Judges 6 - Dundee

Call to worship

Psalm 145:1–9 ESV

1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Welcome

We’re glad you’re here to worship with us this morning. While the service looks a little different this morning, our hope is to give us an opportunity to lean into the majesty and glory of God as we worship, to be refreshed and renewed as we study God’s Word, to be encouraged by other believers. “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.”

Pastoral prayer

pray for those travelling

pray for those who are sick

pray for those with medical needs

pray for those who need parenting wisdom

pray for those who have financial stress

pray for those who are seeking clarity

pray for the Jewish community in West Bloomfield

pray for the offering

Message begins here

Sometimes I get a little surprised how quickly a past issue can resurface and begin to capture space in my brain. Temptations that haven’t come around for years. Sin and attitudes that I thought were conquered. Emotions that were resolved. Forgiveness that was extended. I get confident those things will never show their faces again, so I drop my guard a little. That seems to be all that is needed for the ugliness of my past to think my brain is an AirBNB as it attempts to remind me who I am outside the redemption and grace of Jesus Christ. That’s not my story alone. That’s your story. That’s your parent’s story. That’s your children’s story. That’s your friend’s story. That’s your co-worker’s story. That’s your neighbor’s story. That was Israel’s story.

This morning, I want to take us to one of my favorite characters in the Old Testament. Gideon did not allow the past to define the future. Judges 6 begins with a man who is full of fear and ends with a man ready to conquer the world for God. As God poured his power and purpose into Gideon’s life, Gideon became more teachable, more available and more courageous. The results were a ordinary guy doing extraordinary things for the Lord. The more we see God do through our life, the more we believe God can do through our life. We are going to learn three truths of God’s purpose and power.

God’s purpose and power calibrates and cultivates my future

Judges 6:1–10 ESV

1 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. 2 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. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 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. 5 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. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord. 7 When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

There is a screaming theme throughout the book of Judges - Israel did what was right in their own eyes. Israel disagreed with God on matters that he was specific about and consequences followed. Verse 1 says that Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. Verses 2-5 tell us their lives became unsustainable. No shelter. No food. No animals. No peace. Those pressures heavily weighed on them, so they cried out to the Lord. The Lord called out their behavior.

The calibration and cultivation of our life includes the Lord calling out the mess that is created when we don’t obey his voice. It’s important to note that calibration and cultivation never includes abandonment. When the people of Israel cried out, the Lord made himself known. Before verses 7-8, the Lord was silently working in the background.

In verse one, the calibration of Israel included the Lord supervising a miserable season of life so (verse 6) Israel would cry out for help to the Lord. God’s purpose and power was on display. Israel suffered greatly because they did not submit to God’s authority. Much of Israel’s recorded sinfulness is spiritual adultery; worshipping foreign gods. There was never sudden death overtime in the Old Testament to see which god wins Israel’s worship. That is not a competition the Lord has ever been interested in. God wanted their worship alone and he wants our worship alone. Israel’s miserable season was oppression from a nation God told them to strike down in Numbers 25:16-18. As God was calibrating and cultivating his people, Israel was chased from their land. The Midianites devoured their food and animals, leaving them with nothing.

The Lord was supervising the entire thing. Once Israel cried out to the Lord, rescue and redemption was on its way. Look at verses 7-8. “When the people cried out to the Lord…the Lord send a prophet to Israel.”

There is often heartache when our past oppresses us. If the Lord used Israel’s past to calibrate an eagerness to cry out to the Lord and listen to his voice, we should be reminded to cry out to the Lord and listen to his voice with eagerness because his purpose and power is cultivating our life.

Maybe this is where you are this morning. Maybe your past is trying to steal your joy. Maybe you’re in the middle of something right now. Maybe you got some news this week, you didn’t want to hear. Maybe somebody hurt you and you don’t want to forgive them. Maybe you’re stuck in the middle of school drama. Those are all real emotions and I don’t want to discount any of them, but I want to encourage you to cry out to the Lord and anticipate the Lord showing up in your life.

Church, when God’s purpose and power is calibrating and cultivating our life, the past does not define the future.

God’s purpose and power speaks life into my doubts and insecurities.

Judges 6:11–18 ESV

11 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. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 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.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

The prophet in verse 7 has come and gone, but now the ANGEL of the LORD made an appearance to Gideon.

Gideon was hiding in the winepress trying to make food for his family. Normally, a person would sift wheat by tossing it in the air. The chaff would blow away and the grain would fall. Generally, a winepress was below ground level making him invisible to the enemy. He was so scared and so desperate that he made up the rules as he went along because he wanted food.

Look at verses 12-13. “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.””

When we know we’re God chosen, but we don’t feel like God’s chosen, our insecurities begin to rumble like we’re sifting wheat in a winepress. When we don’t experience God’s power, noise cancellation prevents us from hearing “O mighty man of valor!” When we can’t see God’s purpose, we get blurred vision of God’s presence.

If only Gideon knew who was standing in front of him, maybe his doubts and insecurities would have been deflated. Maybe not. After all, you and I have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and we sometimes doubt the presence, the purpose and the power of God in our lives. We too, sometimes get desperate and make up rules as we go along because we’re worn out from the enemy coming after us.

While Gideon was busy telling God what he could not do, God graciously spoke purpose and power into Gideon’s life.

Look at verse 14. While Gideon questioned his abilities, God provided clarity about his usefulness. Go in this might of yours. Save Israel. Do I not send you?

Look at verses 15-16. While Gideon doubted his significance, God assured his value. I will be with you. I’m on your side and that is all you need.

Look at verses 17-18. When Gideon needed confirmation, God was patient and told him, I’ll be here when you get back. I’m not going anywhere.

God’s purpose and power leads to personal transformation for God’s glory

Judges 6:19–24 ESV

19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. 20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. 22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

Gideon experienced the power of God in his life and the rest of the story is transformative. Overnight, Gideon removed all the foreign gods people had worshipped instead of God. In Chapter 7, Gideon gathered 300 men that forced an army of 120,000 to flee. When Gideon acted according to God’s power and purpose, the past was remediated and the enemy was defeated. In Chapter 8, Gideon and his army captured the kings of Midian and destroyed them.

Judges 8:28 – “So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more and the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.”

Application

As you look at these three truths, I encourage you with this question:

What is today’s next step so God’s purpose and power will lead to greater transformation in my life?

It might be that you need to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. If that is you, I would love the opportunity to share with you how to make that decision before you leave today.

It might be declaring your brain and emotions will not be an AirBNB for your past.

It might be asking God to calibrate your spiritual eyes so you can see His constant presence in your life.

It might be that you’ve been wrestling with something and this message was the confirmation you needed to hear.

It might be something completely different.