Sermon Tone Analysis
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STRENGTH MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS (1)
! Gideon – “Go in the strength you have”
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.
12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?
Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’
But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
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 “But Lord,”a Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel?
My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
Judges 6
All the characters in this dark book of Judges are imperfect, and, viewed from a human perspective, entirely flawed.
But this is not history from a human point of view – and Gideon, the subject of our thoughts this morning, is a striking example of God transforming the weak things of this world to confound the strong.
Gideon is a good example of our theme text for today “strength made perfect in weakness.”
The theme is summed up in the text:
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?”
What strength?
To which God answers emphatically “Mine”.
I want to summarise the familiar narratives of Judges 6 and 7 in these points:-
Gideon as he was
Gideon’s experience of God’s grace
and
Gideon goes on with God.
! Gideon – as he was
There is surely a touch of irony in the Angel of the Lord’s words to Gideon
“The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
Here is Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress to avoid the Midianites seeing him – not an outstanding example of strength.
But
*1.
**He was a product of his times*
And the times were dark indeed.
God’s people were on the seesaw of apostasy – only turning to God when things got really bad.
We too – if we are honest – are a product of our times too.
And they are often just as dark, just as apostate – just as inclined to call on the Lord only when there is a crisis.
*2.
**He was aware of the conflict of faith 6 v13*
* *
13 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?
Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’
But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
Gideon has some knowledge of the nation’s spiritual history.
He looks back on the great days of the past and wonders why they are so different now.
He concludes that the LORD has abandoned them.
There is something very compelling about such reasoning
*/3.
/**/He is aware of his personal weakness 6 v15/*
*/ /*
15 “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel?
My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
He is REALLY weak – really unpromising – not worth much really.
Perhaps it’s just as well he begins there – because God can do something with those who acknowledge their weakness.
*/4.
/**/He is full of “If”s and “But”s 13, 15, 17, 36…/*
*/ /*
I’m beginning to feel at home with Gideon.
Of course there is just a hint of ambition.
When God says “the LORD is with you mighty man of valour” his response is less about lack of valour – and more about reasons for failure.
I think Gideon did entertain at least the possibility that someone might get them out of this mess with the Midianites.
*/5.
/**/He is afraid of being known for his faith 6 v27/*
*/ /*
27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him.
But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.
Like Nicodemus – this was a man who preferred to express his spiritual views under cover of darkness.
The remarkable thing about that is that God graciously accepted it as obedience!
*/6.
/**/A man constantly in need of reassurance 6 v36/*
36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing-floor.
If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.”
38 And that is what happened.
Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me.
Let me make just one more request.
Allow me one more test with the fleece.
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