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Blueprint for Victorious Warfare — The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon — Judges 7:8 – 8:3
Do you view yourself as a divinely appointed fighter? That is the mission to which we have been called as Christian soldiers. Yet too often we are more concerned with avoiding conflict, with our life of comfort and entertainment. We are too soft. We are too entangled with the things of this world. We fail to fulfill our role as watchmen on the alert. Look at how the Apostle Paul paints a picture of Christians as fighters:
2 Tim. 2:1-7 “Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
Ephes. 6:10-20 “Put on the full armor of God”
2 Cor. 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God; and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”
These results do not just happen; we must fight for this outcome; the story of Gideon’s victory over the Midianites teaches how to wage victorious warfare
Strength Through Weakness — Cutting Gideon’s Army Down to the Lord’s Size — Judges 7:1-8
This is one of my favorite OT stories because it is the best illustration of a key biblical principle: God demonstrates His strength in our weakness. We always want to be as strong as possible in facing any challenge; we prefer to have as many resources as possible at our disposal. We have no problem if the odds are on our side; in fact we prefer that to be the case. But God has a different perspective.
Look at all of the furor stirred up over our country’s defense budget cuts – anything that would weaken our military advantage; we already have such a decisive advantage due to technology; but we hate to see our forces reduced or any steps taken that would put us at risk. At the same time the military (and every other part of our government culture) is being pressured to remove any vestige of “In God we trust.”
Confirmation of Gideon’s Calling — Judges 6:33-40
Contrary to how this text is commonly preached, it has nothing to do with how God’s people should discern God’s will; it is not intended to give insights into the decision making process for those major life choices that confront each of us. Gideon knew what God wanted him to do. He was just struggling to believe that God’s Promises and God’s Power were sufficient for the challenge ahead of him. That is why I love studying Gideon. We are so much like him. Think how the Lord Jesus had to constantly review the same lessons with His disciples and reprimand them for their hesitancy to fully trust Him. Yet He remained patient and kind in moving them along through the process of discipleship.
Look at all of the information that Gideon already had to help him take action on his divine commission. We looked previously at the Calling of Gideon and then the Consecration of Gideon. He received a personal visitation from the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Himself, the angel of the Lord. He had been addressed as “valiant warrior” in anticipation of how God would work through him. He experienced the miracle of his sacrificial meal being devoured by fire sent from heaven as well as the miracle of the disappearance of the angel of the Lord. He heard God’s voice reassuring him that Jehovah shalom (the Lord is Peace) meant that Gideon should not be afraid. He had seen how the Lord had enabled him to take the risk of tearing down the altar of Baal while protecting him from his angry neighbors. In fact his name had been changed to indicate the Lord’s superiority over Baal and the invincibility of Gideon. Yet when called to act at the moment of crisis, he still hesitated. His request for signs is not a sign of faith but of hesitation. But the Lord is abundantly patient so that today we will study the Confirmation of Gideon’s Calling.
Consecration of Gideon and His Family — Judges 6:25-32
We have some strange new ideas that have taken root in the soil of American government. These are principles that are fundamentally opposed to those that our founding fathers would have advocated. One of those perversions that bothers me the most is articulated by William Bennett in his book: Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the Assault on American Ideals:
“It is said that private character has virtually no impact on governing character”
Think about the ramifications of that statement. Look at how it has impacted the business world and all realms of leadership. This past week we had Arkansas University agonizing over whether they would be forced to fire their popular 51 year old head football coach Bobby Petrino after his motorcycle accident with a female passenger wrapped around his waist exposed his inappropriate sexual relationship with a 25 year old he had recently hired on as a $56,000 a year assistant to the football program. Was this really a difficult decision? Does nothing shock us anymore? At least the Athletic Director did the right thing. In many instances today, the discipline amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
What Should Easter Mean to You? Ephesians 1:19 – 2:10
There are many significant resurrection texts: the Messianic Psalms in the OT; John 11 and the raising of Lazarus; 1 Cor. 15 – if there is no resurrection of Christ than our faith is in vain. But I thought this passage in Ephesians sums up what Easter should mean to each one of us.
The Call of Gideon — The Lord is Peace — Judges 6:1-24
You might be familiar with a series of TV commercials where different well known personalities recount some challenges in their life and conclude with the pronouncement: “I am so-and-so and I am confident in my own skin.” The humanistic mindset of our culture wants to loudly proclaim personal sufficiency. I can do it. I can be comfortable with who I am. I can be successful because of my innate abilities and personality. I can handle whatever the world might throw at me. No challenge can defeat me. I am comfortable in my own skin.
As we begin a series of messages on the role of Gideon as one of the most prominent in the line of judges in this chaotic time period of Israel’s up and down struggles with idolatry and apostasy, we see that God wants His leaders to have a totally different mindset. As God calls Gideon to a supremely challenging task of rescuing the Jews from the oppressive Midianites, He wants Gideon to recognize his own inadequacy, but put his confidence in God’s presence and enablement. He wants Gideon to be comfortable in living in the divine presence where God’s favor can accomplish the impossible. This requires a process. It doesn’t happen all at once. We are going to see that it is a struggle for Gideon to take on this new leadership role.
But the dominant attribute of God that will help Gideon make this transition in mindset and confidence is that the Lord is Peace. We know from other passages that the Lord is everything to us. He is our Savior; He is Love; He is Holy; He is Just; He is Compassionate. But to be comfortable in the divine presence we must know God as our Peace.
It’s All About the Lord: The Role of Women in Nailing God’s Enemies – Judges 4
We know that God is a jealous God and will not share His glory with another. When it comes to our eternal salvation, His supreme work of deliverance and redemption, God certainly does not want man to be able to boast in having any type of meritorious role. So we humbly bow the knee before God and thankfully acknowledge that “by grace we have been saved through faith” – not of our own doing but entirely the work of God.
Here in the Book of Judges we see snapshots of lesser types of deliverances that God sovereignly engineers for His oppressed people. Each of these have some contribution as a partial type or foreshadowing of the salvation to come that will be accomplished by God’s ultimate Warrior and Judge – His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. There are unique features in each account where we must try to understand the reason for such emphasis – in our account today we see the surprising leadership role of women highlighted as we see how God used Deborah and then even a non-Israelite woman, Jael.
Heroes Are Not One Size Fits All – Judges 3:7-31
You are already familiar with many of the heroes sprinkled throughout the history of the nation of Israel. Starting with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and moving through Moses and Joshua and then right down the line of the few righteous kings like David and Solomon and the various prophets like Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the list goes on.
But in the book of Judges we are introduced to some heroes that were lesser lights on the panorama of history. You probably did not consider naming your children Othniel, Ehud or Shamgar – you still have a shot with your grandchildren. These are the heroes we will be considering today. What characterized these very different types of leaders? What types of weapons did they use? How did they seize the opportunity before them by faith and take the decisive action needed to rescue God’s people from oppression? What can we learn from their stories? How can God use me – despite my limitations and unique challenges? In addition, the mercy and faithfulness of the sovereign, covenant-keeping God is highlighted against the backdrop of the repeated unfaithfulness and spiritual adultery of His people.
Formula for Angering the Lord — Judges 2:11 – 3:6
Because the Lord loves us so deeply, He is jealous for our loyalty. He is provoked to anger when we persist in rebelling against Him. Usually we talk in terms of how can we live in a way to please the Lord who loves us … but today in Judges we will be studying the formula for angering the Lord.
This anger can burn against God’s own people in the form of discipline. In this context it seems to burn against apostates in the form of judgment and condemnation and wrath. Why would we ever want to make the Lord angry with us? Yet look at how quickly we forget about God and live as though God doesn’t exist – make decisions without consulting Him; live as if there is no accountability Then we turn around and wonder why life is so hard and there are so many battles for us to fight.
The purpose of speed bumps = to get our attention and cause us to slow down and obey the law. God sends speed bumps of difficulties into our lives for the same purpose.
Second Generation Apostasy — A Crying Shame — Judges 2:1-15
THE FAMILY TREE OF APOSTASY –
Today’s topic touches each of us very deeply because it deals with the spiritual struggles of those who are closest to us. Why do some children from Christian families have trouble embracing the faith of their parents? We all know situations where this topic is relevant. Those of you at Christian colleges – especially in a mentoring role to younger students – see a wide range of spiritual temperatures – from those who hold passionately to the Lord Jesus as the one they supremely love to those who are lukewarm to those who at this point in their life reject the gospel message.