GodofBreakthroughs--GideonPart3 (2)

God of Breakthrough Series Part 3

“Gideon: Breakthrough Against Awesome Odds”

Judges 7: 19-21

**Tell story of Gideon:

When we first encounter Gideon, he is threshing wheat in a winepress.

The problem is…You don’t thresh wheat in a winepress!

The reason for this odd sight was an enemy called the Midianites.

You see, God’s people had once again strayed and backslidden from the Lord.

God’s response was to allow a foreign army to harass and oppress them, which served the purpose of bringing them back to calling out on God.

“Then the people of Israel sinned in the eyes of the Lord. And the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian for seven years. 2 Midian was stronger than Israel. Because of Midian the people of Israel made big caves in the sides of the mountains where they could live which were safe places for themselves. 3 For when Israel had planted seeds, the Midianites and Amalekites and the people of the east would come and fight against them. 4 They would set up their tents beside them and destroy the food of the field as far as Gaza. They would leave no food for Israel, and no sheep, cattle or donkeys. 5 They would come with their animals and their tents. They were like locusts, there were so many of them. There were too many of them and their camels to number. And they came into the land to destroy it. 6 So Israel became very poor because of Midian. The people of Israel cried to the Lord.”

So Gideon is hiding in a winepress to protect his wheat.

He is intimidated and oppressed; under the gun each and every day.

Always looking over his shoulder.

Always tense and on edge.

In short, miserable.

And to this beaten down man, an angel appears and says, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

The second thing we see about Gideon is that he didn’t believe either of the two things the angel said: The Lord is with you, and you’re a mighty man!

Gideon was plagued with doubt about God.

He replied, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about?”—vs. 13

He was allowing his negative circumstances to affect his beliefs about God.

He was saying what some of you are thinking, “I’ve heard a lot about God’s miracles, but I don’t see any evidence in my own life.”

Not only was his view of God skewed, but he also did not see himself as God saw him.

Far from feeling like a mighty man, he replied to the angel, “My family is the least in Manasseh. And I am the least in my father’s house.”

You call me a mighty man, but I’m the least of the least!

Beaten down by a relentless enemy, his defeated nation living in caves, hiding what food they had, doubting God and doubting himself, Gideon was a prime candidate for a breakthrough!

The Bible says that, “The children of Israel began to cry out to the Lord.”

God responded by sending an angel to the least of the least who was living in defeat, hiding in a winepress, with no vision for a better future.

First, God gave to Gideon an AWESOME PROMISE:

“Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”—vs. 16

Next, God began a SIFTING PROCESS with his army:

God commanded Gideon, “Tell every fearful man to go home.”

And you know what? Twenty-two thousand out of thirty-two thousand men turned around and left!

Why did God do that?

He said, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying “My hand did this.”

God was saying, “You’re going to have a great victory against awesome odds, but you won’t be able to take credit. It will be all of me!”

Gideon swallowed hard and looked at the remaining ten-thousand when God said again, “Bring the remaining men down to the water.”

Once they were at the water’s edge, God said, ““Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” 6 Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.”—7:5-6

What God was doing is separating those who maintained alertness even when in great need from those who forgot everything and plunged their faces into the water.

The ones who put water in their hands and lapped it up like dogs kept their eyes on their surroundings.

They were alert for the enemy. They had discipline.

The Apostle Peter wrote, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”—1 Pet.5:8

This is what the three-hundred had done.

Out of 32,000 original soldiers, only 300 remained.

God said, “By the three-hundred men who have lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand!”—7:7

Gideon first received an AWESOME PROMISE.

Then God brought a SIFTING PROCESS.

Next, God gave Gideon a BRILLIANT TACTIC:

The Bible says that Gideon “…put a trumpet into every man’s hands with empty pitchers and torches inside the pitchers.”—7:16

With a trumpet in one hand and a clay pitcher with a lit torch inside in the other hand, Gideon told his men, “Look at me and do what I do.”

Scripture says that the Midianites and the Amalekites were lying in a valley as numerous as locusts.

Their camels, the Bible says, were without number.

Three-hundred men faced an army that couldn’t be counted.

Gideon was going up against awesome, almost ridiculous odds.

But God was about to give him a breakthrough.

Gideon said, “When I blow my trumpet, you blow yours.”

And when I break my clay pitcher to let the light shine, you break yours as well.

Now let me pause a minute and apply this to New Testament truth.

Old Testament events reflect N.T. realities.

Gideon’s victory came through a trumpet, a clay pitcher, and a light.

When a trumpet is mentioned in the Bible, it often refers to the Word of God.

The preaching of the Gospel is the “sounding of the trumpet of God.”

In Rev.1:10, Jesus’ voice is compared to a trumpet.

John writes, “I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet…” And the voice said, “I am the Alpha and Omega…”

So the blowing of the trumpets illustrates the power of the Word of God against the enemy!

The trumpets startled them, terrified them, and confused them.

That’s exactly what the mighty Word of God does when it is sounded out against the enemy!

Next, we have the clay pitchers.

In the N.T. we are told something very important about God’s work in us,

2 Cor. 4: 6-7 “For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

 7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

We have God’s light shining within us, and Paul said we are like those fragile clay jars Gideon’s army held in their hands.

In Gideon’s victory, the light shined only when the clay jars were broken.

Until they were broken none of the light within them could be seen.

The N.T. application for you and me is that our strong wills, our fleshly ways, must all be crucified with Christ.

Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”—Mark 8:34

So when I say “broken,” I don’t mean broken in a bad, negative way.

I mean our stubborn wills broken. Our selfish ways broken.

I mean having a totally yielded life to the Lord Jesus.

That is when the clay jar is broken and the light of Christ Jesus shines from us!

So we can safely say that Gideon experienced an incredible breakthrough against awesome odds by trumpeting the Word of the Lord, allowing his pitcher to be broken, and holding high the shining light that was in it.

The Bible reports that “When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords.”-- 7:22

Today, if you’re up against awesome odds, I urge you to trumpet the Word of the Lord to the enemy, yield your jar of clay in total submission to Him, and as Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men…”