Who is God?
A God of Peace: The Calling of Gideon
(Jehovah Shalom) Judges 6-7
I. If you don’t have the peace of God, you don’t have real peace. (6:1-10)
A. The Problems of Israel.
1. The Midianites. Who were they?
a. Compare them to The Magnificent Seven:
- Mexican raiders. Come every year and take
food.
b. Did not take their land, just made their
lives miserable for seven years.
2. Was this Israel’s real problem? No, it was
their sin.
a. Israel continuously turned away from God.
b. (2:11; 3:7; 4:1; 6:1; 8:33; 10:6; 13:1)
B. “What is real peace?”
1. False peace: “Real peace is a bottle of Jack
Daniel’s and a pack of cigarettes.”
a. A false sense of peace, in truth it is a
numbing peace.
b. Not just alcohol. My Playstation brings me
peace.
- When I “come down” from it, the discord is
still there.
c. Illus.: ER patient being drugged to kill pain.
-It doesn’t take away the pain, it’s still
there.
2. Real peace: Faith in God through Jesus Christ.
a. Illus.:
- A contest a held to determine who could represent peace through painting. Three finalist were determined and a crowd of art enthusists were used to declare the winner. The first painting was unviel to reveal a portrait of a peace valley with a quiet sunset in the background. Applause rand through the room. The second was unveiled to show a portrait of tranquil waters of a seashore with the soft glow of a lighthouse. Applause, once again. When the final entry was unvieled, there was a collective gasp in the room, because this paniting was of a dark, threatening sky. Rain poured down upon a sharp cliff with one straggly old tree jutting from. However, from an elbow on the branch of that tree could be seen a mother bird sitting atop her nest, sheltering her baby birds from the storm. Once the audience realize this detail in the picture, a winner was chosen: this thrid painting.
b. That bird had peace because of its faith in
that tree limb.
c. What do you trust your peace to? That which
numbs your heart to your true condition or
the one who can control your every situation?
C. Having the kind of faith in Christ that leads to
real peace requires sacrifice.
II. Getting the peace God offers requires sacrifice. (6:11-24)
A. God comes to Gideon in his “comfort zone.”
1. What is a winepress?
a. The place where grapes were squeezed for it
juices to make wine.
b. This was most likely a hole in the ground.
Gideon was hiding from the Midianites.
c. He was comfortable.
2. It is from our comfort zone that we make the
most noise.
a. Illus.: Watching OSU football game yesterday.
- How can a good defense give up a 67-yd td in
the fourth quarter to lose the game!
- Easy for me to complain, I didn’t have to
stop Drew Brees!(Purdue vs Ohio State 2000)
b. Gideon complains; the same. “Where is God?”
- “Isn’t that a familiar question?” We ask it.
- The angel does not address the question.
Instead he gives a challenge.
B. God challenges Gideon. “Do something about it”
(v. 14-16)
1. To have God work in your life, you need to show
God that you are serious.
a. God is not a clown that you cam hire for
your kids b-day party. He is not an
entertainer.
b. We have to step out in faith for God to act
in our lives.
2. God sends Gideon to defeat Midian. (v. 14)
a. “Go in the strength you have.”
b. With the same strength you are using to
thresh that wheat, go defeat this mighty army.
c. Probably seemed sarcastic at first.
- How much strength does it take to thresh
wheat?
3. Gideon expresses doubts. (v. 15)
a. I am a weak person.
b. I have a weak heritage.
4. God answers Gideon’s original question. (v. 16)
a. Where is God? (v.16)
b. I’ll be right by your side, if you follow my
calling.
III. Having the peace of God always puts us in conflict with the world. (6:25-35)
A. Why? Peace with God means turning away from our
sins.
1. Gideon started at home. (v. 25)
2. Info about Baal and Asherah pole.
a. Baal was a primitive Microsoft company. He
was everywhere! See Wycliffe.
b. Baal’s symbol being the bull +Gideon offered
a bull on the alter = “Take our sins and
offer them to God as our sacrifice.”
3. Isn’t this out of the frying pan into the fire?
- “Safety (Peace) consists not in the absence
of danger (pain, hardships or the turmoil’s
of our lives) but simply in the presence of
God.
B. Peace with God means following the one God has
sent to save you. (v. 33-35)
1. Israel trusted in Gideon.
2. Our savior is Jesus Christ.
IV. The peace that God offers comes by trusting Him.
(6:36-40: Overview chapter seven)
A. Faith in God isn’t always completely blind.
(6:36-40)
1. Gideon asked for assurance of what God was
asking.
2. Challenge: If you are not sure about God,
Jesus, Bible, ask Him this week to show you
something and He will. That is about all I can
say about that.
B. The peace God gives strengthens our faith.
1. Fighting 125,000 person army
2. From 32,000 down to 300.
3. Because of his faith in God, Gideon had the
peace to be obedient.
C. The faith we display leads to God’s ultimate
peace.
