WEAKNESS: THE WAY OF THE KING

REVIEW

Last week we saw that God had sent the Midianites into Israel to chasten them… but when Israel cried out in pain God had compassion and raised up a deliverer for them, Gideon. When we first encounter him, he is cowering in fear in a hole. But God turns him into a man of bravery by assuring him of his presence with him. (And the most important lesson we learned from that was that “God doesn’t call the brave; he makes brave those he calls.”

Well, at the end of chapter 6 God tells Gideon to go mount a resistance against the massive marauding Midianite militia… and Gideon, true to form, demurs, and God reassures him through a couple of special signs—the famous fleece tests—that he will give him the victory.

Judges 7:1 ESV

Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

Judges 7:2 ESV

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

Judges 7:3 ESV

Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ ” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

Now, you could actually make the argument that this may have been a smart move. 10,000 brave soldiers might be better than 32,000 where 2/3 are wimps. But the next part makes absolutely no sense….

Judges 7:4 ESV

And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.”

Judges 7:5 ESV

So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.”

Judges 7:6 ESV

And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.

Judges 7:7 ESV

And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”

WHEN GOD WANTS TO USE US, HE OFTEN WILL WEAKEN US.

God intentionally weakened Gideon’s army. The Lord is not trying to hurt Gideon He is teaching him to trust. Sometimes God reduces the size of our army so we have no choice but to trust him.

If dependence is the objective, weakness is an advantage.

How could weakness ever be an advantage? If it makes you lean into Jesus, where real power is, it’s an advantage. It was when your husband failed you that you learned you could rely on your heavenly Father. It was when you got laid off that you learned that you could trust your heavenly Supplier. It was when you were alone, it was then you learned God would be the friend who sticks closer than a brother.

If dependence is the objective, weakness is an advantage.

Weakness forces you to lean into God, and there and sometimes only there can you learn the four words that can absolutely transform your life: GOD IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL. Sometimes you’ll never know he’s all you need until he is all you have! The Apostle Paul said it this way, “

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Brag about your weaknesses? “Here’s another place I’m ‘subpar.’ Here’s another place I’ve failed.” GLADLY. But it was there he was able to put on display Christ’s power, not his own. You see, if I brag on my strengths, you may sit there and say, “I wish I were more like him, but I can’t be.” But if I brag on my weaknesses, and tell you about what Christ’s power has done through them, you will say, “Wow, I have access to what he has access to!

If dependence is the objective, weakness is an advantage.

Let me illustrate weakness. Christian culture is littered with what we might call “foolproof parenting”. God was a perfect father and 1/3 of angels and the two humans he created left. So, you think you’ll be able to out-­‐technique God? Foolproof parenting keeps us from doing the one thing we need most, to cast ourselves on the mercy of God to work in our kids’ lives, which is the one thing he responds to. Not perfect technique, but hope in his mercy...

If dependence is the objective, weakness is an advantage.

What keeps us from the riches of God’s power is we feel like we have our own riches and don’t need God. This is one of the most important spiritual truths you can ever learn:

Your strengths are more dangerous to you than your weaknesses, because your strengths keep you from hoping in God’s mercy.

To be saved means to come to a point where you know you can’t save yourself and you fall on the mercy of God. Utterly unrighteous; utterly hopeless. He does it all. To be used by God means you come to a point where you realize how absolutely impotent you are, and you fall in hope in God’s mercy. So God sometimes weakens us to bring us to that point. Write this down:

It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply. A. W. Tozer

RARELY DOES BREAKING ANYTHING BRING JOY UNLESS IT IS A GLOW STICK. Glow sticks light up when oxalate esters react with hydrogen peroxide to form a high-energy intermediate. This intermediate reacts with dye, which moves to an excited state and then releases light as it relaxes.

It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply. A. W. Tozer

Our greatest joy is often experienced when we are broken by the Lord because it is enables us to glow as we were intended.

It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply. A. W. Tozer

Sometimes to get you to lean into his power, he has to reduce your army. So he lets you fail. I want you to rethink what God might be doing in your life. Maybe you are experiencing an army reduction right now… and I want you to be open to the essential lesson God is showing you in it.

God is up to something amazing.

There was a little bird who got a late start flying south for the winter. Due to his tardiness he found himself caught in a snowstorm. The storm was so bad that ice formed on his wings causing him to crash land. He thought, “Great. Now I’m going to freeze to death.” Then suddenly a cow came and drops manure on him. The little bird is like, “Awesome… I am going to freeze here, and now I have manure dumped on me. But then the manure thaws his wings and he can fly again. When he realizes what is happening, he gets so excited that he started to chirp and sing. But this attracts a cat; who comes and eats him.

God is up to something amazing.

We can learn 2 lessons from this story: Lesson 1: Not everyone who drops manure on you is your enemy. Lesson 2: When you’re in manure, sometimes its helpful to keep your little chirper shut… Because God might be doing something amazing.

God wants you to have something far better than riches and gold, and that is helpless dependence upon him. Hudson Taylor

The second thing God is trying to teach us through the reduction of Gideon’s army is that…

God would send salvation not through human might, but the weakness of humble obedience.

This points us toward something really important. God would send salvation into the world not through a King who would conquer the world’s armies with a superior army, but by one who would lay down in his life in service and humility and obedience.

God would send salvation not through human might, but the weakness of humble obedience.

Time and time again in Jesus’ life we are confronted with the weakness of Jesus. Before his trial, we find him washing the disciples’ feet, the activity of the lowest form of servant there. During his trial, he is maligned, mocked, and spit upon, unable, it seemed to defend himself. He’s so weak he can’t even carry his cross… someone has to help him. He dies with his hands stretched out, nailed to a cross, an ultimate picture of weakness. But through that, God brought a resurrection.

When we humbly obey; God brings power.

You see, it’s the same for you. You faithfully obey, in your weakness: You keep sharing Christ. You keep patiently parenting your child. You refuse to give up praying for lost son. You endure the scorn and the pain of injustice without getting retribution. And God sends a miracle.

GOD DOESN’T SEND MIRACLES THROUGH HUMAN MIGHT, BUT THROUGH FAITH AND HUMBLE OBEDIENCE

Well, God’s got Gideon’s army down to the size he needs it…

Judges 7:9 ESV

That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.

Judges 7:10 ESV

But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant.

Judges 7:12 ESV

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.

Judges 7:13 ESV

When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”

Judges 7:14 ESV

And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”

Judges 7:15 ESV

As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.”

The third thing we learn from this story is

GOD PATIENTLY DEALS WITH FALTERING FAITH

I find it really comforting in this story how God takes such time and patience to reassure Gideon. We picture God as this one up in heaven saying, “If you don’t have absolute confidence in me all the time, I will reject you.” But that’s not what we see here, is it?

Mark 9:22 ESV

And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

A man with a sick son came to Jesus and says, “Jesus, if you are able to do something, have pity.” I would expect Jesus to respond with an “If…? What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know who I am?” Instead he says, “Everything is possible for those who believe.” The man’s response: “I believe, help my unbelief.” Jesus’ response: he healed the boy. Do you doubt? It’s OK. Ask your questions. Ask God to reveal his faithfulness to you. But also consider #4…

AT SOME POINT YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE RISK

Think about what is going on in this scene. Gideon is afraid, and God is trying to reassure him. So God tells him to go deep into the MIdianite camp, close enough to overhear a conversation in a Midianite tent… If I were Gideon, I would have said, “Hey, God, maybe you could give me that assurance out here? I’ve got that fleece right here… I’ll close my eyes and count to 10, and when I open them maybe you could have folded it up into an animal like they do on cruise ships…. I don’t know if you get this or not, but I’m afraid, so the last thing I want to be doing is sneaking alone into the Midianite camp at night.” What the lesson?

God will patiently develop your faith, but it requires you from time to time to take steps of faith on your own.

Here’s how faith works: God reveals a little, you take a step. God reveals a little more; you take a step. Scripture says,

James 4:8 ESV

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

If you are waiting on God to answer all your questions before you’ll believe, you’ll never get there. Take that first step, and he’ll explain more as you go. LAMP UNTO MY FEET. WE USUALLY WANT A SPOTLIGHT, SHOWING US THE END. GOD SAYS, ‘ONLY ENOUGH FOR THE NEXT STEP.’

GOD DEVELOPS OUR FAITH BY INVITING US TO TAKE OUR OWN STEPS OF FAITH.

We’ve all heard of birds that teach their young to fly by pushing them out of the nest. Think of that from the perspective of the little bird! WHAT ARE YOU DOING… The mother bird knows the little bird is ready to fly. So Gideon divides the men into 3 companies of 100 each, and gives each one a trumpet, a jar and a torch. NO SWORDS He tells them...

Judges 7:17 ESV

And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do.

Judges 7:18 ESV

When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ”

Judges 7:19 ESV

So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands.

Judges 7:20 ESV

Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

Judges 7:21 ESV

Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.

Judges 7:22 ESV

When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.

So here’s how this worked. Usually, a torch and a trumpet signified a whole battalion. HE PLACES THEM AROUND THE VALLEY and the smashing of the jars would have sound like hundreds of thousands of swords being raised. So, in the dark, this wouldn’t have seemed like 300 men, it would have seemed like tens of thousands.

WHY THE MIDDLE WATCH?

They did it at the beginning of the middle watch, which means that 1/3 of the Midianite army was returning into the camp from being on guard duty; 1/3 were getting up to go out on duty; and 1/3 were still fast asleep. Well, just at the moment the Israelites blow their trumpets, smash their jars and all these torches appear. Everyone is groggy, it’s dark, and you have what seems like thousands of soldiers lining the canyon above you. And a bunch of soldiers are coming back into the camp, so you assume that these people coming back into the camp are attacking you, and, in the dark, they all kill each other without a single Israelite casualty.

GOD TURNS WEAKNESS ITSELF INTO STRENGTH.

Now, let me point out something here… God never explained to Gideon how to conduct this battle. Gideon seems to come up with this on his own out of his own cowardly noggin’. God’s reduction of Gideon’s army forced him to come up with a new plan, and it was a better plan—because it resulted in a victory that didn’t cause a single Israelite casualty. So Gideon’s weakness actually became the source of his strength. Often, in weakness, God can reorganize your whole life, for the better!

SUCCESS IS JOINING JESUS WHEREVER HE IS

Gideon’s whole life can be summarized, as “Success is Joining Jesus where he is.” IT’S BETTER TO BE WITH JESUS BEFORE THE MOST IMPOSSIBLE ARMY ALL BY YOURSELF THAN TO HAVE THAT MASSIVE ARMY ON YOUR SIDE WITHOUT JESUS. Christian maturity is when you learn to say: I’ll go anywhere with Jesus and wouldn’t want to be anywhere without him.

JESUS + NOTHING = EVERYTHING

The mature Christian know Jesus + nothing = everything and everything without Jesus = nothing. They say, “In Christ, I can give up all that I have because in Christ, I already have all that I need.” So the question is, God where do you want me? I want to be with you.

“All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them.” Hudson Taylor

3 stages to every one of God’s work: impossible; difficult; done.

BEWARE OF GIDEON FATE

I’D LOVE to put a period right there and end Gideon’s life. Unfortunately, I can’t. Gideon’s story doesn’t end well. At the end of his life, he seems to get proud… his power and success go to his head—he starts reading his own press releases.He starts using his position for personal vendettas. He makes an idol commemorating his victories and the Israelites start worshipping it too.

The greatest danger you will ever face is getting out of a posture of weakness.

Christians more often than not will pass the test of adversity; it is the test of prosperity that they fail. When you get strong, and think to yourself, “I have all that I need,” that’s when you fall apart. Never forget where you were when God found you; or the grace he showed to you and how much you owe to that grace…

Beware that after the greatest spiritual victories you can slide right back down into the hole from whence you came.

Christianity begins with, I’m not righteous enough to save myself. It continues every day for the rest of your life with, I need God’s power for every good thing in my life.

LET’S PRAY

Maybe God has been bringing you to a moment of weakness and maybe you sense some of what he’s been trying to teach you? I’ll be your security. I’ll be your ever-­faithful companion. I’ll be your justification and your righteousness. Your glory, the lifter of your head.

LET’S PRAY

Or maybe God has delivered you from weakness in the past, but you realize you’ve slipped back into a sense of independence from God! God is telling you WAKE UP! Don’t make me do something drastic.

LET’S PRAY

Or maybe you’ve never begun that journey… you’ve never realized how hopeless you are without God. The two things you can never overcome on your own are sin and death. You can’t release yourself from the curse of sin or deliver yourself from the power of death. Jesus did both of those for you. He died in your place suffering the curse for You have to receive that, confessing your weakness and acknowledging that Jesus did for you what you couldn’t do for yourself and receiving it from as a gift. Have you ever done that? Would you like to?

LET’S PRAY

Pray a prayer like this: Jesus, I confess I cannot save myself and you must do that. I give my whole life to you.