The Call of Gideon

Context

Judges, Midian is oppressing Israel

Judges 6:1–6 ESV

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.

The Word

Judges 6:11–12 ESV

Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

Gideon hears a call from God that he was going to be used to free his people from Midian rule. He heard a word from God, that spoke and called to Him. Notice however how he responds.

There are two initial doubts that Gideon has which he wrestles with as God initiates this call.

Judges 6:13 NIV

13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

Question 1: If God is With Me, Why Has All This Happened To Us?

Gideon says this, “My people have gone through pain, suffering. The Midianites have ravaged our land. Oppressed our people. Left us in ruin. Yet you say, “God is with us.” You say, “God is with me”

Not only were the Israelites being ravaged by the Midianites, but notice what Gideon is presently doing. He is threshing wheat in a wine press. Hiding! So he is in the midst of a ravaged people, trying to hide food so it doesn’t get stolen..and God shows up. At an unexpected time, and unexpected place..God speaks and Gideon could not recieve the word because of his current situation.

Gideon was not thriving. He was just trying to survive. Trying to make it. Yet, God steps in to the life of this man who is hiding, oppressed, struggling, and says, “I am with you”

So Gideon asks, If God is With Us, Why Has All This Happened to us?

One of the greatest hinderances to Native American people recieving the gospel, and hearing the voice of God is this question, “If you are with us, why has all this happened to us?”

There is internal wrestling with this idea: If God is with us, why has he allowed this to happen to my people. How could the same God of the people who displaced us and abused us, speak to me now? If God is with us, why has this happened.

In other words, like Gideon, our past suffering and present condition, keeps us from recognizing God

God had not abandoned them. He desired to rescue them. To strengthen them. And his intention was always to turn thier hearts back to Him.

At the Heart of this question was a minunderstanding of God’s Identity. Gideon had lost sight of God’s provision, goodness, soverignty that was with was with him and was still with him.

God has not abandoned indigenous people, and the wickedness of the past does not mean that He is not present.

God’s even in allowing suffering, did not mean that He had abandoned Gideon or his people. And so we must not allow ourselves to think that suffering means God has abandoned us!

But we must not allow ourselves to think that because thing have been this way for so long, that it will always be this way.

And we must not get so busy trying to survive, hiding from death..that we don’t recognize life walking in.

Life had just walked in for Gideon, and regardless of where he was, who he was..or what he was…God had a call.

God is with us, as God was with Him.

God is still good! And as a matter of fact, when even though Native Americans are largely erased and ignored within the American Psyche…the heart of God has never left us. And he walks in at the least suspecting time. Saying..I am with you!

Saying, do not allow youu condition to miss my character.

God answers this question by reminding Gideon of His identity.

But that isn’t the only question Gideon has when He hears this call:

Lets Keep reading from Judges 6:14-15

Judges 6:14–15 NIV

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Question 2: “But I am the least man from the least tribe, how could God use me”

How can God use me?

The first question from a misunderstanding about God’s identity. He thought that God wasn’t present, wasn’t working, and couldn’t speak to Him personally. This second question was rooted in a misunderstanding of Gideon’s own identity. Gideon says I am the weakest in my tribe, and from the least tribe. “I can’t possibly do this.” “Why would God call me?”

Gideon roots his identity in his condition. In his suffering. In what had been done to His people. He rooted His identity in his ability, his failures..and his condition.

Yet, God responds with this in verse 16.

Judges 6:16 NIV

16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” He says simply, I am with you! In other words..”don’t you know who is with you?”

You see God reminds Gideon that His identity is not in who He is, but whose He is. Not in what He’s done, but What God does.

Also notice that God doesn’t argue with Gideon. He doesn’t say that Gideon isn’t weak, or that he isn’t the least in his tribe. God reminds Gideon of the power of God that keeps Him.

And notice this, when God shows up, Gideon the weak man, becomes what?

Read verse 12 again:

Judges 6:12 NIV

12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

God says, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior. In other words…Him being a mighty warrior is rooted in Him being connected to a mighty God. Gideon was a weak man. Was from the least tribe..but with God..becomes what, a mighty warrior.

You see there is this assumption and fear among Native American people that to trust in Jesus Christ means to lose your identity as a Native American.

There is this fear that you can’t be both faithfully.

We are made in the image of God, and we are never more Native American, than when we are most like God.

Don’t belive me: Revelation 7:9 says this:

Revelation 7:9 NIV

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

In Glory, the nature of a True Native American as God indended does not mean we lose our language, or uniqueness as a people..it means we are covered in the white robes given by Jesus, hearts full of praise.

You see God needed to help Gideon to see what His true identity was and what it wasn’t. Gideon did not lose his identity within his tribe, or within his people or culture…but God’s presence changed Him from a weak man to mighty warrior!

I understand that as Native American people it can look and feel like we are too weak, too broken, too messed up, have too much struggle as a people to be used by God..but God has to help Gideon think differently about His weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NIV

9 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Your weakness is not a problem with God, the problem is we think our strength helps God.

The truth is yes, Gideon can’t do it..but God can.

Your call is not predicated on your strength, God doesn’t need your strength. It is not that we are too weak to be used by God, it is that we believe our call is about our strength, suceesses, and abilities.

Stop saying, “I am too weak to be used by God.” If you believe your weakness is a disadvantage to following God, then you also must believe your strength is an advantage.

We only complain about our weaknesses when we’ve learned to rejoice in our strengths.

Weakness, and what you can’t do, can only talk you out of following God when your strength (and what you can do) can talk you into following God.

It is not our weakness or strength that is the question. It is all about the call and caller. Will we respond in trust even when we feel God call us to more than we can do.

God says, “I am sending you” God is here. God is speaking. God is calling you! And you can not hide behind what you can not do!

Gideon says I am the weakest from the weakest tribe. And God doesn’t say no you're not. He says I am with you!

It is easy to look at the condition of our people, our tribe, ourselves..and say, Even if God does speak, we say, God can’t use me. I’m not educated enough. I’m not strong enough. I’m not gifted enough. God says, It has never been about your education, your strength…it has always been about me.

As Native American people we can not alllow what we lack, or the strength we don’t have to keep us from seeing God’s abundance and the strength He has!

Two questions:

If God is with us, why has all this happened? God says, I have always been here, trust me.

How can God use me, I’m the weakest in the weakest tribe: God says, I don’t need your strength, you need mine Your identity is in Me!

But God doesn’t just give Him a word…He gives Him a sign.

The Sign

Judges 6:17 NIV

17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.

Gideon hears a word from God..but needs proof.

What is interesting is that often time we read this story of him laying out the fleece and use it as reason for asking God to give you a sign to be serving or ministering, or forgiving. But truth is God doesn’t give him a sign because of his faith, but because of his lack of faith. When God speaks, his word is enough, but he showed Gideon a sign because he was fearful.

The point of this is not to say we should ask for signs, but to rather say…God’s word should be enough!

You see, if you’re ever driving, there are different types of signs you see as you go. And even if you can’t read all of them becaue they are far off, the color and shape of the sign can tell you what it says.

If you can’t read a sign, but its bright red..what does that mean?

Or if you see a yellow sign: it means yield.

But life is not always that simple.

Red Go Sign

The word says one thing, but the shape and color say another.

What do you do when everything in your life says red, stop. Red, I can’t do this…and God says, “Go”

We look for signs because God’s word isn’t enough. We can’t imagine God using us, and so we say, God show me.

As Native American people I have expereience so many people and families use thier experiences, history, context, to cause them to avoid doing what God has called them to.

Even if everything around you says I can’t…if God says Go we go.

What sign are you waiting on? What is keeping us from going where God has called us to go.

We have to stop listening to our feelings, to our friends, to our situation, even ourself..and start listening to God!

It does not matter how America views me or my people. It does not matter what the history books say or what others say. It doesn’t even matter what I say about me…It matters what God says.

Gideon was going to have to learn to walk by faith and not by sight! To stop looking and who he was or where he was, and start looking to who God was!

The Mission

Judges 7:1–7 NIV

1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. 4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”

Notice what Gideon does. He sets out to do what God wants Him to do , but still minsunderstands. He gets all these men together, 32000 in total. And God says, you have too many people, because if I give you the victory now..you will think you did it. So he widdles it down to 300. Such an insignificant number. So much so that Gideon needs to recieve another sign from a dream to go forward.

Hear me, God doesn’t need strong people, he needs weak ones.

What if the very thing American Indians see as thier greatest advantage in the kingdom. What if God says, I will use this invisible people, so that when I use them I get the glory.

I am of the conviction that God is going to bring a revival through American Indian people in this country. You may say RJ, thats crazy. Why do you think that. Because it has always been God’s MO to use the most unexpected people, the weakest people, the invisible people..the least…so that when God uses them, everyone knows It was Him.

Think about what would happen if God decided to bring revival through the very people that this nation declared as needing revival. What if God took the group of people that this nation had abandoned, killed, viewed as wicked and savages…and said I’m going to take these people to bring life.

Because let me tell you something, when God uses Native American people, can you imagine what our nation would say. They would have to say, God did it! God had to do it!

These people who can look past the hate of the past to see the sweetness of the savior.

That sounds exactly like something God would do.

If God said, I want to use the people in this country that I can get the most glory though, the weakest people, ignored people..and use them for my kingdom…what if our greatest wordly disadvantages because incredible spiritual advantages.

Judges 7:19–23 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. 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.

But he finally goes into battle, and God gives victory.

You see, and when you read the story of Gideon you don’t think Gideon is great..you think God is great! Thats the point!

The least man from the least tribe!

There is a word, a sign, and mission.

Now, you may say…ok RJ. I get your point, but that call is for Gideon. What does that have to do with me?

Well you see, God has given you a word too. A sign too. And a mission too!

The Word

John 1:14 ESV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This time God didn’t just speak in a sound or intangible words alone..the word became flesh. You see the problem is, that even though God used Gideon..gave Him a word…Gideon still needed something more. Gideon could be used to defeat mideanites..but Gideon needed saving from something deeper than war. He still needed something great. . He needed not just a word for His ear, but something to touch His heart.

So a word came to us too. The Word.

Jesus, this word became flesh…died in our place. Rose again! To give us victory Gideon could not give. Or no other man could give.

And Jesus, the word, doesn’t just come..but before he leaves, the last words He gives is this:

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Word, has given us a word too! Go make disciples. I am with you too! I will always be with you!

You see this is something higher and greater than what God did for Gideon!

This is an eternal deliverance. For a spiritual war. God says I delivered you..and I want to use you to held deliver others.

But we say the same thing Gideon says: Really? Me? Us? My tribe?

And we ask for a sign! God if this is really for me, part the sky, show me something.

The Sign

Matthew 12:39–40 ESV

But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

You want to know the sign..Jesus gives it. That says that this call, this message, this mission, this spiritual war is for you to be involved in.

He said look to the tomb, I spent 3 days in, came out..with all victory in my hand. He says stop looking for signs to go on mission, I have given the biggest, clearest, most powerful sign I could give..the cross, my resurrection. You go on mission, you answer the call, because I came on mission for you!

He says, I am with you! I crossed heaven to get to earth to save the lost! What greater sign do I need to give. If the cross doesn’t convince you to go on mission nothing else will.

If God becoming flesh does not compel you to go! If God saving you does not change your heart…then there is nothing else will!

This is the sign!

My challenge is simple, God’s word is enough. This is what He said, this is what he did for us..and this is what he calls his followers too..this isn’t for some, but for all. Whether locally, national, or internationally..this mission is for you.

The sign, the proof that it is for you..is the cross! He shared his love for you so that you could then go and share it with others! Gideon was the youngest and weakest from the weakest clan! If you’ll trust Him..he can use you to, to be light.

David Platt: My biggest fear, even now, is that I will hear Jesus’ words and walk away, content to settle for less than radical obediance to Him!

Burntswamp Baptist Association: Over 70 churches, No full time missionary on the field, and even over the span of our associations history of more than 60 years, we have had relatively few go at all. Here my question, is that because in 60 years and 70 churches God has only called a few? Does God just not call Lumbee people? Or could it be that we don’t want to go! That we are afraid? Or our life is too comfotable and we don’t want to mess that up?

You may say I’m too old, Moses was 80, I’m too young, David was a young boy, My situation is too bad, Joseph was in prison, I’ve done too much sin, I’ve been too bad, Paul murdered Christians…listen to me, God can use you!

The Mission

Luke 4:18–19 ESV

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

There is a war going on, there is a mission the church is called to be part of. But its not the Midianites, its not chains and shackles, its not even just physical death. Its spiritual death, bondage, people are dying! Bellies full but dying for want of spiritual food. Enslaved to sin, walking the road to hell.

What would we do if we found out everyone of our children were diagnoses with a terminal illness only God could heal?

If we had the same dedication and commitment from our professional lives and took it to our spiritual lives, we could turn this community upside down for the kingdom of God! We shake the world! Families would be changed, communities changed, lives changed. But if we had the same dedication from our spiritual lives to our professional, we’d be beggars!

This is dire! Stop waiting on a sign that God is calling you! That He can save you, and use you! Hes already done it! Do something!

Again: We have been giving a Word, A Sign, and a Mission.

And Native American people are perfectly positioned to be used by God greatly…because for Himtto use us would be only for His glory!

Gideon felt invisible, and God said perfect! So what if our greatest physical weakness, it our greatest spiritual strength.

It is time. I believe God will bring revival to this nation through the most ignored, invisible, marginalized people in this nation.

For His glory!

Why becaue that sounds exactly what God has always done.

Isaiah 43:19 NIV

19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

When Native Americans were displayed you know where they were ssent? To wastelands and wildernesses..places where they do not belive life could thrive or hope could grow.

It was the land they did not want. It was lifeless places.

God says I am doing a new thing in the wilderness, in the wasteleands..in the places they have brought and placed the Native American people. And God will bring streams not in land, but in hearts.

God is doing a new thing!

You may say RJ thats crazy. Yes. But thats the point. Isn’t it? Crazy for who..crazy that we could not do it..but crazy enough that if God did it..we would know and everyone would know..God did it.