The Call of Gideon

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Joshua exhorts the people

Judges are similar to kings but not...

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Judges 6:1–16 ESV

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. 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. 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.” 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, 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.” 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.”

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord SO the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. verse 1

Galatians 6:7–8 ESV

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

The people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites (verse 7) SO the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. (verse 8)

When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites (verse 7) the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. (verse 8)

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Had it not been for God sending a prophet, the people would not have known!

Had it not been for God raising up Gideon, the people would not have repented!

They never would have seen the connection between the their sin and their current situation.

God in his mercy sends his word. He tells them of their sin and calls them to obey. And then he rescues!

God appears to Gideon and in similar fashion as Joshua, calls him to action!

This is a big assignment for Gideon.

He will defeat the Midianites, to some degree unify the people and begin to purge the land of false worship

2. God was going to use Gideon to do many great things.

Not because no Gideon’s strength- he was often afraid

Not because of his heritage- His family was unfaithful

Not because of his faith- He had little

Why? Because of Gods faithfulness

How? Through God’s presence

Judges 6:16 ESV

And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

3. What all would Gideon do?

He will defeat the Midianites

To some degree unify the people

Begin to purge the land of false worship

Transition: Gideon is best known for his battle against Midian, where he whittles his army down to a mere 300 soldiers and they defeat the army of Midian. But before he could remove the physical stronghold, he had to remove the spiritual one. You see, the presence of the Midianite stronghold is a result, a symptom of a deeper issue!

Remember, God had punished the Israelites by giving them to the Midianites because Israel worshiped other gods, because they were breaking his law.

And Israel was worshipping other gods because they never finished defeating and destroying the enemy and their pagan altars! They decided to coexist!

God had clearly told them the dangers of not completely removed the idolatry of the land!

This makes sense doesn’t it? We find ourselves in the middle of allergy season and toward the end of flu. What often lets us know that we are sick is the symptom's. We know we are sick people we have a runny nose or a sore throat. Often times the doctor will prescribe some medicine that will relieve the symptoms only. Nothing wrong with that right. Just know, Claritin does not heal you; it only relieves the symptoms. You still need to heal. You still need to have the allergens removed. That pet dander, those cherry blossoms and all their pollen is killing you.

You got to love Febreeze. It smells wonderful doesn’t it? And their commercials are humorous. I never could get over the fact that it was a mask. Febreeze does not have the power to magically remove filth. It can overpower the smell of filth, but the filth is still there! Try it! Think about it. If you have a plate of rotting food slide under the bed of your 14 year old, you can unload a whole bottle of that stuff in their room and it will still have a plate of rotting food under the bed.

4. But first, He would clean up his own house!

In order to get rid of the smell you need to get rid of the plate of food. In order to for you to stop having the symptoms of a runny nose and a itchy throat, you need to get away from the pollen and dander!

4. Before Gideon could get rid of the Physical stronghold, He would have to remove the spiritual one!

The same night that the LORD came to Gideon, He told him to tear down the altar to Baal and the Ashterah in the stronghold.

Read

Judges 6:25–32 ESV

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. 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.

TRANSITION: The life of Gideon serves as a perfect depiction of the life of Israel.

God blesses

the people stray

God punishes

the people repent

God sends a deliverer

rinse, repeat!

the people are blessed

the people stray

What is worse, Israels situation after Gideon is worse than before Gideon. In fact, each judge gets worse and worse and the people grow more and more sinful.

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Joshua 24:14–18 ESV

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

Joshua 24:14–18 ESV

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

Joshua 24:14–18 ESV

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

Jesus is the final deliverer!

Romans 7:21–25 ESV

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Israel had many great leaders

Israel had many great Judges

Many great kings

Why? The people were actually unable!

Joshua 24:19–20 ESV

But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”

None of them were able to completely rid the land of her enemies and none of them could finally secure her borders!

This is a Job for Jesus alone! He alone is able to give us a new heart and keep us from stumbling!

Jude 24–25 ESV

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jude 24 ESV

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

The Call of Gideon

Introduction

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