{"id":492,"date":"2017-03-15T15:33:36","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T14:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=492"},"modified":"2017-03-15T15:33:36","modified_gmt":"2017-03-15T14:33:36","slug":"gideon-the-mighty-warrior-judges-61-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=492","title":{"rendered":"Gideon the Mighty Warrior Judges 6:1-24"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHAT DOES A HERO LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
\nJohn 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 \u2013 Gideon. <\/p>\n

THE COUNTRY WAS IN A MESS
\n\tISRAEL in the time of GIDEON
\n1 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.
\nThe 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 \u2013 but they refuse to listen
\n7 When the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, \u2018This 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, \u201cI am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.\u201d But you have not listened to me.\u2019 <\/p>\n

TODAY = the world around
\nWe live in a world which has certainly stopped listening to God. More than that:
\n13 \u2018Pardon me, my lord,\u2019 Gideon replied, \u2018but 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, \u201cDid not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?\u201d But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.\u2019
\nIndeed it might seem to Christians today as though God has abandoned the world we live in and left us to fend for ourselves.
\nLooking 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.
\nAN UNLIKELY HERO
\n\tGIDEON
\n11 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.
\nThreshing 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.
\nWhen 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,
\n12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, \u2018The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.\u2019 The King James Version is \u201cMighty Man of Valour.\u201d Mighty warrior? Mighty man of valour? Many other names would suit Gideon better. The best I have seen suggested is Gideon \u2013 \u201cSuper chicken!\u201d
\nGideon 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\u2019s judgment and understandably it did seem as though God had completely abandoned Israel.
\n13 \u2018Pardon me, my lord,\u2019 Gideon replied, \u2018but 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, \u201cDid not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?\u201d But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.\u2019
\nSo 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.
\nExcuses – 15 \u2018Pardon me, my lord,\u2019 Gideon replied, \u2018but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.\u2019
\nSo 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\u2019s cosmic masterplan that was his destiny.
\n\tOURSELVES \/ NSBC
\nThere 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.
\nWe 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 Caf\u00e9 and 2 hours of Drop In. We may feel small and weak. Paul\u2019s words in 1 Corinthians 1 are for us.
\n27 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\u2014and the things that are not\u2014to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him
\nFROM LOSER TO HERO \u2013 GOD\u2019s CALL
\n\tGIDEON
\n12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, \u2018The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.\u2019
\nMighty 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.
\nBut first, Gideon had a question.
\n13 \u2018Pardon me, my lord,\u2019 Gideon replied, \u2018but 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, \u201cDid not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?\u201d But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.\u2019
\nGideon asked his question. God doesn\u2019t mind questions, as long as they are asked out of faith and not just to be awkward. Doesn\u2019t 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\u2019t be sending Gideon to go and save them now. Gideon, you may feel weak and powerless, but no, I haven\u2019t 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!
\n14 The LORD turned to him and said, \u2018Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian\u2019s hand. Am I not sending you?\u2019
\n15 \u2018Pardon me, my lord,\u2019 Gideon replied, \u2018but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.\u2019
\n16 The LORD answered, \u2018I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.\u2019
\nThe question Gideon asks is \u201cHow can *I* do this?\u201d The answers are simple. \u201cAm I not sending you?\u201d And \u201cI will be with you.\u201d 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 \u2013 but God can! When God sends us and God is with us, everything is possible!
\nHere are God\u2019s promises to Gideon. At least four promises.
\n\u2018Go in the strength you have. Am I not sending you? \u2018I will be with you. You will strike down all the Midianites,
\nAnd as we face all the challenges the world puts before us \u2013 God makes the same promises to us.
\n\tOURSELVES
\nThe 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.
\n\u2018Go in the strength you have
\n2 Corinthians 12 9 But he said to me, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.\u201d Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ\u2019s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ\u2019s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
\nWe need to put our trust in God and in His mighty power!
\n “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.”
\nAm I not sending you?
\n1 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.
\n\u2018I will be with you,
\nRomans 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\u2014how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
\nYou will strike down all the Midianites,
\nThe Midianites aren\u2019t oppressing us. But the general principle is there. When God tells his people to do something \u2013 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, \u201cExpect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.\u201d
\nFIRST STEPS TO FREEDOM
\n\tGOD GIVES A SIGN
\nRather cheeky!!! \u201cGive me a sign\u201d when he had already seen an angel and God had spoken to him!
\n17 Gideon replied, \u2018If 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.\u2019
\nAnd the LORD said, \u2018I will wait until you return.\u2019
\n19 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.
\n20 The angel of God said to him, \u2018Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.\u2019 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, \u2018Alas, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!\u2019
\nGIDEON BURNS HIS BRIDGES
\n23 But the LORD said to him, \u2018Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.\u2019
\n24 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.
\nThe whole nation had drifted into worshipping the Baal\u2019s. Even Gideon\u2019s 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, \u201cThe Lord is Peace.\u201d In the middle of war, Gideon nails his colours to the mast and proclaims for all his family and the whole town to see, \u201cThe Lord is peace.\u201d We will have peace again \u2013 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 \u2013 Gideon the Mighty Warrior!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WHAT DOES A HERO LOOK LIKE TO YOU? John Wayne, Arnold Schwartzenaeger, Bruce Willis, Matt Damon? Luke Skywalker, Obewan Kenobe or Han Solo? Hebrews…<\/span><\/p>\n

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