Sermon Tone Analysis

The Call of Gideon, part 1

The Lord is Peace

Prayer Series

Sunday, June 10, 2007

 

Introduction: We continue today to look at prayer and situations where we want pray from a biblical perspective.

Today we look at Gideon, from the book of Judges.

Gideon is called to lead his people in a time when the country of Israel has been overrun with Midianites who take all the produce and all the productiveness from Israel before they can even enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Israel has become complacent, to the point of apathy and sin actually relying of the gods of other peoples rather than remembering that God is their God and that He cares about the every day occurrences in our lives.

Simply put they have put their trust in their own labor, in what they can do for themselves.

And the curse on the nation is the Midianites who come in hordes to pillar Israel during the harvest.

This is a common occurrence during the Judges time of leading Israel.

Israel sins, forgets God, is miserable, calls upon God, God answers and delivers them through one of their own who is called to lead in a time of crisis.

The sin of Israel over and over again during this time is they have forgotten the Lordship of God over Israel.

Let’s pray and then look at the story.

" 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.”

And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, 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.”

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.”

And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speaks with me.

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.”

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.

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.

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 flesh and the unleavened cakes.

And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

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.”

But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you.

Do not fear; you shall not die.”

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."

(Judges 6:11-24, ESV) [1]

Let’s examine the passage:  There are lessons for us to learn from Israel’s plight and Gideon’s call.

*Lesson 1*: *Abandon the Lord and loose your productiveness.*

Time after time in Judges and throughout Scripture we see this lesson—God is His people’s source of blessing and productiveness.

Cease to call on the Lord in the dailyness of your life and you will find yourself having to be content with the works of your own hand—and your productiveness will never be enough.

*Lesson 2:*  *God cares about every aspect of our lives.

*He loves us with an everlasting love.

He wants to be a part of everything we do—not just when we get into crisis.

He is a God for the everyday of our life.

God comes to Gideon in a time when he is hiding in a winepress thrashing grain.

His very labor is limited because he fears the Midianites, who like locust steal all of Israel’s productiveness.

They have invaded the country—illegal people coming across the board to live on the productiveness of Israel—unwanted, un-asked for—but the result of a people who have ceased to call on the Lord who cares for them.

"casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."

(1 Peter 5:7, ESV) [2]   If you look at this passage in 1 Peter, what you will observe is Peter telling us that we must humble ourselves before God, cast all our worries on Him and He will at the proper time exalt us (lift us up).

And at the same time we must be watchful of the enemy who wants to devour us.

Lesson 3: Call upon the Lord and He will hear your call.

God always responds to our prayer—just like Pastor Bill said last week.

When we call on him, He will respond—He desires that we prosper even as our soul prospers.

That means we desires that we be productive people—that what we do has meaning and purpose.

God wants to bring meaning, purpose and productiveness to our life—in order for that to happen, we must call on Him.

He wants us to depend on HIM.

Lesson 4*:  He will take our fears and give us peace.*

Fear will always produce in us anxiety, worry, doubt, and finally unbelief.

It is progressive.

The more we fear, the more our unbelief will grow.

Look at Gideon.

He has come to the point that he believes that God has abandon them—that He no longer cares about Israel—and Gideon has become fearful and resentful.

The word “fear” is used 439 times in 423 verses in the Bible.

Fear brings paralysis and lack of action—it is a formidable weapon of the enemy (Satan) who will use it to devour and destroy us.

God is clear about fear—when used of fearing Him in almost every incident in Scripture it means having reverence and awe of Him.

When used of situations in almost always means paralyzing fear.

But He tells us: *"**There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."

*(1 John 4:18, ESV) [3]  And He also tells us in His word: *"**for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."*

(2 Timothy 1:7, ESV)

And Finally, where there is fear, God wants to replace it with His Peace.

He wants to become our peace.

See Gideon and the Altar.

[4]  In this Gideon is saying a compound name of the Lord—Jehovah Shalom—The Lord is My Peace.

*"**And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."*

(Philippians 4:7, ESV) [5]

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[1]  /The Holy Bible : English standard version./

2001.

Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

[2]  /The Holy Bible : English standard version./

2001.

Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

[3]  /The Holy Bible : English standard version./

2001.

Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

[4]  /The Holy Bible : English standard version./

2001.

Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

[5]  /The Holy Bible : English standard version./

2001.

Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.