Gideon - "What God Can Do
Through Ordinary People"
Today is week 5 in our series Real People - True Stories... So far we have met Elijah - who on Mt Carmel challenged us to get off the fence and really serve God... If God is God then we really need to serve him and quit playing games..... and if he is not God, then we might as well go home and have a drink....
Next we met Deborah who showed us how we can bring life back into our homes...(by bringing our kids words from the Lord, encouraging them, disciplining them and reminding them of God’s power.
Then we met Elisha who showed us why we don’t need to be afraid because God is with us...and greater is He who is with us, then he who is in the world..." There are flaming chariots of God surrounding us to protect us....
And Last week we met Solomon whose life challenges us to Go The Distance - To Finish Strong - Last Sunday, Solomon’s life warned us that a good start does not make up for a lousy finish...we need to go the distance.
Today, we are going to meet a man named Gideon - perhaps you have heard of him - his story is found in Judges 6-8. And what we will see in the life of Gideon is how God can use ordinary people to do some extra-ordinary things
LET’S PRAY TOGETHER......
Doctor Fred Craddock a homiletic (preaching) professor at Phillips University in Oklahoma was vacationing in Gatlinburg with his wife... they were sitting in a restaurant trying to get off by themselves and they noticed a distinguished looking white-hair man, going from table to table introducing himself and having a conversation. They said to each other, "I hope he doesn’t come over here to intrude on our privacy", but here he came and said, "where are you folks from." Dr. Craddock said, "Well we’re from Oklahoma."
He said "what do you do?" Dr. Craddock replied, "I’m a homiletics professor at Phillips University." He said, "Oh, you train preachers do you, well I got a story I’d like to tell you", and he sat down. Dr. Craddock though to himself, "Oh no, here comes another preacher story." (Time waiting at outback and when guy knew I was preacher - had to tell me stories - I thought we’d never get to our table)..
The man said, "You know I was born in these mountains. My mother was not married and as I grew up I had to put up with a lot of hassles. I felt self-conscious and just kind of kept to myself. What I hated most was coming into town on Saturday because people would stare at me and question me as to who my father was. Even when I went to church I would come in late and leave early, because I didn’t want anyone to ask me questions.
One day when the church had a new preacher, who had a short benediction I didn’t get out in time and got caught in the crowd. The preacher grabbed my hand and said, `whose are ya boy, whose son are you.’ And I thought Oh boy even the preacher is going to give me a hard time. But then he said, `Oh, I recognize the family resemblance your a child of God’, then the preacher patted me on the back and said, `you have a great inheritance now you go and claim it.’ Those were the most encouraging word’s I have ever heard and I have been grateful to preachers event since."
Then the man got up and introduced himself as Ben Hopper and he left the table. Dr. Craddock kept going over in his mind again and again, Ben Hopper, Ben Hopper, and then it hit Him, Ben Hopper had twice been elected as The Governor of Tennessee.
An illegitimate child, who was looked down upon was not a likely choice to become the Governor of the state of Tennessee. I’m sure that those who stared at, ridiculed and ignored him never picked Ben Hopper to become a future Governor of their state, He was a very unlikely candidate.
You know, to me that is one of the most exciting things about God, Time and time again throughout the pages of scripture we see God using the unlikely, using the ordinary to accomplish his will and get his work done.
When Moses, barely 3 months old was placed in that tiny basket barely escaping death, He was not at the time, from a human standpoint the one most likely to deliver his people.
What about David, even his own father didn’t think that he could possibly be a King after all he was just a shepherd boy. But when God looked at David, He didn’t see a shepherd boy,,but rather he saw a man after His own heart, And He told Samuel, this one, He will be my King.
And what about Esther - a slave girl in a foreign land - who but God would have looked at her and said, "she will deliver her people from certain destruction..."
And then there is the woman at the well, she had been through 5 unsuccessful marriages, and was now living with a man. And she comes to draw water from the well at the hottest part of the day, because she can no longer bare to face the stares, whispering and cold shoulders of the other woman in the town. Most people would not have looked at that sad and lonely woman walking down that hot dusty road and picked her out to do anything significant. But Jesus is not most people and when he saw her approaching on that hot and sunny day He said, "she is the one who will take the Gospel to her town." (And she did and they believed)
And what about Saul of Tarsus, I am confident that the early church did not hold weekly meetings to discuss how they could convert Saul, because they felt that he just had so much potential for Jesus Christ -- Rather they were afraid of him (and rightly so)....
Listen to what God says in I Samuel 16:7, this truth still needs to be learned today,
"But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance but the Lord looks at a persons thoughts & intentions..." (1 Sam 16:7 NLT) God looks at the thoughts & intentions...the heart, and when God looked at:
MOSES HE SAID, "HE IS MY DELIVERER!"
DAVID HE SAID, "HE WILL BE MY KING!"
ESTHER HE SAID, "SHE WILL SAVE MY PEOPLE
WOMAN AT THE WELL "SHE WILL WIN HE TOWN FOR JESUS"
PAUL HE SAID, "HE WILL TAKE THE GOSPEL THROUGHOUT THE WORLD (even at the cost of his own life)
Listen, God, is a master at using the unlikely, he is an EXPERT at turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, time and time again in scripture, we see God’s power manifested in lives of someone who on the outside may not look that impressive, but on the inside, has submitted and surrendered his or her life (their thoughts & intentions) completely to God. And Oh, the things God can do and the victories God can win, with that kind of surrendered life.
Yes, ‘Our’ God, is a master at using the ordinary, at using things that others would merely pass right by. The staff of Moses was only a piece of wood nothing special until it was touched by God, and then it was an instrument through which God performed Great miracles.
Those 5 smooth stones in the stream near the valley of Elah were not that special either, but when God got a hold of them AND PUT THEM INTO THE HANDS OF a shepherd boy by the name of David they became powerful projectiles that would slay the great enemy of the Israelites, Goliath.
They were just 2 small coins that belonged to a widow women -- but when she placed them in the offering plate for God those 2 coins became a gift that has been talked about for 2,000 years.
What about the disciples, most were just simple fishermen, not wealthy, not educated, not very influential-- that is until Jesus got a hold of them and those uneducated fisherman turned the Roman World upside down in 30 years.
What about you do you feel kind of ordinary (most of us are), do you, feel like an unlikely candidate to anything significant for the kingdom of God, "I don’t have much to offer, what could I really do? What can I give that would matter?"
If that’s how you feel (right now) HERE IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY TO YOU - great!! Why --- because you are just the kind of person that God loves to work with, and through. You see, those who think they have already arrived, those who think they know all the answers, THOSE who think they can do everything, are always to busy listening to themselves, to even hear what God has to say.
The life of Gideon serves as an example for all who desire to be used of God, for all who have a passion to do something significant for the kingdom. In the life of Gideon we see dramatically illustrated, how God works in the lives of ordinary men and women, empowering them to do extraordinary things.
Gideon was a pretty ordinary guy, When we first meet Him, we don’t find a man who had it all together and who was rock solid in his faith - rather we find a man who had fears and doubts - and who felt confusion and despair. Gideon was slow to believe in the words of God and in addition to this his father had turned away from God and worship idols...
Okay, let’s set the stage for our meeting of Gideon - His story is found in Judges 6-8 - AND, as I said a couple of weeks back - the period of time covered by the book of Judges (a 300 year period) was a period time characterized by the same cycle being played out again & again.
God’s people would be doing good - life was great...God was blessing (the bills were paid, the kids were behaving, the camels were not in the shop and the birds were singing) ... Then the people would turn away from God (I guess they figured they didn’t need him anymore - thought they were doing pretty good on their own >>> now, no one would do that today would they?) - But Before too long, life began to stink - it went south in a hurry -- as an enemy would come in and oppressed them... And what do you think they did - you guessed it, they cried out to God for help .... and Our God being full of mercy and rich in compassion heard their cries and sent a deliverer - Then things in their lives would be good again... AND we find ourselves back at the top of the cycle again....
Chapter 6 of Judges opens up with Israel suffering a 7 year oppression at the hands of the Midianites. Now, the Midianites were cruel & powerful. And every year at harvest time the Midianites come would sweeping into Israel - with their powerful army and scripture says that like a locust plague they would strip the land - stealing all the grain and destroying all the crops...verse 4 of chapter 6 says, "They left nothing for Israel to eat, and no sheep, cattle or donkeys...."
Every year at harvest time, it was the same thing - The Midianites would come riding in and take all the fruits of the labor - not only were the Israelites discouraged but they had become an impoverished nation... many hid in the mountains and in caves - fleeing from their homes.. Times were hard so they cried out to God for help...
And God sent a prophet to them - who said,
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live. BUT you have not listened to me..."
Lesson #1; God hears us when we cry out & return to Him - BUT that doesn’t mean we won’t have some things that need to be straightened out...
The text then shifts to Gideon. It was harvest times once again. And Israel knew it was only a matter of days before the Midianites would come swarming in and steal their grain. Therefore, Gideon was in a wine press threshing wheat. The Hebrew verb used here expresses the idea of hiding.
Since winepress were carved out of stone, they were usually underground. Normally 2 cistern areas were carved out, with one slightly below the other. The upper area is where a man would tread out the grapes and as the liquid rose to a certain height it would drain down into the lower vat where the wine would be stored. Many of these were large enough for a man to hide in, and Gideon was probably down in the lower vat hiding, hitting the wheat with a stick, while he had covered the upper opening with perhaps some brush -- he did this so the enemies would not find him and take his food.
There is something worth noting here - and that is this, one of the necessary ingredients for effectively threshing wheat is wind... You toss the wheat in the air and the wind blows away the chaff....Therefore hiding in a winepress and trying to thresh wheat w/o wind is pretty difficult and ineffective... This leads me to;
Lesson #2; The church at times tries to do the same thing - hiding and working without wind... And the wind the church needs to be effective is the fresh wind of God’s Spirit.....we felt a mighty of that wind last week during services...
Let’s go back to Gideon hiding in the winepress... I imagine his heart was pounding, listening intently, hoping no one would hear him. At the time - Gideon from a human standpoint was not a very likely candidate to do extraordinary things for God....
Gideon didn’t have an impressive pedigree. He did not come from a prestigious family. He was just an ordinary guy, from the weakest family within the tribe of Manasseh and he was the least (youngest) within this weak and unimpressive family.
And Gideon didn’t have a lot of confidence either.
Let’s put ourselves in his sandals, and I think we’ll see why. Here you are the least member of your family, which happens to be the weakest family in the whole tribe of Manasseh.
And the Midianites, who were worse then any bully you could ever imagine are picking on you stealing your donkeys, cows, your bike and your lunch money. And here you are hiding out in a winepress or in the bathroom stall eating your lunch because you are afraid that the bad guys will beat you up and take it.
And while your hiding in the corner, heart pounding, palms sweating, as your ears are tuned in to hear the least little sound -- someone looks from over the top of the stall and calls you a Mighty Warrior...
Well, that is exactly what happens to Gideon - as he is hiding the Angel of the Lord (this is an expression used in O.T. to describe the times when God took on ‘the form’ of a man and appeared to people) God appears to Gideon and says, "The Lord is with you mighty warrior..."
Now Gideon had a problem with that statement;
Yeah right, the Lord is with us... "...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 hands of Midian."
(Ever felt that way - if God is with me then why am I getting dumped on...)
Then 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..."
Now, Gideon has a problem with that statement as well, You see, Gideon felt about as far from strength and a mighty warrior as you could get -- I think if Gideon wasn’t so afraid he would have laughed - "are you talking to me, you must be nuts..." "me save Israel, surely you jest, My family is the weakest and I am the least one in my family.. you must have me mistaken for someone else. I’m just an ordinary guy.... have you even looked at my resume’ Lord, not too impressive - no pedigree, no confidence, hiding in a winepress... father’s house was full of idols and altars to foreign Gods."
Gideon’s faith was weak, it was immature (it takes time for faith to grow). And when your faith is weak and immature there are a lot of things you can’t understand; Gideon could not understand why God was letting all of this tragedy strike His people... He wondered where God was, where the miracles were.. but at this point in his life his faith was to weak to see that it was NOT God But Israel who brought this on , even his own family had altars and worshiped Baal.
After Gideon told the Lord he was not the guy he was looking for - The Lord says to him, "I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midianites together..."
Lesson #3; To grow in faith you need to let God’s word and His view of you - encourage and build you up.
Gideon responds, "okay that sounds pretty cool....But I’m still a little uneasy with this - so if you don’t mind I’d like to have a sign as proof that you are really talking to me - so could you hang around for a little while, while I run home and prepare a sacrifice - AND God says, "I will wait until you return..."
Gideon runs home cooks a goat (however long that takes) takes 20 quarts of flour and bakes a bunch bread - sticks them in a basket and comes running - and the Lord is still waiting...(God is patient with us as our faith develops...) Gideon puts the sacrifice on a rock - The Lord touched the sacrifice with the tip of the staff he was holding and fired flared from the rock --- and torched the meat & bread...
Gideon turned white as ghost - and fell to his knees - you see, it just hit him - that he had told Almighty God to wait on him and now he was afraid he was going to die - BUT God said -- "It alright man, don’t be afraid - you are not going to die....."
That night as Gideon slept - the Lord spoke to him - and told him that there was something he needed to do up-front - before he did anything else - God told Gideon that he had to destroy the altars to the false gods that were in his father’s house....AND after these altars are destroyed Gideon is to take a second bull from his father’s house - the one that was seven years old....(how many years had they been oppressing God’s people) and then build altar to God on the same spot...and sacrifice the bull on it....
Listen #4; Those who are & who want to be leaders of God’s people, must first set in order the affairs of their own house....Listen, if it doesn’t work at home than the last thing you need to do is export it!
So Gideon took 10 men with him and did as the Lord said - he went to his home and took care of business; he stepped up to the plate.... Now notice what the scripture says about Gideon attitude in this...in Judges 6:27 we read ; "But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime..." Gideon was afraid.
Listen; It is not easy to take care of problems at home....Stepping up to the plate takes courage -- because not everyone may like what you have to do... Which brings us to;
Lesson #5; Faith is measured not by fearlessness BUT by obedience.
Now Gideon did not hear again from the Lord until the Midianites, the Amalekites - and a few other ‘ites’ came riding in for their annual raid. And at that time scripture says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon - and he blew a trumpet summoning the men of Israel to join him for battle.... 32,000 men showed up.
Things were about to get crazy - swords were about to be drawn and blood was about to be shed. And Gideon was still a little unsure so he ask God for another sign - in Judges 6:36,37 we read; "If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put some wool on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning and the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help rescue Israel as you promised...and it happened just that way. When Gideon got up the next morning, he squeezed and wrung out a whole bowlful of water...."
Question; Do you think Gideon was now ready to go....? No not quite. You see, Ol’ Gideon got to thinking that maybe this test wasn’t so full proof - it did seem possible that the ground could have dried up in the morning and yet the fleece still held some more water..
SO Gideon said, to God, "Please don’t be angry with me, BUT let me make one more request. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew..." (Since wool tended to absorb water this seemed to be a better test) and sure enough when Gideon woke up - it was just as he had asked...
Now, Gideon is ready to rumble...It was time for the Midianites to go... Gideon had 32,000 men - and he felt they were ready to take on the 135,000 enemy. Sure they were slightly out numbered, but Israel was pumped....
Then God tapped Gideon on the shoulders and spoke these words (Judges 7:2ff); "You have too many warriors with you - If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength...Therefore tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave and go home..."
What do you think happened - 22,000 men went home.... not all who answer the initial call are willing or ready to do what it takes.... Now Gideon is down to 10,000 men - and he probably said something to himself like this; "Okay - it’s cool we are still alright..."
Then God taps Gideon on the shoulders again - "Gideon, there are still too many men... bring them down to the spring and I will sort out who will go with you and who will not..." (4)
And here is to sort them out...."divide the men into 2 groups. In one group put all those who cup the water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like a dog. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream..." (7:5,6)
Gideon divided the men in the groups just like God said.... 9,700 men on one side and 300 on the other....
"With these 300 men I will rescue you & give you victory over the Midianites. Send the others home..." (7:7)
Lesson #6; The victory is determined NOT by our strength BUT by God’s....
As the time for battle approached, Gideon was Afraid, perhaps as he sat with his army of only 300, looking down at the Midianites camp of 135,000, THAT WAS DESCRIBED AS THICK AS LOCUSTS, WITH CAMELS AS NUMEROUS AS THE SANDS OF THE SEASHORE. Maybe this sight caused GIDEON to pull out his calculator and push in the numbers (135,000 divided by 300) and AS he saw the NUMBER 450, He realized that each man in his army would be up against 450 Midianites.
Needless to say Gideon wasn’t getting much sleep....And Maybe he thought to himself, "Perhaps, I misunderstood the Lord, is this thing really going to work."
God heard his thoughts and God read his heart, listen to what he told Gideon (7:9ff), During the night the Lord said to Gideon "Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. IF you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will encouraged to attack the camp. So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and the other eastern peoples settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed." His friend responded. This can be nothing other the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands......"
And let me tell you, when Gideon heard this he was pumped - he was on fire....He fell down and worshiped God....
Gideon was just an ordinary guy - he had doubts, he had fears, his faith was not all it should be, there were issues in in his home that needed to be dealt with...BUT God was about to use him to do something extraordinary - God was about to use him to deliver...his people... God was about to use him to bring about an incredible victory...
I have some questions for you as we wrap this thing up:
Are you an ordinary person....?
Do you have doubts and fears?
Is your faith not all it should be?
Are there issues at home you need to deal with?
ONE MORE QUESTION - Do YOU want to be used by God to do something awesome....?
If you do, I have one more thing I want to teach - before we go - let me briefly tell you why God could use Gideon, who was an ordinary guy like most of us - It was BECAUSE Gideon was F.A.T.
And no, I am not talking about a weight problem... Let me tell you what F.A.T. stands for...
Faithful
Gideon was faithful to what God wanted him to do --- Now he didn’t always understand it, sometimes he was afraid and needed an occasional push of encouragement - But he did it.. He was faithful....
Are you faithful to what God says....even when you are afraid or confused...Do you DO what he says?
"You can never please God without faith, without depending on him. Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him..." Heb 11:6 (LB)
Available
Gideon was available to God... Even though he wasn’t living the promised life - he was in the right place, he was in the promise land.... he was where he should have been as one of God’s people.
Understand, for God to use you - it does not depend on your ability BUT on your availability... Is your life available to God - could God use you if he wanted to... Or are you doing busy doing your own thing that you are rarely in the place where God could use you....
The prophet Isaiah was available to God.....In that awesome chapter in his book, chapter 6 where he recounts his call from God -- we read these words...
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Who shall I send? And who will go for us?" (I have a job for someone to do).... And Isaiah said "Here am I. Send me!"
Question, when Isaiah said, Here am I - where was ‘here?" Listen, The context clearly indicates - that he was in God’s presence, worshiping Him... And These are who God can use....
Teachable
Gideon had a teachable spirit - he allowed God to teach him. Question do you have a teachable spirit?
"Teach the wise, and they will be wise. Teach the righteous and they will learn more..." Pr 9:9
I want you to think about the first picture that we were given of Gideon, afraid, hiding in the winepress threshing wheat -not a too impressive sight was he -- just an ordinary guy....
Now that you have that picture in your mind, I want you to see the picture of Gideon that the author of Judges paints in Judges 7:15-18
"When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he thanked God. Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, "get up! For the Lord has given you the victory over the Midianites. He divided the 300 men into 3 groups and gave each man a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it. Then he said, "keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do. A s soon as my group blows the ram’s horn those of you on the other sides of the camp blow your horns and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon..."
Lesson # 7 - God can DO extra-ordinary things through ordinary people...
GOD IS A MASTER AT USING THE UNLIKELY, HE IS AN EXPERT AT TURNING THE ORDINARY INTO THE EXTRAORDINARY. IN THE LIFE OF GIDEON WE SEE GOD’S POWER MANIFESTED IN THE LIFE OF SOMEONE WHO ON THE OUTSIDE WAS NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE. BUT ON THE INSIDE HAD SUBMITTED HIS LIFE COMPLETELY TO GOD. AND OH, THE THINGS THAT GOD CAN DO AND THE VICTORIES GOD CAN WIN, THROUGH THAT KIND OF SURRENDERED LIFE.
THERE ARE STILL MANY BATTLES LEFT TO BE FOUGHT AND MANY MORE VICTORIES TO BE WON, (BATTLEGROUND ARE HOME SCHOOL JOB, CHURCH ..ETC) GOD’S ENEMIES ARE STILL OPPRESSING HIS PEOPLE, AND THEY HAVE TAKEN MANY CAPTIVE -- MANY ARE AFRAID AND ARE HIDING IN CAVES AS THEIR HOPE SLOWLY FADES.
GOD IS STILL LOOKING FOR WARRIORS TODAY!
IS GOD LOOKING AT YOU TODAY? IS HE CALLING YOU A MIGHTY WARRIOR. AND ARE YOU TEMPTED TO SAY, "BUT GOD YOU CAN’T BE TALKING TO ME, WHAT CAN I DO, I DON’T KNOW ENOUGH, I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH ...I CAN’T..
LISTEN - GOD LOVES TO WORK THROUGH ORDINARY MEN AND WOMEN -- WHO ARE TRULY WILLING TO PUT THEIR LIVES INTO THE POTTERS HANDS AND SAY TO HIM -- "I’M YOURS, I’M NOT MUCH -- BUT I TRUST YOU GOD, MOLD ME INTO A WARRIOR FOR YOU!
OUR GOD IS NOT LOOKING FOR PEDIGREES (DOESN’T MATTER IF YOUR FAMILY IS WEALTHY OR WELL EDUCATED.., WHAT GOD IS LOOKING FOR IS A SURRENDERED HEART.
