SERMONIC THEME
INTRODUCTION
Opening Statement: He was a farmer who really enjoyed his trade. Unlike some farmers, he had no desire to be anything more than a farmer. He never had political ambitions, nor did he dream of becoming a military leader and yet God had a different plan for his life. I’m talking about Gideon – not the guy that wrote all the Bibles in the hotel rooms. The Gideon story in the Old Testament is unique in that it is the story of how God made a hero out of an unlikely person. It’s not just a story of great exploits; it is a transformation story as well.
Transition: God is looking for a Gideon today - men and women of faith, who are willing to step out and do great things for God.
Title: The Story of Gideon – The Making of a Hero (especially for students who are returning to school)
Text: Judges 6:1-8:35
Background: Before we get into the story, we need to set it up by looking quickly at Israel’s judges, the cycles, and the enemy they faced.
The Judges
After Joshua had defeated all of Israel’s enemies and established the tribes of Israel in the Promised Land he died. Instead of appointing another main military leader, God would occasionally raise up men and women who were called “judges” to lead segments of the Israelites against local enemies. The very fact that they had to fight these enemies was due to their own disobedience at times. Nevertheless, God was gracious and would provide them with the necessary leadership to get them back on track. But even then, the leaders were less than they should have been.
The Cycles
The period of the judges is known as one of the lowest times in Israel’s history. The last verse of the book says it all: 21:25 In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right. This book records seven cycles of sin that spanned about 300 years. The cycles began with disobedience, which resulted in bondage, and which resulted in misery. Then, God would raise up one of the judges to call people back to Him. This resulted in repentance, deliverance, rest, and revival. But then, just when life got easier, back into compromise and disobedience they would go. You see, in their years of peace and prosperity the people began once again to wander from God’s will and as often happened, their moral decline was followed by military oppression from the outside. So for 300 years, the people of Israel bounce back and forth from being faithful and obedient to God to being disobedient to God. In each cycle Israel seems to have sunk lower than she had previously sunk before.
The Enemy
It is in this kind of setting that the Gideon story took place. Gideon was one of these local “judges” raised up by God to deliver a localized group of Israeli’s from a group of people known as the Midianites and the Amalekites (Judges 6:3). The Midianites were a nomadic people who would wait until the people of Israel had finished planting their crops and they would sweep down upon them stealing their crops and herds and destroying what they couldn’t take with them. Well this went on for seven years (Judges 6:1) and it was starting to get a little old, and so the people cried out to God to deliver them, and He called someone to lead His people, firstly out of military oppression and secondly out of moral oppression. And that person was a man named Gideon.
With all of these things in mind, you’re now ready for the story.
***********************************************
OUTLINE
Opening Statement: When you think of a hero, you’re usually inclined to think of strength, great intellect, personal charisma and beauty, or enormous wealth. But our hero today had none of these. He started out as a bitter and weak farmer, but was transformed into a warrior in a most unlikely fashion. He experienced a personal revival.
Key Word: The fascinating story of Gideon brings to use THREE PICTURES in the making of a hero. Stay with me and we’ll make some applications at the end.
Transition: The first picture…
GIDEON THE COWARD 6:1-24
Exposition: Judges 6:11 pretty much says it all: 6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress so he could hide it from the Midianites. Gideon is not exactly a picture of strength and courage here. He is hiding down in a winepress threshing wheat. Normally they used an open flat place where the winds and open air would blow away the chaff, but Gideon was hiding in a winepress beneath a tree, threshing wheat with a stick, desperately trying to save a little bit of food that he had hidden from the Midianites. This is not a picture of a courageous hero; it is a picture of a defeated, discouraged man, filled with doubts and fears. Not only was he in the winepress physically, but spiritually and emotionally. Gideon appears to be a timid and bitter man. While being challenged to deliver Israel, he said to the Angel of the Lord in Judges 6:13: 6:13 Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
Explanation: Two things contributed to his cowardice: bitterness and timidity. Gideon was set up to live a life of frustration. He was bitter with God for not coming through for him. In addition to the bitterness, Gideon felt that he had nothing to offer to help improve things. He didn’t have the skills and power to turn things around he thought. He told the LORD’S angel in Judges 6:15: 6:15 Gideon said to him, “But Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” You’ve got the wrong guy. You need a hardened warrior to do this.
Question: Are you hiding down in a winepress threshing wheat and afraid to go public with your faith in God – afraid to do the task that God wants you to do? Gideon was bitter, disappointed, timid, and afraid. Like Gideon, we can all give great reasons to be bitter, and push away from God but there is no life there.
Application: This school year, you’ll face situations like losing some of your friends from last year, being in a class that is really hard, encountering a teacher who is irritable, enduring students who make life hard for everyone else. In these situations, bitterness and disappointment can move you down into the winepress of isolation and discouragement. Now, I could tell you to make a decision to refrain from bitterness. I could tell you to focus on the LORD and not on the odds against you! But really, what was it that began to transform this coward hiding down in the winepress? It was a personal encounter with God. This is what you need this morning. I actually thought about a subtitle for this message “Winepress Living in a Midianite World.” You’ve been thrashing around down in the winepress for far too long. The Midianites are winning. You have suffered; your family has suffered; and your church has suffered. You need a God-encounter if you’re going to make it out of the winepress. Jesus is with you. What can there be to fear?
Illustration: Five-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn’t want to go in alone. "It’s dark in there and I’m scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It’s OK-Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?" The only difference between that kid and us is that he’s more honest. We need reassurance from God that we’re doing the right thing. Gideon needed it too. God provided assurance when he needed it the most. It all began with a personal encounter.
Transition: The second picture of our hero improves somewhat. A coward who had a personal encounter with God becomes…
GIDEON THE CHALLENGER 6:25-32
Exposition: It was one thing to meet God in the secrecy of your winepress, but quite another thing to stand up for the Lord in public ways. Gideon began to make a difference right at home. He cleaned up the idolatry. 6:25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole. 6:26 Then build an altar for the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold according to the proper pattern. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice on the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.” 6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime.
Explanation: Even though he was still fearful, he was willing to take a risk right at home. This inspired at least ten to go with him on this occasion, and a little later in this story, he rallied 32,000 men. The great thing about risk-taking is that it inspires others to move out in faith.
Illustration: Do you remember the four-minute mile? They’d been trying to do it since the days of the ancient Greeks. Someone found the old records of how the Greeks tried to accomplish this. They had wild animals chase the runners, hoping that would make them run faster. They tried tiger’s milk: not the stuff you get down at the supermarket, I’m talking about the real thing. Nothing worked, so they decided it was physically impossible for a human being to run a mile in four minutes. Our bone structure was all-wrong, the wind resistance was too great, our lung power was inadequate. There were a million reasons. Then one day one human being proved that the doctors, the trainers, and the athletes themselves were all wrong. And, miracle of miracles, the year after Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. And the year after that three hundred runners broke the four-minute mile!
Application: Not only do modern day Gideon’s overcome their cowardice, but they live their lives in such a way that they challenge others to do their best. I’m challenging you today to make a decision. You can’t win any battles down in the winepress! You’ve got to come out into the open and take your stand. People need someone to rally behind as God’s will is pursued. Take your stand this year at school.
Transition: Finally, we see…
GIDEON THE CONQUEROR 6:33 - 8:3
Exposition: Well with this victory under his belt, Gideon issued a call across Israel to arms and they responded and as they came Gideon began to get a little nervous. It was one thing for a farmer to say he was going to lead an army into battle it was another thing for a farmer to actually lead an army into battle, especially when you have 32,000 men (Judges 7:3) and the other guys have 135,000 (Judges 7:12; 8:10). And so our hero got into a little discussion with God. He said “Tell you what God, if this is what you really want me to do you have to give me a sign, so here’s what we are going to do. I will put out a sheep’s fleece on the ground tonight. If in the morning the ground is dry and the fleece is wet then I’m your guy.” Judges 6:38 says: 6:38 The Lord did as he asked. When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl. But Gideon is not convinced. Gideon again prays and says, “I don’t want to get annoying here God, but let’s try it the other way. I’ll leave the fleece out again tonight and in the morning if the ground is wet and the fleece is dry then I’ll know that I need to listen to you.” He gets up the next morning, and sure enough the ground is covered in dew and the fleece is completely dry. And so Gideon begins to think, “God must be serious here.”
Notation: God’s will is a very mysterious thing at times. Knowing what he wants us to do and what we should wait on him to do for us is hard to balance. Gideon was having this trouble. He wanted to make sure before he launched these men into battle, so he set this little thing up with God. By the way if you ever hear someone talking about putting out a fleece to validate the will of God, this is what he or she is referring to. But remember this scripture isn’t supporting that concept, or even endorsing it, it is simply reporting what happened. The fleece was all about Gideon’s fear, doubt, and timidity. He already knew what God’s will was; he just needed some reassurance and for some reason God conceded to Gideon’s request.
Remember, it is an Old Testament event as well. Acts 2 and the Spirit impact our decision-making today. Make sure you’re in God’s will as best as you can. Rather than the fleece method, I have found the “Stacking Up” method to be a more reliable guide. How are things stacking up? If several good reasons can be stacked up for making my decision, it’s usually the right thing to do.
Explanation: Having clearly determined the will of God, Gideon became a Challenger. This is where the story gets really interesting. Gideon is psyched now, God has told him that he would lead the Israelite army to a great victory over the Midianites, and then confirmed it through this entire fleece thing. So Gideon calls for all the able-bodied men in the area to join him and 32,000 show up. He throws down a challenge and 32,000 show up! I wish I could do that! He looks out at this army of 32,000 men and thinks “This could be cool, we can do this.” And God says, “Not so fast Gideon. You’ve got too many men.” (Judges 7:2) And Gideon is thinking: “Too many men? How can you have too many men going into battle?” You see God wanted this to be a God thing, and Gideon wanted it to be man thing. And you really can’t blame Gideon for that. But God said “You have too many warriors and when they win they are going to think they did it all by themselves (Judges 7:2). So tell them that whoever is afraid can go home.” So Gideon gets up makes the announcement and 22,000 guys leave, just like that, leaving Gideon with 10,000 men (Judges 7:3). And just as Gideon’s kind of got his head wrapped around what has happened God says, “Still too many” “Still too many!” and so God tells Gideon in Judges 7:4-8: 7:4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; when I say, ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” 7:5 So he brought the men down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” 7:6 Three hundred men lapped; the rest of the men kneeled to drink water. 7:7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army and I will hand Midian over to you. The rest of the men should go home.” 7:8 The men who were chosen took supplies and their trumpets. Gideon sent all the men of Israel back to their homes; he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites were camped down below in the valley.
Now at this point I’m not sure that Gideon was all that convinced of the validity of the plan and so God told him if you don’t believe I can do it sneak down to the enemy camp and see what they are saying. And that’s what he did. He took one of his leaders with him they sneaked into the Midianite camp and eavesdropped on a conversation going on around a campfire. Two guys are talking and the first said “I had the strangest dream last night, I dreamt that a loaf of barley bread rolled down the hill into the camp and flattened one of our tents” And that second guy says “Your dream can only mean one thing. Gideon and his men are going to whip us.” Gideon took the dream and the interpretation as a sign from God and went back to the camp to rally the troops. It’s hard to beat the text. Let’s read Judges 7:15-22: 7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!” 7:16 He divided the three hundred men into three units. He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them. 7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 7:18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’” 7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. 7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 7:21 They stood in order all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. 7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords throughout the camp.
CONCLUSION
Application: God is looking for a Gideon today - men and women of faith, who are willing to step out and do great things for God. How do the “big picture” applications from this story work in our lives today? What great things can we do for God?
A. We must guard against forgetting God and failing to teach our children. That’s why they were even in this mess. Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes in Israel. Even Gideon had some idols to remove.
B. God can use ordinary people to do ordinary things in a great way. The steps of Gideon’s victory are easy to trace: he had a promise to believe, an altar to build, a vessel to break, a lamp to burn, and a trumpet to blow. And God gave the victory! None of these things were that incredibly difficult. But Gideon did them in obedience and God blessed him. There are so many simple things you can do that God will bless: pray, read the Bible, attend church, share your faith.
C. A small number with God can do much. Though He is not opposed to having many on His side, God loves to work through the few. You may be among the few in your company or on your ball team that has come out of the winepress to face the challenges of the open plains with the enemy nearby. Gideon and his small band of 300 men turned the tide. For the first time in 7 years, Israel had homes, and crops, and horses, and camels that were not destroyed or taken by the enemy.
D. One can grow from doubt to great faith. Gideon did it.
E. Leaders should be courageous and examples for others to follow. Notice how so many rallied behind someone who was so courageous. Many people won’t get involved unless someone more courageous proves the way.
