The Gospel's Incredible Message

The Gospel’s Incredible Message
Judges 6-7
Jim Davis
During Super Bowl 37, FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand.
When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, "Thank you."
But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, "If I may ask, what was in that package after all?"
She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, "Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds."
Like the contents in this package, the resources for growth and strength are available for every Christian who will take advantage of them. (Bill White, Paramount, California.)
When survival becomes the paramount concern we usually miss out on all the real reasons for living. Imagine spending all those years trying to survive oblivious of the very tools for deliverance at your fingertips? Yet, that may be how many of us are living—maybe we are not really living because we are too busy trying to survive.
Gideon was such an individual.
Judges 6:1-16
:1 Again 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 the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.
7 When the Israelites cried 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 snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from 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."
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."
13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."
14The 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"But Lord, "Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
16The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."
Gideon Clothed with God’s Power
The angel tells Gideon "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." This is paramount to God saying I have clothed you with the power of God. In Judges 6:34 the writer tells us that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. Again this is paramount to saying Gideon was clothed with power. However, Gideon remained doubtful about God’s powerful presence. Imagine God telling you that you are a mighty warrior. It is like God telling you that you have all you need to overcome any obstacle.
Gideon was like most of us; he had a tendency to look inward rather than upward. "Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." Do you see that inward look? Gideon asked, "Who am I that I should make a difference?"
This is the message of the world: Who do you think you are? From "Controlled Chaos," by Kurt Johnston, in a chapter on creativity: "The world does an incredible job of convincing us of its second rate messages. Unfortunately, the church often does a second rate job of convincing the world of its incredible message."
Many have bought into the message of helplessness. How often do we believe we are limited by our birth? Have you noticed the world’s message? "You were born this way." That means we are helpless to help ourselves. Gideon had bought into the idea that he wasn’t of noble birth. He was the least in his family. Therefore, he was helpless. He doubted that even God could help him.
Have you ever noticed that hardly any of the noble people of the Bible were of noble birth by the world’s standards?
Do you know why God calls the least of all people to do his bidding? He wants the rest of us to know that fulfilling his purposes for our lives doesn’t have anything to do with our natural birth. In fact, God wants us to know that is our natural birth—the natural man—that he empowers us to overcome through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The Bible encourages us to be reborn in God’s image. This is the message of the gospel. Our destiny is not sealed because of our natural birth. We will see later in this story that God goes to extreme measure to convince them they must depend upon his power.
It is amazing how the world puts us into a box when we are born. It puts us into a box when it says, "This is the way you were born, and you must live in the box you were born in for the rest of your life." Occasionally some of us get out of the box with the help of God, but with little or no help from the world.
Romans 6:19-23
19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV
The box we were born in seeks to become more enslaving as we yield to our natural tendency. Paul writes, "Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness." As you yield your body to you natural born instincts it results in ever-increasing wickedness—that means the slavery becomes more intense the longer we give in to our brute instincts. This may explain why be believe we must remain in the box the world places us in. You can live in that box so long that it becomes second nature, and it doesn’t take very long for your second nature to feel like first nature, i.e., it feels like that is what we were created to do.
The natural person Paul speaks of is born with the capability of committing every evil that has ever been done. We all have that capacity. Some may have an inclination to one evil another may have a propensity to another. However, being born this way does not disregard our responsibility to overcome our natural tendencies.
I truly believe that we are born with certain propensities. This is the result of being born into a sinful world. My daughter cried for a solid year after she was born. She was screaming to get what she wanted. Have you noticed that babies are born very selfish? However, we train them to overcome selfishness. I am glad that she is not still crying and pouting to get her way. Once we learn our tendencies are out of sync with God we are not justified to allow our lives to be shape with these tendencies because we think that was the way were born.
The world says you were born with certain inclinations over which you have no control. They were embedded in your genetic DNA code before you were born. Since you were born with them it is perfectly natural for you to pursue those inclinations without feeling guilty. I don’t have any trouble with the genetic code, but God is more powerful than genetics.
Do you see the trap the world has set for us? It is the same trap Gideon found himself in. Who am I? My birth defines my limitations. God steps in and says there are no limitations for those who live in the strength of the Lord.
God is telling Gideon ever so clearly that he would be clothed with power. "When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." . . . "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?". . . The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."
It is not enough for us to know what we are supposed to do if we do not have the power to facilitate and enable us to do it. Paul writes to the church in Rome, "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature" (Romans 13:14 14 NIV) Putting on Christ is paramount to putting on the power of God. Yet, how many of us are like Gideon. We look within instead of looking to God. As we look within we lose sight of what God has done and as a result we have no clue to power God desires to wield in our lives. What more do you need? If God is all you have, you have enough—you have an abundance of power.
The putting on spoken of in the scriptures is a continual life long process. We don’t put it on once and never have to struggle with it again. Our difficulties will not disappear over night. It is a continual putting on throughout life. The Romans had put Christ on in baptism (Romans 6:3-4), but Paul is admonishing them to put on Christ after baptism.
Sin Blinds Us to God’s Incredible Message
Do you know why Gideon is threshing wheat in a winepress? To keep it a secret from the Midianites, for seven years each time the harvest rolled around the Midianites would swoop down on Israel like a swarm of locust and ravage their harvested. When they came it was impossible to count the men and their camels. When the angel speaks to Gideon he replies, "‘But sir,’ Gideon replied, ‘if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian’" (Judges 6:13).
Gideon’s life is blinded by Israel’s impoverishment. Gideon’s life is so filled with doubt that he is afraid to open his life up to the presence of God. He has all but lost his faith as he doubts the wonders God had performed when he led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Gideon asks, "Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?"
The same questions are being asked today. There are phrased a little different. "If there is a God and he forbids this behavior, why did he make me this way?" We never see that we have a choice.
Gideon seems completely oblivious to why these things are happening to Israel. The prophet of Judges writes, "I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. 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." This is why Israel finds herself impoverished. She refused to listen to God. So God brings judgment.
As hard as it is to get out of the box the world seeks to put you in, it is even harder to get out of the box that we have put ourselves in through sowing and reaping.
2 Chronicles 24:20
20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, "This is what God says: 'Why do you disobey the LORD's commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'" NIV
Is this where we find the church today? Have we heard the stories of God’s deliverance all our lives, but fail to experience the reality of God’s presence in our personal lives. These stories seek to convey the message that God is with us. Are we so tied up in the message of the world that we fail to see God’s incredible presence?
The writer of Judges says, "Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help." Israel was crying to God in prayer, but Gideon had a hard time believing it was God answering. His attitude toward prayer was like many of our attitudes about prayer. Israel is not praying because she is trusting in God. She is praying because she has no where else to turn. Sadly it is not a prayer of repentance, but a prayer motivated by impoverishment. God heard their prayer, but it was his love that drove him to their rescue.
Israel’s prayers weren’t with the confidence of one innocent child’s prayer. A little 8-year-old boy came home from school with a stuffed animal he had won at the class Valentine's party. His dad ask, "How did that happen?" "Well," he explained, "the teacher put all our names together, and then picked one out. I cheated, though," he said, looking guilty. "I prayed!"
Do you know what makes God’s grace so amazing? God heard Israel’s prayers despite their lack of repentance. He heard them in spite of their ignorance. I think he head them because he loved them so much that he couldn’t let them suffer their impoverishment any longer.
God’s Power Available for the Faithless
The most amazing thing about God’s power is that it is available for the faithless. How much faith did Gideon have when God told him he was a mighty warrior? None! God told Gideon "I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midianites …" The first thing Gideon wanted to do was run a test to see if this really was the Lord speaking to him. There is no faith present or he wouldn’t have to run this test.
Judges 6:16-24
16 The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."
17 Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor 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 in, 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 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"
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. NIV
It is amazing how patient God is with the faithless. "Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me." Can you imagine God’s messenger standing around until Gideon returns with the sacrifice. The angel consumed the sacrifice as fire flared from the rock and then he disappeared. "When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"
"Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" This statement is a proclamation of fear. The ancient Hebrews believed seeing God face to face would bring certain death. But God steps in and tells Gideon that he is not going to die. It is little wonder that he built an altar to the Lord there and called it "The LORD is Peace."
Gideon brought an offering to the angelic being, then he builds an altar with the inscription "The Lord is Peace." Gideon’s worship is becoming more personal. He realizes God came to him in peace. The altar is built upon his personal experience of God. You must realize God comes to your life in peace. He doesn’t come to destroy and condemn. When I look at Gideon’s life I realize that it takes more than going to church to build a strong faith. Gideon is going through the motions of offering sacrifices, but he is still not convinced that God is on his side.
Simply worshipping God does not erase our innermost fears; neither does being clothed with God’s power automatically make us powerful. The same night Gideon built this altar God gave him another command. God told Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal and build a proper kind of altar to the Lord. He was told to kill a certain bull and offer it as a sacrifice. Gideon did as he was told.
Judges 6:25-32
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."
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 men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.
28 In the morning when the men 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 men 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."
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." 32 So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar. NIV
Have you noticed that it takes more than going to church, more than worship to change your life? Many of us may discover what Gideon discovered. Seeking to worship God often increases our difficulties. Notice what happened when Gideon finished making his offering.
Judges 6:33-35
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 upon 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. NIV
The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, again this is paramount to the power of
God descending upon him. He blew the trumpet and many were called to arms, but he was still faithless. Gideon seeks another sign from God.
Judges 6:36-40
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.
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. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. NIV
As the story of Gideon continues on into Judges chapter 7, we begin to realize why God seeks to empower the weak and faithless. God wanted them to know that it was God who was delivering them. It is paramount to understand the power to salvage our lives comes from God. If we fail to understand this we will become more enslaved in the box the world has placed us in. God’s power is seeking to get out of the box so he can salvage our lives.
When God’s Spirit descended upon Gideon, he blew the trumpet and over thirty-
-two thousand men responded.
Judges 7:1-3
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 for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. NIV
Gideon still has too many men.
Judges 7:4-8
4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them 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 like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." 6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. 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 other men go, each to his own place." 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. NIV
God seeks to give Gideon more assurance.
Judges 7:8-21
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. Afterward, 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."
15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. 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 around 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 around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. NIV
Conclusion:
The story of Gideon portrays how God woks in us to will and act according to his good purpose. That power is available to you today.
Philippians 2:12-13
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 according to his good purpose. NIV
You may say, well God doesn’t give us signs like this today. No he doesn’t, but all these things happened to give us faith today. Today we walk by faith and not by sight.
Today the cross of Christ is our greatest sign today. Do you know why God saved Israel by the hand of Gideon? It was because he loved them with the love of Christ. When God looked at Gideon he realized that Jesus Christ was going to die for him. If God could do this for Israel before his Son died on the cross, what does this say to us? If the cross of Christ compelled him to do this before the death of his Son, what does the cross say to the faithless today?
I would like to remind you that you may have been born the way you are, but you can be reborn through your willingness to believe the truth and your willingness to allow the Holy Spirit sanctify your life as you chose to obey God’s truth.