Meet Gideon: A Doubter Raised Up by God

Meet Gideon: A Doubter Raised Up by God
Gideon, the reluctant warrior, overcame doubt to answer God's call
The story of Gideon in the Bible is told in Judges chapters 6-8. The reluctant warrior is
also referenced in Hebrews 11:32 among the heroes of faith. Gideon, like many of us,
doubted his own abilities. He suffered so many defeats and failures that he even put God
to the test—not once but three times.
Key Accomplishments of Gideon
 Gideon served as the fifth major judge over Israel.
 He destroyed an altar to the pagan god Baal, earning him the name Jerub-Baal,
meaning contender with Baal.
 Gideon united the Israelites against their common enemies and through God's
power, defeated them.
 Gideon is listed in the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11.
Gideon's Story in the Bible
After seven years of brutal oppression by the Midianites, Israel cried out to God for
relief. An unknown prophet told the Israelites that their wretched conditions were a
result of their forgetting to give exclusive devotion to the one true God.
Gideon is introduced in the story threshing grain secretly in a winepress, a pit in the
ground, so the marauding Midianites did not see him. God appeared to Gideon as
an angel and said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." (Judges 6:12, NIV) Don't
miss the hint of humor in the angel’s greeting. The "mighty warrior" is threshing secretly
for fear of the Midianites.
Gideon replied:
"Pardon me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where
are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord
bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the
hand of Midian." (Judges 6:13, NIV)
Two more times the Lord encouraged Gideon, promising he would be with him. Then
Gideon prepared a meal for the angel. The angel touched the meat and unleavened
bread with his staff, and the rock they were sitting on spewed fire, consuming the
offering. Next Gideon put out a fleece, a piece of sheepskin with the wool still attached,
asking God to cover the fleece with dew overnight, but leave the ground around it dry.
God did so. Finally, Gideon asked God to dampen the ground overnight with dew but
leave the fleece dry. God did that as well.
God was patient with Gideon because he had chosen him to defeat the Midianites, who
had impoverished the land of Israel with their constant raids. Over and over the Lord
assured Gideon what his mighty power would accomplish through him. Aware of his
own weakness and the daunting task before him, Gideon was an ideal vehicle for the
Lord’s tremendous work of deliverance.
Gideon gathered a huge army from the surrounding tribes, but God reduced their
number to only 300. There would be no doubt that victory was from the Lord, not from
the army's might.
That night, Gideon gave each man a trumpet and a torch concealed inside a pottery jar.
At his signal, they blew their trumpets, broke the jars to reveal the torches, and
shouted: "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" (Judges 7:20, NIV)
Gideon's men blowing horns and breaking pitchers with lamps inside. Getty Images
God caused the enemy to panic and turn on each other. Gideon called out
reinforcements and they pursued the raiders, destroying them.
Later in life, Gideon took many wives and fathered 70 sons. His son Abimelech, born to a
concubine, rebelled and murdered all 70 of his half-brothers. Abimelech died in battle,
ending his short, wicked reign.
The life of this hero of faith ended on a sad note. In anger he punished Succoth and
Penuel for not helping in his war against the Midianite kings When the people wanted to
make Gideon their king, he refused, but took gold from them and made an ephod, a
sacred vestment, probably to commemorate the victory. Unfortunately, the people were
led astray by it, worshipping it as an idol. Gideon's family did not follow his God.
Background
The name Gideon means "one who cuts to pieces." Gideon's hometown was Ophrah, in
the Valley of Jezreel. His father was Joash from the tribe of Manasseh. In his life, Gideon
worked as a farmer, military commander, and judge over Israel for 40 years. He was the
father of Abimelech as well as seventy unnamed sons.
Strengths
 Even though Gideon was slow to believe, once convinced of God's power, he was a
loyal follower who obeyed the Lord's instructions.
 Gideon was a natural leader of men.
Weaknesses
 In the beginning, Gideon's faith was weak and needed proof from God.
 He showed great doubt toward the Rescuer of Israel.
 Gideon made an ephod from Midianite gold, which became an idol to his people.
 He also took a foreigner for a concubine, fathering a son who turned evil.
Life Lessons From Gideon

God can accomplish great things through us if we forget our weaknesses, trust in the
Lord, and follow his guidance. "Putting out a fleece," or testing God, is a sign of
weak faith. Sin always has bad consequences.
Key Bible Verses
Judges 6:14-16
"Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the
weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." The LORD answered, "I will be
with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive." (NIV)
Judges 7:22
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the
camp to turn on each other with their swords. (NIV)
Judges 8:22-23
The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because
you have saved us from the hand of Midian." But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over
you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." (NIV)
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Why God Uses Weak People

God works through incredibly flawed people. God could have chosen to only work
through people who have their acts together, but he wouldn’t get much done that way.
The fact is, we are all broken.
“We who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that
the supreme power belongs to God, not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7 GNT).
God uses weak people to show his power. God chose to put his glory in clay pots. If you
drop a clay pot, it will break—just like you and me. We’re breakable spiritually,
physically, and emotionally.
The history of the church is filled with examples of how God works through hurt and
broken people.
Due to a problem with how my body deals with adrenaline, it is excruciatingly painful for
me to speak publicly. That means God uses a man whose weakness is public speaking to
speak to tens of thousands of people weekly. Why? So that only God gets the glory.
For God to use you greatly, you will walk with a “limp” the rest of your life. I’ve met
many pastors who want to declare their spirituality but hide their humanity. Denying
your humanity is not only dishonest, it does a disservice to you and your congregation.
In fact, I’d take it further and say your humanity is actually one of your greatest
strengths. If you don’t hide your weaknesses, they will force you to depend upon God.
God puts his greatest gifts in “common clay containers” so he gets the credit. God did
this over and over again in the Bible, even before he established his church.
Hebrews 11:32-34 says, “I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and
Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered
kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of
lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose
weakness was turned to strength” (NIV).
I love that final phrase—“whose weakness was turned to strength.”
That’s what God does with us: He takes our weakness and turns it into a strength.
The Bible describes Gideon as a “mighty man of valor,” yet he was a coward who hid in
a winepress when the angel appeared to him in Judges 6:11-12 (NKJV). He was the
youngest kid, from the weakest family, and in the weakest tribe. But God made him
strong.
 Peter was anything but stable. He was “Mr. Impulsive” throughout the Gospels,
but Jesus told him, “You’re a rock!” He turned Peter into a rock of stability for the early
church.
 David, an adulterer and murderer, was called “a man after [God’s] own
heart” (Acts 13:22 NLT).
 Abraham is called the “Father of faith,” but he had so little faith that he twice told
his wife to lie in order to save his own life.
Hudson Taylor, a British missionary to China in the 19th century, once said, “All God’s
giants have been weak people.” You can see the truth of that statement throughout the
Bible. You can see it in the lives of the great giants of church history. God loves to use
weak people to fulfill his will.
First Corinthians 1:27 says, “God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in
order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame
the powerful” (GNT). He receives glory.
I’m convinced the only reason God uses me is because I have committed to use the skill
most painful to me for God’s glory.
What’s the weakness in your life you want to hide the most?
It’s time you give it to God to use for his greater purpose.
God can and will use anyone who doesn’t hold anything back—even their greatest
weakness.
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Weak is the new strong: Judges 7
April 19th 2015listen to last Sunday’s worship set. Judges 7:1-15 – Weak is the New
Strong. The testimony throughout the Scriptures is that God shines His strength NOT
through human through our power, but through our weakness. I don’t know about you,
but its hard for me to admit that I’m weak or that I need help. Explore with us what it
looks like to embrace this upside down way of living; where we allow God’s strength to
shine through our weaknesses. God is looking for more weak people to display his power
through!
Weak is the New Strong – Judges 7:1-15
Let me give you a little bit of background as we jump in feet first today. The nation of
Israel, if you were to look at and sort of chart their history as a people, especially as
we’re told it in the Scriptures, could be equated to a roller coaster. I mean they have
some extremely high highs and some extremely low lows and those highs and those
lows are often pitted against each other in close proximity. You get whiplash reading
through some of this nation’s history. They go through seasons of prosperity and
seasons of goodness and seasons of following after the heart of Jesus. And they also go
through seasons where they hold God at a distance and say we’ve got this, we’ve got it
covered, we don’t really need you….in fact, we’re going to go the exact opposite way
and worship idols and build high places, etc., etc.
As we jump into the book of Judges, we are going to encounter the nation of Israel at a
season of prosperity, a season of rest. In fact, at the end of Judges 5:31 we get a little
bit of context for the story we’re going to jump into today and it says this: The land had
rest for forty years. This is under the great leadership and ministry of one of their
judges whose name was Deborah. She led the nation well, God’s blessing was on her
and for forty years they had a season of rest, of goodness, of prosperity. You may be
able to look back in your own life—I can look back on mine—-and see that seasons of
blessing often point me or lead me or sort of haphazardly bring me to the place of
complacency. Can anybody relate? Seasons of blessings often lead us to this place
where we may not say it but really we live it—-God, I don’t know if I need you because
things are going pretty well. I’ve got this nailed!
The nation of Israel, that’s the place that they came to. And the very next verse, Judges
6:1, reads like this: And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
So the season of rest, the season of prosperity, the season of goodness directly leads
them to sorta the “Lazy Boy chair” where they put their feet up, pop the recliner out, lay
back and…..all of a sudden they’re in this place where they do evil in the sight of the
Lord. And then it says this really strange thing: …and the Lord gave them into the hand
of Midian… That God’s action towards them was I’m going to break you out of this
season of complacency, the season of idolatry by bringing a little bit of hardship and a
little bit of oppression on you. We don’t love this about God, do we? Let’s be honest
with each other this morning. We don’t love that God often breaks us out of seasons of
complacency by bringing us into seasons of adversity, but he does. God gave them into
the hand of the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites, you need to understand, this
was a prolific, prominent army. They were a fighting people. They were well resourced,
they were well trained. They were ready to go and for seven years they did not have
much trouble keeping their powerful thumb on the Israelites and keeping them
oppressed. The Israelites were going to the mountains and hide out. They lived much
of this time, these seven years, in fear. But God is going to bring them a person, a
man, to lead them into this next season of prosperity. It’s often cyclical. They get beat
down a little bit, God raises them up as they increase their dependence on Him and then
it starts over again.
The person God’s going to bring Israel out of this season of complacency and adversity
is named Gideon. You may have heard of him. Listen to his resume. God calls him and
hears what he says: Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the
weakest in Manasseh {So in this tribe that’s not even the strongest tribe in Israel….my
tribe, my family is the weakest in that tribe.} …and I am the least in my father’s house.
(Judges 6:15) I’m the youngest, I’m the weakest, I’m the least qualified even of my
own family. And God, you want to choose ME? God, you want to work through me?
Gideon reluctantly takes up this mantle. This mantle to be the Lord’s chosen person, his
leader in this nation. Gideon had to be a pretty good salesperson, because he is able to
recruit—-to fight with him against these Midianites—-32,000 other Israelites. Now,
32,000 people, untrained and unqualified, with a leader who’s the last and the least,
going against the Midianites. They had about 135,000 people in their trained, well-
resourced army. Now, show of hands. Anybody want to get in on that??? You look at
this at the onset and you look at it through simply natural eyes and you go if I’m a
betting man in Vegas my money’s on Midian. Not on Gideon. Right? 135,000 vs.
32,000! Not exactly great odds if you’re a fighting person.
Listen to the way the story continues and this is where we’re going to jump in, chapter
7:1-2: Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early
and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them,
by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are
too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. {Now here’s the thing. If I’m
Gideon, I’m just going to throw a quick time-out to God….I don’t want to question you
God, like I’m sure you’re great at a lot of things. I mean, you are King of Kings, Lord of
Lords, you do sit on the throne of the universe, but maybe math isn’t your thing. Let’s
just have an honest conversation, God. We have 32,000, they have 135,000 and you’re
saying there’s too many of us! You gotta be kidding me!!} ….into their hand, lest Israel
boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ There’s this really interesting
principle that weaves its way all throughout the Scriptures. From beginning to end, we
see God inviting and calling people that HE can shine through. Not people that
necessarily have it all together—-which should be great news for us this morning, should
it not. God calls people, not that they have it all together, but people who understand
that they don’t and are willing to be used. Here’s the principle that I want us to wrap
our hearts and minds around this morning: God demonstrates His
strength through our weakness.
So you look at one of the great leaders of the nation of Israel, Moses. Moses leads his
people out of Egypt. Moses has multiple movies made about how awesome he is. And
yet if you go back and read the story of Moses, his claim throughout the whole time is
I’m the wrong guy. I’m a murderer, I’m weak, I’ve got a stutter, if you can bring other
people alongside of me, God, that would be awesome, that would be great. We could
accomplish something if you had somebody qualified.
David, arguably the greatest king the nation of Israel ever sees. Would have been
overlooked because his dad didn’t think he was qualified to be in the lineup of people
that might be chosen. Right? He’s getting Taco Bell for his brothers while everybody
else is being paraded in front of Samuel to see who would be the next king. And yet, this
is the person that God chooses to work through. It appears in God’s economy that it is
possible to be too big for God to use, but it’s impossible to be too small! It is you can be
too big for God to use, but you cannot be too small.
I was interacting with my Life group around, not this specific passage but another one
that made the same point, and we started to really wrestle with this idea that even in
the church we don’t like this, do we? No! We would much rather take a strength-
finders test and a spiritual gift assessment than we would do any sort of reflection on
our weaknesses, wouldn’t we? It’s sorta interesting and I say it sorta tongue-in-cheek,
but have you ever taken a “weakness assessment?” Where you took the test and it’s
like wow, you’re really terrible at hospitality. You should have a few more people over
so Jesus can shine through that. You’re the least welcoming person we know; we’re
going to put you at the door Sunday. You’re so intimidating Jesus has to shine; people
will just be turned away. We don’t like this, do we? We do not like this idea and if
you’re anything like me I often either make excuses around my weaknesses or try to
cover them. So it sounds a little bit like this: If I were a little bit more intelligent with
the Bible, then I’d share my faith. Because God needs me to be real smart to shine
through. Or, if I was a little bit more quiet, or if I was a little bit more loud, well then
God could probably use me….or if my health was a little bit better then I would jump in
the game and when it gets there I’m in. Or, when my circumstances are a little bit
different then I’m sure I’ll be a vessel that God wants to use. And we have this, even in
the church, we have this tendency to say strong is better and God works through strong
people and people that are able, rather than embracing the Biblical principle that says
well actually He loves to choose small, insignificant, broken vessels to shine His glory
through. He loves to!
Listen to the way Paul says this: If I’m going to boast {So he’s in this interaction with a
church that he loves, that he helped start. People have come in after them and they
have their Apostle resumes with them and Paul goes alright if you want to play that
game let’s play it, but…} If I’m going to boast, I will boast of the things that show my
weakness. {because then you see Jesus and not me. That’s what I’m going to boast in,
he says.} (2 Cor. 11:30) I say that sort of tongue-in-cheek, have we ever developed a
spiritual weakness assessment? Or have we done a weakness-finder test? I say that
sorta tongue-in-cheek, but I do believe that there’s some absolutely beautiful, power
principles about the way that weakness actually positions us better than strength to not
only be used by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but how to know Him and walk with
Him better. Let me point out three of those that I think come through in the story of
Gideon.
Look again with me at verse 2: The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too
many for me to give in to the hands of the Midianites, lest Israel boast over me, saying,
‘My own hand has saved me.” That word “boast” is key. It means glory in, or to
adorn, or to make beautiful. Here’s what God wants to do in the nation of Israel and I
would propose He wants to do this in our lives, too. To position us, not only for useful
for His kingdom, but for joy as we walk with him. Here’s what he’s doing with the nation
of Israel: He’s bringing them low, to subdue their pride. All throughout their history,
they have this tendency to win a few battles and think they’re awesome. I mean, I’m so
glad we’re so different! So glad I’m so different. A few little successes and we start
to……the human heart is drawn towards…I’m going to put myself up on that throne…of
my life…of the universe! And the thought goes into our head: If I were God I would do
this so much differently and so much better and He could probably stand to take a few
notes from me. Right? I’m not alone in this, am I? Here’s what God is saying: Pride
that elevates you will actually destroy you. Did you know there’s a way to win victory
that will actually lead to your defeat? And it’s a victory that leads us to think I’m
awesome, rather than deflecting the glory and praise back to Him and saying He is
amazing! The Scriptures are gonna teach God hates pride. He hates it because it robs
Him of his glory and it robs you of joy. Because the life aligned with the way God
created the whole universe to function has Him on the throne, not us! Humility for us
will either come through an awareness of His divinity OR it will come through
humiliation. You get to choose. But we will be humbled. It will either be a humility that
comes from realizing He’s God, I’m not OR it will be a humility that comes through
humiliation.
I was going through my evening ritual this last week, which includes watching Sports
Center. I saw this video that I thought oh my goodness that perfectly displays what I
feel like this passage wants to bring out—–and another package that we’re going to look
at in a second. This is a (video) clip of an Oregon runner who thinks he’s won a race.
At the very end he’s reminded he’s not as awesome as he thinks he is. (Video–He tries
to play to the crowd and gets comfortable and cocky and at the end he gets beat out by
someone else!) The Scriptures are going to make the same point you just saw. The
Proverbs simply say: Pride goes before destruction and a haughty before a fall. (Prov.
16:18) I think so many times God longs to reroute our lives to say you’re not as great
as you think you are. Your greatness actually comes…your power actually comes when
you’re on your knees understanding you’re not as great as you think you are, rather
than when you’re beating your chest going aren’t I awesome. This is this counter-
intuitive, paradoxical invitation of the Gospels and the work and the words of Jesus to
say in your weakness you actually find what it means to be strong.
So the Apostle Paul, who arguably had one of the most fruitful ministries the world has
ever seen, had an ethereal experience that had the potential maybe to puff him up a
little bit. He had this vision of heaven or was called up into heaven, he doesn’t even
really know, and he goes this was so amazing! I was called up into the third heaven and
I saw things and I heard things absolutely unspeakable. And God, in order to sorta
balance out Paul’s amazing experience, gives him what Paul calls a thorn in the flesh.
Listen to the way he interprets what God is doing in his life. (2 Cor. 12:7-10) So to
keep me from becoming conceited {Quite literally “puffed up.”} because of the
surpassing greatness of these revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh {I’m not
going to unpack all that this means except to say that whatever it was was given by God
and Satan was the UPS guy delivering it.} ..a messenger of Satan to harass me, to
keep me from becoming conceited. {So he says this twice. This is what God wants to
do. I had this experience that may have had the tendency to puff me up and make me
go I’m amazing and I’m awesome. Look what I’ve been a part of, look what I’ve seen,
look what I’ve done. God says in order to use you I’ve got to keep you humble.} Three
times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to
me {This is beautiful if we can get this. It’s powerful.} “My grace is sufficient for you.
{Just a quick timeout. Not just to save you, friend. That’s what I was taught about
Christianity for years and years and years. God’s grace is enough to save you and then
YOU get on with it and work and strive and earn and if you don’t you should feel guilty.
Welcome to the party. That is not Christianity. This is Paul writing this. Listen, even in
my Christian journey, in my walk there was something given to me to keep me
dependent on Jesus, even in light of all the amazing things that I’ve accomplished and
experiences that I’ve had. What was more important to God was NOT to give me great
experiences but keep me close to the heart of Jesus. That was the most important thing
that God could do for Paul.} My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness.” ….. verse 10 For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Here’s the deal, friend. You can either walk in your strength or God’s, but you can’t
walk in both. And a walk with Jesus, a journey with Jesus, a relationship with Jesus….it
never gets to the point where we outgrow our need. If it does, we’ve elevated ourself to
a position of pride and we will not see His provision if that’s our position. We just won’t.
We’ll rob ourselves of it. I was wrestling with this this week because I go what does that
really look like? what does it really mean? How do we step into this weakness in a way
that would honor and lift high Jesus and not just be self-deprecating humility. Here’s
what I sense God saying: Ryan, even your strengths are only strengths in comparison
to people who aren’t quite as good as you at certain things, but in reality how good are
you in comparison to me. I think all we have to do to operate from a position of
“weakness or need” is get a picture from the Hubble telescope that reminds us we
are……I don’t think God wants to tell us we’re small, He wants to remind us that we ARE!
Nobody in Heaven is going to be saying hey, Paulson, give us a sermon. We heard
you’re awesome. I know Jesus is preaching on the other stage, but………NO WAY!! I
think operating from a position of weakness simply means that we operate from a
position of honesty. Good self reflection of who we really are in light of Him. And then
it’s being willing to step into that in a communal way, to say I don’t have it all together!
I’m far from perfect.
Last weekend I had an absolutely terrible weekend. I went to celebrate my

grandmother’s life and her memorial, but I came back having seen my uncle battling for
his life in a cancer center in L.A. and my grandfather turned 91 and he has dementia—-a
brilliant man whose mind is just gone. I come back going I love you, guys, but I’ve got
nothing for you unless Jesus fills me. I think so many times, I’ll just be honest with you,
I try to cover my weakness and cover my need instead of just exposing it. And the
beautiful words of Jesus in the Beatitudes….listen to what he says: Blessed are those
who mourn. And it’s not try really hard to mourn. It’s not try hard to cry and get upset
about things. We have this kids’ book called Tear Soup where Frog and Toad think of
really sad things and they cry into this little bucket and they make tear soup out of it.
He’s not saying make tear soup, that’s not what He’s saying. I think what He’s saying is
be honest about your need, be honest about your pain and in your honesty you’ll find
that He is sufficient and He is good. But if you want to cover it up and you want to
pretend like everything’s okay, you will never see his comfort and his provision. Never
will. The key to being comforted is to be vulnerable.
Friends, this is not a place {will you look up at me for a second}…this church is not a
place where you need to hide your scars. You don’t need to pretend like things are okay
if they’re not. In fact, Jesus’ power will be displayed through this body as we go I’m not
okay, but praise Jesus, He is!! And His grace is sufficient for us. That’s why we NEED to
continue to have a Celebrate Recovery ministry—it’s not an option for us, I don’t think.
Where we can walk in and go I am not okay. Jesus is and He’s still on the throne and so
we’re okay, but my life’s a mess. Honesty opens me to receive from my community and
it also puts me in the place to minister to others. Have you ever walked away from a
conversation from somebody who just nailed it and was awesome and thought I’m so
glad I had that conversation. Somebody who’s prideful and puffed up and actually
ministers to you?? I haven’t. It’s broken vessels that God uses. Consistently all
throughout Scripture and consistently in this church today. I love the way that Pastor
Rick Warren puts it: “Other people are going to find healing in your wounds. Your
greatest life messages and your greatest ministry will come out of your deepest hearts.”
If we cover those, we prevent the strength of God from flowing through us.
Here’s the way the story continues, verse 3: Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the
people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away
from Mount Gilead.'” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. {Are
you kidding me right now? If God says that to me and I’m Gideon, I’m like so you have
another army somewhere that I’m not aware of…because our feeble attempt at victory
just walked off.} And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take
them down to the water and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to
you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you,
‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the
water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a
dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, everyone who kneels down to drink.” {So
he goes you’re going to make two categories. There’s normal people and there’s weird
people. It turns out good news/bad news situation for Gideon here. He gets the normal
people. Bad news is 10,700 of them are abnormal! The normal people are the ones
who go to the stream and pick up the water (to drink from their hands). That’s how I
drink out of rivers. I never go down to the water’s edge and put my entire head in the
water and (slurp sound). I’ve never done that, but it turns out that 10,700 Israelites
do! And God goes you don’t get the weirdos, they’re all going home. You get the
normal folks who just cup the water and drink it. Bad news is, Gideon, now you’re down
to 300. Are you kidding me? Wow!}
Here’s what we start to see. Here’s the beauty and power of weakness: 1) it subdues
our pride. It gets us off of the throne of our life and 2) it increases our dependency.
Wouldn’t you agree that depleted resources always lead to increased dependency. And
anytime we feel like we’ve grown beyond…..anytime I feel like I’ve grown beyond that I
feel like my 2-1/2 year old son swatting my wife’s hand away as he goes down a water
slide unable to swim. He’s like I got this, mom! We’re good! And he’ll scream at the
water and go nooooo! He’ll try to hit her hand out of way. He goes down like a torpedo
into the pool that he’s unable to swim in! And I feel like God goes exactly! Every time
you think you nail it, Ryan, every time you think you got it you just grew further away
from actually being in a place where I can use you. The beauty and power of weakness
is that in increases our dependency. I love the way the great pastor Allister Begg puts it
when he says: “If dependency is our goal, then weakness is an advantage.” I’ll just
be honest with you as I see in myself that self-sufficiency often leads me to a place of
God deficiency. When I think I can do it, God’s response is often let’s see it. Go right
ahead and try. Some of you are in marriage cycles where you are saying God, I can do
it. And He’s going okay, but when it breaks down come back to me. I love you. Some
of you are in job cycles where you’ve said over and over and over again I can do it, I
can do it, I can do it and it just seems like the ground is giving way underneath you.
Here’s what God knows….about his interaction with Gideon and his interaction with us.
The more He takes away, the closer He draws us to his heart. And the best thing He
can give you is himself. So if He has to take things away, trinkets and shiny things
away, in order to draw you closer to His heart, in His goodness and His grace He’s too
good of a God not to do that for you. And so some of us are in the position we’re in this
morning and I hope our ears are open to a God who’s saying would you come home.
You’ve tried it on your own. It’s failed you, but there’s a power in weakness, there’s a
beauty in weakness because it leads you back to my throne and to me. Here’s the
thing: In weakness we find awareness that God is at work even when we’re unable to
be. If we have all the strength and all the power we will often overlook the fact that
God is working. Because we have more than enough to eat we very rarely ever pray
“give me today my daily bread” with any sort of urgency. But it’s in that weakness, in
that dependency that we start to have an increased awareness. I’ve talked to so many
couples where they go we’ve walked through this insanely difficult season of life and for
the first time we really saw God’s hand at work in our marriage. Why? Because they
didn’t have anywhere else to turn. The way we are as people is that we will exhaust all
of our resources before we turn to Him. And I think what we’re being taught this
morning is simply don’t wait for Me to deplete all of your resources to back to My
goodness and grace. You need me now!! Every hour you need Me!! So just come!
It also increases our intimacy…..our weakness. We’re pushed in and if the pinnacle of
Christian maturity is Jesus’ invitation to his church, which it is, abide in me, what’s the
best thing you can do as a follower of Jesus….abide. Know that you’re dependent on the
vine as the branch to bear any sort of fruit, not optional, not hey if you run out of
resources on your own then run to Jesus, no! The whole Christian life is found in one
word….abide. Walk with Him, know Him, receive His love, give His love to others, bear
fruit. He goes it’s not Plan A and there’s a Plan B and if you don’t bear fruit that way,
you can bear fruit another way. He goes no, no, no, no, no! John 15:5 says: I am the
vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears
much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. I’m reminded that I can have the
resources in my hand or the resources in Jesus’ hand and I often think I have more in
my hands than He does! I often do…..maybe you’re in the same boat that I am. I think
His invitation this morning to us is don’t be too ashamed of your deficiency to receive
His provision. Run to Him….in an honest, transparent way! You need healing from a
loss of a child, of a baby…..you run to Him! You need healing from a marriage that
hasn’t gone the way you’ve struggled with…..run to Him…He’s enough! Has the job
fallen through….have the kids left….whatever it is….run to Him He’s enough! He goes
my arms are open wide! I love you! Welcome home!
Judges 7:9 says this: That same night {That same night after he lost his next 10,700
men and went from 32,000 vs. 135,000 to 300 vs. 135,000!} That same night the Lord
said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if
you are afraid {I love that God makes provision for fear and Gideon takes him up on his
provision} …to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall
hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against
the camp.” Then he went down with Purah {Which means? He was afraid! Heck yeah,
I’m afraid! I’m a normal man and you just took away the majority of my army and
we’re fighting against somebody already bigger than us…..thank you very much for
making this provision for fear. I get to take my armor bearer with me against 135,000
people. Thank you, God! Ever felt like that with God, though, where you’re thinking the
giants on the horizon are far greater than the resources in my corner? Listen to what he
says.} And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along
the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand
that is on the seashore in abundance. When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a
dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of
barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that
it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” And his comrade answered,
“This is no other than the sword of GIdeon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has
given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” Can you imagine Gideon hearing this
conversation and going to his armor bearer and going he’s talking about us. He has no
clue we only have 300 men! Shhh! Go get the rest of the guys! Are you kidding me?!
He hears this prophetic dream of the enemy saying they’re going to be defeated. I was
struck by the fact that had Gideon had an army equal to or greater than the Midianites,
he never would have made 1) that journey and 2) he never would have approached the
fight in a way that would have been any different than any other fight you’ve read
about. It’s the depletion of resources and the abundant need that causes Gideon to go
alright if we’re gonna win, there’s gotta be a different way.
So here’s the beauty and power of weakness: not only does it subdue our pride and
increase our dependence, but it also stimulates our creativity. Where you go God, I
don’t have the resources to do it the normal way, so You’ve got to show up and You’ve
got to make a way. I always tell people in premarital counseling to embrace seasons of
being poor. I meet so many young married folks that run up credit cards trying to do
things awesome, instead of embracing the season that they’re in. Of saying we don’t
have a lot of resources, but maybe, just maybe we don’t need them to have fun and to
make some memories and to actually have a season of life that’s filled with God and His
goodness and His glory. I can remember being in college dating (my wife) Kelly where
CSU would have these coupon booklets that had “2-for-1” Qdoba burritos in them. It
was one per customer per visit. Well, Kelly and I made a lot of visits! I went with my
backpack…..I loaded up with these coupon books and riding my bike home I’m like…
BOOM!….dates for a year!! How do you feel about Qdoba again? Awesome! We were
poor, we didn’t have anything and it was one of our best seasons of life.
Depletion of resources often points us in directions that we wouldn’t normally go.

Coming to the end of your rope {will you look up at me for a second?} is not the end of
the road. It’s just the end of what you envisioned your life to look like and be, which is
a beautiful position to be in because that’s where God meets you and says: oh, you
thought the goal was THIS, but I have so much more for you and if you hadn’t of run on
empty you may have never asked the King of Kings and Lord of Lords what He thought.
I’m convinced that God is looking for more weak people to use for His glory. More
people who are in need and understand it that He can use for His glory because that’s
who He shines through. And friend, your greatest asset, the thing that you bring most
to the Kingdom of God, may very well be your greatest weakness. Because those are
the things that God shines through. Those are the areas that God fills. In his letter to
the church at Corinth, Paul writes this: But we have this treasure {This Gospel
treasure. This glory of God, His sufficiency treasure and we carry around this beautiful
treasure in these really crazy, normal, everyday bodies. He calls them jars of clay,
earthen vessels. To show…..so why does God put His glory and power in people like you
and me?} But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power
belongs to God and not to us. (2 Cor. 4:7) That’s why! That’s why he chooses to use
frail and broken vessels. I was reminded this week that light is displayed many times
out of our weaknesses and the cracks in our life far better than it is out of the strengths
of our life.
{Lights were turned off in the sanctuary for demonstration} Two similarly sized pots.
But one of them has a bunch of holes in it. And the other one is the way that many of
us want to live our life. We want to live under this sorta false front that we put out for
everybody that says everything’s okay. And when we do that, what we do is we cover
some of the greatest cracks that God, in His glory and grace, could shine through. So I
think when God calls the church to honesty, when He says I will work through your
weakness because in your weakness I am made strong. Here’s what He’s saying: You
carry around the glory of Christ in your body, in earthen vessels, and the way that His
glory gets out is not through our strengths but through our cracks. We must be willing
to say I don’t have it all together and I’m completely imperfect and I’m struggling with
sin and I’m struggling with doubt and I live in shame and I live in guilt; there’s a lot of
these things that have their claws in me and God says alright when you do that, when
you share that, and you stop pretending and playing the game, those are areas not only
that I can NOW heal, but that I can shine through! I long for us to be a place, friends,
where we say it’s okay to not be okay. Because in what we’re doing when we say that is
I’ve enough confidence and trust in Jesus to remember that He’s okay and that His
grace is sufficient for me. So I wonder if, in some ways, we’ve been covering our
weaknesses and they’re the very things that God wants to shine through. Because we
can pretend like we have it all together or we can be honest and say that we don’t.
There’s a way that Jesus is made much of through our life and it’s saying He’s
healed…..the marriage, healed the kids….His grace is sufficient for us. It wasn’t easy,
but I clung to Him with everything I have and I found that He is enough! To quote the
great modern hymn: “I will not boast in anything; no strength, no power, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ, his power and resurrection!” (In Christ Alone) I won’t
boast in anything, but I will boast in this He is sufficient, He is enough by His grace and
His mercy. I pray that you’ll believe it and that you will step into that life. The weak is
the new strong!
Gideon: A Weak Man Made Strong
In Israel’s history, no group of heroes is more unlikely than the judges of the Old
Testament. The chaotic nature of the time period combined with the unique (and
sometimes uncivilized) individuals whom God chose to lead His people resulted in
scenarios that were often complex and even bizarre.
Nowhere is that seen more clearly than in the lives of the two men we will consider this
week. Gideon and Samson were both men with serious faults and would have been
rejected by wise men from any critical duty of leadership. Yet the Lord chose them to
sustain His people and to fulfill His redemptive purpose. Their weaknesses only serve to
highlight God’s infinite power—which triumphed through them in spite of their
imperfections.
Let’s begin by looking at God’s strength displayed in the life of a deliverer named
Gideon.
The Leader Who Lacked Courage
The account of Gideon begins in Judges 6. From the outset, he is depicted as a man
whose fear was greater than his faith. The same was true of his fellow countrymen. For
seven years, they had lived in perpetual dread of the bordering Midianites and
Amalekites, who repeatedly raided Israel’s land, destroying their crops and stealing their
livestock. Weary of hiding in caves in the mountains, the Israelites finally cried out to
the Lord for help.
That the Lord selected Gideon as the answer to deliver Israel is proof that His power
cannot be limited even by the most unlikely human instrument. When we first meet
Gideon, he is hiding from the Midianites—attempting to covertly thresh wheat in a
winepress (Judges 6:11). The process of beating out grain and separating it from the
chaff normally took place out in the open, on a hilltop, where the breeze would blow the
chaff away. But fearful that enemy marauders might spot him, Gideon took cover in the
quarried shelter of a winepress. The location was far from ideal for winnowing wheat,
but at least his efforts would go undetected, or so he imagined.
As Gideon worked his humdrum task with fearful fervency, an astonishing event
happened—the Angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him. The evidence in the Old
Testament of such appearances indicates that the Angel appeared in a form like a man,
and that is why there is no shock and panic as might occur if the appearance were of
heavenly glory. Gideon did not fall into a traumatic sleep like those who actually saw the
glory of God (such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, John, and Paul). Instead, he carried on a
conversation.
No doubt what startled him was the reality that his hiding place had been discovered.
But Gideon would have been even more surprised to hear the Angel speak to him and
say, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” (Judges 6:12). From Gideon’s perspective,
both parts of that greeting were questionable. “If the Lord is with us, why then has all
this happened to us?” he asked in verse 13. “And where are all His miracles which our
fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the
Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” Driven by doubt, Gideon
went on to deny that he was a man of bravery: “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel?
Behold my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house”
(v. 15). Clearly, faith and fortitude were qualities Gideon sorely lacked.
Yet in calling him a man of valor, the Angel of the Lord was not referring to what Gideon
was, but what he would become by the strength that God provided. Thus, He said to
Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man” (v. 16).
When the Lord came upon him, this faithless coward would accomplish incredible feats
of bravery in delivering Israel. Gideon was so skeptical that such a possibility could come
from a doubting coward like him that he demanded a sign from God. The Lord graciously
consented. When the faithless farmer offered bread and meat to his heavenly visitor, He
miraculously consumed it with fire before disappearing from his sight (v. 21).
It is important to note that the Angel of the Lord is identified in Judges 6 as the Lord
Himself (vv. 14, 16, 23, 25, 27). That is why He gladly accepted Gideon’s offering of
worship (vv. 18–21)—something an ordinary angel would never do (cf. Revelation 22:8–
9). When Gideon finally realized that it was the Lord Himself he had seen, he was certain
he would die.
When Gideon saw that He was the angel of the Lord, he said, “Alas, O Lord God! For
now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” The Lord said to him, “Peace to
you; do not fear, you shall not die.” (Judges 6:22–23)
The weight of biblical evidence indicates that the Angel of the Lord was the pre-incarnate
Christ, the second member of the Trinity, appearing in bodily form—as He did on a
number of occasions throughout the Old Testament era (cf. Genesis 16:7–14; Exodus
3:2–5; Numbers 22:22–35; Joshua 5:13–15). The Angel’s appearances throughout
Israel’s history, along with passages like Isaiah 9:6 and Daniel 7:13, provide strong Old
Testament evidence for the deity of Jesus Christ.
That night, the Lord came to Gideon and instructed him to tear down an altar to Baal
that was near his father’s house. The young man obeyed, though with great trepidation.
According to Judges 6:27, “Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the
Lord had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the
men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.” Again, courage was not a familiar
virtue to Gideon. Nonetheless, he had shown a willingness to obey the Lord, and that
was progress in his faith.
Testing the Lord
When he heard that the Midianite invaders had returned, Gideon summoned the men of
Israel to fight. In a remarkable display of valorous volunteerism, some thirty-two
thousand warriors responded. But even with such a sizeable force under his command,
Gideon doubted that he was the right person to lead them into battle. Once again, his
faith was faltering, so he demanded another sign that God would be with him.
Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken,
behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece
only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through
me, as You have spoken.” And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and
squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. Then
Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once
more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the
fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” God did so that night; for it was dry only
on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground. (Judges 6:36-40)
Though the Lord graciously consented to his request (as He had to a similar one by
Moses in Exodus 33:12ff), Gideon’s actions should not be viewed as a pattern for
believers to follow. As Christians, we do not ascertain the validity of God’s Word by
asking Him for miraculous confirmation. Instead, we live according to His will by
believing Him and being obedient to His Word. The Lord had already told Gideon that He
would be victorious over the Midianites. That revelation should have been sufficient. By
asking the Lord not to be angry with him before his request, Gideon, driven by his
doubt, showed that even he knew he had overstepped his bounds. He acknowledged his
faith was weak, but that he was in danger of sinfully putting God to the test
(cf. Deuteronomy 6:16).
The Lord could have punished Gideon for his lack of faith, but He didn’t. But a braver or
more faithful man would not have fit the role God had prepared for Gideon. As we’ll see
next time, his weaknesses formed the perfect canvas for the Lord to display His power.
Gideon: From Coward to Conqueror
We generally associate Gideon’s name with his military victories. But when we first meet
the Old Testament hero in the book of Judges, he’s hiding out in the wilderness,
attempting to eek out a life while avoiding the notice of Israel’s enemies. Even after the
Angel of the Lord told him that he would deliver Israel from the Midianites, he was filled
with cowardly doubts.
In his fear, Gideon doubted God’s words and His power. He foolishly tested the Lord, and
mercifully, God still saw fit to use this faithless coward to display His power.
Whittling Warriors
When his doubts had been removed and he was convinced that the Lord would give him
victory, Gideon readied his army of thirty-two thousand men to face the Midianites,
likely with a conventional battle strategy. But God had His own strategy for Israel’s army
—one that could only be disastrous from a human perspective. As they were encamped
across the valley from their enemies, the Lord came to Gideon with His shocking plan.
The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give
Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has
delivered me.’ Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying,
‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So
22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained. (Judges 7:2-3)
God had chosen timid Gideon to lead the attack so that His glorious power might be the
only explanation for victory. Now He instructed the apprehensive leader to downsize the
army! If Gideon had been nervous with an army of thirty-two thousand, imagine how he
felt when twenty-two thousand of his troops left for home. Gideon would have been
helped if he had remembered the words of Moses, who told the Israelites many years
earlier, “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots
and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you” (Deuteronomy 20:1). By
reducing the size of the army, God made it certain that this would not be a conventional
victory by the men of Israel.
Though only ten thousand warriors were left, God wasn’t finished slimming down Israel’s
forces. In Judges 7:4, He tells Gideon, “The people are still too many.” Following the
Lord’s instructions, Gideon led the army to a nearby brook for a drink. “And the Lord
said to Gideon, ‘You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a
dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink’” (v. 5). Of the ten thousand
remaining warriors, ninety-seven hundred of them knelt to drink. Only three hundred
scooped water to their mouth, using their hands to lift and lap the water.
Gideon’s faint heart must have nearly stopped when God told him, “I will deliver you
with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the
other people go, each man to his home” (v. 7). No reason for such a distinction is given,
so the drinking action indicated nothing about their ability as soldiers. It was merely a
way to divide the crowd. Their prowess as soldiers had no bearing on the victory.
From the standpoint of proven military tactics, reducing one’s army from thirty-two
thousand to three hundred makes no sense. But the Lord was declaring an unmistakable
point—not just for Gideon but for all of Israel and for us. They were about to see His
power put on display; it was time for them to be courageous, not because they
themselves were strong, but because the Lord fought on their behalf (cf. Joshua 23:10).
Still, Gideon’s fear was palpable (Judges 7:10). So, a third time, God gave him a sign to
calm his nerves. It came in a strange way. God instructed Gideon to sneak down to the
Midianite camp. He obeyed the frightening demand. When he arrived, he overheard two
enemy soldiers conversing. The first reported an odd dream he had experienced the
night before, in which a loaf of bread rolled into the Midianite camp and knocked down a
tent. In response, the second soldier offered an interpretation, “This is nothing less than
the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the
camp into his hand” (v. 14). After hearing the dream and the terror in his enemy’s
voice, Gideon had his sign and returned to his troops convinced that the Lord would give
them the victory.
The Army That Annihilated Itself

In the deep darkness of the night, Gideon’s three hundred men—having been divided
into three companies of one hundred soldiers each—did as they were instructed and took
trumpets and torches concealed in empty pitchers and positioned themselves above and
around the Midianite camp. In a coordinated effort, Gideon’s army blew their trumpets,
smashed their pitchers to the ground, held up their blazing torches in the night, and
shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” With that cry, the silent stillness of the
black night was shattered with blasting trumpets, yelling soldiers, and the sudden blaze
of three hundred torches. The strategy was perhaps to make it appear that each of the
three hundred represented a whole unit of soldiers.
For Israel’s startled enemies, terror followed shock. Dazed and disoriented, the half-
asleep Midianites panicked. Thinking there must be Israelite soldiers everywhere in their
camp, and in the depth of the darkness, the Midianites were unable to distinguish friend
from enemy, and with their swords they slashed a path of escape through their own
men. According to Judges 7:21–22, “All the army ran, crying out as they fled. When
they blew 300 trumpets, the Lord set the sword of one against another even throughout
the whole army.” Thus, the confused Midianite army destroyed itself. Those who
managed to escape fled, and Gideon’s three hundred gave chase. They also called on
other Israelites to help in the pursuit (Judges 7:23).
The rest of Judges 7–8 describes the victorious pursuit of Gideon and his army, as they
drove the Midianites out of Israel for good.
The Victory Belongs to the Lord
As a result of the conquest, the Israelites wanted to make him their king, but Gideon
acknowledged that the Lord alone was the true King (Judges 8:23). He recognized that
all the credit for Israel’s deliverance belonged to Almighty God.
Though Gideon did not always make wise choices (cf. Judges 8:24–31), the rest of his
lifetime marked an era of peace for the Hebrew nation. In the words of Judges 8:28, “So
Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads
anymore. And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon.”
Incredibly, the Lord used this faint-hearted grain farmer to deliver His people from their
deadly enemies. When we were first introduced to Gideon, he was sneaking around like
a coward, hiding in a winepress. He was the most unlikely of potential heroes. But God
elevated him to win a decisive battle against impossible odds—not to exalt Gideon—but
to demonstrate His mighty power to save His people. In response, Gideon rightly
recognized that the Lord alone deserved all the glory. The young man’s dramatic
transformation, from faithless to fearless, is such that he is included in the New
Testament among the elite examples of the heroes of faith (Hebrews 11:32). His
example of faith-filled dependence on the Lord serves as a perpetual reminder of the
strength that God supplies to those who trust in Him.
Our abilities, talents, and prowess are never the deciding factors in fulfilling God’s plans.
Gideon’s weakness proved that. Next time we’ll see how the Lord used Samson’s
incredible strength to make the same point.
Sermon: Six Trust Lessons from Gideon - Judges 6-7 by Lloyd Stilley
Here's the point: When tough times come, instead of looking at them as if God is
punishing you, try to see them as God's gift of grace.
Scriptures: Judges 6
Introduction
On Friday, April 3, 2004, the news of another soldier killed in action in the Middle East
was reported. We never get used to these reports and every loss grieves us, but there
was something unique about this particular soldier. His name was Pat Tillman, and what
he did was extraordinary.
Tillman had everything a young man could want as a citizen of this country. Drafted into
the NFL by the Arizona Cardinals in 1998, he won the strong safety position, where he
broke the franchise record for tackles in 2000 with 224. He was at the top of his game,
his 3.6 million dollar contract was never more secure. The Super Bowl champion St.
Louis Rams were already after him with three times as much money. Pat Tillman was
living the American dream.
But after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks a higher cause gripped him. In May 2002, at 25
years of age, he walked away from the NFL, trading the multi-million dollar contract for
$18,000 a year from Uncle Sam as an Army Ranger. He didn't make a big deal about
this. He kept the enlistment quiet, shunning interviews. He told his friends he wanted to
give something back to his country. Two years later, Tillman was killed about 25 miles
from a U.S. military base in Khost, Afghanistan.
I read the comments of fellow players, soldiers, and politicians in the wake of Tillman's
death. But his agent, Frank Bauer, said something that struck me: "They talk about the
impact player [in this business] - well, [Pat] was an impact person. [Dale R. Yancy,
Londonderry, New Hampshire; source: USA Today, (5-3-04)] He swam against the
current. He marked those who knew him.
Over the next several weeks, I want to introduce you to some impact people from the
Old Testament. Like Tillman, they weren't the headliners of the Bible. You'll typically
hear a lot more about Abraham or David or Paul than these quieter heroes of the faith. I
guess you could think of them as the "not-so-rich-and-famous" of the ancient world -
people like you and me, common men and common women who did uncommon things
because they trusted the unchanging promises of God. We can KEEP THE STORY ALIVE
if we learn the lessons their lives hold out to us and put them into practice.
This morning we focus on a regular guy named Gideon. He is not very impressive at first
look, but he makes some choices that flow from his faith in God. So significant is the
mark this very ordinary man made in his time that he is listed in Hebrews 11 alongside
the movers and shakers of the Old Testament. Track his story with me as we work our
way through Judges 6-7, where we find a primer on trusting God. There are six lessons
here to help us trust God more.
I. God uses tough times to get our attention (Judges 6:1-6)
As we open Judges 6, we find the nation of Israel coming off a time of relative ease. The
bills are paid, the kids are behaving, and business is good. Everything's coming up
roses. And as it tends to happen to us all in such times, Israel forgot God. They became
self-sufficient. They didn't need God. So the Lord shook things up by rousing an enemy
against them to show them how hard life can be without Him.
Verse 1 says that the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD
handed them over to Midian for seven years. You need to know that the Midianites were
extremely powerful and oppressed the Israelites mercilessly. Every year around harvest
time, the nomadic Midianites would invade Israel. And v. 5 tells us that they would come
in like locusts, ravaging the land. What they couldn't carry with them they destroyed.
The Bible reports that it was so bad many of the Israelites left their homes to live in
caves and strongholds, fearing for their lives.
This went on for seven years. Finally, the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help. Why
did they wait so long to turn to the Lord? Because they're a lot like us - they waited until
every possible option played out and they couldn't take it any longer. Verse 6 tells us
that Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to
the LORD. How many times have hard circumstances come to us, and we never stop to
ask what God is planning for us in those circumstances? Instead we hold out, thinking
that we can handle it on our own. Learn this from Gideon: every experience in life is a
test. And every trial in the lives of God's people is tailored to draw us closer to God.
Here's the point: When tough times come, instead of looking at them as if God is
punishing you, try to see them as God's gift of grace.
Proverbs 3:11-12: Do not despise the LORD's instruction, my son, and do not loathe His
discipline; 12 for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, just as a father, the son he
delights in. He loves you too much to let you keep living the way you are. He longs to be
at the center of your life. So He has designs in our troubles, and they are always for our
good.
C.S. Lewis said it like this, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our
conscience, but shouts in our pains. It's His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
II. God sees more than we do (6:7-12)
The wonderful thing about God is that even though we're slow returning to Him, He is
never slow in responding to us. Verses 7-8 show us that when we cry out to God, He
moves in mercy and love toward us. He tells us the truth, and begins to work behind the
scenes to help us. For Israel, He first sends an unnamed prophet to call them back to
total surrender and full devotion.
But His plan also included a most unlikely man named Gideon. We meet Gideon in v. 11
where he is threshing some wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. Now
some of you know this, but city boys like me don't. Normally, you would want to thresh
wheat out in the open so that the wind could blow away the chaff. But Gideon has
apparently been stung before, so he goes into hiding in an underground winepress,
hoping to avert the attention of the Midianites. It's a pitiful sight, full of frustration,
discouragement, and fear.
In case you ever wonder if God has a sense of humor, read v. 12: Then the Angel of the
LORD appeared to him and said: "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." Can't you
imagine Gideon around for the man of valor the Lord was addressing! Was God being
sarcastic? Or did He see more than Gideon saw? I believe God saw what He was about
to make of Gideon. It was time Gideon saw it too.
Hey, brothers and sisters, do you know who you really are? One of the biggest lies we
tell ourselves is that God only uses special people. If you are a born-again believer, you
are God's child (John 1:12), His friend (John 15:15), and His masterpiece (Eph. 2:10).
You have been justified (Rom. 5:1), freed forever from condemnation from God (Rom.
8:1). You are adopted into His family (Eph. 1:5) and your citizenship is in heaven (Phil.
3:20). You belong to God (I Cor. 6:20), never to be separated from His love (Rom.
8:35)! And you have everything from Him you need for life and godliness! God knows
who you are, even if you don't. And He will work to help you see your true identity.
III. God confirms His priorities with His presence (6:13-24)
After being called a mighty warrior, Gideon questions God: "Please Sir, if the LORD is
with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told
us about?" (v. 13) Gideon's conclusion was that the Lord has abandoned them.
Verse 14 records something that must have bulldozed Gideon's sensibilities. It says that
the Lord turned to him. He looked Gideon full in the face and said, "Go in the strength
you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?" Gideon
still isn't doing the math in this divine equation, so he notes just how unimpressive his
resume is. He is the weakest link in his clan, the youngest in his family. He doesn't have
any authority to call out the cavalry from his own tribe, let alone from others.
God confirms His priorities with His presence in v. 16, " I will be with you," the LORD
said to him. "You will strike Midian down [as if it were] one man." Gideon is given an
undeniable commission, told the remarkable results in advance, and promised the
unrivaled partnership of the Lord Himself. After further confirmation that he was in fact,
dealing with God Himself, v. 22 tells us that the pieces fell into place for Gideon. He
cries out, "Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face!" His fears
comforted, His calling affirmed. So he builds an altar to the Lord.
Gideon needed a personal encounter with God. God met him right where he was, giving
him a sense of peace and purpose by His promised presence. It was said among
Napoleon's soldiers, "When Napoleon takes our hands and looks at us, we feel like
conquerors." There's something that changes in us when we listen to His voice and look
"full in His wonderful face." Suddenly, His priorities become the most important thing on
earth.
Gideon was ready for the first test, and we're ready for the fourth lesson.
IV. Private faithfulness is a prerequisite to public usefulness (6:25-32)
Before Gideon can be used publicly, he must first clean up his own backyard. His family
was breaking the 1st and 2nd commandments, with idols to Baal on their property. So
the first assignment from the Lord was to take his dad's special seven-year-old bull and
tear down the idols. Then, Gideon was to sacrifice that prized bull using the wood from
the destroyed idol.
What's the point in telling us this? If you want to learn how to trust God, you must first
set your own house in order. Before God can use you mightily, He must be magnified in
your own life, in your own home. Private worship prepares us for public power from God.
There are no short cuts. So is there anything you've been holding on to? Is there any sin
that you're clinging to? Knock down your idols. Confess you sin. Deal with it and return
to full obedience to God.
Will it stir things up to do this? Sure it will, but God will honor those who honor Him! It
happened for Gideon. Evidently, this bull was community breeding stock owned by
Gideon's family. Verse 30 reports that the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your
son. He must die." But Gideon's act was already affecting change. His father, Joash,
awoke to the truth and stood up to the men, asking in v. 31, "Would you plead Baal's
case for him? . . . If he is a god, let him plead his own case."
V. God is patient with our faith process (6:33-40)
If this were a movie, when we got to v. 33, ominous music would be playing. It says the
Midianites and their partners are getting ready to make their annual raid. But instead of
cringing in a cave, v. 34 says the Spirit of the LORD enveloped Gideon, and he blew the
ram's horn and the Abiezrites rallied behind him. Gideon had taken a huge step of faith
in his private faithfulness and now God's Spirit was drawing people from far and wide.
Thirty-two thousand men men show up, ready to fight!
But watch this. Even after his encounter with Almighty God, even though he had been
obedient to clean shop at home, and even though the Holy Spirit was empowering him,
Gideon still struggled with doubts. He knows that God has promised to save Israel
through him, but he's looking in the mirror and the reflection he sees doesn't look
encouraging.
Notice vs. 36-37. Gideon says to the Lord, If You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You
said, 37 I will put a fleece of wool here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the
fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that You will deliver Israel by my strength,
as You said." I love how loving, tender, and patient God is with us. Gideon is making a
deal with God. He wants a confirming sign. And the Bible says the next morning, God
gave it to him: the fleece was wet and the ground was dry. Even when this "Doubting
Thomas" of the OT reverses the test in v. 39, asking that the fleece be dry and the
ground covered with dew, God graciously confirmed His power to Gideon. Our Lord was
developing this man into a fully convinced servant, matching each doubt with kind
reassurance. God will show you the same patience as well as you seek His face, allaying
your fears to grow you into a man or woman of God.
VI. Success is determined by God's power, not ours (7:1-8)
Gideon's now ready to rumble but God has other plans. In Judges 7:2, the Lord said to
Gideon, The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many people for Me to hand the
Midianites over to you,[1] or else Israel might brag: 'I did it myself.'" God proceeds to
give Gideon a couple of tests to whittle the number down. The first test culled 22,000
men out of the army, leaving 10,000. Still too many, said God.
So in v. 4, a second test was given. God tells Gideon to take his men down to the water
and let them drink. Weed out any men who stick their face down into the water to drink;
keep the ones who ladle the water to their mouths with their hands. Gideon must have
gulped hard when he counted how many were disqualified: 9700 were out, leaving only
300 men.
Can you imagine how Gideon felt? Chapter 8 tells us that the Midianite army numbered
135,000 men. That's 450 Midianites to every one Israeli soldier. God wants Gideon's
army to face this horde with a mere 300 men who know how to drink politely!
God created an impossible situation of human weakness to exalt His own strength. This
is His specialty! What did Jesus say in Luke 18:27? "What is impossible with men is
possible with God." Here's a good lesson for us: Accomplishing God's purposes is not
determined by the bottom line on a finance sheet, or the size of our congregation, or the
efficiency of our plans. We need to attend to all those things, sure. But the truth is, God
is looking to glorify Himself on earth through people who are fully dependent on Him,
who believe He is with them and are ready to charge the hill in the name of the Lord!
God doesn't need a majority vote from us on this. He doesn't need us at all. But He
invites us to join Him in doing His will. When we do, we reap the benefits and He gets
the glory. The saying is often attributed to D. L Moody: "Give me ten men who fear
nothing but sin and love nothing but God, and I shall change the world."
It happened in Israel. In one of the strangest battle strategies in history, the 300 went
out with trumpets, torches, and jars to meet the marauding Midianites. God sent
confusion into the ranks of the enemy so that they began attacking each other. When it
was over, 120,000 Midianites had killed one another and the other 15,000 fled. It was
over. God had answered Israel's prayers. He used a common man who believed God.
Conclusion
God uses tough times to get our attention. Is He getting your attention today?
God always sees more than we do. Do you see yourself as He does?
God confirms His priorities with His presence. Can you sense His presence with you now,
urging you to trust Him? Private faithfulness is a prerequisite to public usefulness. Are
there things in your life, in your home, that need to go so God can move in power in
your life?
God is patient with our faith process. He meets you right where you are with what you
need.
Success is determined by God's power, not ours. Will you trust Him today - with your
life, with your children, your finances, your decisions, your husband or wife?
Gideon, the Fearful
Judges chapter 6 is where we take our reading from, Judges 6, and this morning we're
beginning to look at the character of Gideon - the fifth Judge. We'll spend a number of
weeks looking at Gideon, for he's such a substantial character among all the Judges, but
this morning our title will be 'Gideon, The Fearful'.
There's more space devoted to the Judge Gideon, 100 verses or so, in the book of
Judges than to any other Judge. We're going to follow his progress this morning and in
subsequent weeks in the will of the Lord
'Gideon, The Fearful' - Warren Wiersbe says Gideon started his career as somewhat of a
coward. In chapter 6 that we've read, we find that of him: he was a fearful man. Then in
chapter 7, through most of chapter 8, we find that he turned into a conqueror, one who
God uses after breaking him and melting him, moulding him and filling him. But sadly as
we'll see in chapter 8, the remainder of it, he also became and ended his days as a
compromiser. A man who was a coward, then a conqueror, and then ended his days,
some would say, as a compromiser. There's more space devoted to the Judge Gideon,
100 verses or so, in the book of Judges than to any other Judge. We're going to follow
his progress this morning and in subsequent weeks in the will of the Lord.
What I want you to see first and foremost, as we have learned from each of these Judge
characters, is the condition that was recurrent in the nation. We find that outlined for us
in the first two verses of chapter 6, and really again it is a reciprocation of the pattern
that we saw in chapter 2 and verses 11 through to 19, another cycle of backsliding
among God's people. 'They did evil', verse 1 says, 'in the sight of Jehovah: and the
LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And Midian prevailed against
Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made dens which are in the
mountains, and caves, and strong holds'. You would be forgiven, I'm sure, for asking the
question: when are these Israelites going to learn the lesson? This is the fourth time
they have fallen into the same trap. After Deborah and Barak, and after the great song
that we read in chapter 5, they have been emancipated from their enemies. God has
had mercy on them and heard their cry, and delivered them. But now again they fall into
the same recurrent condition of backsliding, they fall into the same sin that was their
besetting sin in the beginning: they did evil in the sight of the Lord - and often that is
just a synonym, another phrase, for 'they followed Baal and Asherah' those wicked
immoral gods and goddesses.
You see, sin is not a privilege to the child of God. That's what God, through His Spirit is
communicating to us through the Judges. Of course, it's not a privilege to anybody, sin
is more like a poison, but we seem to think at times, even as believers, that we are
missing out if we don't partake of certain things that are found in the world. The
Israelites could learn a lesson, God was trying to discipline them as sons and daughters
in the covenant: 'Sin will harm you, it'll take you further than you want to go, and rob
you of the blessings that I have promised you'. Through discipline He wants them to
learn: 'Ye are bought with a price, ye are not your own. Glorify God in your body and in
your spirit which are God's'. Of course, we know that whom the Lord loves He chastens,
and scourges every son whom He receives. Here we find again He has to discipline His
people.
This time the cane of discipline that He uses are the Midianites, and they were simply a
Bedouin tribe of marauders from the north-west part of Arabia. They dwelt in tents, and
they rode upon camels, hence some of the verses that we read this morning. They were
also the people that sold Joseph into slavery, they had been the arch enemies and
previous historical enemies of the children of God. But we see here that they are
prevailing over God's people, look at this phrase, don't miss it: 'The hand of Midian
prevailed'. Now here is a lesson, if ever there was one for every child of God in this place
today: the enemy always prevails when you give in to sin. The enemy will have you
cowering if you give him a foothold in your life.
Now here is a lesson, if ever there was one for every child of God in this place today:
the enemy always prevails when you give in to sin. The enemy will have you cowering if
you give him a foothold in your life
Here you have the people of God, look at verse 2: they're making dens in the
mountains, they're hiding, cowering in fear from these Midianite oppressors. The hand of
Midian is prevailing against them - it's a pathetic picture for us, isn't it? When we
consider, if we look back at chapter 4 and verse 24, we read there: 'And the hand of the
children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they
had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan'. So they have come from the position of spiritual
victory, where their hand was prevailing over their oppressors, to actually have the hand
of their oppressors upon them and crushing them - what a lesson! I wonder am I
speaking to someone here this morning, and you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ,
you're a child of God, but at this present vantage point in your Christian experience you
are overcome by the enemy. The hand of Satan, whether through the world, through the
flesh, or through his own minions, is prevailing over you, is oppressing you - you're
overcome!
Three very practical lessons, that I have learned through studying the condition that was
recurrent in the nation here again, I want to leave with you. The first is this: how the
Lord has to withhold blessings from us at times to get us to see our great need of Him.
The Lord was disciplining His people, the Lord was withholding blessing so that the
people would come and ask for it, because there was a stage at which they didn't even
think they needed it - they were rich, they were increased in goods, they were floating
along on the winds and waves of previous experience and triumphs. But God had to take
away from them spiritual victory to make them realise that they still needed to rely on
Him.
The second lesson I have learned is similarly from our perspective, how it is only in
times of difficulty - whether they be temporal or spiritual - that we seem to cry for God's
aid. Isn't it? God often has to bring us into a predicament, has to corner us in some
difficulty until we start to seek Him early, and then find Him. Then the third lesson I
have learned is that even when we do seek Him at times, often it can be shallow, it can
be superficial. That's what we find in the life of Israel here in the Judges, that's the way
their repentance was. It wasn't a true, deep, meaningful repentance; because each time
they went back to their sin. We must always beware of such decisions and commitments
that are only superficial and shallow.
Now you might be sitting here and thinking: 'Well, I'm being overcome by the devil and
by sin and by evil in this world, how do I know whether or not my initial repentance was
superficial and shallow?'. Here's the easy answer: are you finding yourself, at this
moment, in the vicious cycle that the Israelites found themselves in? They're now in the
fourth cycle of sin, sorrow, in crying out to God for repentance and mercy, they are
restored, and lo and behold they're back like a pig wallowing in the mire, they're like a
dog going back to their own vomit. Second Corinthians 7 verse 10 teaches us that godly
sorrow that works repentance is not to be repented of. If you have known true salvation,
your repentance will be such that you will have a deep sorrow for your sin that has led
you to full restoration - I'm not saying you can never be backslidden, of course you can,
but there's something wrong if you're continually falling, getting up again, falling,
getting up again, and never ever experiencing true victory in the life of faith.
The condition that was recurrent, is it recurrent in your life? I call it 'roller coaster
Christianity'. Someone else has said it's the 'Grand Old Duke of York' spirituality - when
you're up, you're up, and when you're down, you're down, and when you're only halfway
up, you're neither up nor down. You don't know where you are this morning, sometimes
you're on the peak of your roller coaster, other times you're in the depths of the valley. I
tell you today, from the heart of God, because it's the spirit, I believe, of this book of
Judges: God needs more than that from you! But on a note of encouragement: you can
expect more than that from the Christian life - and marrying those two statements
together, God has promised you more in Christ! But yet, this is the condition that is
recurrent in your life as well as the Israelites, and I have to warn you: if you never ever
rise above this recurrent condition, you will experience the enemy's oppression and the
result of it as they did.
What was that? Well, it was a harvest that was condemned, in verses 3 to 6 we read of
this. Some of you - I dare not say 'grumpy old men' - but some of you, when you get
your daffodils pulled out of your garden, well, you feel it, don't you? You don't like when
the vandals come along, and the teenagers, and start to mess up your handiwork. Well,
that's correct, but that's not your livelihood - you're not relying on your little patch in
the front garden to feed on and to keep you alive. These Israelites were, and here these
Midianites were coming, this Bedouin tribe in their tents, and waiting until the Israelites
were asleep or preoccupied, and then they would come in and wreck their livestock and
their agriculture. They would take their camels and ride over all their produce and fields
of crops. There they are, continually out on the periphery of God's people, trying to
intimidate them, demoralising them. How do you think they felt, when they have waited
all to harvest, and then the crop is flattened by mere vandalism and terrorism?
You see, what the Midianites wanted to do, and I want you to note this please because
there's a spiritual principle behind it, they wanted to take the ground from under the
feet of the people of God that God had given them. They wanted the land back. God had
given them the land, promised them the land, but the enemy wanted to pull it from
beneath their feet - and that is always the enemy's tactic. We, as the New Testament
people of God, are not living in a particular land that God has given us, but we have the
promises, the spiritual promises, that we read of in Ephesians in chapter 1, in heavenly
places in Christ. We read in Ephesians chapter 6 that we're in a battle, not to get the
victory, we have the victory in Christ, and He has put us on the victory ground through
His cross work and His resurrection - but it is the devil's ploy and scheme to push us off
the ground and make us think we're losers.
That is what the Midianites were trying to do: 'They came', it says, look at that, 'as
grasshoppers', verse five, 'for multitude'. Children of God today are facing a multitude of
locusts that are ready to eat their harvest of spiritual fruit. As Martin Luther could say in
those early days of Reformation, and it's still applicable to us:
'Still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great
And armed with cruel hate
None else on earth is his equal'.
Now what I want you to notice is that often the Lord allows the enemy to overcome His
people when they're in sin to discipline them. That's what happened Job, now he wasn't
in sin as such, but the reason why all that came upon him did come upon him was that
he might be purged, that he may be brought nearer to God and see God more clearly.
But there are times when God allows us to be disciplined because there is sin in our
lives.
Turn with me for a moment to Haggai, if you can find it, and chapter 1. Haggai chapter 1
- if you find Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, after Haggai,
Zechariah - it has fourteen chapters, so it's an easy one to find, and then before it
Haggai chapter 1. Here's an account of just this, God disciplining His people because of
their sin, verse 3: 'Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it
time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled', your fancy, luxurious, 'houses, and this
house', God's house, His temple, 'lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not
enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none
warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus
saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood,
and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow
upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run
every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and
the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the
mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that
which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour
of the hands'.
There are times when you sow, and you reap nothing, it comes to nothing. You say:
'How can that be, and why would that ever be?'
Now this is a principle, we're all very familiar with the principle of 'You reap what you
sow' - but here is a principle that says: there are some times that you don't reap what
you have sown. There are times when you sow, and you reap nothing, it comes to
nothing. You say: 'How can that be, and why would that ever be?' - if the seed that you
sow is contaminated by sin! I'm not going to spend too much time going into this, but
this is a spiritual law of discipline: God can cut holes in your pockets so that the more
you put in, the more falls out. God can blow upon your riches, God can give you the
opposite to the Midas touch, and everything you touch breaks or rots or is destroyed.
Now we do not live by the natural laws of the land of Israel that the Old Testament
saints were under, but this same spiritual law applies to us in a spiritual sense. Amos
chapter 8 and verse 11 said: 'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will
send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing
the words of the Jehovah'.
There is nothing new under the sun, and God still disciplines His people for disobedience.
'How does He do it?', you say, 'Does He still withhold harvests?'. Well, I don't know if He
withholds physical harvests or not, but I'm almost certain that He does withhold spiritual
ones. I ask you: what other explanation can there be, if the Lord Jesus said in John 4
and Matthew 9: 'The fields - look up! - they're white unto harvest. They're ready to be
reaped', and yet if a harvest is withheld and there's so little fruitfulness, what other
explanation can there be other than that there is a transgression of this spiritual law of
discipline in sowing. Though we sow and sow and sow, God can blow upon it, God can
cut holes in our spiritual pockets so that it all vanishes away. As the hymn writer put it,
you cannot be channels of blessing if your life is not free from all sin - that's it!
Now we see that when God's people cried out for mercy and help, God on this occasion
did not immediately deliver them as He had in the past. He sends a prophet, and the
prophet brings an indictment to them in verses 7 and 10, and he leaves them hanging at
the end of the message, he doesn't give them any hope at all really. He just tells them
that they have not obeyed God's will. But what he does do, and I want you to notice
this, he reminds them of God's past deliverance of His people. 'Remember Egypt,
remember how God delivered you out of Egypt, gave you all the covenant blessings. He
drove out your oppressors from before you', and the implication that the prophet is
bringing to the people is: is your God not this God, can your God not do the same? 'This
is the point that you're missing, your God is the same, but', mark these words, 'ye have
not obeyed My voice'. Do you see that in verse 10?
God hasn't changed. I wonder is this a personal word to someone here in our meeting
this morning. Maybe you're asking the question that Gideon asked, and we'll get to him
in a minute in verse 13: 'Why then is all this befallen me? Why am I undergoing this
discipline? Why is there a spiritual harvest in my life that seems to be condemned, and
what I try to do for God fails continually, and I feel so impotent in a spiritual sense?'.
Could it be that God is withholding the blessings from you, in order that you might see
that there's something in your life where you are not obeying His voice?
Well, for Gideon, there was a crisis as God's word and God's ways seem to clash. I'm not
suggesting there was sin in his life, but in a sense there was because we find here that
Gideon is an extremely fearful man. Like the nation, he almost typifies it, for in verse 11
he's hiding, cowering behind the winepress threshing wheat. Now normally wheat would
have been threshed out in the open air in order to blow away the chaff, but here he is
hiding because of the Midianites. Basically what this is communicating is that he's just
eking out a living, he has an impoverished existence. Does that not speak to us, as
believers today, when we think of the great wealth that we have in Christ in heavenly
places, the victory that we're meant to enjoy as Christians - yet so many believers are
just existing, they're just saved and stuck, they're ticking over!
Well, the Lord comes to such mouse of a man as Gideon, and He says - and this is
remarkable in verse 12: 'The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor'. Now, that
was too rich for Gideon, even if it was from an angel - because the implication of what
he says in verse 13 is: 'Well, if I'm such a mighty man then, and if God is with us the
way you say He's with us, why? Why is the land in the condition that it is? Why is our
harvest condemned?'. In the psyche of Gideon there is a clash, a crisis, as God's word
seems to clash with His ways.
How many times do we ask the question: 'Why?'. Personally, and as the church, and as
a body of God's people in this land, we ask: 'Why? If God is with us, if God is blessing
us, if all these words are true in this book, why?'
How many times do we ask the question: 'Why?'. Personally, and as the church, and as
a body of God's people in this land, we ask: 'Why? If God is with us, if God is blessing
us, if all these words are true in this book, why? Why does this happen? Why does this
not happen?'. Usually the reason why we ask 'Why?' is because we walk by sight and not
by faith. Now what am I talking about? Well, turn with me for a moment to 2 Kings 6 to
give you an illustration of this. Second Kings chapter 6, and here you have the servant
of Elisha who sees God's enemies surrounding the nation, the Syrians. In chapter 6 of 2
Kings, verse 15: 'The servant of Elisha was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host
compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas,
my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are
more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open
his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he
saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha'.
A little girl on one occasion was listening to the great stories of the Bible that her mother
told her about Moses, and Joshua, and Samson, and Daniel. Finally she ended by
saying: 'Mummy, God was much more exciting back then'. Is that how we feel at times?
Gideon said: 'Where is the God that our fathers told us of?'. Is He really around today in
the 21st-century post-modernist society? We ask: 'Why does this happen to me
personally if God is in my life? Why is there a lack of blessing as it used to be in the
church?'. Maybe our question progresses, as it did for Gideon, to say: 'Where are the
miracles of our fathers? Did not God, our God, bring up Israel from Egypt?'.
Now, there are such pious pukes about who would come and censure Gideon for saying
such things. You get them sometimes in prayer meetings, when you start to get real
with God they come around and say to you: 'Now, you shouldn't really say that, you
know'. I know that we ought not to get familiar with God in our address to Him, but
Gideon is not talking from the vantage point of doubt here - he's not doubting God or
testing God. This is not over-familiarity, he's not dictating to God as the Almighty, but
he's standing on the vantage point of faith and he wants to prove God, he wants to
know that God's promises are true. This is the point of this passage, I believe, God loves
to show Himself true to His promises! He loves to show Himself as faithful to answer
prayer that is prayed on the foundation of His word.
The old saints of God used to call this 'holy argumentation'. If you bought off the book
stall at the week of prayer Spurgeon's little book of sermons on prayer, I think it's called
'Praying Effectively' or something like that, 'Effective Prayer' - he has a sermon in it on
Job 23 verses 3-4 where Job says: 'Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might
come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with
arguments'. Talking about how we bring the promises of God and plead them before
God. How do you interpret a verse like Isaiah 45:11, God says to His people:
'Concerning the work of my hands command ye me'. Staggering, isn't it? It's not
presumption, now, we want to be careful of that, but God is saying: 'I have put myself
at your disposal through the exceeding great and precious promises in Christ'. Gone are
the days, it would seem, when the violent storm the heavens to take blessings from God
with forceful faith and righteous argument. Not because God is reluctant to give us the
blessings, but God is trying to teach us, God is wanting to bring us into His school. He
wants us to reason with Him, that He might bless us.
Now let me ask you: have you ever been in a situation where God has made the
heavens brass, where He has made the earth barren and dry? Do you know what He is
doing? He's wanting to bring you into a place where you don't just call in desperation
upon God as a last resort, that's not what we're talking about, but you're calling upon
God in faith as your only hope - that's different. Is He pushing you into a corner to
challenge Him according to His words? Oh, some of the accounts of revival are
staggering. One young man in Lewis, when he was praying, prayed like this: 'Lord, Your
honour is at stake'. A wee woman that met Duncan Campbell, along with her sister had
been praying for a revival on that island, was praying to God and was heard to say:
'Lord, if You don't do this upon Your promise, I don't think I could ever trust You again' -
upon the promise! She wasn't asking God to do something He didn't say He would do.
Faith that is prepared to either break down or breakthrough is what God wants! Like
Rachel, to come, because she had a promise that she would have children, and say 'Give
me children or I die!'. That's what we're talking about.
Well, God told them that the commission from Him remains the same. Whether the
condition of the nation was recurrent, and the harvest was condemned, and there was a
crisis in his mind because God's word and God's ways seemed to clash, God told him:
'The commission from me remains the same'. Verses 14 and 16, and I would urge you to
study this portion in comparison and parallel with Moses' call - it's almost identical, and
the excuses that Moses and Gideon give also. But this is the pre-incarnate Christ, this is
the Angel of Jehovah - look how Gideon addresses Him in verses 13, 15 and 22, he calls
him 'the Lord', and He speaks as the Lord. Here he is before the pre-incarnate Lord
Jesus Christ, and Jesus tells him four things: 'Go in this thy might'. Two: 'And thou shalt
save Israel from the hand of the Midianites'. Three: 'Have not I sent thee?'. Four:
'Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man'. What
promises! If Gideon could only embrace them, those promises would equip him for
everything that lay ahead.
But Gideon wanted a confirmation that the Lord was still with His people. In verses 17 to
24 he got it, he got this offering and made it for the Lord Jesus in pre-incarnate form.
He brought it to Him, and in verse 21 we read that fire came out of the offering, out of
the rock beneath it, and this supernatural sign of fire consumed Gideon's offering to
show that it was accepted with God. But what it did to Gideon was, it filled him with awe
and fear, because what God was saying was: 'Thou shalt see now whether My word shall
come to pass unto thee' - I'm confirming it for you! That's not a sin, by the way, we
need to believe God's word, but sometimes in His grace He confirms it for us.
Let's finish on this note: the crux of Gideon's problem. You find it in verse 11, verse 13,
verse 15, verse 17, verse 22-24 - what is it? He's fearful! A prophet's sent to the people,
he still fears. The Lord Jesus Christ as the Angel of Jehovah appeared before him, He
shows him a supernatural sign of confirmation that God is still with him and his people,
yet he's still fearful. If Gideon had a besetting sin, it was fear. Is that your besetting sin?
Anxiety, worry, call it what you like, it's still fear - and how debilitating it is! The fear of
man brings a snare, Proverbs 29 says, it's paralysing - it takes away spiritual, and even
at times physical power. Yet look at Gideon, and we'll show his progression over these
next weeks: look at the mighty warrior he became! Why? Because, in his weakness that
he admitted, God's strength could be made perfect when he believed what God had said.
When I was reading and studying this, I asked the question: why does God describe
Gideon as if he were the opposite of what he clearly was. Here he is, a mouse of a man,
hiding in dens like the rest of the people behind the winepress. Why does He describe
him as a mighty man of valour? Because God saw Gideon's potential if he embraced the
divine power. Can I put it like this: God saw not just what Gideon was presently, He saw
what he could be if he believed God. It's like a sculptor looking at a great clump of rock,
he doesn't see it as an ugly piece of rock, he sees it as a piece of art once he's finished
with it. Before God could do a work through Gideon, God had to do a work in Gideon -
and it's the same with us, and when he came to the point of a sense of his own
weakness and impotence, then he became a vessel meet for the Master's use.
One weak man with God became the majority. Oh, if there's a lesson in Judges it's this:
to be confident of this very thing, that if we give our lives to Christ and acknowledge the
weaknesses of them, He that has begun a good work will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ. He gave him His peace: Jehovah - Yahweh - shalom, 'The LORD, my
peace'. He spoke His peace into the fearful heart of Gideon, and that's what we need.
Now here's the point, please don't miss it: God spoke to him, faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God, and in Hebrews 11 we read that he is in the hall of faith
- a great man of faith, because faith comes by hearing, he believed what God said, and
God gave him His peace and His strength.
In the presence of Jesus, in a crisis of faith, he turned from the fearful to the faithful.
That can happen to you too
Now can I leave you with this intrinsic thought: where did he get it? He got it in the
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the fire of God came upon him. That's the open
secret - it's no secret at all. In the presence of Jesus, in a crisis of faith, he turned from
the fearful to the faithful. That can happen to you too.
I read a story this week, listen to it, and I close with it. In May 1855, an 18-year-old boy
went to the deacons of his church in Boston. He had been raised in a Unitarian Church,
not believing in the supernatural deity of Christ, the resurrection, the blood and so on.
In almost total ignorance of the gospel he came to them, but when he had moved to
Boston to make his fortune, he began to attend a Bible-believing church. Then in April
1855 his Sunday School teacher had come into the shop were he was working, and
simply and persuasively shared the gospel and urged the young man to trust in the Lord
Jesus. He did, and now he was applying to join the church. One fact quickly became
obvious: this young man was totally ignorant of Bible truth. One of the deacons asked
him: 'Son, what has Christ done for us all, for you, which entitles Him to our love?'. His
response was: 'I don't know. I think Christ has done a great deal for us, but I don't think
of anything in particular as I know of'. Hardly an impressive start, you would say. Then
years later a Sunday School teacher said of him: 'I can truly say that I have seen few
persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was his when he came into my
Sunday School class, and I think the committee of the church seldom met an applicant
for membership who seemed more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear and
decided views of the gospel truth, still less to fill any place of public or extended
usefulness'. Nothing happened very quickly, as you can imagine, to change their minds;
and the deacons decided to put him off for a year of long instruction to teach him the
basic Christian truths. Perhaps they wanted to work on some of his other rough spots as
well. But not only was he ignorant of spiritual truths, he had trouble reading, writing,
and his spoken grammar was atrocious. The year did not help very much, but since it
was obvious that he was a sincere soul, they accepted him into the church membership.
'Over the next years, I'm sure', the writer says, 'that many people looked at that young
man convinced that God could never use a person like that' - if they did, they had
written off Dwight Lyman Moody.
God used him, because there are no lost causes with God. God's grace and God's love to
Moody transformed him into the one of the most effective and significant servants of
God in church history, a man whose impact is still with us today. This is the spiritual
truth of Gideon and all the Judges: He does not see us just for what we are, but for what
we can be if we believe Him and allow Him to work in our lives.
'The Midianite is in the land,
Bleak devastation reigns.
Charred fields and looted granaries
Give witness to their gains.
A lonely figure threshes there

'Neath Ophrah's grizzled tree,
Then stunned, he looks
To find himself in regal company.
The Angel of the Lord, no less,

Now graces Gideon’s view.
'I've come to vanquish all your foes,
My weapon will be you!'
My Lord, what instruments have I

To drive the tyrant hence?
Just two, but all sufficient they -
FAITH and OBEDIENCE'.
Our brother George Bates, a couple of weeks ago, said during his preaching: 'If you fear
God, you'll fear nothing or no one else'. That's the message in summary this morning:
what are you fearing, what sin is in your life that you won't let go of? Maybe God has
called you to the mission field to be an evangelist, to be a pastor or teacher, but you
haven't answered His call, you've not obeyed His voice. Maybe it's something very very
simple, and God has withheld His spiritual harvest because of it. Trust God, believe His
word, leave your sin and embrace the Angel of Jehovah, the Lord Jesus.
Father, help us all to be at His feet, like Gideon, humble, saying 'I am the least'. May
we, like the Baptist, decrease ourselves, deflate our egos, that we may uplift Christ. Let
us always know that we have the Saviour with us, for then we can go without any fear
as we follow in His footsteps. Oh, to know 'I am with thee always, even unto the end of
the world. Go and make disciples'. Thank You for Your word, and may it find a resting
place in all our hearts, for Christ's sake, Amen.
Don't miss part 7 of 'Men For The Hour': “Gideon, The Faithful”

Meet Gideon: A Doubter Raised Up by God

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Meet Gideon: A Doubter Raised Up by God

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Meet Gideon: A Doubter Raised Up by God

Gideon, the reluctant warrior, overcame doubt to answer God's call

Life Lessons From Gideon

Why God Uses Weak People

I love that final phrase—“whose weakness was turned to strength.”

Weak is the New Strong – Judges 7:1-15

Last weekend I had an absolutely terrible weekend. I went to celebrate my

Depletion of resources often points us in directions that we wouldn’t normally go.

Gideon: A Weak Man Made Strong

Testing the Lord

Gideon: From Coward to Conqueror

The Army That Annihilated Itself

The Victory Belongs to the Lord

I. God uses tough times to get our attention (Judges 6:1-6)

II. God sees more than we do (6:7-12)

III. God confirms His priorities with His presence (6:13-24)

IV. Private faithfulness is a prerequisite to public usefulness (6:25-32)

V. God is patient with our faith process (6:33-40)

VI. Success is determined by God's power, not ours (7:1-8)

'Still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;

A lonely figure threshes there

The Angel of the Lord, no less,

My Lord, what instruments have I

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