Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.13UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.12UNLIKELY
Fear
0.14UNLIKELY
Joy
0.6LIKELY
Sadness
0.21UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.56LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.48UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.83LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.85LIKELY
Extraversion
0.11UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.46UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.76LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Introduction
We live in very perilous times.
We live in times of great conflict.
According to the Global Conflict Tracker there are at least 11 armed conflicts around the world that have a direct effect on U.S. interests:
Instability in Egypt
The civil war in Libya
Criminal violence in Mexico
Who eventually succeeds in these types of armed conflicts?
The country with the largest military?
The country with the latest weapons and technology?
The country with the most money?
The country with the most oil reserves?
It would be absolutely incredible to think that a small insignificant, or third world country, would be able to succeed in armed conflict against the United States.
It does not make sense!
In our journey through the Bible we come to where we see how God himself fought for his people Israel.
We learn about:
Gideon - God’s judge
Gideon’s army
God’s strategy
Godeon’s victory
I. Gideon - God’s chosen leader / Gedeón - El líder escogido por Dios
I. Gedeón - El líder escogido por Dios
We first encounter Gideon in as he was visited by the angel of the Lord as Gideon was threshing wheat:
When the angel of the Lord came to him, the people of God had been living under the impression of the Midianites.
The Midianites had been destroying God’s people’s crops.
They were attempting to overcome the people of God by possibly starving them to death.
Gideon hears the angel call him and he replies:
Judges 6.13
Gideon cries out to the angel because he knows God, in years past, had intervened on behalf of his people - but now the people feel abandoned by him.
They feel God has left them and given them over into the hands of Midian.
Nevertheless, the angel informs Gideon that he has been chosen by the Lord to save the people of God from their oppressors.
Gideon was not a great warrior.
In fact, he was the last person we would expect to be the commander of a great army:
Judges 6:
Gideon had received assurance from the Lord that he would be with him!
Gideon was not a man of great courage, he was not a man of great strength, but he had a great God who promised to be with him.
God would be with his servant Gideon.
Gideon would not go alone - the Lord was with him.
It is now Gideon’s job to gather up an army to fight against the Midianites.
II.
El ejército de Gedeón
II.
Gideon’s army / El ejército de Gedeón
Although Gideon was not a great commander, somehow he was able to gather a large army.
Judges 7:1-2
Apparently God sees the army that Gideon has gathered and determines that it is too large!
God thinks Gideon’s army is too large?
Well, how large was the Midianite army?
Judges 7:
Notice the great number of enemy soldiers.
Their number was so large that it could barely be counted.
What was God about to do?
What was God trying to accomplish?
III.
God’s strategy / La estrategia de Dios
III.
La estrategia de Dios
God reveals his clear purpose in verse 2.
God wants to make it clear that it is not Gideon and his strength, it is not Gideon and his great army, it is not their weaponry or their chariots - that will give them the victory!
God will demonstrate that it is by his power that they will ultimately be victorious.
They will be saved, not because of their great number or strength, but will be saved by God’s might!
Gideon must reduce the number of his soldiers.
God’s first strategy to reduce the number of soldiers is for Gideon to allow all who are fearful to return to their homes.
Judges 7:3
Gideon’s army has just been reduced 22,000 men.
He is now left with only 10,000.
This means that Gideon’s army was originally 32,000 men of war.
He has now lost more than half of his original army.
How could he possibly fight an army that cannot be counted with only 10,000 men?
Well, at least he has 10,000 men!
But God is not allow Gideon to fight with 10,000.
He must continue to reduce the size of his army.
Judges 7:4
God tells Gideon to take his army to drink water.
God tells Gideon to observe those that kneel down drink water vs those that bring the water up to their mouths.
Gideon observes them.
9,700 men kneel down to drink water.
Surely, they will be his army!
However, that is not God’s will.
God tells him that the 300 that bring the water up to their mouths - will be his new army!
He must not go out with more than 300.
The Lord has spoken and he must obey!
IV.
La victoria de Gedeón
IV.
Gideon’s victory / La victoria de Gedeón
God, who knows all things, knows that Gideon is fearful!
For this reason he grants him to go into the enemy’s territory and listen in on a conversation.
What Gideon hears is absolutely astonishing.
Judges 7:13-
Someone has had a dream!
The enemy is afraid!
They know God will give Gideon the victory.
This energizes Gideon.
He knows that the Lord is on their side!
Gideon promptly divides the people into groups three groups of 100 men each.
They each have a trumpet (ram’s horn), a sword, and a clay pot with which they are covering a torch.
The plan is that when he gives the sign, his men, his 300 men, will break the clay pots, they will blow the horns, and have victory over their enemies.
The Bible gives us a dramatic recounting of the battle:
Judges 7:19-
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9