Judges: God Gives Great Grace to the Faint of Heart to Accomplish His Great Purpose Part 2

Grace for the Gideons of the world

Last week we learned that

God gives great grace to the faint of heart to accomplish his great purpose.

We were introduced to the man, Gideon, God’s chosen instrument of grace to deliver Israel from the oppression of Midian. Gideon, however, was not the kind of man you would expect to lead and army into battle.

Gideon is a man who is faint of heart. What I mean by faint of heart is, he is a fearful man, a frail man, and a flawed man. When the Lord called him, he found him hiding in a wine vat from the Midianites. When the Lord commanded him rise up and fight, Gideon tested the Lord twice. When the Lord promised hum victory, Gideon did not take the word of the Lord, but of a Midianite who had a dream. Gideon was fearful.

Gideon was also frail. He was the youngest of his family. His family was the smallest of his tribe, and his tribe was the smallest of all Israel. Furthermore, God did not give Gideon much of an army to fight. Gideon raised up 32,000 men, and God whittled that down to 300 hundred men. Gideon was outnumbers 450-1. Gideon was weak and frail.

Gideon was also flawed. After God had given Gideon compassion, understanding, and grace, Gideon did not return the favor to the elders of Succoth and Penuel. Gideon chose vengeance and violence over mercy and grace. Gideon also led Israel into idolatry with the ephod he made out of gold earrings. Gideon was not an upstanding Israelite, and yet, God called Gideon a man of valor, a strong warrior (Judges 6:12).

How can God call such a fearful, frail, and flawed man a man of valor? How can God use a cowardly, weak, sinful man to be his instrument of Grace for his people?

It is because God’s grace is not dependent on people having their act together.

God’s grace is his unmerited favor toward undeserving people.

God did not need Gideon to a super Hebrew to be used for his great purpose. God chose to use Gideon because his grace was sufficient for Gideon. And so you read in

Judges 6:12 (ESV)

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

and in

Judges 6:16 (ESV)

And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

The Lord was with Gideon. God’s presence with Gideon was the determining factor of Gideon accomplishing everything he did for the Lord and Israel. So, you see in Gideon a grace for all of us.

God calls the faint of heart to accomplish his great purpose empowering them with his grace.

When God calls the faint of heart to accomplish his great purpose, he promises to be with them, because as we’ve seen with Gideon, that is the secret sauce. Gideon would say to you and I apart from Yaweh, I can do nothing! The question for us is, how do we know God is with us? What does it look like to have the Lord with you?

God clothes the faint of heart with His Spirit for His great purpose (Judges 6:33-8:3)

The Spirit clothes Gideon (Judges 6:34)

Judges 6:34 (ESV)

But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.

What does the author mean when he says the Spirit of the Lord “clothed?” The Hebrew verb is labas, which means to cover with garment, or to “put on,” envelope. The verb is used as a metaphor to describe how the Holy Spirit empowers a person for ministry in the Old Testament. For example, the Holy Spirit would often empower people for a special service. Joshua was filled with the Spirit and given great wisdom by the Spirit to lead God’s people in the conquest (Numbers 27:18; Deut 34:9). The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Saul to arouse him for battle (1 Sam 11:6). When David was anointed King, the Spirit rushed upon him equipping him to be king of Israel (1 Sam 16:13). The Spirit even equipped people for artistry and construction. For example, God filled Bezalel with artistic skills to build the temple, and he was able to teach others these skills (Ex 31:3; 35:31; 34). For whatever great purpose God ordained, whether it was being king over his people or constructing artistic tapestry for his temple, God’s Spirit gives power to his people to serve him; that is he clothes them with his Spirit like a garment.

Gideon was clothed by the Spirit to deliver Israel from the hand of the Midianites. What did the lord clothing Gideon look like as he was working our God’s great purpose?

The Spirit clothed Gideon with courage to accomplish his great purpose (Judges 6:25-27)

We know that Gideon was by nature a fearful man, and yet, he was able to obey God in overwhelming circumstances. First he destroyed the alter of Baal, likely his father’s idol. It served, however, as a community alter, and the community was livid when they saw it destroyed. Its says they all stood against Gideon and wanted to kill him (Judges 6:29-31).

Gideon was not absent of fear. You see that when he goes at night to destory the idol because he was too fearful to do it in the day time (Judges 6:27). Highlighting his fear in verse 27 is all the more reason to glorify the Lord when he tears the alter down. We know it was not Gideon’s nature to do such a thing, and yet he did it. We know it was the Holy Spirit clothing him with courage to obey God’s commands even when his heart was fearful.

Nelson Mandela was arrested and imprisoned for 27 years for standing against the racists government in South Africa. He was given the Noble Peace Prize in 1993 for for having led the transition from apartheid to a multiracial democracy in South Africa. He once said,

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela

In a similar way, Gideon’s fear was not a mark of a weak disposition. It is human to be afraid. Letting fear make your decisions, on the other hand, can lead to unbelief. Mairead Corrigan, a peace activist in the same vein as Manela, says,

“Fear is when we let being scared prevent us from doing what love requires of us.” Mairead Corrigan

By his own strength, Gideon’s fear would’ve kept him from doing what God required him to do. When the Holy Spirt clothed Gideon, he didn’t take his fear away, but empowered him with courage to do what God’s love for Gideon and Israel required him to do. Friends, Jesus will do the same for you. Jesus promises his disciples, and all of us who obey the Great Commission,

Matthew 28:20 (ESV)

...And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus does not necessarily take away your fear, but he gives you the courage to do what God’s love requires, preach the gospel, make much of Jesus in the church, community, and home. When you lack courage he says, I am with you always. Jesus says,

Matthew 10:19 ESV

When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

Matthew 10:20 ESV

For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

The Spirit will clothe you with courage and power to speak truth.

The Spirit empowered Gideon with strength to lead by example for his great purpose.

Gideon was able to raise up and army of about 32,000 men. The Lord told Gideon to release the men who were fearful and faint of heart, which amounted to 22,000 men. From there the Lord whittled it down to 300 hundred men.

Gideon took his servant Purah to hear the Midian’s man tell his comrade a dream he had about Midian’s destruction. With this assurance Gideon went back to his army of three hundred soldiers and convinced them that God has delivered Midian into their hands. The three hundred men listened to Gideon and followed his instructions, even as crazy as they sounded. He armed them with a ram’s horn-trumpet, and empty pitcher, and a torch. Who follows a man into battle with a horn, a pitcher, and a torch? These men do because God had clothed him with his Spirit to strengthen him to lead his people. With is new found courage he says,

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.

Gideon says, follow me. Do as I do. Imitate my actions. I will lead you into battle by example. Imitation is part of leadership. William Thackeray, a British author and illustrator who was primarily known for his satire, once said, “the world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.” In the face of leadership, he speaks to the idea of good leadership provides others with good imitation. What I mean is, good leaders understand the law of imitation which holds that your actions, behaviors, and attitudes are replicated by your followers.

Peter says to you and I,

1 Peter 2:21 ESV

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

Paul, following the law of imitation says,

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Jesus told his disciples,

John 13:15 ESV

For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

What does Jesus tell us to do? He tells us things like,

Matthew 16:24 ESV

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Matthew 11:29 ESV

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

John 13:34 ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Jesus calls us to imitate him. The appeal to imitate him is not given without the power to do it.

This weekend, Ethan participated in the Dnow for the youth as a leader, not so much a student. He organized and lead worship. He was also given the responsibility to teach a session to his peers. His assigned topic was an appeal to imitate Christ, which his text was Romans 12:1-2. His main idea for the sermon was, “I appeal to you friends to imitate Christ by using the mercies of God to be a living sacrifice and to conform your mind into the good and pleasing will of God.” One of the thoughts he brought up as we were talking about Romans 12:1-2, was that you cannot imitate Christ if you have not recieved Christ. The fruit of receiving Jesus is receiving his Spirit upon your conversion.

Jesus baptizes you with his Spirit when you receive him as your Lord and Savior. He promised his disciples,

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

He fulfilled that promise in Acts 2, and he’s continued to fulfill that promsie in every believer who calls upon hIs name to be saved. Jesus clothes every believer with power from on High (Luke 24:49), a power that can do the miraculous on one hand, and serve the church community, and home on the other. He clothes you every believer, not just your pastor or certain individuals, with himself Romans 13:14) to slay the desires of the flesh, to mortify sin and walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. The Spirit clothes you with his virtues, such as compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Col 3:12). He clothes with you with the armor of God to protect you from the fiery attacks of the Satan (Eph 6:11; Rom 13:12). The mercies of God, as Ethan pointed out, are to clothe you with the Holy Spirit in order to conform you into the image of His Son, so you can imitate him. Just as God clothed Gideon with His Spirit to strengthen him to lead by example, so the Spirit does for you.

The Spirit did not transform Gideon to accomplish his great purpose.

God was with Gideon and clothed him with his Spirit to give him courage and strength to eld by example to deliver his people from the oppression of the Midianites. Gideon, however, was not transformed by the Spirit.

When the Spirit clothes Gideon, Gideon does not loose his sinful nature, nor is he transformed from within. The Spirit is with Gideon, but Gideon does not stop sinning against God. Gideon seeks revenge against the leaders of Succoth and Penual. He also makes an ephod that leads Israel into idolatry (Judges 8:22-27). In the Old Testament, the Spirit of the Lord, says Dr. David Dockery, serves as a resource to be drawn upon by a given God-empowered deliverer without necessarily transforming that individual from within.” The Spirit does not override a persons choices, even those that include sin. As a result, the Spirit would often leave that person. David feared this when he sinned against God with his adultery. Psalm 51:11

Psalm 51:11 ESV

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

He feared this because he saw the Lord remove his anointing from King Saul 1 Samuel 13-15). Saul arrogantly tried to be both king and priest and rejected God’s role for him in Israel. Because of this, Saul forfeited his kingdom and his family’s legacy (1 Samuel 13-15), and the Spirit left Saul (1 Sam 16:14).

On this side of the cross, God’s Spirit will not be taken from you. Paul assures this in Ephesians 1:13-14

Ephesians 1:13–14 (ESV)

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The Greek word translated “earnest” in these passages means “a pledge,” that is, part of the purchase money or property given in advance as security for the rest. The gift of the Spirit to believers is a down payment on our heavenly inheritance, which Christ has promised us and secured for us at the cross. It is because the Spirit has sealed us that we are assured of our salvation. No one can break the seal of God. That is why Jesus says

John 6:37 ESV

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

As a genuine believer, when the Spirit of God clothes you, that garment is never removed. You are sealed by the blood of Jesus. That does not mean, however, that you cannot grieve the Holy Spirit.

Paul says

1 Thessalonians 5:19 ESV

Do not quench the Spirit.

When you see the word quenched in the New Testament it means to put out a fire. Christ described hell as a place where the fire would not be “quenched” (Mark 9:44, 46, 48). Likewise, the Holy Spirit is a fire dwelling in each believer. He wants to express Himself in our actions and attitudes. When believers do not submit to the Spirit’s leading in our actions or we intentionally is, knowing what we are doing is wrong, we suppress or quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We do not allow the Spirit to reveal Himself the way that He wants to.

“Fire is quenched by pouring on water or withdrawing fuel; so the Spirit is quenched by living in sin, which is like pouring on water; or not improving our gifts and grace, which is like withdrawing the fuel.” Thomas Manton

If you are quenching the Spirit, God gives you the grace to repent and turn back to him as a son or daughter turns their heart back toward their father. The Holy Spirit does a work of conviction to grant you godly sorrow over your sin. Do not refuse the work of the Spirit, but repent and turn and be restored in good fellowship with your Father in heaven.

God completes His purpose in spite of the faint of heart (Judges 8:4-27)

The rest of Chapter 8, is Gideon ridding the oppression of the Midianites. God delivers Israel and gives the land forty years of rest. Despite of Gideons fearful, frail, and flawed character, God accomplishes his great purpose for his people. God gives great grace to the faint of heart to accomplish his great purpose.

You will notice, a turn however, at the end of the story.

Judges 8:34–35 ESV

And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

That is mankind. We quickly forget and turn on the Lord and those whom God raised us to be instruments of grace. God knows that we are weak and but dust. He knows that had he left salvation up to us, if he left his kingdom in our hands, we would do exactly what Adam and Israel did. We would forget the Lord.

In the greatest act of grace of all he sent his Son to die on the cross to save sinners, seal sinners forever, and empower them to be instruments of grace that joyfully advance his kingdom by making much of Jesus until the church, community, and home joyfully abide in Jesus. Those who call upon the name of the Lord to be saved have his Holy Spirit indwelling them, revealing glory upon glory to them, and overcoming their fearful, frail, and flawed dispositions so that God can accomplish his great purpose in their life and his church. The question for our church is,

Do you believe God gives great grace to the faint of heart to accomplish his great purpose?