2020-08-02 Judges 8.22-35

Judges 8:22–23 CSB

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

I. What Gideon got right.

Judges 8:22–23 CSB

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

A. Israel had the almighty God and desired to settle for a human.

Judges 8:22–23 CSB

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

Illus: Israel knew they needed leadership, they knew they needed someone to guide them, they just didn’t realize where to find their power an guidance.

There is a temptaion for every generatoin to find their hope in men and not in God. THe temptaion for every generation is to look to human leadership for a hope that only God can give.

Every 4 years we enter into an election cycle. Politics prey on your fears. They form the narrative that if you do not vote for such and such candidate then america is going to be out of the control of God’s hands.

This year the heat of politics has been especially hot. More than hot is has brought the polorization to a point where every aspect of society is political.

I will sadly admit that I have been told by some that I’m not leading our church in obedience to God when I do not walk in step with one political party or the next.

Hear me clearly friends, yes, our faith should inform our politics, but our politics should never dictate our faith.

Christians should not bow at altar for elephants or donkey, we only bow to king Jesus.

Earlier this week I asked some questions online… I believe the answer to those questions can show whether your heart belongs to God or politics.

Does the thought of losing the next election leave you fearful and hopeless for our country?

Do people who vote or advocate differently than you bring such anger in your heart that you harbor bitterness and rage for them?

Do you shut your ears when the word of God differs from your political perspective or calls you to interact with gentleness?

Is the great passion of your life promoting your politician or party?

Is the gospel or the next election the way God will transform this country?

Is your first allegiance to God or your party?

By the way, Gideon was not the last time Israel abandoned God to follow a human ruler.

1 Samuel 8:1–7 CSB

1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2 His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. 3 However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest profit, took bribes, and perverted justice. 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.” 6 When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord. 7 But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king.

B. Gideon understood that only God should rule.

Judges 8:22–23 CSB

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

Illus: God rules. When you realize it and view the world through God’s complete dominion everything changes.

Follow me on this, when you place you hope in human rulers… so much to the point that you become hopeless to the prospect of them losing an election… you are not viewing the world through God’s dominion.

When you become so completely obsessed with argument of the day that you you dwell on it, argue about it, and begin to allow how you view others through their responses to it… you are not viewing the world through God’s dominion.

When you view the world through God’s dominion, the way you see every thing changes.

Panic does not overwhelm your heart because you rest in the sovereignty of God.

You don’t view political wins or losses as the ultimate ends of the church because you trust that God is weaving both the good and the wicked into his eternal plan of redemption.

Today I am not asking you to care about our country. I am asking you to return to your first love, and allow it to transform the way you view your country and your fellow man.

When you view the world through God’s sovereign hand, you see God’s plan of redemption, and you understand that even politics take second place to God’s work of forgiveness.

How that applies today, is that we see the way scripture teaches radically about governmental interaction can make sense only when God is sovereign over the nations.

Dear friends, place you hope only in the powerful sovereign hand of God.

Romans 13:1 CSB

1 Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.

1 Peter 2:13–17 CSB

13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority 14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. 15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

II. What Gideon got wrong.

Judges 8:24–27 CSB

24 Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites. 25 They said, “We agree to give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it. 26 The weight of the gold earrings he requested was forty-three pounds of gold, in addition to the crescent ornaments and ear pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the chains on the necks of their camels. 27 Gideon made an ephod from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

A. Gideon attempted to create a way to approach God.

Judges 8:27 CSB

27 Gideon made an ephod from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Illus: We are going to shift here. Gideon attempted to rightly discourage the people from giving man the place that God deserved.

That said, in an attempt to redirect people back to God he created something for them to worship instead of God.

An ephod is a priestly vest. The problem is that there was already an ephod to be worn by the priest in the tabernacle as God subscribed.

Gideon created his own priestly vest for his own home town.

This is the temptation, whether through a ruler or another form of worship, the wickedness of our hearts is always looking for lesser things to worship instead of God.

John Calvin says it well, “The human heart is an idol factory.”

I can empathize with Gideon. He thought he was doing something good. How many of our idols begin with elevating good pursuits to a place only God deserves.

When you give God the rightful place he deserves, all the other pursuits of your life take their rightful place.

My call today is to place Jesus first.

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

B. Don’t ever let the means of worship become the object of your worship.

Judges 8:27 CSB

27 Gideon made an ephod from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Illus: There is a subtle shift with the Israelites. Gideon created a means which attempted to help people worship God, and the people worshiped the means and not God.

This is an easy way to fall into idolatry in church. We take the means of worship and make it an object of worship.

We have a beautiful building, but this building is not the object of our worship. God is the object of our worship.

We have freedom to worship. That freedom is not the object of worship, God is the object of our worship.

We get to sing wondrously deep and beautiful songs to God, but those songs are not the objects of our worship, God is the object of our worship.

Anything, especially good things, can creep in and become an idol. God alone is the object of our worship.

Romans 1:25 CSB

25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

III. Don’t settle.

Judges 8:33–35 CSB

33 When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them. 35 They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.

A. God demands whole hearted allegiance, and will settle for nothing less.

Illus: Today I am going to challenge you not to settle for good things to devote yourselves to. God and God alone should own your devotion.

When Christ transforms your heart you see the world differently. You view the world through his death and resurrection.

You do not view the world hopelessly, but instead view the world through the grace given to you on the cross.

We should care about our country, our church, and even our freedom, but they should never become idols which keep us from God.

I am going to ask you today what is most important in your life. What do you spend most of your time thinking about. Where is your hope.

If it is any place other than God you have settled for an Idol.

Deuteronomy 10:12 CSB

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul?