Judges 7-8

Introduction

1. Let’s turn to Judges 7:1.

2. In sports, we see many teams start out well but finish poorly – our own NY Giants for example.

3. God is more interested in great finishes than great beginnings.

4. We are continuing in our study of Judges.

a. Judges theme is “there was no king in those days, everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

b. Last time, we were introduced to Gideon and how God sees us as we can be not as we are.

5. Tonight, I want us to see that God can do great things with us, but that is not as important as maintaining our relationship with him.

I. Gideon does great things with a victory of Midian, but wanders toward the end of his life.

A. God gives Gideon a great victory over the Midianites.

1. God reduces the number of Israel for the battle (Judges 7:1-8).

a. Judges 7:2 is one of the most important verses in the theology of spiritual battle.

b. Midian had 135,000 (135 units based on eleah) and Israel had 32,000 (32 units).

c. God sends home the fearful in accordance with Deuteronomy 20:8.

d. God eliminates those who drank on all fours

·        Some spiritualize the process – those who lapped where on guard and weary while the those who drank on all fours were

·        The text only describes the selection process; it doesn’t provide any insight to the reasons why God selected the 300.

·        It is possible that if the rolls were reversed, God would have picked the 300 who got on all fours.

2. God confirms the victory for Gideon after the reduction in the forces (Judges 7:9-14).

a. God sends Gideon into the camp to hear the dream of a Midianite.

b. God encourages Gideon following the reduction of the troops on the heals of the fleece incident.

·        God answers the very fear of Gideon that prompted the fleece incident.

3. Gideon is victorious over the Midianites

a. Gideon acts immediately on the revelation of his victory.

b. Gideon comes at midnight with torches in the pitchers.

·        Normally a torch would lead a unit of men.

·        It could be that the Midianites thought that Gideon’s army was 300,000 men.

c. Gideon calls for the Ephramites to come and join the victory.

·        They capture and kill Oreb (raven) and Zeeb (wolf).

B. Gideon helps the nation transition as the people are free from the Midianites (Judges 8:1-23).

1. Gideon wisely answers the Ephramites concerning their complaints about process.

2. Gideon challenges the compromise of the people not providing bread as he pursued Zeba and Zalmunna.

a. Succoth was in the Jordan River Valley on the border of Israel.

b. They were probably unwilling to help due to exposure to reprisals from Midian.

3. Gideon refuses to take a position that is not his when the people want to make him king.

C. Gideon leads to wander from the Lord (Judges 8:24-32).

1. Gideon creates an ephod from the gold given by the people (Exodus 32).

2. Gideon dies and is buried in Ophrah.

a. He had many wives and 70 sons.

b. He had one concubine who bore him Abimelech (my father is king).

3. Although Gideon refused to be king, he lived like one (Deuteronomy 17:17 – horses, gold, and wives).

II. God is more interested in great finishes than great beginnings.

A. We can have a good start as we rest in God’s ability to bring the victory.

1. Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”1 Samuel 14:6

2. There is nothing wrong with taking inventory of our personal strengths, but in the final analysis, God is able to do a lot with a little.

3. God will bring the victory in every area of our lives as we rest in him and give him the glory.

a. It is not your financial ingenuity that will get you out of debt, but Christ can.

b. It is not your personal charisma that will win your neighbors, but Christ can.

c. It is not even your

B. We can maintain our position as we refuse to be distracted by complaints and compromise.

1. Notice how they attempted to distract Gideon from full victory by complaints and compromise.

2. It can be very frustrating in ministry when the complaints start to come.

a. Why do you do it that way – it’s mostly about process.

b. Why didn’t anyone call me?

c. How come he gets to do it?

·        It is amazing the good that can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit – Ronald Reagan.

3. It can be very disappointing to watch individual compromise out of fear of the enemy.

a. Actually, we are all probably guilty of this one.

b. The men of Succoth thought they could be retaliated against if they helped when Gideon was defeated.

c. Beloved, let’s just do the right thing and trust God for the results.

·        I have seen individuals negotiate relationships with individuals not wanting to take a stand out of fear of losing that person.

·        We negotiate with our employers sometimes to keep the boss happy at the expense of our faith.

·        This does not bring victory; we only get dragged through the briars.

C. We can finish well as we keep our eye on the prize not giving in to the flesh.

1. Paul said, “I have finished my course; I kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

2. May that be said of us; we have kept the faith.

3. We will be bombarded by so much that will undermine the faith, the Word, the Person of Christ, the Rapture, etc.

4. Let’s forget the things behind and press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ (Philippians 3:13-14).

Conclusion

1. Gideon does great things with a victory of Midian, but wanders toward the end of his life

2. God is more interested in great finishes than great beginnings.