve Struecker that night.
CITATION: http://www.family.org/teenguys/breakmag/features/
a0023481.html
Point of illustration: God is calling us today as Christian’s to stand up and be his “Mighty Warriors” because the enemy is pillaging and plundering the territory of the Lord. We must come out of our hiding places and place our faith and trust in God. We must allow him to lead us into the battle and through the battle to victory. This means we must die to self and fear and say yes to God’s call to “Go.” In the midst of all the chaos we must remember that “He is with us!” “He is our source of power and strength.”
Scripture Text: Judges 6:1-24:
1Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
2Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.
3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.
4They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.
5They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.
6Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.
7When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian,
8he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
9I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land.
10I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
11The 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.
12When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
13“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.”
14The 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?”
15“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
17Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.
18Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”And the LORD said, “I will wait until you return.”
19Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.
21With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared.
22When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
23But the LORD said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
24So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
I. The Call
a. Gideon’s call to valor (Judges 6:1- 24)
i. His calling: Judges 6 - Gideon was called as a judge after 7 years of cruel oppression by the Midianites.
1. Times were very hard and death and destruction where running wild across the land of Israel.
2. People were hiding in caves and clefts because of the rampage of the Midianites.
ii. Fear was the prime emotion of the day. Israel went underground just to survive and exist.
1. Quote on fear Max Lucado:
a. “Fear never wrote a symphony or poem, negotiated a peace treaty, or cured a disease. Fear never pulled a family out of poverty or a country out of bigotry. Fear never saved a marriage or a business. Courage did that. Faith did that. People who refused to consult or cower to their timidities did that. People who refused to consult or cower to their timidities did that. But fear itself? Fear herds us into a prison and slams the doors” (Fearless, page 5).
b. God prophesied to Gideon at his call what he would become known as “a mighty warrior”
i. The response of Gideon: He did not believe he was because at the moment of the call he was hiding out under trees from the Midianites.
ii. This call reveals that God always sees more than we see. When God proclaims something it always comes to pass.
1. He saw a warrior! Not a coward hiding out in a grove of trees! Gideon was hiding out griped by fear and disappointment but God would infuse him with His Spirit and then lead him out of hiding and into the battle.
2. He was hiding under cover threshing his wheat notice out of the sight of the Midianites. He was in hiding so that they would not steal or destroy his crop. But because the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance God raised up our “judge.” The angel of the Lord said two things to our judge.
a. “The Lord is with you!”
b. “Mighty Warrior”
3. Yes, God’s chosen messenger tells Gideon that he is a mighty warrior. Remember he is hiding out, afraid of the Midianites threshing his wheat. He is not out attacking the roaming band of thieves but actually hiding from them. He is not at the moment acting like a warrior? Is he? Yet – the messenger of God proclaims him “a mighty warrior because God is with him.”
4. But Gideon had to learn how to trust the leading and the guiding of the lord.
a. God knew he had to walk Gideon through the process of building up his faith and trust in him.
b. Notice Gideon does not reply with – “Thank you for the compliment and yes, I am ready for battle. Set me in the direction you want me to go and I will smite these raiders!’ no he questions the messengers message. “If the Lord is with us then why are we being terrorized by these raving lunatics?” “I thought God did wonders for his people – I don’t see any armies being swallowed up by the red sea or power from heaven sending plagues on these evil raiders? God is with us – I don’t think so – look around I see no wonders – I see no deliverance – sir God is not with us He has forsaken us and placed us in the grip of the evil Midianites.
i. Lucado states, “Fear does this. Corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness” (Fearless, page 9).
c. Interesting that the text in verse 14 says, “The Lord turned to him” Is the Angel of the Lord here Jesus? Many scholars believe Jesus is the Angel of the Lord of the OT.
i. Gideon receives the following commission – “Go” sound familiar to you? Jesus said this to his church – to us:
1. Matthew 28:18-20:
a. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
2. Mark 16:15-18:
a. 15He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
3. John 20:21-22:
a. 21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
4. Jesus told each of us to, “Go,” We are to take on the terrorists of the Lord’s people and we too are mighty warriors because He is with us!
a. We cannot defeat the enemy of the people of God by hiding in caves, or in secluded forests. We cannot hide in our church buildings but enter into the fight that raging outside in our community. We must go and face the enemy in the strength and the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus and with the authority given to Jesus by God the Father – So we are to go after the enemy with The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
b. We are Mighty Warriors! God said it “I believe it “Do you?
i. Highlight “Back to Church Sunday” Sept 12.
ii. You need to invite people back to church for this special Sunday and at the upcoming picnic August 22nd.
1. Compile a list of 10 people to invite and pray for them over the next month.
c. Many of us do the same thing that Gideon did to the Lord they respond, “But Lord!”
i. The Lord says, I am sending you – but we say “but Lord – I am too weak! I am a nobody! My family will not even support me! I am no mighty warrior – you have the wrong person!”
ii. “They will not come!” and “They won’t listen to me!”
d. I want everyone here this morning to listen to the Lord’s response here in verse 16 to Gideon’s excuses, “I will be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites (the enemy)!”
i. Gideon was told by the Lord He will strike them down – not in his own might or His position in Israel or even because of His family but because the Lord is with Him.
ii. Listen Christians, “God is with us so we can strike down the enemy of the Lord!”
1. We have the Authority, the power, the anointing and most of all the name of Jesus to drive back the enemy of our souls.
2. We have all that we need right now to invite people back to church and see God move in their lives.
T.S. – God is calling all us to become Mighty Warriors today – will you respond to His call? Do you need some kind of confirmation on doing this --then take note to what Gideon does next?
II. The request
a. Gideon’s request for a sign or confirmation from the Lord was wise. Many of us do this today to make sure we have heard from God.
i. Gideon wanted to be sure he was hearing God’s voice clearly
1. Why? Gideon still does not believe he can do this so he asks for a sign – a confirmation from the Lord – I find it amazing how patient God is with us in the faith process.
ii. God’s response: God knew that Gideon needed some signs to confirm that he really was hearing from Him and that he could trust the Lord to be with him in the midst of the battle for life and death.
iii. Where are you at today? Not sure that God is with you then ask Him for a sign – He will let you know that He is calling you and He is equipping you for the battle at hand. You will see that you can trust Him – He will prove it to you.
1. So I challenge you to ask God for a sign – a confirmation – I did before coming here as your pastor – I am here because God called me and confirmed that call!
a. It was not because I passed man’s vote to come – I was sent by God to do battle against the enemy of this church and God gave me signs to know that this is what I was to do for this time period in my life. I was to come here with his authority, His anointing and His powerful name and drive back the enemies forces in this area.
iv. My own signs:
1. When I left this church as Associate Pastor 13 years ago, “I heard a voice telling me that I would be back as Senior Pastor.”
a. I ignored this voice and questioned its validity.
2. Two summers ago before I came here as your pastor – I was asked to preach by Brad because I was going to be in town. I came and preached and while I was in the audience entering into praise and worship the Lord said to me, “You will be the next pastor of this church.”
a. I ignored this voice and once again questioned if it was God or just Mike.
3. Then my many times in Prayer after this kept telling me – you are to “Go” – You are my mighty warrior called to Christian Hills to bring them the victory against the enemy that is pillaging, plundering, destroying their spiritual fruit, and enslaving my people in bitterness and un-forgiveness. You are to go and bring the sword of the Spirit to drive back the forces of evil from this place. This place will have a great spiritual breakthrough and the Lord will be with you – He will raise you up to be the Mighty Warrior.
a. Once again - I struggled with this call – I really did not want to leave New Life. But the voice of the Lord was strong and relentless. So I asked for confirmation from God.
4. A Prophetic word came to me from Rick one of my elders who flowed in the Prophetic realm.
a. After praying he came to me and told me that I would be leaving to go to Chicago because God had told him this would happen.
5. Then the affirmations of my family and friends especially Kathy.
6. The many phone calls from others pastor’s in the FCA and from other ministerial friends.
7. But most important “I heard God’s voice instruct me to come and I know His voice!” So I came.
8. When I accepted the call to come I knew it was God – so I am here because God confirmed my call to be your pastor.
9. What is God calling you to do? Do you need affirmation if it’s His voice then ask Him for a sign or confirmation.
b. Gideon prepares and offering for the Lord – the Lord waits as he prepares it and then accepts it with the fire from his Staff. The fire consumes the offering then the Lord disappears and Gideon realizes He has seen the Lord face to face.
i. Fear most likely gripped Gideon again because the teaching of the day was if you saw God face to face you would then die. So the Lord speaks to Gideon again – “He is not to fear - he will not die for seeing the Lord’s face.”
ii. He then built and altar there to honor and remember his divine encounter with the Lord.
T.S. – God confirmed His call to Gideon and walked him through a trust and faith building exercise and then Gideon stepped into battle for the Lord.
III. The first Mission
a. The first step in the call to battle is start at home first (Judges 6:25-34)
i. 25That same night the LORD said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.
26Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.”
27So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.
28In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!
29They asked each other, “Who did this?”When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
30The men of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.”
32So that day they called Gideon “Jerub-Baal,” saying, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.
33Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.
b. The mission: Later that night God gives Gideon the instruction to go tear down his father’s altar to Baal and his Asherah pole. Then build an altar to God and make a sacrifice with a Bull from your father’s herd to offer to the Lord.
i. Gideon’s response: It says Gideon was afraid so he did it at night. Interesting that deliverance could not come to Israel until the house at home was cleaned up first.
1. He faced his fear and did what God called him to do.
2. The result was his name got changed to reflect a person of valor and might
a. Jerub-baal: contender with Baal; or, let Baal plead, a surname of Gideon; a name given to him because he destroyed the altar of Baal.
i. A name of honor for what he did!
ii. God spared his life and then prepared to use him for a larger battle.
1. Be faithful in the small things and God will reward you with more.
Conclusion:
Pay attention to Judges 6:34: The Spirit of the Lord comes on Gideon – he sounds the trumpet for the people to follow him as he goes up against the enemies of Israel.
The next step in the call would never have happened if Gideon had not taken the first step to deal with the sin in his own family. He had to step up and address his home first and this required courage and trust in God.
Gideon responded to God’s call and he did not let his fear dictate his destiny.
He stepped out in faith and trusted God to protect Him.
He was faithful to start the process of renewal and revival in his own home.
But he faced the sin in his own house and God gave him a name of valor.
Let’s recall the Purpose of the book of Judges and it’s message:
The book of Judges aims to demonstrate that defection from Jehovah incurs severe punishment and servitude. We see this in our own story today. Only by turning back to God can restoration be enjoyed. Gideon did this by tearing down the sinful altars to others gods. Thus the judges were charismatic leaders, raised up by God to deliver His people. Gideon’s response to God and faith sets in motion a great revival in Israel. Only by heeding the Spirit-directed message of God and following His voice will deliverance come to His people. By divine power and Spirit-anointed leadership God delivers the people from the oppression of the enemy.
