Undefeatable Gideon and the 300
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Undefeatable
Undefeatable
Undefeatable doesn’t mean you won’t or can’t lose. But it does mean is that with God all things are possible, so you won’t be destroyed, broken nor defeated. But that you will have victory in the end, the mind is fixed on the things of God and not on this world!
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
We are going to see how God can use someone who by all accounts see’s himself as the least of of no value. Too often we have the wrong picture of who we are.
God has given us an identity and it is nothing like we think or believe it is, God didn’t make a mistake when we were created, it was intentional. you and I are intentional created with a purpose and by design.
The key is knowing that God has a plan for you and me, for our families and our future. As we look at this passage about Gideon we will learn that God will take what seem to be of no account and make something spectacular out of it.
Gideon lacked confidence, courage, faith, trust and the ability to see beyond what was right in front of him.
God can use the none consequential and make the most amazing things happen. It is not about who you or I are, but about who God is and what He desires too in and through us.
We will see God take Gideon and change his life with just a few words. He calls Gideon a “O Mighty Man of Valor!” Those five words would change his life forever!
How does the Lord see Gideon?
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
Paul and Gideon were both men whom God chose to use and put into His service. Paul a persecutor of the church and a very well educated man. Gideon a man who didn’t see himself too highly.
But God made sure they were put to work for His glory and purpose.
How does Gideon see himself?
And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
Gideon see’s himself as the least, but God see’s him for what he is and who he is.
The greater question is how do we see ourselves, do we look at ourselves the way Gideon did, or do we see ourselves like Paul?
Well it really doesn’t matter how we see ourselves, it is all about ho He see’s us!
It is not about what or who we think we are, but about who’s we are and what He thinks about us!
The Lord speaks encouragement!
The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.”
Are we listening to what the Lord is saying about us or do we focus too much on what we think others are thinking?
The Lord speaks over Gideon these words of life, “peace to you and do not fear! You are not going to die.”
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The testing of Gideon!
So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.
Gideon was asked to destroy the alter of Baal that his father had built he did it, but he was still fearful!
If the Lord calls you,He will equip you! Remember this for later!
Gideon and the trimming down from 32,000
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.’
The Lord does some crazy things, like let me cut the number of men you have so that I can and will get the glory. The Lord is going to cut the 32000 down!
Getting the right people
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. 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.” 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.” 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.
The Lord is making a point, that He is undefeatable, and so is Gideon and Israel. There is something about how the Lord works, when He releases 31,700 men from war!
The Lord wasn’t going to judges the men who let because, He was making a point of His power and might with 300 men so that Gideon and Israel would know they were undefeatable with the Lord.
Gideon’s Vision to Victory
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.” And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 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.’ ”
Victory with a torch, a horn, a clay pot and a shout!
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. 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!” Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. 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. And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.
Here is what I was talking about how God equips who He call! Gideon and Israel’s 300 were equipped with a torch, a horn, a clay pot and a mighty shoot of a “sword for the Lord and Gideon”. Then the army turned on itself and ran!
The Lord want to change our destiny for you and me just as he did with Gideon, with just five words.
“O Mighty Man of Valor!” We could say it like this so that we are all included. “O Mighty Person of Valor!”
The question is do we see ourselves as undefeatable in and through Jesus Christ, it is not about winning every fight or battle that we face. But it is about the heart and attitude that we have in Christ Jesus.
I know for me I have won everything that I have put myself into, I have probably lost more than I have won. But I am still moving forward in Jesus Christ, I might get knocked down, but I will get back up and keep on moving.
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
We might be persecuted, we might be struck down, but in Christ we have the victory!
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Undefeatable is not about winning and losing it is about the heart and spirit of a person, that they will not give-up or give-in, it is about staying the course.
God’s purpose and calling is, undefeatable and if we are walking in the Spirit of the Lord God Almighty, then we are undefeatable!