How can we be sure that we are serving God in God’s strength and not just in our own human efforts? When it comes to loving other people, or witnessing, or all kinds of other things we do in daily life or in the church, how do we make sure God at work through us, and not just us?

Going in God’s strength
Judges 7:1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The LORD said to Gideon, ‘You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, “My own strength has saved me.” 3 Now announce to the army, “Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.” ’ So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
4 But the LORD said to Gideon, ‘There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, “This one shall go with you,” he shall go; but if I say, “This one shall not go with you,” he shall not go.’
5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, ‘Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.’ 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
7 The LORD said to Gideon, ‘With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.’ 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.
Learning to put our trust in God and not in our own strength – relying on God.
Giving the glory to God and not keeping any for ourselves.

God gives the victory
Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. 9 During that night the LORD said to Gideon, ‘Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterwards, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.’ So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. ‘I had a dream,’ he was saying. ‘A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.’
14 His friend responded, ‘This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.’
What won the victory was God’s supernatural intervention speaking into the dream even of a Midianite – as to Pharaoh in the time of Joseph, or to Nebuchadnezzar in the time of Daniel, or Pilate’s wife

We have to play our part
15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshipped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, ‘Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.’ 16 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
17 ‘Watch me,’ he told them. ‘Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all round the camp blow yours and shout, “For the LORD and for Gideon.” ’
19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, ‘A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!’ 21 While each man held his position round the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah towards Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, ‘Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.’
Victory over the Midianites
But Gideon and his tiny army had to play their parts. God could have defeated the Midianites without Gideon or his army lifting a finger! God could have sent an army of angels and surrounded the Midianites with horses and chariots of fire, as he did when Elisha was trapped by the Arameans in the city of Dothan. But God chose to use Gideon and his 300 warriors. So it was swords “for the Lord AND for Gideon.”

Philippians 2 12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.

Colossians 1 28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

Both us – and God!

In his Morning and Evening Devotional, CH Spurgeon wrote this about Judges 7:20.
“If we only cry, “The sword of the Lord!” we shall be guilty of an idle presumption; and if we shout, “The sword of Gideon!” alone, we shall manifest idolatrous reliance on an arm of flesh: we must blend the two in practical harmony, “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!” We can do nothing of ourselves, but we can do everything by the help of our God; let us, therefore, in His name determine to go out personally and serve with our flaming torch of holy example, and with our trumpet tones of earnest declaration and testimony, and God shall be with us, and Midian shall be put to confusion, and the Lord of hosts shall reign for ever and ever.”

SO HERE IS THE QUESTION. How can we be sure that we are serving God in God’s strength and not just in our own human efforts? When it comes to loving other people, or witnessing, or all kinds of other things we do in daily life or in the church, how do we make sure God at work through us, and not just us?

If people know one story about Gideon it will not be the one about him destroying the altar to Baal and the Asherah Pole and him sacrificing his father’s prize bull to the one true God, the God of Israel. It will not be the story we will come to next week of how Gideon defeated the Midianite hoards who had been ravaging Israel for seven years. The story people will know about Gideon is the one where he lays out a fleece as a way for God to guide him. Many devout Christians, particularly those of the charismatic persuasion like I am, will talk about times when they themselves have followed Gideon’s example and themselves have “laid out a fleece” for God to guide them. And many will talk about the blessings they have received by being guided by God in that way.
The problem with that is that the story of Gideon and the fleece is not actually about guidance at all. And when we read it in context and understand it properly, this story does not give us a good example to follow at all. On the contrary, what Gideon did with the fleece not once but twice is actually a bad example to avoid!
Judges 36 Gideon said to God, ‘If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing-floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.’ 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
This is not a story about guidance. Gideon already knows what God is going to do. This is a story about doubting God. ‘If you will save Israel by my hand.
IF? IF? Gideon might have questions, but those are put into perspective by his next words, as you have promised.
The episode with the fleece was not about discovering what God wanted Gideon to do. It was about Gideon asking whether God was actually going to keep his promise. ‘If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised. Prove to me, God, that you are going to keep your promise.
That wouldn’t be so bad if Gideon had just heard God speaking once and telling him to drive away the Midianites. But remember what we read a few weeks ago from the beginning of Judges 6.
11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.’
God didn’t just speak to Gideon in a dream. He didn’t just speak to Gideon in an audible voice. God actually sent an angel to speak to him. Even Moses only got a burning bush! Gideon was rare in the history of God’s dealings with humanity – Gideon had an angel appear to him! But then remember what the angel said.

14 The LORD turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?’

At that point in the story it appears that it is no ordinary angel, but it might actually have been God HIMSELF who has appeared to Gideon. Either way, the message is clearly from God. Go in the strength you have. I know you aren’t strong but my strength will be sufficient! Am I not sending you. Gideon knew that God was indeed sending him to drive out the Midianites. Even though he was only a poor boy, from a poor family.

15 ‘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.’

To reassure Gideon, God then gives him two more wonderful promises.

16 The LORD answered, ‘I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.’

I will be with you! The presence of God is all anybody needs. If God be for us who can be against us?

And then God says, “You will strike down all the Midianites.” You will accomplish what I am sending you to do, because I will be with you! Yet we saw, after all those promises, Gideon still wasn’t certain, so he asked God for a sign.

17 Gideon replied, ‘If now I have found favour in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.’

God came and consumed by fire the offering which Gideon put on the rock before him. So finally Gideon was sufficiently convinced that he built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel and called it “The LORD is Peace.”
That night God came and spoke to Gideon a second time. As we saw last week Gideon put his house in order. He took the step of faith of destroying his father’s altar to Baal and the Asherah pole, and sacrificing his father’s prize bull to the Lord the God of Israel. This earned him the nickname, Jerub-Baal, “Let Baal contend with him.” And Gideon’s fame obviously spread, because this is what happened next.
33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

So far Gideon has had an angel appear to him. God has given him at least four wonderful promises. God has already given him one miraculous sign. Then God spoke to Gideon again on a separate occasion. And he has yet another spiritual encounter when “the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet” and the response to his trumpet and his messengers drew together a mighty army to fight against the Midianites and the Amalekites. Things were looking good!
So it is a bit of a surprise, to say the least, when Gideon comes back to God and asks him for another sign. He knows exactly what God’s plans are and what God wants him to do. But Gideon isn’t sure God will keep his promise. Gideon starts the conversation and demands another sign.
36 Gideon said to God, ‘If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing-floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.’
“IF… you are going to do what you have already promised to do.” But God is amazingly patient, and fulfils the weird sign which Gideon has demanded.
38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
God does what Gideon has asked. The fleece was soaking wet when the ground all around was dry. Only God could have done that. By this God guaranteed that He would do what he had promised and Gideon would indeed save Israel. That should surely have been the end to the matter.
But it wasn’t!
39 Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.’ 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.
I am amazed that God gave Gideon the sign of the wet fleece on dry ground. But I am lost for words that after that Gideon then had the cheek to ask for a second sign. And that God then gave him the dry fleece on wet ground. All to reassure Gideon that God would indeed keep His promise. As if telling him all those previous times had not been enough!
On the positive side, this story does reassure us all of the amazing grace and patience of our God. God does not expect his children to become perfect overnight. God persevered with Gideon even though super-chicken still lived on in him. God did not reject Gideon but met his doubts with signs of assurance. Just as God answered all Moses’s objections when he called him to go to speak to Pharaoh to set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt. Just as Jesus made a special resurrection appearance just to answer the questions and doubts of the apostle Thomas. God gave Gideon the signs that he demanded, to reassure him that His promises would be fulfilled.
God is patient with us. Somebody once wrote, “All that God expects from us is failure.” God does not expect faith and obedience every time. Into his plans for our lives and for this world, God makes allowance for the times when we will fail. When we will not have enough faith. When we will disobey.
Somebody has written, “Fear of defeat had paralysed Gideon’s faith. And that can happen in our lives as well. God did not want Gideon to be fearful or discouraged or doubting. Instead of challenging or rebuking Gideon’s fears, God gave Gideon the signs He asked for. And God will answer our doubts as well. Sometimes he will even give us signs when we ask for signs. But we should never mistake God’s patience with Gideon as approval for the practice of “laying out a fleece,” which Gideon did not once but twice. Gideon’s fleece was not a spiritual way of seeking guidance. In reality it was a stalling tactic – a way of putting off or dodging doing what God had already very clearly commanded Gideon to do.
Here is an important point to make. Sometimes narratives in the Bible show us what will always happen, or what should happen. At other times they illustrate what might happen in our lives, but may not. And sometimes stories are there to give us a warning about what not to do. Stories record what happened – not “what should have happened” or “what ought to happen every time.” What happens in a narrative could be “an example to follow” OR “a sin to avoid” – and the Bible doesn’t usually tell us which! Narratives are recorded to achieve the author’s purpose, not to answer our questions. NO Old Testament narratives were written specifically about YOU or for YOU! Gideon laid out a fleece. But just because it’s what Gideon did, and God answered Gideon that way, doesn’t mean it’s the right way for US to seek guidance! It definitely is not!
So let’s be reminded of the kinds of ways God does want to guide his children. In the Alpha Course Nicky Gumble gives us six aspects of God’s guidance, all beginning with the letters C.S. We have been given the Bible, Commanding Scripture setting an Objective Standard for us to know God’s General will for the world and His Particular will for our lives. We also have the Controlling Spirit giving us a Subjective Witness to His will in our lives, sometimes even through Prophecy, Dreams, Visions and pictures. We also have Common Sense. John Stott said, “God’s promises of guidance were not given to save us the problem of thinking.” We can be guided by the Counsel of the Saints. “Make plans by seeking advice,” says Proverbs 20: 18. We can look for Circumstantial Signs of Divine Providence. Sometimes God closes doors and sometimes God opens doors. God guides in all these ways and “laying out a fleece” is not any of them.
We may feel nervous or afraid of stepping out for God. The story of Gideon is an inspiration for us all because we see how God takes Gideon the super-chicken and shapes him into the mighty man of valour who would save Israel from the Midianites. And we have seen so far that that transformation was not instantaneous. It would take a number of little steps of obedience and little acts of faith before God could use Gideon as He purposed. But God doesn’t give up on Gideon. God accepts Gideon just as he is, and changes him bit by bit. Gideon didn’t just trust and obey in everything straight away. And God was OK with that! So this story is an encouragement to us all.

Last week we were introduced to Gideon, one of the best known heroes of the faith from the book of Judges. But he wasn’t always the “mighty man of valour” which was the title God’s angel greeted him by. We first meet Gideon hiding in the winepress away from the invading Midianites. He was just a poor boy from a poor family, least in his family which was the least in his tribe. Somebody has given Gideon the nickname of Super-chicken, because of that cowardice. We saw him last week take the first steps towards becoming the mighty warrior he would need to be if he was to obey God’s calling to drive the Midianites away forever and save not only his family and his town but all of Israel. We saw how God sent an angel and called Gideon, and sent him, and promised to be with him. As a sign God sent fire to destroy the offerings Gideon placed before Him. So we read that Gideon took his first small step of faith and built an altar to the true God
Judges 6 24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
This was only a beginning, one small step of faith. But even that required both faith and courage because the nation of Israel had wandered away from God and taken to worshipping the Baals, the old gods of the Canaanites and the surrounding nations. So God allowed the Midianites to come and plunder Israel for seven years.
Judges 6 7 When the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.” But you have not listened to me.’
Of course the Israelites shouldn’t have needed a prophet to tell them they were doing wrong. The nation had already been given the 10 Commandments. Remember what we said about idols and false gods in our morning series of sermon on the Ten Commandments last autumn.
The Ten Commandments begin with the most important of all.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
In other words, love God more than anything else or anybody else. Put God first in your life. Make God more important than anything else. Have no other gods apart from the one true God. “You shall have no other gods before me.”
God calls His chosen people to put Him first in their lives. To love Him with all our hearts and all our souls and all our minds and with all our strength. To love God with every element and every aspect of our being. Loving God more than anything or anyone else. Putting God first. Then the Second Commandment explains and expands on the first. No idols.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them;
No idols. The Commandments were the heart of the faith of the Israelites and at the centre of them is this vital truth – there is only one God. This was what set Israel apart from all the other nations who each had a multitude of gods. This was what was unique about the Jews in the face of the pantheons of all the tribes and nations which previously had inhabited and in Gideon’s time still surrounded the Promised Land. In time this would be one thing which separated the one true God of Israel from the many Greek and Roman gods and all the strange Eastern and Mystery religions of those centuries. The Israelites were monotheists. They held to their belief that there is only one God. So put God first. And no false gods – no idols. That is what God always demands from his chosen people Israel. But they didn’t listen to him. That is why the Midianite hoards were ravaging Israel.
God revealed Himself to Gideon and Gideon responded by building an altar to the one true God, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of Moses and Israel and the Ten Commandments. “God is peace.” But that was only one small step of faith. Gideon had much more to learn, one step at a time. Before he would be ready to obey God in the big things, Gideon had to learn to obey God in the little things.
25 That same night the LORD said to him, ‘Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.’
Gideon may have started worshipping the God of Israel again. He may have been brave enough to build an altar to “God is peace”. But his whole town were still worshipping the false god Baal at an altar to Baal. They were also worshipping the fertility goddess the Asherah, at her Asherah pole. Not just the whole town, but even Gideon’s father Joash were worshipping Baal and Asherah, and from the reaction we see from the towns-people later it seems like Joash himself might even have been the curator of those shrines for the whole community. So the first job God gives Gideon to do is to stand up for God and against Baal in his own household, and his own community. He had to destroy his own father’s altar to Baal and sacrifice his father’s prize bull not to Baal but to the God of Israel. Before he could defeat the Midianites, Gideon would have to put his own house in order.
And this is true in our lives. Before we can confront the false gods which abound in the world around us, we have to confront any false gods in our own lives. Whatever it is which is the most important thing in our lives can become a false god which we can waste our lives serving and chasing after. Or look at it this way – what are we putting our trust in? What are we depending on for our safety and security? Are we relying on God? You shall have no other gods before me. Or are there things that get in the way of our church worship, our prayer, our Bible study, our witnessing? Things like, family, work, sleep, hobbies, sports, television? Success? Power? Money? Popularity? Gideon had to get his own life and his own family in order. This would be just a small initial step of faith and obedience compared to what would be required to defeat the Midianites. So Gideon did what God commanded.
God actually told Gideon to do two things. Firstly, he had to destroy the altar to Baal and the Asherah pole. The altar would not have been small, maybe 8 feet square and five foot high although one has been discovered recently which was 26 feet square! So Baal’s altar needed to be destroyed so that the Israelites would stop worshipping false gods. But then secondly, the bull needed to be sacrificed. A burnt sacrifice needed to be offered as a sacrifice for sin. Just stopping sinning is never enough. The sins of the past still need to be punished, an atoning sacrifice needs to be offered – in this case his father’s prize bull. If Christ had not died for our sins, human beings repenting by itself would never bring us back to God. Both repentance and sacrifice are always required. And that is what Gideon did.
27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.
28 In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly-built altar!
So Gideon did as God commanded. But he wasn’t quite the mighty man of valour yet. This altar was right there in his own back yard! He was scared of his family and of all his neighbours. so he did destroy the altar of Baal and he did cut down the Asherah pole and he did build a new altar to the God of Israel and he did sacrifice the bull to the one true God – but Gideon did all this at night so nobody can see. Superchicken still lives! He had lots of faith. He didn’t hesitate. He had enough faith to obey God immediately. He was brave enough to obey God even though he knew he was risking death – but he was still timid and afraid, so Gideon obeyed God at night. In secret. That’s not the way it should be. Somebody has said, “You can’t be a secret disciple. Either the secret will kill the discipleship or the discipleship will kill the secret. You can’t be a secret disciple. And that is a truth Gideon soon discovered.
28 In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly-built altar!
29 They asked each other, ‘Who did this?’
When they carefully investigated, they were told, ‘Gideon son of Joash did it.’
30 The people of the town demanded of Joash, ‘Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.’
The truth was out and Gideon was about the face the music for desecrating the altar of Baal and the Asherah pole. As is so often the case, obedience to God leads to opposition from other people who have rejected Him. But then events take a completely unexpected turn. The altar belonged to Gideon’s father Joash although from the way townspeople reacted it looks as though Joash actually looked after it for the whole town. And Gideon had sacrificed Joash’s prize bull. So Joash had every right to be more angry than anybody else! But the opposite is what actually happens. Instead of standing up for Baal and Asherah, Joash stands up for Gideon.
31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, ‘Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.’
I don’t think it was just because Gideon was Joash’s son and he loved him. I think that Joash had realized that worshipping Baal and Asherah was wrong. I think he knew that Gideon had done the right thing because Baal is only an empty powerless idol and Asherah was nothing compared to the one true God of Israel. So Joash defends Gideon! When we step out in faith and do what God tells us to, even if we are terrified of what the consequences might be, God can still take our timid witness and use it to bring other people to repentance.
Gideon did obey God, in secret. But the truth came out and from then on he was a marked man.
32 So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal that day, saying, ‘Let Baal contend with him.’
Gideon now had a nickname, and a reputation for standing up against the false gods and their idols. His faith in God had overcome his fear of other people. His superchicken days weren’t quite over yet but Gideon was well on the way to becoming the mighty man of valour.
What about us? How would we have reacted to all these things if we had been Gideon. Some people would still be hiding in the winepress. Even after God sends an angel and calls them, some people still hide their faith away where it feels like it is safe? Would we have dared to build not one but two altars to the Living God, to declare our faith in public? Are we prepared to stand up and be counted, in our own community and even in our own families, and actually confront the false gods of this age?
We thought in our sermon on the first and second commandments about some of the false gods people serve or put their trust in in today’s world?
The false gods of other religions. It isn’t easy in this multi-faith, multicultural world of political correctness to stand up and be counted by saying that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only true God. The God of Moses and of Israel and of the Ten Commandments is the one and only true God. All other so-called gods are false gods. All the other world religions. All the Christian deviations and cults. All the lies of the occult. Some are man-made objects of worship. Others have the reality of demons behind them. There is only one true God. Every other object of worship and all the other so-called gods are only worthless idols. In this multi-cultural multi-faith world, Christians should never compromise on this vital truth.
Then there is another very common false god which people put their trust in and pursue and in some cases we could even say worship. The false god of Money. Paul actually says that greed is idol-worship. Money, wealth and possessions can so easily become false gods to people, especially in our Western materialistic society. People can spend their lives chasing after money instead of seeking after God. Whether for status, or for pleasure and satisfaction, or for significance, or for security, whenever people put their trust in things instead of putting their trust in God, they are worshipping idols. And where your treasure is, your heart will be also.
We also talked about the false gods of Entertainment and Celebrity. An idol can be any thing or person which people pursue with admiration, adoration, or devotion. For good or bad, celebrities are role models especially for young people, and some celebrities are not ashamed to use their fame and popularity to tell their fans how to live and what to think and what to believe. If we are putting our trust in famous people, or in anything else, to do for us what only God can do for us, then we are worshipping false gods. We must stand against idol worship in our own lives and in the world around us.
We may feel nervous or afraid of stepping out for God. The story of Gideon is an inspiration for us all because we see how God takes Gideon the super-chicken and shapes him into the mighty man of valour who would save Israel from the Midianites. And we have seen so far that that transformation was not instantaneous. It would take a number of little steps of obedience and little acts of faith before God could use Gideon as He purposed. But God doesn’t give up on Gideon. God accepts Gideon just as he is, and changes him bit by bit. Gideon didn’t just trust and obey in everything straight away. And God was OK with that!
Gideon took a stand against the false gods of his day. He demolished the altar to Baal and the Asherah pole and sacrificed his father’s prize bull to the one true God of Israel. Those steps of faith and obedience took him on the way to becoming God’s mighty man of valour. What is God asking us to do to trust and obey Him today?

WHAT DOES A HERO LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
John Wayne, Arnold Schwartzenaeger, Bruce Willis, Matt Damon? Luke Skywalker, Obewan Kenobe or Han Solo? Hebrews chapter 11 is a catalogue of the Heroes of Faith from the history of Israel in the Old Testament. But one stands out from the rest as a very unlikely hero – Gideon.

THE COUNTRY WAS IN A MESS
ISRAEL in the time of GIDEON
1 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.
The nation of Israelites had rebelled against God. They were worshipping false gods. So God gave them into the hands of the Midianites in the hope that the Israelites would turn back to Him. God even gives Israel an opportunity to repent – but they refuse to listen
7 When the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.” But you have not listened to me.’

TODAY = the world around
We live in a world which has certainly stopped listening to God. More than that:
13 ‘Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘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.’
Indeed it might seem to Christians today as though God has abandoned the world we live in and left us to fend for ourselves.
Looking at the dwindling numbers and the crises splitting the church to pieces some might think that God has abandoned his church as well. Certainly that is what our critics and indeed the devil would want us to believe.
AN UNLIKELY HERO
GIDEON
11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.
Threshing floors were large areas of dirt or stone that were usually out in the open so that the breezes could be used to blow away the chaff. They would generally be used by the whole community. Threshing was done mostly in June and July, using a stick or by walking cattle over the sheaves. A winepress was a square or circular pit hollowed out of rock big enough for a few people to walk around in. Threshing activity in a winepress would be much less conspicuous than on a threshing floor.
When we first meet Gideon he is hiding in the wine press. Actually it is significant that Gideon was alone. Perhaps in that solitude and seclusion he was praying about the mess his country was in and all the difficulties they were facing. And there while he was alone the Angel greets him,
12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.’ The King James Version is “Mighty Man of Valour.” Mighty warrior? Mighty man of valour? Many other names would suit Gideon better. The best I have seen suggested is Gideon – “Super chicken!”
Gideon was hiding in the winepress. That reminds me of the apostles after Jesus had died all hiding in the Upper Room for fear of the Jews. Gideon the super-chicken. Scared, nervous, even cowardly. Gideon was discouraged, depressed, and doubting, But in his defence, Gideon had lots of good reasons to be afraid. The nation was under God’s judgment and understandably it did seem as though God had completely abandoned Israel.
13 ‘Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘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.’
So Gideon was afraid. He also knew his place in the world, and that place was at the bottom. He was just a poor boy, from a poor family.
Excuses – 15 ‘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.’
So no wonder Gideon was surprised when God called Him in such a strange way. Unlike other heroes in the book of Judges, unlike Samson or Deborah, Gideon never expected to become a hero. But in God’s cosmic masterplan that was his destiny.
OURSELVES / NSBC
There is so much against us. We are so small, weak, almost insignificant. We may feel that way about our own lives. Inadequate and unable to achieve the things we long to do.
We may also feel that way about North Springfield Baptist Church. Small in numbers. Stretched financially. Stretched for energy with these premises to maintain and so many things we are seeking to do. 2 services every Sunday. 2 sessions of Toddlers. 5 hours of Haven Café and 2 hours of Drop In. We may feel small and weak. Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 1 are for us.
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him
FROM LOSER TO HERO – GOD’s CALL
GIDEON
12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.’
Mighty warrior. Mighty man of valour. God saw the hero in Gideon. God did not just see Gideon as he was. God saw the man he could make his to be. God was going to turn Gideon the loser into Gideon the mighty man of valour! God sees the hero in each of us. All that would be necessary would be for Gideon to learn to trust in God instead of trusting in his own strength. Faith would drive out fear and make a mighty warrior out of a superchicken.
But first, Gideon had a question.
13 ‘Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘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.’
Gideon asked his question. God doesn’t mind questions, as long as they are asked out of faith and not just to be awkward. Doesn’t the mess the world is in show us that God has given up on us altogether? The answer is implied rather than stated. If God had actually given up on Israel, he wouldn’t be sending Gideon to go and save them now. Gideon, you may feel weak and powerless, but no, I haven’t given up on Israel. On the contrary, you are going to bring them salvation! God had not given up on Israel, and God has certainly not given up on us!
14 The LORD turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?’
15 ‘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.’
16 The LORD answered, ‘I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.’
The question Gideon asks is “How can *I* do this?” The answers are simple. “Am I not sending you?” And “I will be with you.” Of course in his own strength Gideon could not save his family and his town and his whole nation from the invading Midianites. Gideon could not – but God can! When God sends us and God is with us, everything is possible!
Here are God’s promises to Gideon. At least four promises.
‘Go in the strength you have. Am I not sending you? ‘I will be with you. You will strike down all the Midianites,
And as we face all the challenges the world puts before us – God makes the same promises to us.
OURSELVES
The story of Gideon is one of many in the Bible which demonstrate to us that God delights to use ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things for Him.
‘Go in the strength you have
2 Corinthians 12 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
We need to put our trust in God and in His mighty power!
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”
Am I not sending you?
1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
‘I will be with you,
Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
You will strike down all the Midianites,
The Midianites aren’t oppressing us. But the general principle is there. When God tells his people to do something – He will make it happen. We just need to put our trust in God. As William Carey founder of the Baptist Missionary Society once said, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”
FIRST STEPS TO FREEDOM
GOD GIVES A SIGN
Rather cheeky!!! “Give me a sign” when he had already seen an angel and God had spoken to him!
17 Gideon replied, ‘If now I have found favour in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.’
And the LORD said, ‘I will wait until you return.’
19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20 The angel of God said to him, ‘Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.’ And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 22 When Gideon realised that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, ‘Alas, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!’
GIDEON BURNS HIS BRIDGES
23 But the LORD said to him, ‘Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.’
24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
The whole nation had drifted into worshipping the Baal’s. Even Gideon’s own family!! So it took a great deal of courage to build an altar to worship the one and only Living God, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of Moses and the Law, the God of Israel. But Gideon names the altar, “The Lord is Peace.” In the middle of war, Gideon nails his colours to the mast and proclaims for all his family and the whole town to see, “The Lord is peace.” We will have peace again – and Yahweh the God of Israel is going to bring us that peace! Even if everybody else was worshipping false Gods, Gideon stands up to be counted for the one true God. From loser to hero. Superchicken to Mighty Man of Valour. An example for us to follow – Gideon the Mighty Warrior!