Gideon Gets Good News, Judges 7:9-15

In our last session together, we looked at God’s sifting process; how God chose the army that He would use to defeat the Midianites. It was to be by 300 men that God would achieve victory over an army of 100,000. In Scripture there is always a “faithful remnant” that works for the Lord. A faithful and creative minority has always served the cause of righteousness more effectively than the careless masses.

In this sifting process that we looked at last time, we also saw a picture of how God’s election works in relation to human freedom. God in His sovereignty has chosen those who would serve Him and be saved. But as was demonstrated in how God worked in thinning out the ranks of Gideon’s band, an individual’s response to the conditions set down by the Lord will determine whether or not that individual will be included in God’s elect. In other words, as it relates to the Gospel of salvation, God has elected to save only those who by faith respond in repentance to the calling of God. Salvation is a work wholly of the Lord, but at the same time contingent upon the obedience and faith of the individual.

As we resume the story, God has left Gideon with less than 1% of his original army. Is it any wonder Gideon’s faith began to waver again? Remember, Gideon didn’t have these words to fall back on:

[H]e who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil. 1:6b)

We may speculate that Gideon, when he saw the size of the original army, was greatly encouraged that he was able to inspire that many men to fight by his side. But now, he must have wondered what in the world God was doing now? Had God called him, brought him a sizable army, only to take most it away from him? Remember this: God is concerned with quality, not quantity. What God desires is not an impressive outward appearance at all. The Psalmist wrote this:

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. (Psalm 51:6)

Not only Gideon, but all in his army needed to learn this, and Gideon learned it because of the events of this chapter. Gideon was encouraged by the:

1. The promise of God, 7:9

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.

This will the third time God came to Gideon to reassure him. Why did God give what amounted to three signs to Gideon? For us today, that doesn’t make sense. Surely fire out of the rock would have done it for most of us. The whole wet fleece/dry fleece was pretty powerful too, but God came three times to boost Gideon’s faith. This was because in Jewish culture, any promise of action repeated three times was considered an absolute certainty.

God had already won the forthcoming battle, but now Gideon was being called upon to be obedient and jump into the purpose of God to accomplish His will. Gideon was called to trust in God and His promise of victory.

What are some of the promises of God to His people? There are many of them, but let’s examine just five,and as we do, consider your responses to those promises.

• Philippians 4:19: And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. God has promised to supply every need we have. Note, God has literally obligated Himself to meet our needs, not the many things we think of as needs. “Needs” would include things like: food, shelter, companionship, love, and salvation in Jesus Christ.

• 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” God has promised us grace upon grace.

• Jude 24: To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—God is able to hold you up, sustain you, keep you in grace. In fact, in a practical application of this we read 1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

• Romans 8:13: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Of course, there are issues of context involved with this promise, but it basically means exactly what it says. It may be difficult for us to see and understand how this is accomplished at times, but God has promised it, and He will deliver.

• John 10:27-28: My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

Great and glorious are those promises, but while they are given freely by God, they must be accepted by us. God doesn’t force His gifts on anybody; they must be accepted.

2. The providence of God

When we are living for God and walking according to His will for our lives, then we are the fortune few to whom this verse applies:

If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. (Psalm 37:23-24)

God is in the process of doing this this with Gideon. God made Gideon’s steps firm and upheld Gideon in three ways:

A dream, verse 13:

“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.”

In God’s providence, Gideon, with his armor bearer Purah, happened along just as an enemy soldier was describing his dream to a friend. Everybody dreams, but this one was written and directed by God Himself. What Gideon heard gave him a strength and a courage he never had before. Certainly God came to Gideon miraculously in his call and commission, but this time God’s sign of His presence was striking. Here God had given a dream to a man, not for his benefit but for Gideon’s benefit! And this man being used of God was an enemy soldier!

What are the odds that Gideon and his friend should show up at the exact moment this man was recounting his dream to his friend? This is God’s providence at work. “Providence” has been defined as:

The foreseeing and guardianship of God over His creatures…a manifestation of His divine care or direction.

Perhaps a better definition would be this:

The divine intervention in the affairs of man within the confines of natural law to bring about God’s objectives.

All this means is that for the child of God, there are not coincidences. God uses the things of this world; people and events, to accomplish his will in the lives of His people. It’s not always identifiable, like “Look, God opened up that parking space for me!” In fact, providence is seen best in hindsight; rarely do we see it at the moment it happens.

The interpretation, verse 14

“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.”

The soldier hadn’t seen Gideon and his friend standing there, he was referring to the dream, he was giving an interpretation of the dream to his friend and Gideon overheard. Barley bread probably represented Israel. The key to the interpretation of verse 14 are two words in verse 13. First, the Hebrew word translated “collapsed,” mithappek. It is also applied to swords, as in the flaming sword at the entrance to the Garden of Eden. The other important verb is “overturned,” which is taken from the same root and described the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. The “overturning” or “overthrow” of the tent represented the collapse of the nomadic forces.

This dream to the enemy of God produced fear and trembling and self-condemnation. But these exact same words to Gideon produced courage and self-confidence.

Response of Gideon, verse 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.”

This whole scene was what Stephenson referred to as a “divinely ordered coincidence.” God planned the whole thing, and this was the last bit of encouragement Gideon needed. He paused after he realized what he had just seen, and silently worshiped God. This must always be our response after we witness the finer of God at work.

This was all Gideon needed. So sure was victory, in fact, that when Gideon returned to his camp, he spoke in the past tense, as though the victory was already won. It was, in God’s way of reckoning.

3. Our response

The Lord is gracious to give us providential evidences of the truth of His Word to us. However, that should be the exception, not the rule. His Word to us should be enough. What God heard that day didn’t make the promise of God any more sure. Remember the words of Paul:

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

Gideon Gets to Work, Judges 6:25-40

It was the apostle Paul who said: For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10b, NIV). To people in the world, this is certainly a paradoxical statement. The seeming absurdity of this statement is explained, at least in part, by reading it in context:

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. 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. (2 Cor. 12:9-10, NIV)

Gideon is the Old Testament poster boy for this concept of weakness. He was weak and he was uninfluential; but when the Spirit of God came upon him, Gideon was transformed into a man of courage; into the “mighty warrior” God had called him to be. What a great lesson: what God demands of us, He enables us to do.

1. Where his work began, 6:25, 27

At home: “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.” The Lord’s command to Gideon was most difficult and came almost immediately after his call to ministry by God. Remember, Gideon was called by God to deliver Israel from Midianite oppression; and, apparently, it was to start with his own family. What a thing to ask Gideon to do! He was to destroy the Baal temple on his father’s property. This is a graphic and practical illustration of Luke 9:59-60–

He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

How hard was this for Gideon to contemplate? The fifth commandment is to honor your parents, and here was God telling Gideon to, apparently, dishonor his father by destroying a piece of his property. It takes great courage to honor your Heavenly Father, and sometimes honoring Him means going against what may seem right. Some relationships are more important than others, and here is great example honoring the most important relationship one can have in life.

At once: 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. Even though he was filled with fear, Gideon’s obedience was decisive. Sometimes obeying God is a fearful experience; there is no shame or sin as long you obey. Your action is evidence of your faith. What good is confessing to the power of your faith when you sit around and do nothing? James makes the point in his epistle:

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” (James 2:18)

The shame and sin is when the fear cripples you to the point of disobedience. Some Christians are under the delusion that they need to feel 100% convinced of a thing before launching out in faith. What you feel has nothing to do with your faith. Bringing your feelings and emotions into control takes time and maturity. Gideon has just been called by God, so naturally he is afraid. But he still acted. It should be noted, however, that acting at night was probably a good idea, since the people, including Gideon’s own family, would have been extremely angry by his actions.

Gideon was aided by ten household servants, an indication that his family had some wealth, not to mention the fact that they had a heathen temple right on their property. As a side note, this gives us an insight into Gideon’s temperament. His attitude about his family is not in line with these facts. He considered his family minor and the “least” of his tribe. Gideon’s low estimate of himself and his family affected his whole world view, to the point where he believed God could not use him.

2. What Gideon Did, 6:25, 26

Gideon’s wok that night was actually two-fold. He–

Pulled Down: Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole. The altar of Baal was representative all that was wrong in the land of Israel. It represented the lies, deceit, arrogance, and immorality that opposed the will of God and His rule of His people. As our Lord observed, we cannot serve two masters. A divided heart cannot make right decisions and a divided house will fall. Because the people’s hearts were divided, the house of Israel was crumbling; a physical manifestation of a spiritual condition. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says this:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

The problem in Israel seemed to be the Midianite Bedouins, but the real problem lie in the spiritual realm. That is why even though God called Gideon to save Israel from the Midianites, the very first thing he had to do was a spiritual act: tear down the despicable pagan temple.

Built up: build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God. It is not enough to confront sin and root it out; God had to be replace the sin. It is not enough to take the sin out of our lives, we need to put God in its place. That is the essence of holiness: separated from sin to God. James Smith’s thoughts on this verse are priceless:

The altar of God, the Cross of Christ, is the divine substitute for the barren and powerless inventions of man. To preach Christ and Him crucified is to build up the altar of the Lord.

3. The Result, 6:30, 32

One thing is certain, when you attempt to do something positive for the Kingdom of God, there will always be results, positive ones and seemingly negative ones.

A changed attitude: Bring out your son. He must die. We’re not told exactly how the men of the city discovered it was Gideon that demolished the temple, but they demanded his death. This shows in stark contrast how far from the law of Moses the people had fallen. In Deuteronomy 13:6-10 Moses commanded that even close relatives must be stoned for idolatry. The destructive and depraved Baal heresy had become the religion of God’s people.

A disciple is no greater than his master. The first evidence of faithfulness to Christ is the opposition of the worldly. The church, in the last 25 years or so has tried to curry favor with the world, yet the is in contradistinction to the teaching of Scripture, which says this:

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

The world will always be in opposition to the things of God. Fortunately for Gideon, the Lord apparently moved the heart of his father to give a very wise response to the mob, which was basically, “Let Baal look after himself.”

A changed name: So that day they called Gideon “Jerub-Baal.” That phrase means “Baal’s antagonist,” which was supposed to be an insulting name, indicating that the people expected Gideon to face certain judgment at the hands Baal. Unregenerate pagans will always try to tear down a child of God any way they can: slander, persecution, and name calling just to name a few tactics. But for the child of God, being called insulting names or having lies told against you should be considered a sign that you are doing something right. Where that insult like a badge of honor! Though the world may disparage you, God will honor you, as he did Gideon. When no harm came to Gideon, that insulting name became a reminder of Gideon’s first victory.

4. Encouraged by God, 6:34, 36-40

Gideon was called to a great task and was being asked to do a difficult and frightening thing. But God found ways to encourage Gideon in his mission:

Anointed by the Holy Spirit: Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon. God had called Gideon to service, Gideon passed his first test with flying colors and was made fit for service by the Spirit of God. One cannot do the work of God without being empowered by the Holy Spirit. Whenever we try to do God’s work our way, in the flesh, we will fail or come up short. As observed by one scholar:

The blowing of the Gospel trumpet by a man clothed in the power of God will surely be effectual in gathering many after him.

While the Holy Spirit indwells believers today, verse 34 says “the Spirit clothed” Gideon. No wonder Gideon had no problem summoning the men of his own clan to follow him, he was walking in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit! Apparently word of Gideon had spread and the men who now made up his army now shared Gideon’s attitude toward Baalism.

The fleece, verse 36-40. Despite the presence of the Holy Spirit and being clothed in power, Gideon still had his doubts. Gideon still needed his confidence in God bolstered. Gideon asked the Lord for confirmation of His Word, as he had done once before, in verse 17. Gideon found it hard to believe that God would use him alone to save Israel. Gideon’s desire to be certain of God’s call was commendable; if a person wants to be sure of the will of God, God will give him that assurance. However, Gideon’s example of the fleece shouldn’t be pushed too far.

5. Some lessons

As Gideon began his work for the Lord, there are several lessons believers may apply to their lives today.

Gideon’s work began at home. This is significant in light of New Testament teaching found in Acts 1:8. We should always begin to bear witness for Christ to our family and neighbors and those close to us.

We are to obey God’s will for us even if we are not absolutely convinced of it. This is where faith steps in. Of course, this is not a license to be reckless, but rather we should press on in our service to the Lord even when the way is unclear. We need to trust that God will show us the way in His time.

“Putting out the fleece” is the way some believers seek the will of God. However, some things need to be considered in this regard: If God’s will is already revealed in His word, the Bible, not only is there no need for a fleece, but it is wrong to “put out the fleece.” We are to know God’s word, believe God’s word and live according to God’s word. To doubt God’s word or to mistrust God’s word is sinful.

Believers are admonished not to become seekers of signs. Matthew 12:38-40; Luke 11:16; 1 Corinthians 1:22-23.

Seeking God’s will through circumstances can be helpful. God often works through day-to-day events of life and the believer who looks at their life prayerfully will notice when God is moving. However, we must always seek God through prayer and dependence on His Word. Sometimes, when the way is unclear, God may use things around us to point the way. God will accommodate our lapses of faith if our hearts are right and we sincerely want to go His way. God will meet our need just as He met Gideon’s. God will do whatever is necessary to help us and to strengthen us.

Always remember the wise words of the world’s wisest man:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5-6)