We’ve been taking a look at the life of Gideon, one of the Judges of Israel in the Old Testament. Was he someone we should model our lives after, someone we should avoid or something in between?
Hebrews 11:32-34
“(32) And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets …
(33) who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions …
(34) quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.”
Last week in verses 11-24
Points of interest in the story
Gideon is threshing wheat in a winepress
The Midianites are all around
They would see you if you were threshing wheat on a typical threshing floor
So, Gideon is in a sunken wine press instead - not good for threshing but
safer than out in the open
The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon (in human form) and declares Gideon to be a mighty warrior
Now last week we talked about how “the Angel of the Lord” and The Lord
(Yahweh) is used interchangeably in this conversation
Gideon is talking to Him like He’s just a traveler passing by or perhaps
another prophet
Side note:
Show images of angels as depicted by pop culture
Show images of angels from serious attempts to show what they might look
like based on Scripture
Show edited video of reactions to angels from The Lutheran Satire
Gideon ignores the statement that he is a mighty warrior and counters with where are His mighty wonders and why has He abandoned us?
Gideon must have a total disconnect from reality at this time.
The Lord does not even answer this accusation but tells Gideon to “go in the strength you have - am I not sending you?”
Gideon - I am the weakest member of a weak family in the half-tribe of Manasseh. (Gideon may not be telling the truth here because he later takes 10 of his male servants to help him with a task from the Lord.)
God - I will be with you - Midian will be struck down as one man
In verses 17 and 18 you can see that Gideon is finally getting a clue …
“If now I have found favor in Your eyes, give me a sign that it is really You talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before You.”
Interesting Note: looking for images of Gideon and the Angel of the LORD. Most of them had these massive wings. Sure seems like if this was accurate that Gideon would have said something like, “Hey, those are some wings you got there, buddy!” Just thinkin’ …
The Lord agrees, “Sure, I’ll wait!”
So, Gideon goes, catches and butchers a young goat, makes some unleavened bread from 36 lbs. of flour, builds a fire, boils the goat, bakes the bread, puts the meat and bread into a basket and the broth into a pot and takes them out.
That’s a lot of work and that’s a long wait!
The Angel of the Lord says put the meat/bread on this rock and pour the broth over them. Then He touches the offering with the staff in His hand and fire springs from the ROCK, not the staff, and consumes the offering.
The Angel of the Lord disappears and Gideon thinks he’s gonna die.
The Lord says, “Peace be to you, do not fear, you’re not going to die.”
Gideon builds and altar and names it Yahweh is Peace.
Later that night the Lord gives Gideon a task.
Take two bulls from your dad’s herd
Use them to pull down the altar to Baal
Tear down the Asherah pole and cut it up
Build an proper alter of laid stone for the Lord
Kill the second bull as an offering
Burn that bull on the altar you have made’
Use the wood from the Asherah pole as fuel for the offering fire
Gideon takes 10 of his men servants and does this at night because he’s afraid of his family members and the other men in his village.
The men of the village fine out that Gideon did this and call for his death.
Gideon’s dad says three things:
If you want to fight on behalf of Baal you’ll be dead this morning
If Baal is a god let him defend himself
He changes Gideon’s name to Jerub-Baal (let Baal contend against him)
Don’t you wish there was some journal that Gideon kept so we could read what his thoughts were about all of this?
Was he thinking, “This is pretty cool?”
Was he gaining confidence in what the Lord could do if he were obedient?
Anyway, the next thing you know, here come the Midianites, the Amalekites and the people of the east - the invaders! This is a fearless group. Power in numbers.
At this point the Spirit of the Lord got a hold of Gideon and Gideon blew a trumpet calling all the men from the family of Abeizer to military service.
From the guys that came from the clan of Abeizer he sent messengers to the rest of his tribe and three other tribes. Amazingly, a gang came to join up with him!
So, Gideon still has some doubts … “If You will deliver Israel by my hand as You have said …”
The he does the double check, two fleece thing and we’re at the end of chapter 6
Remember reading about doubting Thomas in the NT after the resurrection of Jesus? Gideon makes Thomas look like a doubting-novice!
Perhaps this is why the Lord spent so much time working with Gideon.
Talking with him
Accepting his sacrifice
Giving him a relatively easy task - the altar of Baal, Asherah pole, sacrifice
(Easy compared to facing an army of 135,000 warriors)
Keeping him from being put to death
Having patience with his “fleeces”
This is quite a story already and there’s plenty more to come!
In Judges 6:13b Gideon makes this accusation
“But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
That’s quite an accusation. Did Gideon really believe this? Israel had abandoned the Lord. The Lord does not abandon His people!
The assurance that the Lord will “never leave you nor forsake you” appears at least 6 times in the Bible using that exact phrase.
However, we see Israel leaving God and forsaking Him over and over and over!
Here’s Gideon - God is giving him a task, promising to be with him and to strengthen him and he asks God for signs over and over and over.
He claims to be the weakest of the weak! We don’t know how old Gideon was at this point in his life but he is a man with multiple servants.
Now, look at David as a youth. Out in the field watching over his father’s sheep. Just a teenager. Dad says, “Take this roasted grain and bread to your brothers.” The brothers are in the army. The army is face to face with the Philistine army.
There’s this giant - Goliath - over 9 feet tall
“This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”
1 Samuel 17:45-47
(45) David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
(46) This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
(47) All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
David didn’t need to put out a fleece. David had been a worshipper of God from his youth. Even out in the hills watching his father’s sheep he had played his harp and worshipped the Lord. His heart was prepared and his heart was greatly offended that someone, no matter how big he was, was allowed to insult the army of Israel, the army of the nation that God had chosen to be his own.
What battles are you facing today?
This week we received news:
Relatives of our friends from Rochester put their little six month old daughter Lydia down for a nap and as her dad says, “She woke up in the arms of Jesus.”
Pastor David and Joyce’s granddaughter, also named Lydia, is not even able to receive her leukemia treatments because of infection. Things look very grim.
Has God abandoned them? No! Never!
Lydia’s Mom - “I know God has a plan for Lydia's beautiful life. I just don't know what that plan involves. I know He has not forgotten her or her suffering.”
Today we will go from here to the fellowship hall and see more food than some entire villages in Africa will see for a week or maybe a month.
Has God abandoned them? NO!
Just as in Gideon’s day and just as in David’s day He will do His work through His people.
Some are ready to jump in with both feet, like David because they are willing to put their very lives on the line for Him.
Some will need to be coaxed by the Holy Spirit and encouraged by disciples of Christ.
Some will abandon God and later when tragedy strikes, they will ask the same foolish questions; “If God is with us why” or “Why has God abandoned us?”
God has a rescue plan for this world and that plan is Him working in and through us with us being abandoned to God.
Concluding remarks
Sing verses 1,4,5 of “Take my life and let it be” Hymn 455 as a prayer/invitation
