The Life of Gideon.

Topic:  The Life of Gideon.

Preaching Portion: Judges chapter 6: vs. 1-40. 

Theme: Authentic church Ministry:  Go in this thy might and save your people:

Introduction:

Authentic Church ministry or ACM is what God has called us to do. In today’s language ACM is the equivalent of God’s message to Gideon: “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: Authentic Church ministry embraces both the Spiritual and Practical elements of effective church ministry as outlined in the book of Acts. ACM is God directing us what to do, and how to do it, and we falling in line with God’s directives.   

The challenge was that when Gideon first heard the message/call, he didn’t quite know what to make of it. In fact, if you follow the story carefully, you will see that it wasn’t until after the angel of the lord had departed that Gideon really realised what had taken place. When Gideon realised what had happened, and that he had actually seen an angel, like many in the Old Testament Gideon was convinced that he would drop dead. vs. 21-22:  ²¹ Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. ²² And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. To which the angel replies in vs: ^23: Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

This was because during the actual encounter Gideon doubted the authenticity of what he was going through. He didn’t believe what he had just experienced and witnessed with his own eyes. It appears that during the course of the dialogue Gideon felt that maybe it was a dream or an enactment of some scene from his imagination. This reality of Gideon’s dilemma is further brought home when Gideon later asks for a sign using the fleece. NOT ONCE BUT Twice Judges 6: 36-40

Two relevant questions that can be asked at this stage of the story is: Why in the face of all this overwhelming evidence did Gideon still feel like this (That he wasn’t the one for the job) and the second question, what lessons as Christians today can we learn from this encounter.

Explaining Gideons Feelings:      

The first things the angel said to Gideon was: The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour vs 12 and the second thing was: Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites vs 14:

None of this resonated with Gideon. Why was that? The problem was that for too long Gideon had been looking at what he considered his limiting circumstances. Therefore, even though, an angel of God appears and tells him that’s he’s a mighty man of valour and that he possesses what is needed to deliver his people, Gideon still doubts. And to drive home his point Gideon asks the angel: If thou be for us, tell me why has all this befallen us?     

Whats the This? which had befallen them to which Gideon is referring to:  Judges 6: 1-7.

1. The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel so much that the children of Israel fled their homes and lived in dens which were in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
2. When Israel sowed crops, the Midianites came up, along with the Amalekites, and the children of the east, and encamped against them, and destroyed or carried away all the crops; “the increase of the earth, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass”.

And 3. The Midianites came up with their cattle and their tents, as swarms of grasshoppers for multitude; and they entered into the land to destroy it. The result being that Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites to the point that Gideon was doing the difficult, humiliating and almost futile task of threshing wheat in a pit/ sunken place as opposed to on a hilltop where the wind would have been able to blow away the chaff.   

So, for Gideon to hear that he is a mighty man capable of delivering Israel who for the last 7 years had struggled to survive, is a lot for Gideon to absorb.

Added to which, Gideon protested in vs: 15: oh, my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.  In other words, how will I accomplish this, because apart from the Midianites being as strong as they are, I am from the tribe of Manasseh which is a half tribe, not a whole tribe, furthermore my family is from the poorest clan in Manasseh added to which I am the poorest in my family.  

In other words what can I contribute? Thers not much I can do. I am too remote, there’re not many of us, the enemy’s already too strong for us, we’re severely outnumbered, and we lack the resources.

I want to tell you something:

1. When the message becomes clear;
2. When we truly hear from God and sign on to God’s plan the resources to do the job will come.  

The problem was that that for far too long Gideon had been looking at all the limiting circumstances and not who he was in God. He was looking at the invading army, their strength in numbers, and their allies. He was looking at the fact that that he was the poorest son from the poorest tribe and so he didn’t have the wherewithal to defeat the enemy.

But when you read to the end of the story you realise that the ‘Truth’ is this:  all the resources Gideon needed to defeat the Midianites were already there. When all was said and done, Gideon didn’t defeat the Midianites with anything that came to him/them (the Israelites) from the outside.  In defeating the Midianites, the Israelites got no huge windfall, their number weren’t boosted by any adjoining army from outside. In fact their numbers shrank from 30,000 to a mere 300. They got no new shipment of weapons. All they had were Trumpets, empty-pitchers and lamps: Judges 6: 7: 16-20:  ¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. ¹⁷ And he said unto them, look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. ¹⁸ When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. ¹⁹ So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and break the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ And the three companies blew the trumpets, and break the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.

Whats interesting is that in following God’s plan to deliver Isreal, Gideon faced a domestic problem. A problem which had nothing to do with the enemy, but everything to do with his own people. 

After heeding God’s call, God instructs Gideon to do something, something that would get rid of the old way of thinking.  To do this Gideon had to get rid of the worthless gods in whom the people had been trusting for the last seven/several years.

Therefore, in obedience to God: Judges 6: 25-27: Gideon by night breaks down the altar. Note vs 27: ²⁷ Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him: and so, it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. It’s rather interesting to note that as poor as Gideon said he was, he was still poor enough to have ten servants to help him. Are we discounting the talents God has given to us, are we despising what seem like small things?

Back to the story, but what happens next after Gideon destroys Baal’s altar and cut down the grooves, Judges 6: 28-33: The very next morning people come ready to fight for and slay Gideon because of what he did because they felt it necessary to appease the wrath of their god Baal. Think of that for a moment.  

The false gods in whom they had trusted for years

The false gods who were no help in their fight

The false gods who provided no remedy or respite in their plight

The false gods who remained silent while the Midianites impoverished them

 The false gods who were no gods at all

 May I say something:  

Sometimes we like holding on to traditions, practices, mindsets, our way of doing things and we refuse to change and when a Gideon comes along, we want to chase them out. We prefer the status quo although its not working. Who is the Gideon in your midst? Recognize him and Support Him! It’s not about a redeemer from without- May be God’s reminding us to support our Gideons rather than waiting for outside help.

Re-evaluating long held traditions:

I Never thought I would have to say it, but thank God for Gideon’s father Joash. This old backslidden, heathen- worshipper; Baal’s High Priest, who if at no other time in his life, on that day, at that time, maybe for the first time in a long time, he saw it clearly and when the Baal worshippers, his congregants came to kill Gideon, vs 30: Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.  

Joash, Gideon’s father halted the march of madness and correctly said to them vs 31-32: Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. ³² Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

In plain Language he said: if Baal is as powerful as we say he is, we don’t need to fight for him. Let him kill Gideon himself because Giden has offended him, Gideon has disgraced him, Gideon has shamed him.

May I ask something: Are we holing in to worthless gods who can neither help us nor defend themselves?

If our traditions are so strong and so valuable we don’t need to worry, no matter how much pressure someone puts upon them they won’t break under the weight of a reformer. But if they’re not what God has instituted then they will go down like Baal’s grooves, and if they fall, then I say let them fall.  The truth is, it’s really the people keeping false gods and dead traditions alive, not the gods, nor the traditions, they are both already dead. To the people longing for change and to the Gideons’ wanting change I say let’s get over our fears, and sign on to what God is calling upon us to do.  We need no other sign; The word of God and the Spirit of God is all the Fleece you need. The facts of history, the records of God’s great triumph are all the evidences we need. The peace of God in out hearts is all the confidence we need. Let’s go in this our might and save our people.

Before I end permit me to re-emphasize the subject of unnecessary Baggage:

Baggage: The story of the life of Gideon teaches us we need to let go of baggage.

Baggage; GIDEON IS TOLD TO GO USE ALL YOU HAVE AND SAVE ISREAL YOUR PEOPLE. But before Gideon could go, he had to get rid of the baggage of what he thought it was that he had which blocked him from seeing what he really had. 

Baggage: He said ‘I have nothing’ but God was saying you have everything. He lamented that he was in the poor clan in the poor tribe and that he was the black sheep in the poor clan family.

This Baggage of who he thought he was had to be released so that he could get hold of who he really was.

He said I am the least, but God called him mighty, whose report will you believe? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

The peoples Baggage was in believing that Baal was adding something to their lives; When in fact all Baal was, was a burden, because Baal could not even save himself. Sometimes the sin we think were enjoying is just a burden, the pain, the guilt, the financial cost, the emotional cost, the after effects. It’s just baggage, a drag on an already weary soul. Yet when Gideon was told to throw Baal down and tear down the altar, he was so afraid that he refused to do it by day and chose rather to do it in the night. And he took 10 servants with him to get it done.

And you know what? some malicious person who was looking out for Baal probably saw him and so the next day when everyone asks who had done it, they pointed to Gideon and said, Gideon did it. Isn’t it amazing that the informant wasn’t concerned the Baal was helpless against Gideon, they were more concerned that Gideon was culpable and should therefore be punished for throwing down Baal’s altar even though Baal himself didn’t object to Gideons actions and so remained silent when confronted.

Baggage; He had to get rid of the baggage that said in order for me to win I need a mighty army. How often do we think that authentic ministry means, I need as many people to sign on to my idea as I possibly can.  I am not here saying that you don’t need people to help in the task, but what am saying is that you may not need everybody whom you think you need; you just need those whom God has called. Those whose hearts God has touched and prepared, those whose minds have been renewed by the word of God. Those in whom the spirit of God dwells. Those whose lives have been changed, those who have a testimony of God’s goodness, those who know no matter what the enemy brings that I am secured in Christ. Those who have been delivered, those who know how to say God is my refuge and strength, he is a very present help in times of trouble. Those who understand that One cannot chase a thousand and two cannot put a thousand to flight except their god/God had given them up.

Baggage:  Gideon had baggage because many of the people who had signed on weren’t ready because they weren’t the right ones. Therefore, God said if you take them into battle when the fighting starts the scared ones will run so fast that they will trample the good ones in the process. So, get rid of some baggage. Tell all who scared to go home. Those scared of losing their lives, those scared by thinking what will happen to their wives and children and loved ones if they die, those scared of who will et their property if things do go bad, those scared of being hit or punched or of losing an eye or a limb, those scared of having to take out the enemy, those scared of bloodshed, those scared of not knowing what tomorrow holds. Go back and 20 thousand went back.

Baggage:  But with 20 thousand cut Gideon still had baggage. The scared and frightened ones leave but he still had baggage. So, God said let’s cut the carless ones, the indifferent ones, the lazy ones, the ill-disciplined ones, the happy go lucky ones, the cool as a cucumber one, the take everything for granted ones.  Take them down to the river and tell them to take a drink.  And watch for how they drink. They that bend a knee and takes one cups one hand to drink while his other hands hold his sword and he laps and keeps looking around keep them those, but the Baggage; those who kneel down like cattle and drink or maybe even get in the water to drink and those drink first and then decide to look to see if the enemy coming later send them home, they are just baggage.  

Baggage: Gideons final piece of Baggage was holding the enemy in high esteem, thinking that he needed to run and hide and cower from the enemy, when in fact God already had gotten inside the enemy’s head, and the enemy was already having nightmares about Gideon. It’s the same for us whom God has called.  

Judges 7: 9-15: ⁹ And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. ¹⁰ But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host:¹¹ And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.¹² And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.¹³ And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.¹⁴ And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.¹⁵ And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.

Drop your Baggage.