The Making of a Leader

Gideon: Part One

Why has all this happened?

Judges 6:11–14 (HCSB)

The Angel of the Lord came, and He sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites. Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Gideon said to Him, “Please Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

The writer has described the oppression being experienced by the tripes of Israel. After 40 years of peace (see Judges 5:31), another generation has arisen - similar to what we read at the beginning of Judges (Judges 2:10).

As a consequence of Israel’s activities, the LORD handed the tribes over to Midian, the Amalekites, and the people of the east (HCSB: Qedomites).

These peoples did not invade the land. Rather they raided the land - particularly at harvest time!

The people of Israel were forced to hide in caves, in mountainous strongholds - hiding places protected by rocks and other natural fortifications.

Judges 6:7 (HCSB)

When the Israelites cried out to Him …

As in the past when oppression reached an unbearable load God’s people cried out.

Just as before, there is no hint of repentance, just a cry seeking relief.

God Responds

Previously when Israel cried out to God men and women were identified by God to lead His people.

Instead of raising up a military leader, God sends a prophet.

This is not what Israel had in mind. They needed a military solution, a leader who could rally an army and end the raids.

Israel was devastated - they were hungry, they were fearful for their lives.

This unnamed prophet has words that Israel needs to hear, words that shed some light on why these things are happening.

Judges 6:7–10 (HCSB)

When the Israelites cried out to Him because of Midian, the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery. I delivered you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out This before you and gave you their land. I said to you: I am Yahweh your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in.

Much like the ‘angel of the LORD’ had declared nearly 200 years prior, God calls His people to remember the promise He made and the commitments their ancestors had made:

Judges 6:9 (HCSB)

I delivered you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.

Judges 6:10 (HCSB)

I said to you: I am Yahweh your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in.

As the account of Gideon will show there are some serious challenges existing among the people of God that must first be addressed.

God Responds, Part Two

Judges 6:11–12 (HCSB)

The Angel of the Lord came, and He sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites. Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

Like his fellow Israelites, Gideon is forced to find creative ways to finish the harvest so that the enemy can’t find the wheat.

As he threshes - separating the grain from the stalks- an angel of the LORD (later identified as the LORD Himself) appears.

The name ‘Gideon’ in Hebrew means ‘hacker’ which is essentially what he is doing!.

Identifying Gideon as a ‘mighty warrior’ is intended to make us pause.

Why would a ‘mighty warrior’ be hiding his work? Wouldn’t a mighty warrior be unafraid?

This identification leads to an interesting exchange:

Why has all this happened?

It is possible that Gideon had not heard the words of the prophet in vs 7-10.

It is more likely that Gideon is still processing the message.

If God cares, why hasn’t He acted?

God’s response:

Judges 6:14 (HCSB)

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?”

Gideon replies:

Judges 6:15 (HCSB)

He said to Him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

Gideon claims that as the youngest son and a member of the least significant tribe of Israel, he has no ability to lead Israel.

The LORD replies:

Judges 6:16 (HCSB)

“But I will be with you,” the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”

Gideon is still uncertain.

Give me a sign

Gideon prepares an offering for his guest. Presenting his offering, the LORD instructs him to place it on a nearly rock.

The LORD then consumes the offering by extending His staff and the offering, drenched in broth, is totally consumed by fire.

Gideon now recognizes that his guest was none other than the LORD Himself.

The LORD now has a word of encouragement and an assignment:

Judges 6:23 (HCSB)

But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.”

Gideon responds by building an altar of his own:

Judges 6:24 (HCSB)

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it Yahweh Shalom. It is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites until today.

The LORD is not finished with Gideon.

Judges 6:25–26 (HCSB)

On that very night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old. Then tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your God on the top of this rock. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.”

Joash, Gideon’s father, is the host of an altar to Ba’al and his ‘queen’ Asherah.

The very sin of which God accused all Israel of earlier, is right in Gideon’s own backyard!

The next morning as the locals discovered an altar to Yahweh where the altar to Baal had stood sought the perpetrator.

Identifying Gideon, the locals demanded the death of Gideon.

Gideon’s father, named Joash which means ‘Yahweh is strong,’ insists that Baal himself must fight for himself.

REFLECT AND RESPOND

There is much more to Gideon and his activity to which we will turn next week.

For today, I want to stop here and ask us to think about how God equips His people for His task.

Experiencing God’s Presence

It is a serious miscalculation to assume that only a few among us can know and experience God’s presence.

Yet that may be one of the primary causes of Israel’s cyclical pattern of failure.

It appears that when a strong leader is present, God’s people turn from the idolatry.

When the leader dies or departs, the people return to their idolatrous ways.

Gideon was not a priest. His family may have been insignificant among the other clans of Manasseh.

It wasn’t his background or his family that allowed him to experience the presence of God.

It took him time to recognize that the One to whom He was speaking was indeed the LORD.

When He did recognize the LORD he responded.

Every believer is invited to experience the daily, moment by moment presence of the Lord.

God’s Presence Equips us

Three times in this section the LORD assures Gideon that He will be with him.

Knowing that it was the LORD speaking to him empowered Gideon to obey.

God’s Kingdom Purposes must be Pre-eminent

In his book, Flickering Lamps, Henry Blackaby (co-written with his son Richard) notes:

Our church was small, but our mission field was huge. We agreed the vision for our church would not be merely to “survive,” but to reach our province, nation, and world for Christ. Reaching Canada for Christ was a vision that made my heart race. If there is a trend among struggling churches that disturbs me, it is this: Many are simply looking for a lifeboat. They are sinking, and they know it, but they don’t want to change their ways or embrace a new approach. They simply want someone to come and make everything better. They love their old building and their worship style. They have no intention of changing what they are doing, even if it has led them to the brink of disbanding. I can assure you that high caliber men and women of God have no desire to invest their lives preserving the past. Embrace a kingdom vision, not a lifeboat vision.

Blackaby, Henry; Blackaby, Richard. Flickering Lamps: Christ and His Church (pp. 95-96). Blackaby Ministries International. Kindle Edition.

Let me close with these questions you need to answer

What in my life is hindering me from experiencing God’s presence?

Gideon’s family were the custodians of an idol and the worship associated with it. God asked Gideon to remove the Baal before God could use Gideon to lead the people of Israel.

Are there idols - things, people, practices, habits - that God is asking you to remove?

Am I willing to embrace a kingdom vision?

God was about to ask Gideon to take on a task beyond anyone human’s strength.

Before God could set Gideon loose, He needed to know that Gideon was fully sold out to a larger, kingdom purpose.

Gathered here today we have before us a huge assignment.

Within just a few miles of our building there are nearly 5.000 people - the majority of whom do not know Jesus as personal Savior and Lord.

Are you secure in your walk with God?

You can’t grow a ‘kingdom’ vision until you become part of the kingdom!

Today, you can acknowledge your sin, turn to Jesus in repentance, and receive His life because He died for you and was raised that you might have kingdom life!

Are you living in such a way that you are experiencing God’s presence regularly?

Deliberately spending daily time with God - in His Word, praying?

Are you spending time regularly with other believers seeking to grow, seeking to work together for a kingdom vision?

Can you visualize what God might be able to do with dozens of Gideon’s?