Gideon, a brave man???
Judges 6
"11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
"12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
"13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
"14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?
"15 And he said unto him, 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.
"16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man."
The angel called Gideon a mighty man of valour... Let's back up to verse 1 and look at a few things...
Judges 6 (cont)
"1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
"2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
"3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;
"4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
"5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
"6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.
"7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,
"8 That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
"9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
"10 And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice."
First I see that Gideon and the rest of the Israelites were cowards but Gideon was called a mighty man of valour, WHY??? The answer is in v.12... When the Lord is with you then you are the majority... Also the grasshoppers brought something else to my mind...
CK. Numbers 13:26-14:24
"26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
"27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
"28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
All they had was this dinky God who delivered them out of bondage in Egypt with a mighty outstretched arm...Thnk about it and they say they were like grasshoppers. What we are and what we look like to others or we think that we look like to others may be completely different and often is from what God says that we are in him.
"29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
"30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
"31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we."
Who determined that they were stronger???
"32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
"33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
Not only are they unbelievers here but they are mind readers also...
Ch. 14
"1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
If you don't trust God then you might as well weep...
"2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!"
If that isn't the carnal, fleshly nature talking than I don't know what is...
"3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
"4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt."
They want to return to Egypt where God wiped out the Egyptian army and the Pharaoh... I am sure they would have gotten a warm welcome there...
"5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
"6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Not let's listen to some believers...
"7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
"8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
"9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
"10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel."
Here is the normal outcome from those walking in the flesh listening to those flowing in the Spirit...
"11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?
"12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they."
The Lord is preparing Moses to intercede for the people...
CF. Ezekiel 22:30
"30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none."
Now watch Moses... He is being trained correctly by the Lord of Hosts...
"13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
"14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
"15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
"16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
"17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my LORD be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
"18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
"19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
"20 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:"
Because he stood on God's word, hence Moses' word was good.
"21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
"22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
"23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
"24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it."
Those who repent are the ones God hears...
Judges 6 (cont)
"17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me."
When the Lord is talking with us then we seem to need sign after sign after sign. It is just too hard to comprehend that the Creator of all would take time out to talk with us... It is even harder to believe that the Creator would actually become a man in die in our place to bring us back into a relationship with himself... yet he did and the word also says,...
Rom. 8:32 says,
"32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"
Judges 6 (cont)
"18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
"19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
"20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
"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."
Gideon wanted to give a gift and when the Lord does things for us, in us and through us we would tend to want to do something in return. Angels don't need to eat neither does God BUT he accepted the gift anyway and consumed the flesh and the unleavend cakes with the fire and we as humans will consume it in another way...
Judges 6 (cont)
"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.
"23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die."
Standing before an angel of the Lord has the same connotation as standing before the Lord, death if you are not clean in his sight...
"24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites."
Jehovahshalom is "Jehovah our Peace". Jesus said in John 14:27 that he is leaving us his peace and he is with us, right???
Judges 6 (cont)
"25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:
"26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
"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."
Not only will God tell us to stand against the wrong in a society, he will give us the strength to do what is right in place of the wrong... He wants us to be lights shining in a dark world and some are not submitted enough to shine in the face of men so they shine when no one else is around but God takes us where we are at and then drives us further... and makes us bolder...
Judges 6 (cont)
"28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built."
Judges 6 (cont)
"29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
Those believers in God in stand out like a "sore" thumb, since we don't belong in this world system and the world recognizes that right away.
Acts 4:13
"13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."
Judges 6 (cont)
"30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, 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."
The more that you take a stand for the LORD, the more the world will come against you.
Judges 6 (cont)
"31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, 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."
False gods,idols made out of silver, gold even wood (Rem. Isa. 44:8--) can't plead or do anything else for themselves and those who serve them become like them...
Psalm 115:2-8
"2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
"3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
"4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
"5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
"6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
"7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
"8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them."
Kinda reminds me of "Like father, like son"...
Judges 6 (cont)
"33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
"34 But the spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.
"35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them."
We need the spirit of the LORD to come upon us so that we can and will do the things that he has called us to do...
Judges 6 (cont)
"36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
"37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
"38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
"39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
"40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground."
When you pray and seek the face of God then he will honor your requests to know his will better for your life... He will verify it over and over and over until he breaks through...the unbelief, the hardness of heart, the confusion, etc... He is a merciful God!
Lam. 3:22,23
"22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
"23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
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