A Lot with a Little

Gideon

“A Lot with a Little”

September 29, 2019

Introduction

This morning, we are continuing our series from the life of Gideon. We are do a four part sermon series from the life of Gideon. This is sermon three in the series.

Illustration: Underdogs (Karate Kid, Rocky, Rudy, Miracle on Ice, Saints)

Gideon is an underdog. Gideon is weak. He’s the least in his family, the runt of the litter. He’s afraid. He has doubts. Gideon is an underdog. He’s the Barney Fife of the judges. Gideon is an underdog.

The nation of Israel is an underdog. Israel has an army of 32,000 going against an army of 135,000. By the time Israel goes into battle, their army will be cut down to 300 soldiers. 300 against an army of 135,000 — Israel is the underdog. This is not a lesser team going up against a better team. This is the story of a powerless team going up against the mightiest force in the region. It would be the equivalent of a JV football team playing the Saints this afternoon. Israel is the underdog.

But here is what we are going to see today: God can do a lot with a little.

Read Text

God can do a lot with a little.

1. We have very little to offer God.

Theological: Gideon’s army of 32,000 is little compared the 135,000 army of the Midianites. Israel is outnumbered 4 to 1. But God is about to reduce Israel’s number.

V. 2: God’s math doesn’t seem to add up. Israel has to many soldiers. There is 135,000 and 32,000 of us.

v. 3: I wonder if Gideon tried to slip away. I wonder if God has to say — No you, Gideon, you are the leader of the army. Here’s the deal. 22,000 soldiers leave out of fear. Israel is down to 10,000 soldiers. Now, they are outnumbers 14 to 1.

v. 4: God says to Israel — You still have to many soldiers. They do the water test. Gideon is left with 300 soldiers. Now, Israel is outnumbered 450 to 1. They don’t even have 450 soldiers. Israel doesn’t have much to offer God. Their leaders is the Barney Fife of the judges. They have 300 soldiers.

Next, I want you to see their weapons for battle. Look at v. 16. This is almost laughable.

Illustration: Killing a snake with a 6 inch hoe. Sandra Moody goes into battle with 22.

Theological: Israel is not going into battle with a 22. Israel is not going into battle with a swords and shields. They are going into battle with trumpets, jars, and torches. Israel has very little to offer God. They have Barney Fife for their leader. They have 300 soldiers. Their weapons are trumpets, jars, and torches.

Application: We have very little to offer God. Sometimes, we think we bring a lot to the table. But we don’t. We have very little to offer God. We are weak. We are afraid. We have our doubts. We are small in number. We are wrecked by sin. We have very little to offer God.

But that’s the story of everyone in the Bible. David had very little to offer God when he face off against Goliath. He was a teenager with a slingshot. The boy who gave Jesus a lunch didn’t have much to offer: five small loaves and two small fish.

Transition: But as we are going to see. God can take a little and turn it into a lot.

2. God can do a lot with a little.

Theological: God has an unusual battle plan for Gideon and his army of 300. Unusual plans are the norm for God. It goes back to verse 2. God does things so that the only credit goes to Him not human beings.

V. 19-20: What’s going on here?

Illustration: Rogue One: Make 10 men feel like a hundred men

Theological: That is what’s going on here. God wants 300 hundred men to look like 300,000 men. The 300 soldiers have surrounded the Midiante camp. Trumpets and Torches would have signified a whole battalion of soldiers. 300 jars smashing would have simulated hundreds of thousands soldiers drawing their swords.

v. 22: The 300 defeated the 135,0000. God can do a lot with a little. This is at God at work not man. God can a lot with a little.

That’s what God does throughout the Bible.

David offered very little for God against Goliath. He was a teenager with a slingshot. But David had God.

(NKJV) Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand …

David defeated Goliath. God can do a lot with a little.

I think about the little boy that offered Jesus his lunch. the Bible emphasizes the 5 small loaves and 2 small fish. Jesus fed 5,000 with the five loaves and two fish. God can do a lot with a little.

Illustration: Rup Breland: Baseball (Roger Clemens: Rocket, 7 Cy Youngs, 354 wins), Football (Brees all time passing leader, super bowl champion, changed a franchise) and Basketball (Lebron NBA championships, 8 straight final four appearances)

Application: Whatever little we have. If we put in God’s hands, no telling what will happen. God can turn a little into a lot.

(NKJV) So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

That’s Gideon in this chapter. In chapter 6, Gideon is filled with doubt. In chapter 6, Gideon is questioning God, asking for signs. But in chapter 7, we see a little faith from Gideon. We see that Gideon was helplessly dependent on God.

Repeat

Wiersbe: The church today can also learn from this event and be encouraged by it. God doesn’t need large numbers to accomplish His purpose, nor does He need especially gifted leaders. Gideon and his 300 men were available for God to use, and He enabled them to conquer the enemy and bring peace to the land. When the church starts to depend on “bigness”—big buildings, big crowds, big budgets—then faith becomes misplaced, and God can’t give His blessing. When leaders depend on their education, skill, and experience rather than in God, then God abandons them and looks for a Gideon.

God does a lot with a little.

Conclusion

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