Answers Bible Curriculum Year 2, Quarter 1, Lesson 5
In this lesson, David Capoccia looks at the account of God’s deliverance through Gideon in Judges 6-8. Through Gideon, God shows that He can provide great victory for weak warriors when they simply trust and obey Him.
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generation died Israel as a whole disobeys God how do they do so what do they do they outright worship other gods this is the most flagrant form of disobedience but they turn from God and they start serving the gods of the land however as bad as that is what blunder from the previous generation enabled Israel to fall so far and so fast yeah Rob exactly they were not careful to continue the conquest the previous generation did not obey God fully by eliminating the people of the land instead they made treaties with them and they intermarried with them when God confronted the previous generation over their failure or even when God confronted them it was too late at that point there was no longer a way for them to change their situation what judgment does God bring on Israel as a result yeah mana that’s right he tells them that they’ll no longer be able to drive out the people and that they’re kind of gonna they’re going to continue to be a snare a thorn in their side and then as Israel fully embraces idolatry what does God caused to happen to Israel exactly he allows other nations to subjugate Israel to defeat Israel and battle and oppressed them we see that’s basically the summary of our lesson but we see in Israel some sobering lessons about sin and idolatry sin always pretends it will only take a little from us and that we can easily escape should the need arise but when a person allows a foothold to sin or to idolatry it then becomes extremely difficult and painful to cut off that sin and all the while it remains it is a and hurts it’s the one who practices it moreover even with repentance there are some natural consequences of sin that can never be reversed so as I encouraged us as i entreated you last class let us then treat sin in our own lives like the hateful deceiver that it is let us give no quarter to it in order that we may Anjali God and His blessing led us by the strength of God’s Spirit rule over the flesh taking seriously God’s commands and warnings because we see them playing out in Israel questions about last times lesson okay well this could have been the end of the story God just gives his people over to judgment but it’s not as Israel is judged the people turn back and cry out to God for deliverance God is moved in heart and he raises up leaders to deliver Israel from their oppressors and to act as judges for Israel that’s really what the book of Judges is all about we don’t have time in this course to examine every judge but we will look at the account of one of the judges that is Gideon that’s our lesson God uses Gideon this is a well-known section of the Bible he’s a well-known person in the Bible but let’s make sure that though we’ve heard the story repeated often we don’t miss the important truths God has for us in this account here’s our outline for today’s class we’re going to look at God’s call to Gideon then we’ll look at how God prepares Gideon’s army to do battle and then we’ll finish by looking at what kind of deliverance God accomplishes let’s pray now and ask God to open our eyes to the scripture father you are in control you have power you’re the only one with power you are the only Savior I thank you for this section of Scripture help me to be able to declare it clearly and father help us to put into practice what we learn in Jesus name Amen alright open your Bibles please the judges six and let’s start with the first part of our lesson God’s call to Gideon looking at judges six verses eleven to twenty four as you turn there let me give you some background at this point in the book of Judges four judges have already delivered Israel first off Neil saved Israel from the Mesopotamians then II who’d saved Israel from Moab Shamgar saved Israel from the Philistines and Deborah saved Israel from the Canaanites after that fourth deliverance there’s a period of peace and a general obedience in Israel but then Israel again turns away to do evil and to turn to not worship God and God allows Israel to once again be oppressed this time by Midian the Midianites team up with the amalekites and other Eastern tribes to a press Israel by starvation with great armies the mini Knights constantly attack Israel to destroy Israel’s crops and livestock furthermore these enemies bring their own animals into the land to eat up the grounds produce so that like a plague of locusts nothing is left for Israel Israel while this happens simply hides and caves and dents and strongholds eventually they cry out to the Lord they cry out again to the Lord and God sends a prophet the prophet says Yahweh is the one who brought you out of Egypt and when he did he charge you not to serve the gods of the land however you have not obeyed God’s command you’ve not kept his charge with that background let’s look at what appears next in the text I kind of summarize the beginning of chapter six that’s look at verses eleven to twenty four follow along with me as a read verse 11 then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Oprah which belonged to joash the abbeys right as his son Gideon was beat hang out wheat in the winepress in order to save it from the Midianites the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him the Lord is with you o valiant warrior Thank idiot said to him oh my lord if the Lord is with us why then has all this happened to us 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 the Lord looked at him and said go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian have I not sent you he said to him Oh Lord how shall I deliver Israel behold my family is the least in Manasseh and I am the youngest in my father’s house but the Lord said to him surely I will be with you and you shall defeat Midian as one man so Gideon said to him if now I have found favor in your sight and show me a sign that it is you who speak with me please do not depart from here until I come back to you and bring out my offering and lay it before you and he said I will remain until you return then kidiot went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour it put the meat in a basket and the broth and a pop and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them the angel of God said to him take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock and pour out the broth and he did so then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread then the end of the Lord vanished from his sight 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 then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it the Lord the Lord is peace to this day it is still in Oprah of the apizza rights okay let’s start our analysis of this text with simple observations who is said to speak to Gideon here the angel of the Lord though verse 14 and 16 identify the person as someone else or a different designation what is it Yahweh it’s the Lord whenever you see the Lord and all caps it’s God’s name Yahweh I am so it’s referred to as the angel the Lord and as the Lord Himself so we can conclude who’s speaking to Gideon god I’m even say Dupree Incarnate Christ we’ve seen this number of times now an angel the Lord same as God now what is Gideon doing when God speaks to him wine press in order to save it’s in the Midianites the text tells us he’s hoping that beating the grain there will prevent any marauding Midianites from seeing him and attacking him using the winepress probably also indicates there wasn’t very much green note what God says to Gideon says couple things first Yahweh is with you a valiant warrior God confirms his presence is with Gideon and pronounces Gideon a valiant or powerful warrior second God says go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian have I not sent you God again makes reference to Gideon strength and commands Gideon to deliver Israel from Midian third God says to Gideon surely I will be with you and you shall defeat the defeat million as one man God uses the word surely emphasizing the trustworthiness of what are you saying and he promises that he Yahweh himself will be mazing words from God but notice Gideon’s responses first he addresses God as Lord but the term is not capitalized so what does that tell us he doesn’t know that it’s God at least not at first the ESV actually translates the term Lord as Sir was just a respectful greeting it was just what you would call somebody that you didn’t know oh my lord you know you could as throughout the Scriptures my lord I’m your servant etc etc and just respectful greeting he thinks he’s just talking with a person moreover Gideon does not believe the encouraging words from this person getting questions whether God is really with him or with Israel why what reasons does Gideon gift for why God can’t be with Israel what’s one our circumstances our circumstances are terrible look what’s happening to us and you could probably split that into another reason God has specifically given us over into the hand of Midian you’re saying that God is with us what else does he site as a reason to question God’s presence exactly he says where all the miracles where their mighty works from God that we’ve heard about we don’t see them today obviously God is not with us furthermore Gideon believes himself unable to deliver Israel what reasons does he give after God says go and this your strength and deliver Midian or deliver Israel he says I can’t do it because yeah hermano that’s right he says I’m not from a great family I’m from a week clan and i’m the youngest where the tongue could be translated least in my family my family’s not great and i’m not great in my family I’m not capable delivering Israel but after God’s third statement to get in we see a shift in the way Gideon talks starts to realize something it tells the angel Lord a sign that it is you who speak to me how does Gideon want God to verify himself what is he going to present to the angel of the Lord Oh sacrifice I’m offering an offering of food now it doesn’t exactly say what intends to God to do it is offering but he just wants to present it and God will do something to verify and Gideon prepares this meal and he puts it on a rock just like God tells him and then what does God do it bursts into flames after the angel Lord touches the food with his staff it incinerates and then the angel the Lord disappears so Gideon gets his verification you really are speaking with the angel of the Lord you really are speaking with Yahweh himself and how does that make Gideon feel terrified he thinks he’s gonna die I’ve seen Yahweh face-to-face I’ve spoken with his angel this is the frequent response of God’s people in the Bible but God says to him peace to you do not fear you shall not die and so Gideon builds a commemorative altar and names it the Lord is peace alright with these observations let’s interpret a little bit why does God call Gideon we might want to say well it’s because Gideon is so strong and capable but based on what we’ve observed here does Gideon seem like a great choice for deliver or a poor choice seems like a poor choice it doesn’t seem strong courageous or faithful at all he’s hiding in a winepress to beat grain he doesn’t believe God is with him and he questions God’s care for Israel he doesn’t think his family background or life situation give him the capability to accomplish anything great for God or for Israel yet God calls him and even a firm’s Gideon as a strong warrior now how can that be I mean we’re seeing the opposite of that or what looks like the opposite of that in the text God can’t be lying so how can God call fearful and adequate looking Gideon a valiant warrior we again might think I’m trying to answer that question well the strength is there in Gideon he just needs to unlock it he is to believe in himself but that’s not where God directs him what does God say to Gideon that is supposed to strengthen and embolden him that’s exactly right Joe he says I will be with you twice he says that I will be with you and you will defeat Midian yeah well that’s one way that we could think about it I’ll just repeat your comment that is God being sarcastic when he says that you’re a mighty warrior but look at you you’re hiding in a wine press I see it a little bit differently though I do see that that is a one way to look at it I think that Gideon that God is really pointing Gideon to well I’ll say it like this Gideon will be strong but it’s only after God changes him as he realizes that the Lord is with me we are going to see Gideon as a valiant warrior here and maybe there is some sarcasm the beginning but this is going to be true of Gideon but not because of Gideon’s own strength or his own courage it’s because of God’s empowerment by the way this situation may sound a little bit familiar where else in the Bible do we have someone who believes himself incapable of doing God’s work and God rather than telling that person how capable he is he simply tells that person I will be with you yeah Craig Moses right we saw this already with Moses Gideon is doing the same thing oh I can’t do it not capable God says I’ll be with you that’ll make you capable that’ll make you strong come back a little bit later to full strength will be me and my word to you another issue here when Gideon questions whether God is really with Israel and it gives his reasons what is missing from Gideon’s understanding of Israel situation it’s forgetting some things or not taking into account some things what’s one of them it’s not remembering that Israel is turned away from God says why of these things come upon as if God is why these things come upon us well maybe the fact that you’ve totally dishonored the Covenant that you have with God he forgets that Israel brought itself into this situation you can’t charge would you forget that the situation is just part of the consequences of Israel’s sin where you can say Danny yes mmm right yeah yeah yeah I think that’s totally right we definitely should understand that he does not understand he’s talking to Yahweh at first and probably wouldn’t say these things if he knew that he was and I think you’re right Danny that he’s essentially rebuking God by saying these things where’s quinces of sin but what else does he forget it certainly is a not trusting in the Lord but um I think there’s some reasons for that see if we gonna explore his reasons a little bit more and see what what he’s missing he says that our circumstances are terrible so God’s not with us he’s given us in a hand of Midian so obviously he’s not around and no miracles today so obviously God’s not present he forgets that sin has natural consequences he also forgets that the suffering that he sees the judgment that he sees on Israel is actually a sign of God’s presence rather than a sign of God’s lack of presence let me explain that a little bit God’s judgment is also a sign of God’s presence because God is bringing upon Israel exactly what he promised he’s staying faithful to his word he’s proving himself faithful to the covenant that he made with Israel he says when you turn away from me this is what I’ll do and God is doing just that Gideon should not be asking where is God as if God was forgetting his covenant with Israel God is exactly where he’s always been and doing exactly what he promised judging Israel until is your repent of its in his real circumstances are not accidental they’re a sign that God really does have a special relationship with his people now when they’re obedient and manifests itself and blessing but when they’re disobedient it manifests itself in chastisement so actually this is a sign of God’s presence and God’s special relationship with Israel there’s another thing that Israel and Gideon is forgetting our Gideon getting here we don’t know about the rest of Israel and that’s simply this just because you don’t see something happening doesn’t mean it’s not happening Gideon complains that because God is not showing any of his mighty works or miracles like he did in the past he’s obviously not doing anything but what’s the great irony of Gideon statement yes Steve exactly right Gideon you’re talking with the angel of the Lord you have a you’re experiencing a miracle right now I am and that was part of the deliverance of Isaac remember Abraham had to sacrifice Isaac Abraham had no idea what God was doing while Abraham was being tested but Abraham trusted that God would provide something you provide at the right time and in the right way and God was actually at the same time that Abraham was kind of in the dark and just preceding by faith and obedience God was arranging a ram to get caught in the bush that’s going to be right in the area where Abraham sacrifices Isaac so that Abraham would lift up his eyes and see God substitute Abraham didn’t know that but God was working the whole time in the same way Gideon has no idea of what God is doing but rather than trusting in God like Abraham did Gideon complains thinking that the lack of any discernible action from God is proof that god is doing nothing it’s the old if I can’t see it it doesn’t exist attitude thinking about application little moment here aren’t Gideon’s complaints the same is what we hear from people today and sometimes feel ourselves God obviously doesn’t exist or God doesn’t have any power or God doesn’t care because look at my circumstances things are going terribly for me if God were there he obviously wouldn’t let these things happen to me or just look at all the people suffering in the world a good God couldn’t possibly exist and allow this or I don’t see any evidence of God working in the world I don’t see anybody getting saved I don’t see any miracles I don’t all I see is people continuing to be evil nothing is changing there is no God or if there is he’s not paying attention but like Gideon we need to realize and we need to help people today realize that this same three concepts the evil we experience today is because of what we have done not because of some deficiency in God’s care for us we’ve sinned against God in the garden and we continue to sin and rebel against God in our lives as a people we are reaping what we ourselves have sown God is not obligated to do good to us as men were rebels we’ve confessed our hatred for God the fact that he allows us any good thing in our lives is ridiculous mercy many theologians have said this but it’s worth saying again instead of asking why don’t I experience more good from God in my life we ought to be asking why do I experience any good at all we brought the suffering and evil on ourselves but this suffering is actually proof that God is there and that God’s Word is true because God promises in his word to oppose evil and to make every false god of this world cruel and unsatisfying God will make sure your sin finds you out you experienced that in your life God will make sure to show you that your sin is hurtful to yourself and that it will be unsatisfying to you we’ll let you experience the consequences of your sin so that you will know beyond a doubt that sin is evil and deceitful and God is good and his way is good he will let your lust prove to be broken cisterns without water so that you will know that he is the only fountain of living water so God’s judgment on sin in the world and the consequences of sin that we see in the world they should reinforce for us that God is there not that God isn’t there in a slightly different way as Christians we can also sometimes say why am i experiencing this trial why am I being persecuted this is proof that God isn’t there or that he doesn’t care about me but did not God promised such things to his believers though for their good did he not promise that those whom he loves he disciplines and those who are part of Christ vine will be pruned you experience these things in your lives you’re actually supposed to take comfort that’s the whole point of that section in Hebrews were says he whom the Lord loves he disciplines when you experience the discipline the painful training and sometimes rebuke and chasing of God in your life that proves God is there and that proves you to be a child of God that should encourage you you shouldn’t do the opposite should make you say oh god obviously doesn’t care no no that’s totally wrong we need to remember that this is actually exactly what God promised and then finally just as we noted would get in when we don’t see God acting and our lives are in the world that does not mean that God is inactive we don’t have to see it to believe it we know because of the Word of God that God is always active on our behalf and on behalf of everyone according to God’s glorious purpose we can doubt this and sometimes say why isn’t this person saved yet why am I still experiencing sickness why is Isis continuing to exist and enjoying success why is abortion still legal in this country where’s the spouse that God is going to provide for me where’s the money I need from my medical bills God why aren’t you doing anything have you forgotten about me don’t you care no God hasn’t forgotten about you and God does care he’s not cruel he you remember pulled back the curtain and he allowed Jacob to see a heavenly staircase with angels going up and down up and down as they minister whatever way God has called them to do on the earth God is constantly active but it’s to be true any quick questions or comments yeah yeah yep just repeat your diversity mentioned but second Timothy first time I think it’s shouldn’t be shocked we shouldn’t be discouraged we should say this is the Lord’s word proving true but I say oh how am I going to deal with it well Jesus already told you right and the world you will have trial and tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world I will be with you that’s exactly what he says to Gideon right and to Moses I will be with you that is the source of your strength that is the source of your endurance that’s good thanks Rob yes d right yeah you’ve mentioned number ideas there that we could probably talk about for a long time but that they’re all worth a little bit of comment at least right now but you mentioned that how just because we’re suffering persecution doesn’t mean necessarily that we’re being disciplined by the Lord we know that the Lord is going to use our suffering persecution or just like he’ll use sickness but does that fall under the term discipline the the terms in the Bible they talk about what Christians experience kind of flow into each other a little bit because as a witness for Christ others are attacking you or hurting you because of your belief in Christ but even when we talk about the idea of suffering for Christ that can appear and I think does appear in mundane ways when you suffer a sickness that really is suffering for Christ because when you by faith persevere through that sickness rejoice in the Lord through that sickness you do it for Christ’s sake or when you continue to meet your obligations or try and be faithful whenever ways you you can be during that sickness you do that for Christ you suffer for Christ so in some ways the persecution suffering for Christ it does bleed over into some of these mundane things and another way though I do want to clarify something about discipline we often think about discipline is always being a corrective like you you’ve got the sin in your life and so I’m bringing you this trial to get you out of that get you out of that sin but remember discipline isn’t always that way discipline basically just means training and sometimes it is corrective but sometimes it’s just formative sometimes it’s like a coach who’s trying to prepare athletes to succeed in the competition he puts them through grueling sprints and other exercises it’s not because the athletes have done anything wrong but it’s because he needs to prepare them he needs to experience trials we know we’re being disciplined not necessarily because we’ve done something wrong in fact we’ve got to learn the lesson of job which is if bad things happen to you it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s because you’ve sinned that’s the main point of joe but what would be the explanation well you know you’re being refined by god you’re being being made more capable for the the race that the Lord has laid out for you and you can take comfort you know that this thing is going to be for your good yes sometimes as a correction but oftentimes simply just as a way to grow you we could say more about that but let’s move on for now some some good topics though so we see these things about Gideon when God calls Gideon but what does Gideon do afterwards well I’m gonna paraphrase a little section and then we’ll look at another the next section the text after this God commands Gideon to destroy his father’s Astra and his father’s altered to bail Gideon does but because Gideon fears his idolatrous community when does Gideon do it he does it at night if you’re familiar with the story you know he does it at night it does this hoping that people will not find out who destroyed the idol the idol pieces but the people do you find out and when they do they find out or they know its Gideon and they call for Gideon to die but Gideon’s father saves him by saying if bale really is God let Bale contend for himself so God provided somebody to protect get in shortly after text tells us that the Spirit of God comes upon Gideon and Gideon sends out a call to his fellow Israelites to gather to him so they can fight against Midian and the men come together but as Gideon is waiting for that he asked God for two miraculous signs that have to do with a fleece and water well not time to investigate that today God is never obligated to give us signs but he was doing something special with Gideon at that time and he granted Gideon those signs to encourage guinean and to help him believe but with the Israelites gathered let’s see what God does next look now judges 7 verses 128 judges 7128 starting verse 1 then Jared ball that is Gideon acquired that nickname and all the people who are with him rose early and camped beside the spring of Herod and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley the Lord said to Gideon the people who are with you are too many for me to give Midian into your hand into their hands for Israel would become boastful saying my own power has delivered me now therefore come proclaiming 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 then the Lord said to Gideon the people are still too many bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you this one shall go with you he shall go with you but every one of whom I say to you this one shall not go with you he shall not go so he brought the people down to the water and the Lord said to Gideon you shall separate everyone who laughs a lot the water with his tongue as a dog laps as well as everyone who kneels to drink and the number of those who lapped putting their hands to their mouth was 300 men but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water the Lord said to Gideon I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and we’ll give them idiots in the Midianites into your hands so let all the other people go each man to his home so the Lord oh so the 300 men took the people’s provisions oh did I skip something no no ok so the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands and Gideon sent all the other men of Israel each to his tent but retained 300 men and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley ok won’t spend as much time on this section of text but let’s notice a few things as the army gathers what is God’s conclusion about its size too big it’s too large for him to give Israel to victory why Greg exactly says with this size army Israel might say hey we did this it was our power that delivered us God says no you got down-sized how does God downsize or how does God direct Gideon to first downsize the army send away everyone who’s afraid and he does and so we learned the size of the army right after that 22,000 of the original 32,000 Israelites leave and 10,000 are left but how does God responded this size army still too big and he has getting further reduced the army based on how the soldiers drink from a body of water and the descriptions are a little perplexing here God tells getting to take the soldiers who lap the water like dogs however these soldiers are also said to lap by putting their hands to their mouths what does that look like how could those both be true well perhaps the men cup the water in their hands and therefore bring their hands to their mouths and then laugh it with their tongues that seems like a very odd way to drink water alternatively and this is John MacArthur’s understanding this description ray referred to the men’s hands acting like dogs tongues so it’s the hands that are bringing the water to their mouths just like a dog’s tongue brings the water to his mouth and so essentially God is saying take the people who cup the water in their hands bring it to their mouths and then drink it rather than those who get on their knees to drink the water basically bow and ya are kneeling to drink the water how many soldiers is Gideon end up with three hundred all the others he sends away how many soldiers is Gideon up against it has a hundred and thirty-five thousand soldiers so it is 300 vs 135,000 alright let’s ask some interpretive questions here which soldiers are better those who cup the water to drink it or those who kneel to drink it there’s no real way to tell I think people have tried to build arguments as to why one is better than over the other and this shows you this about the soldier or this shows you that about the soldier but that’s not the point what is the point of this water distinction why does God do it yeah Rebecca exactly it’s just about reducing the army sighs God could have used any other ways to distinguish one soldier from another but it’s just about reducing the size of the army not really about the type of soldier another question from a human perspective what are the odds of 300 defeating 135,000 basically zero but why did God arrange this kind of engagement exactly it’s just as god said i don’t want Israel to boast in this victory I want to make it very clear where the source of this victor what is the source of this victory I don’t want you to miss it I want you to show I want to show you who has the real power here and who really grants victory but God’s not done and summarize a little bit more text and then we’ll read one more section the 300 men are ready to engage the camp of million that is below them in the valley the Gideon is still fearful God grants Gideon one more miraculous sign a fourth assurance that God will grant Midian into his hand during the night Gideon travels to the edge of the MIDI night camp and he overhears two enemy soldiers talking one of them has had a dream and he relates it to his friend won’t go over the dream but the interpretation of the dream is quite poignant though the friend says the interpreter says to his friend this is what your dream means God will cause a leader named Gideon to come and totally defeat our army that will be encouraging that be encouraging over here and Gideon is encouraged he returns to a small band and gives them a battle plan let’s now pick up the text in verse 15 of chapter 7 well read 2 verse 25 so we see the battle plan and we’ll see how the battle turns out verse 15 episode when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation he bowed and worship it returned to the camp of Israel and said arise so the Lord has given the camp of Midian into our into your hands he divided the 300 men into three companies and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all that of all of them with torches inside the pitchers it said to them look at me and do likewise and behold when I come to the ouster outskirts of the camp do as I do when I all who are with me blow the trumpet then you also blow the trumpets all around the camp and say for the Lord and for Gideon so Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch when they had just posted the watch and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pictures that were in their hands when the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers they held the torches in their left hand the trumpets in the right hands for blowing and cried a sword for the Lord and for Gideon each student is placed around the camp and all the army ran crying out as they fled when they blew three hundred trumpets the Lord set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole army and the army fled as far as Beth shitta towards ereira as far as the edge of Abel mahalo bite a bath the men a visual were summoned from NAFTA Lee and Asher in almond asah and they pursued Midian Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of effiom saying come down against Midian and take the waters before them as far as Beth Berra and the Jordan swallow the men of EPM were summoned and they took the waters as far as Beth Berra and the Jordan they captured the two leaders of Midian or a Ben zeeb and they killed oreb at the rock of war web and they killed Z but the winepress of zeeb while they pursued Midian and they brought the head or while they pursued minion and they brought the heads of warbands EB to Gideon from across the Jordan pretty amazing let’s make some quick observations the battle plan was this Gideon divides is 300 men into three groups hundred men each a three groups spread out around midians camp armed with trumpets and torches covered with pitchers a Gideon signal all the men blow their trumpets they break the pitchers and they shout a sword for yahweh and forget ian what is the result or what is the enemy army dude well y’all are eventually going to start killing each other but it first says that they cry out and flee they run they cry out and they flee but then text specifically tells us that God does something and it’s just as you said Magda God sets the sword of each enemy soldier against his companion they panic so that they start killing each other you can imagine it’s dark they have this thing happening around them they don’t really understand what’s going on and they’re just fearful for their own lives and anyone who comes near them they think is an enemy but God gave them this panic it was specifically designed by God and given by God as Midian fleas and destroys itself whom does Gideon call nearby tribes of Israel come and get in on this battle destroy the Midianites seize the choke points at the the waters help us defeat the Midianites chapter 8 tells us it’s not mentioned here but 120,000 Midianites fall this way along with their two leaders or ebb & z so that means there’s only 15,000 remaining but also in chapter 8 told us that gideon with just his 300 men pursues and destroys the 15,000 the mini nine army is completely wiped out as one man just as God promised now this victory is so wonderful that at the end of chapter 8 Israel asked Gideon to become their king but he declines he reminds them that Yahweh is Israel’s King okay with those ABS observations let’s interpret again in chapter 6 and in part of chapter 7 Gideon looks weak fearful and inadequate but how does Gideon show himself strong here he shows his valour it shows us strength by doing what yeah Craig well that’s definitely part of it is declining the offer to be king but generally it’s because Gideon obeys God and remember this was a tall order or at least from a human perspective 300 verse 135,000 and you’re not even engaging them you’re just blowing trumpets that takes faith takes faith to believe that this is how God is going to bring us victory but he does and he doesn’t just stop there he continues to go after Midian until million is completely destroyed he obeys God yet tax minion he pursues Midian until Midian is destroyed he believes what God told him with confirming signs God was gracious to him gave him more than he was obligated to leave God but what was the source of Gideon strength not himself it was the Lord why does God choose in light of that why does God choose to bring victory to Israel in this way yeah and if the Lord is with you what what does that mean for you he is able to grant you victory he is able to grant you success he is able to deliver you God is able to do this just be obedient God is making clear that he’s the one with the power and he’s able to grant victory to the element of surprise and psychological warfare for Israel success the text makes it clear that it was God that caused Midian to panic he did that we could easily am God could have made that happen but God chooses to use Gideon’s tactic as part of his deliverance really we’re not exactly sure where the stratagem came came from whether it was specifically instructed by God or not but if it was Gideon’s idea well it only came to him because God allowed it to any wise tactic ultimately is because God I’ll God gave it to him any intelligence was strength we have ultimately comes from God so God thoroughly shows himself to be the one with the power and all glory is due him are all his do all the glory so coming back to our first question why did God choose Gideon why choose Gideon to be the deliverer was clearly making a point it’s making a point about who has power but he doesn’t want God chooses not to deliver Israel I’m saying like this God could have chosen to deliver Israel without anyone’s involvement didn’t need Gideon but he chose to use get in why why have a man involved I have this man involved well he is I I think that’s certainly involved with it he wanted to provide leadership for Israel but again or and the judges do help Israel stay on course for a time and so that is part of it God was providing leadership for Israel not just for this battle but beyond but there’s more yeah Ron I think I’m getting some some important ideas from you there yeah you’re fine Rob but yeah the idea of God is this is part of God’s design for man it’s from an to have fellowship with God man to believe God man to obey God doesn’t simply do things or he chooses God chooses for his own purposes to do things with man’s involvement so that man can actually enjoy God as the as man is obedient I’m going to also say it like this God is emphasizing the point that a week fearful man from a week clan can become a strong warrior when God empowers him God says I’m the one with the power I caused the week to become strong how do i do that i give them my presence I’m with them I give them my promises I give them my word I give them my power I specifically empower them so that they are able to believe me and that they obey me God could have delivered Israel without Gideon but he chose to have getting involved because he’s making a point about obedience don’t be afraid of obeying the Lord don’t be afraid of the obstacles in the way of your obedience don’t be afraid of the enemies of God God says look what I am able to do with a person when he just obeys me I make 300 put the flight 135,000 it’s not Gideon who is special but God chooses Gideon to prove a point obey me like week Gideon does and you can become strong and empowered for for my work the Apostle Paul says something similar in the New Testament first Corinthians 15 9 to 10 Paul says for I am the least of the Apostles and not fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God that’s just like Gideon right I’m not capable I’m there’s nothing in me that makes me that I should be an apostle but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me did not prove vain but I labored even more than all of them all the other apostles yet not i but the grace of god with me or within me I saw hands d yeah right right right yeah that’s a great point Steve another reason that he uses people and user Gideon here is to be a testimony saying look it’s to make sure that nobody misses the point it’s God who does this it’s God who is that who’s given the victory it’s God who has the power so yeah what you mentioned for Rob and what you mentioned Steve also very important points that this is about man enjoying God this is about man giving testimony you’ve got this is about God proving that he’s able to deliver his obedient ones I’m gonna say one more thing and then I’ll get i get to your question or comment Danny with these concepts in mind why is it so tragic almost comically so that Israel seeks to make Gideon King yeah then they don’t get it yeah they look at the deliverance they see Gideon was the leader of it and they’re like you would be great for us you can be our deliverer you obviously have power you obviously are special you’ve got ability be our King have your your son’s be our Kings but this is totally missing the point they don’t get it this would be like the church telling the Apostle Paul you BR 1 liter you are the special one with power you teach us everything and you deliver us Paul would say absolutely not only Christ is your leader only Christ has power though I am an appointed I am appointed as an apostle I still am only a weak man a minister empowered by Christ just as you are and can be if you believe God we gonna say something else Danny yeah yeah yeah yeah you’re totally right Danny we actually do the same thing as Israel we can do it shouldn’t characterize this as believers but we can do the same thing where we can look to other sources of deliverance we can look to other things on to bring us through trials to cause us to be obedient to obtain what we want and we don’t look to God that’s actually exactly what what I was about to talk about next let us think about this as we come to the end of our lesson today what about us do we do this do we look to people money worldly wisdom or other things to overcome challenges to our obedience or do we look to the promises and presence of God do not fear he says for I am with you I am working in you I will bring you to victory if you believe me and don’t believe your flesh do we feel sometimes like God has just left us high and dry god I want to obey you but you just haven’t given me enough resources I’m not yet capable or adequate for the task if you were in Christ God has given you all the necessary resources it’s given you his spirit he’s giving you his word is giving you his church his body so that you can obey and be strong for Yahweh sake by faith God makes the weak strong he fully equips the inadequate just like he did with Gideon and Hebrews 11 commence him as a man of faith he turned God turned a week fearful man into a valiant warrior and he can do the same with us we’re out of time any other comments please see me afterwards next week we take a look at the cycle of obedience and disobedience and judges as a whole and seek to analyze would it what this cycle shows us about God’s character let’s pray father you are the only one with power and God we do admit that we are weak without you we have no power we have no power to defeat sin we have no power to be saved we have no power to endure what look like superior forces because you know is that you will provide you’ll provide for those that believe in you God give us such strength please spirit work in us so that we can be like what you made Gideon to be and what you may Dave it to be and Paul to be what you make your people to be you are the one with strength so please work in his father and jesus name amen