STARTING, FINISHING, & CHOICES
Judges 8-12
There are 2 big lessons for us at the end of and in the wake of Gideon’s life:
1. How we begin leads to how we live.
But, how we finish is so important.
Paul said I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
And now the prize awaits me--the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return. (2Tim4:7,8)
Most of us are closer to the end than the beginning.
Will we end strong—full of faith and satisfaction from how we have lived and served both God and country?
2. How and why we choose those who will govern us will shape the course and character of our country.
What will be the basis for our choices in November?
Partisan loyalty?
Attention grabbing sound bites?
Perception of strengths and weaknesses of the candidates? Or
By faith… as God leads?
Scripture addresses both of these as Gideon retires from public service… and passes on to be with the Lord.
Put yourself in Gideon’s shoes for a moment.
Just how would you feel?
What would you do?
How would you act… if you and 300 men had routed and wiped out 120,000 of the best-armed… most-disciplined troops in an enemy coalition?
A. Strut like a peacock?
B. Boast of how great and wonderful you are?
C. Humble yourself before God, because you know that the victory is his?
D. All of the above?
Gideon picked “D”!
It is so easy!
For many… it is so natural… to credit man for God’s successes.
Whether it is a general in some great battle…
Or a preacher in some great revival…
Or a scientist in some great discovery…
We tend to look at the person… rather than the power behind him.
Dr. Ted Williams, a professor of physics at FSU some years ago—working at the Marine Lab right across the bay… was doodling on a yellow pad while an experiment on the physics of sight in jellyfish was processing… when he noticed that he was writing down the answer to a physics problem that had haunted his science for 150 years.
In his own words, he said it was “like taking dictation.”
He was not aware… nor consciously thinking about the problem when he discovered that he was writing the solution.
He closed shop! Ran home, just up the river from my house!
Showed his scribbling to his wife—also a PHD at FSU.
“Eureka,” She exclaimed, “you have found it.”
As any scientist would, he submitted his findings for publication in the most prestigious journal in his field.
The editor refused to publish it, because Ted was honest in his report.
On the submittal form…where he was asked to explain how he arrived at the solution… Ted wrote: “God gave it to me.”
Ted had been saved several months before.
He had moved into our neighborhood a self-proclaimed atheist.
But he had an encounter with the risen Christ.
It changed his outlook!
It changed his life!
It changed his destiny!
Several other journals also refused to publish his paper—all for the same reason.
None would buy that God had done it.
He later presented his findings at an international symposium.
Many of the attending scientists crowded him on stage afterward and shared their faith with him, and everyone wanted to know why the paper had not been published.
Cancer took him a little while back… but when fame was his… he gave credit to where credit was due—To God!
As we continue our search of Judges today…
Little ole milquetoast Gideon… the bashful boy of Manasseh whom God emboldened to fight the Midianites is pursuing the remnants of the armies of the east—15,000 of them.
He and his God-given band of 300 follow them eastward across the Jordan.
They are tired. They are weary. They are hungry.
At Succoth, Gideon asks for bread to feed God’s little army.
8:5 Then he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”
And the little red hen said:
• “Who will help me plant my grain? No answer!
• Who will help me harvest my grain? No answer!
• Who will help me bake the bread? No answer!
• Who will help me eat the bread? All said, “I will!”
I’m sure you remember the nursery rhyme?
Such stories imitate real life.
Here is an example of it:
6 And the leaders of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”
Gideon’s cousins across the Jordan did not join in the battle.
Now they are reluctant to give even bread to his hungry troops.
They lack the infilling of the Holy Spirit that Gideon has.
They counted 15,000 Midianites fleeing to the east.
They see that Gideon has only 300.
They doubt that Gideon is a match for them.
It doesn’t look like a good investment to them.
They are ignorant of the fact that this rag-tag band already has killed 120 thousand of the Midianite coalition.
7 So Gideon said, “For this cause, when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!”
We begin to see a change in Gideon’s nature here.
He begins to take matters into his own hands.
His humility begins to swell into pride.
Arrogance begins to smother his submissive attitude.
The flesh is showing through his faith.
He is sure that God will give him victory… but he takes it upon himself to punish his cousins for not helping.
8 Then he went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
Same request! Same response! Same threat!
9 So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower!”
Instead of a thrashing with a thorny briar, Gideon is going to tear down their heathen tower of worship.
14 And he caught a young man of Succoth and interrogated him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
15 Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you ridiculed me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”
16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
17 Then he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
The once lovable Gideon is not only the victor but also judge and jury—a trait that will haunt his descendants.
22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
Here’s one point in Gideon’s favor:
He refuses to accept a crown from the people.
He refuses the responsibility of formal leadership.
Though weak in the flesh himself… he nevertheless has spiritual insight to realize that God is their king and only king.
23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.”
The question is: He knew that… but did he really mean it.
Gideon would not accept the mantle of leadership but he did ask for a gold earring from each of his men—taken from their plunder of the defeated enemy.
He melted the gold down and had it spun into thread and had it woven with other thread into an ephod—the sacred garment of the priests.
Gideon, a proven deliverer, now dresses the part of a priest.
And he does not stop there:
30 Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives.
Again, we see the flesh showing through.
God’s way is: One man, and one woman—monogamy—a picture of our union with God where the two become one.
As Jesus said “you in me and I in them.”
This once timid sharecropper is now a hero… a celebrated leader.
They accept his excesses—the spoils of victory.
He wallows in his fame with other excesses—many wives and many children.
But the convincing evidence is in the next verse:
31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
He has a Canaanite slave who also bears him a son.
He names him Abimelech: meaning the “son of a king.”
He refuses formal leadership… yet he names his concubine’s child “the son of a king.”
Add them all up and you have savior… priest… and king.
He presents himself as a picture—albeit a warped picture—of their promised Messiah.
He wants the honor… but not the responsibility.
He has let God’s success, through him, go to his head.
He strains to take credit for God’s victories—robbing God of his glory.
It is a costly mistake.
Shortly after his death… Israel again abandons God.
They pursue the gods of the Canaanites.
33 So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god.
34 Thus the children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;
35 nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.
Abimelech appeals to his mother’s family… and asks if they want the sons of Israel to rule over them?
They take money from a heathen temple to finance a rebellion.
Abimelech hires a bunch of thugs…
Judges 9:5 Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself.
All of Gideon’s legitimate sons—dead… slaughtered at the same spot… on the same rock!
That is… all except the youngest: Jotham; he hid and escaped.
6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem.
This is the beginning of the end of Gideon’s fame… his family… and his fortune.
He missed a major point of faith… a point that Paul pointed out to Timothy: (2Tim.4:6) As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
8 And now the prize awaits me--the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return.
This was the text that Jason Owenby, pastor of the Lake Mystic Baptist Church, used yesterday at the funeral of Patsy’s Aunt Opal in Bristol.
Jason was new in that pastorate when he first visited Opal… already homebound by cancer.
He said, “I went to cheer her up, but she ministered to me.”
As she faced the inevitable… she told him: “This is a win-win situation. If I live I get to enjoy my family all the more. If I die, I will be with my Jesus.”
The point that Jason brought out is that it is far more important how you finish… rather than how you begin.
Gideon was a bit weak on finishing.
He started well.
He worked well.
He succeeded well.
But his finish was self-centered… off base… and self-serving.
He is remembered for how he started… how he served… but not for how he finished.
Gideon won the war… but lost the peace.
He was emboldened by God to defeat the enemies of Israel.
But he followed his own dreams in surrendering leadership in shaping his nation’s life after victory.
A vacuum in spiritual leadership allows all manner of corruption to creep in.
Abimelech took advantage of it.
Gideon was gone, but Jotham, Gideon’s surviving son, was not about to let the renegades off… for taking the law into their own hands… and imposing their own will in place of God’s:
7 When Jotham heard about this, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted, "Listen to me, people of Shechem! Listen to me if you want God to listen to you!
8 Once upon a time the trees decided to elect a king. First they said to the olive tree, ’Be our king!’
9 But it refused, saying, ’Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
10 "Then they said to the fig tree, ’You be our king!’
11 But the fig tree also refused, saying, ’Should I quit producing my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
12 "Then they said to the grapevine, ’You be our king!’
13 But the grapevine replied, ’Should I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
14 "Then all the trees finally turned to the thornbush and said, ’Come, you be our king!’
15 And the thornbush replied, ’If you truly want to make me your king, come and take shelter in my shade. If not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
When the real producers—those who serve both God and man—refuse the mantle of leadership… we end up with the worthless—the opportunists—those who will embrace us with their thorns.
16 "Now make sure you have acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelech your king, and that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. Have you treated my father with the honor he deserves?
It’s the father… not the illegitimate son… who deserves your allegiance.
17 For he fought for you and risked his life when he rescued you from the Midianites.
18 But now you have revolted against my father and his descendants, killing his seventy sons on one stone. And you have chosen his slave woman’s son, Abimelech, to be your king just because he is your relative.
Next month we will have the opportunity to name the one who will lead our nation for the next 4 years.
We need to learn from Gideon… and from Jotham.
Gideon started well… but died imitating what God freely offers—salvation through faith.
Jotham learned that he could not live off the fame of his father… and did nothing.
19 If you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Gideon and his descendants, then may you find joy in Abimelech, and may he find joy in you.
The key is “acting honorably”—as God leads.
God has given us the right to choose our own leaders.
We need to discern between the spiritual and the egotistical.
If we act honorably… choose wisely… follow God’s wisdom instead of “hype.”
Then we may find joy in our leader… and he will find joy in us.
20 But if you have not acted in good faith, then may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the people of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the people of Shechem and Beth-millo and devour Abimelech!"
We need…
• To make the voting booth into a prayer booth.
• To make God’s choice… our choice.
• To listen to his voice…
• because the partisan rhetoric today is a cacophony of confusion.
Our nation was formed by faith… built on faith… and protected through faith.
We have been successful… and blessed because of our faith.
For us—and the world… even enemies who hate us and friends who ignore us—God’s way… is still the best way.
Let’s finish strong, personally… fully trusting the Lord!
Let’s choose wisely, collectively… fully following the Holy Spirit!
Let the Lord be glorified by how we live… and how we choose.
