Jesus and Gideon

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.

Judges 6:10 ESV

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.”

Jesus Comes to Save

Judges 6:11 ESV

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.

Jesus Calls Gideon

Judges 6:12 ESV

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

Gideon is hiding

Gideon means “hacker, or one who breaks into pieces”

Gideon Lacks Faith

Judges 6:13 ESV

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.”

lord vs. LORD

Lack of understanding of the state of Israel

Fails to see sin as sin

Jesus Calls Gideon AGAIN

Judges 6:14 ESV

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?”

Judges 6:15 ESV

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.”

His clan is the weakest

In chapters 7 and 8 we find that his fathers household carried significant power and strength

1 Corinthians 1:27 ESV

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

Why? Because it is Jesus strength that accomplishes the work he has called us to do.

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.”

How many men does God need to defeat the Midianites?

Judges 6:17 ESV

And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.

show -> perform

If he believed in the one who was calling him a sign would not be necessary.

Gideon Gives Up

Judges 6:18 ESV

Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

Judges 6:19 ESV

So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.

Jesus Performs

Judges 6:20 ESV

And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so.

Judges 6:21 (ESV)

Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

Now Gideon Believes

Judges 6:22 ESV

Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”

Oh no, I see the face of God. And my sin will be my death.

Judges 6:23 ESV

But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”

Faith Leads to Worship

Judges 6:24 ESV

Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

The Lord Commissions

Judges 6:25–26 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.”

Gideon’s Fearful Obedience

Judges 6:27 ESV

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.

The People Respond

Judges 6:28 ESV

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.

Judges 6:29 ESV

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.”

The People’s Justice

Judges 6:30 ESV

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.”

Judges 6:31 ESV

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.”

Gideons Fearful Consequence

Judges 6:32 ESV

Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

So What?

God’s Great Grace

God called, commissioned, and empowered Gideon not for Gideon but for Israel.

Our Responsibility

What?

We must remember God’s great deeds.

We must develop eyes that see and ears that hear Jesus

How?

Read the scriptures

Personal Testimony

Signs & Miracles

Obedience

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