ANSWERED: GOD PROVIDES WHAT HIS CALL REQUIRES

Judges 6:1-24

Subject: God's Call

Central Theme: God provides what His call requires

Objective Statement: Every believer can answer God's call with confidence, because He provides His Word, His Presence, and His Peace to those He calls.

1.  God's Word Corrects (vv. 7-10)

2.  God's Presence Commissions (vv. 11-16)

3.  God's Peace Confirms (vv. 17-24)

INTRODUCTION

We often compare ourselves to others. This rarely has a positive result. It either leads to pride because we think we are better than others, or it leads to discouragement because we believe others are better than us. It is especially confounding when God calls a person to serve Him in some capacity when someone else seems better fit to do it. God does this so that when the task is accomplished, God will receive the glory for it. Such was the case with Gideon.

Ask:

When have you felt inadequate for a task? Where did you turn for help?

Our last study brought us through the second chapter of Judges, where we saw the theological skeleton of an entire era of Israel's history laid bare: sin, judgment, groaning, deliverance — and then sin again. That cycle, we noted, is not merely ancient history but a mirror for the human heart. What we did not trace in detail was how that cycle continued through the four judges who preceded Gideon. A brief look at them helps us understand the weight of the moment when God calls Gideon in chapter 6.

First came Othniel — the model judge, Caleb's nephew, from the tribe of Judah. When Israel cried to God after suffering under Cushan-rishathaim, the Spirit of the LORD came upon Othniel, and the land had forty years of rest (3:7-11). Next came Ehud, the left-handed Benjamite, who secured eighty years of peace — the longest of any judge (3:12-30). Shamgar followed briefly, killing six hundred Philistines with an ox goad, then faded from the record as quickly as he had entered it (3:31). Then came Deborah — the only female judge — who, together with her military commander Barak, defeated Sisera and the Canaanite coalition, celebrating that victory with a song that placed honor where it belonged: "I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel" (5:3). Under her leadership the land rested forty years. Then she passed from the scene, and the cycle resumed.

By the time we reach Judges 6, Israel is deep into yet another turn of the cycle — and this one has brought them to a new low. Seven years of Midianite oppression have reduced God's people to hiding like animals in mountains and caves. The text sets the scene:

Judges 6:1–6 KJV 1900

1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. 3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; 4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. 5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. 6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.

The Midianites descended from Abraham through his wife Keturah, and they had been a thorn in Israel's side since the days of Moses. Like a swarm of locusts — the text uses that very comparison — they struck at harvest time, stripping the land bare and leaving nothing behind. For seven years, Israel could not eat what they planted, could not keep their livestock, and could not live in their homes. The nation was destitute. And in their destitution, they did what suffering people often do: they cried to God.

What God does next is the subject of this lesson. Before He sends a deliverer, He sends His Word. Before He commissions the unlikely, He meets them personally. Before He sends the fearful into battle, He gives them His peace.

Every Christian can answer God's call with confidence, because of His provision in three ways:

I. GOD'S WORD CORRECTS (vv. 7-10)

Judges 6:7–10 KJV 1900

7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites, 8 That the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; 9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; 10 And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

Application:

Those who answer God's call must first be willing to let His Word speak before they demand His rescue.

•  When you bring your circumstances to God in prayer, are you also willing to let His Word speak first — even if what it says is corrective?

•  Is there an area of disobedience in your life that God's Word has already named, that you have been more interested in having removed than in actually addressing?

II. GOD'S PRESENCE COMMISSIONS (vv. 11-16)

Judges 6:11–16 KJV 1900

11 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Application:

His presence is the credential. His presence is the equipment. His presence is enough.

•  What objection do you most often raise when God's call presses on your life — background, past failure, age, or ability?

•  How does the promise "I will be with thee" change the calculation when you feel inadequate to what God is asking of you?

III. GOD'S PEACE CONFIRMS (vv. 17-24)

Judges 6:17–24 KJV 1900

17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. 18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. 19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. 20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. 22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. 23 And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.

Application:

The LORD Is Peace. For every believer who has ever felt unqualified, afraid, or uncertain whether they heard God correctly — this is the name He offers before the battle begins.

•  Where are you waiting for your circumstances to improve before accepting the peace God has already offered you?

•  What would it look like to build your own "Jehovah-Shalom altar" — a concrete act of faith that names what God has already spoken, before the outcome arrives?

CONCLUSION:

Every believer can answer God's call with confidence, because He provides His Word, His Presence, and His Peace to those He calls.

God's Word Corrects: Before God sent a deliverer, He sent a prophet. He identified the real problem — not the Midianites, but disobedience — and spoke plainly through His Word. Those who answer God's call must first be willing to let His Word speak before they demand His rescue.

God's Presence Commissions: Gideon had two strikes against him and knew it. God did not dispute his self-assessment. He simply made it irrelevant: "Surely I will be with thee." His presence is the credential. His presence is the equipment. His presence is enough.

God's Peace Confirms: The call ends not with a battle plan but with an altar, and on that altar a name — Jehovah-Shalom. The LORD Is Peace. God's peace does not wait for the problem to be solved. It arrives in the middle of the fear, as the gift of a God who does not send His people anywhere He has not already gone before them.

The LORD Is Peace. For every believer who has ever felt unqualified, afraid, or uncertain whether they heard God correctly — this is the name He offers before the battle begins.

Memory Verse:

Judges 6:16 KJV 1900

16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.