The Enemy Within

INTRODUCTION

This week, Kristy and I were able to get away for a few days while our kids were at youth camp.

Both battling the flu. We picked it up from somewhere. We caught it from an outside source that made its way in us and just wreaked havoc.

Cancer…you don’t “catch” it. It comes from within.

Judges 6:1 “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.”

At this point in the book of Judges, we would be more surprised if a chapter began with something other than “the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

After 40 years of “rest”//peace…the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian.

Now, who are the Midianites? They were a seminomadic people of the Sinai peninsula and western Arabia. According to Gen 25:2–4, they were distant relatives of the Israelites, being descended from Abraham by his second wife, Keturah.

Remember the Midianites—Joseph was sold to a group of them (Genesis 37).

Judges 6:2–6 “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 land is being completely razed by the Midianites. They are literally starving out the Israelites. There is famine in the land—not because God is withholding rain but because he is allowing the Midianites to pillage.

And, here’s again, the cycle—Israel does what is evil, the Lord disciplines them, they cry out for help to the Lord.

And, the Lord’s response to their cry is very important in this story. Just like in the story, last week, of Deborah, God doesn’t send a deliverer first…he sends a prophet/a messenger.

Judges 6:7–10 “When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 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. 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. 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.””

God is YET AGAIN telling the people of Israel exactly what the problem is—they have turned away from worshipping Him alone and have turned to idolatry. And, He’s saying to them, “This terrible situation you’ve found yourself in with the Midianites is a consequence of your unrepentant—ongoing sin!”

Now, I want to give us three “r” words that, I think, will help us understand what’s going on, here.

Regret. Regret often describes feeling bad about the consequences. Notice—they cry out for “help” to the Lord…on account of the Midianites.

Remorse—feeling guilt or shame over actions.

Repentance—what God is calling His people to.

We don’t see remorse or repentance in Israel. We see regret…crying out to God because of the consequences. OT scholar, Daniel Bock, says this…“As we have come to expect, there is no hint of repentance, only a cry of pain.”

We’ll come back to this in a minute because this truth really shapes this whole narrative…and the book of Judges.

Judges 6:11 “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.”

This is our second introduction to the angel of the Lord. Remember He came to bring an announcement of God’s warning and His judgment on the people back in chapter two…and it’s our first introduction to this guy who is going to play a leading role in the story of Israel over the next few chapters…which, honestly, might come as a surprise because the first time we meet him…he’s hiding.

Now, watch this…who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?!?!

Judges 6:12 “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.””

You can imagine Gideon just looking around wondering who the angel of the Lord is talking to. Now…hold on to this. We’ll come back in just a second. But, look at vs. 13 and Gideon’s first response to the angel.

Judges 6:13 “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.””

Whoa. The angel of the Lord has just told Gideon “The Lord is with you” and Gideon’s response is…“oh yeah? Well, I don’t see him. All I see is my people starving. All I see is an enemy that is completely pillaging everything we have. I’m in a cave hiding from them, for crying out loud!”

Look what he says at the end of this verse—THE LORD HAS FORSAKEN US.

This brings us to our first truth.

1. The Lord may discipline His people but He never abandons His people.

Listen to me…and I’m talking to those who are saved and have been born again, here…If you continue to live in unrepentant sin…God will discipline you. The Lord disciplines those whom He loves.

But, listen…God’s discipline does not mean God’s abandonment. As a Christian, you may feel like you have just completely blown it.

The truth—the presence of God was right there with him (angel of the Lord).

Judges 6:14–16 “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?” 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.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.””

Mighty man of valor…Gideon’s second response—weakest & least. Surely there’s someone else.

What God says about you…

SUMMARIZE 17-24—Gideon isn’t quite sure He believes this is a heavenly message so he asks the angel of the Lord for a sign…

Judges 6:25–27 “That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 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.”

I want you to see a second truth that this text points us to…

2. Before there can be restoration, there must be repentance.

God doesn’t give any battle plans for how to handle the Midianites.

BEFORE THEY FIGHT AGAINST THE MIDIANITES, THEY HAVE TO FIRST WAGE WAR WITH THEIR OWN SIN.

Acknowledge/Confess

Be honest…call your sin what it is.

Again…up to this point, there has been no acknowledgement of their sin.

Tear Down/Purge

cut it out

Reclaim — Yahweh is ordering him to reclaim this paganized land for himself.

Here’s another truth—before God will do a work FOR us, He has to do a work IN us. There’s a purging that must take place.

Judges 6:28–32 “When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.”

3. You cannot defeat the enemy while feeding the idol.

It’s amazing…if you think about it—the pluralism of Israel. They turn to Baal and Asherah because they think these gods will bless them with fertility.

But…they turn to YHWH when they’re in trouble! They want a foot in both worlds.

Ultimately, this story teaches us that… The greatest enemy in our lives isn’t the one surrounding us. It’s the one within us.

The greatest threat to Israel wasn’t the Midianites. I mean, let’s look back over the course of a couple hundred years in the book of Judges. They suffered under the king of Mesopotamia, they suffered under the Moabites, they suffered and will suffer under the Philistines. They suffered under Jabin and Sisera. Now, it’s the Midianites. The problem isn’t the enemies and foreign armies. The problem is IDOLATRY.

The problem is that Joash welcomed and embraced idolatry into his own home!

APPLICATION—what idols have you allowed/fed in your heart and in your home (parents)?

What is an idol?

Whatever—other than God—that you ultimately turn to for purpose, for identity, for security, for joy, for fulfilment.

Good things. You want to know if your kids are an idol? Become an empty nester and if your identity as a mom or a dad and your marriage fall apart…that’s an idol.

SELF

REPUTATION

How do you identify an idol in your life? Have it threatened. Look how Gideon’s family and the men of the town respond.

The tragedy of Judges 6 is not ultimately that Midian was in the land.

The tragedy is that Baal was in the home. And if we’re honest, that’s the danger for us too. Some of you are here this morning asking God to fix your circumstances while refusing to surrender your idols.

You want peace without repentance. Freedom without surrender. Deliverance without tearing down the altar.

But listen carefully God loves you too much to leave you chained to what is destroying you. That’s why Jesus came.

Jesus did not come merely to improve your life. He came to save you from sin, from idols, from slavery, and from the judgment we deserve.

At the cross, Jesus took the wrath our idolatry deserved. Every false god we’ve chased… every divided loyalty…every sinful affection…every rebellious heart…Christ carried it to the cross.

And three days later, He rose again in victory over sin, Satan, death, and hell.

Baal could not save. Baal could not speak. Baal could not deliver. But Jesus Christ is alive.

And because He is alive, there is freedom for every sinner who repents and believes.

Some of you need to stop merely regretting your sin and finally repent of it. Stop hiding in caves spiritually. Stop pretending. Stop trying to keep one foot in the world and one foot with Jesus.

Tear down the altar. Bring your idols to the cross. Turn from your sin and trust in Christ.

Because the same Savior who forgives sinners also transforms them.

And hear me: the Lord may discipline His people… but He never abandoned us. How do we know? Because at the cross, Jesus was abandoned in our place. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Jesus endured the judgment we deserved so that everyone who trusts Him would never be forsaken by God.

So come to Christ today. Not halfway. Not divided. Not pretending.

Come broken. Come repentant. Come surrendering everything.

And you will find that Jesus is better than every idol you’ve ever worshiped.