a [Music] hi everybody got really quiet really really suddenly welcome welcome um much much of the Nashville world is on fall break this week so thank you so much for being here but we me and you we are on fall break from this study next week and so just logistically I think you'll get an email reminder or whatever but we are not here next week so I will see you in in two more from this week but that's kind of where so many of our friends um are today open up in your Bibles open up to Judges chapter six I hope hope hope that many of you had time to read chapters six seven and8 obviously there are so many details there more than we can completely cover here but we are going to cover a lot and do what we can but per usual but especially this week get those Bibles open have them where we can read along where you can look down Mark things see things um for yourselves this is a complicated story that that in light of the whole teaching of the scripture is fairly uncomplicated but you you weigh through the complication to get there so um it's familiar and unfamiliar at the same time and so um we need the Lord's Grace as we always do before we look at his word and get anything that he wants for us to get out of it so let's pray father thank you so much for um having us here this morning Lord to study together of all the people and all the world we are in this room together looking at your word and so Lord we thank you for the privilege of that and we thank you for the promises that come with that Lord that you will change us um Lord and that's what we want we look to you to you only Lord that you would not just save us from sin but that you would save us from self and Lord that you would draw us closer and closer to your own heart um Lord and that we may um become more like you when it all gets boiled down to what your goal is for us in this world it is christlikeness and so Lord I pray that this morning's study might be um movement toward that for all of us from the inside out and we pray it in Jesus name amen Gideon Gideon is probably someone who many of us have heard of the the deal in studying God's word is where does Gideon fit kind of in this book in the trajectory that is the downward spiral in in the Book of Judges as well as what is the fullness of this account what is the fullness of the story that the scripture records for us here and it starts in the same place that it always starts look with me at chapter six the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the lord it's that nice 360 they're always doing that 360 60 and always heading in the same direction this time the lord gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years 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 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 leave no sustenance in Israel no sheep or ox or donkey which is just a summary of all valuable livestock for them for they would come up with their livestock their tents they would come like locusts in number but they and their camels could not be counted so that they laid waste the land as they came in Israel was brought very low because of Midian and the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord okay starting starting to sound what really really familiar really really redundant same thing okay the same problems okay and this time it's Midian and the difference in midianite oppression is they're not just coming with this political dominance in this way it's a full exploitation they lay waste they lay waste to the entire land and so Israel is reduced to extreme poverty they are living like animals they are hiding here in caves there is dire dire distress now if you look at this dire distress and you've read the book of Deuteronomy which is the preamble to all of Joshua and judges you will see that exactly that dire distress was foretold and even promised in the face of idolatry in Deuteronomy chapter 8 it's not just that others will come upon you but they will eat your produce and they will take your thing and you will be reduced to living like animals and so what do you know that is exactly what is happening such dire distress that they're crying out after only seven years okay it was 18 years when we had eh Hood it was 20 years if you read the the accounts of Deborah and Barack um and this time they're crying out after only seven years and so we're all ready for the formula and what is the Lord going to do when they cry out he is going to raise up a deliverer and that is not what the next verse says okay look with me at verse seven when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the midianites now underline that they are not crying out to the Lord on account of the Israelites okay they're not crying out because of themselves they're crying out because of this enemy when they cry out on account of the midianites the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel okay and he said to them thus saith the Lord the god of Israel underline all subjects and verbs here I led you up from Egypt I brought you out of the house of bondage I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you I drove them out before you and I gave them I 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 God does not immediately send a deliverer God sends a prophet to them in answer to their cries and what does this Prophet say he rehearses God's grace okay he recounts all of God's grace for them he repeats God's command to them and levels God's accusation at them because you've cried out to me and crying out to me presupposes a relationship and yet you don't want a relationship I mean and so basically he's just trying to kind of do the math for them they're crying out for a rescue and the Lord sends them a sermon and why is he doing that because he's saying I listen to your voice you have not listened to mine we are not in a relationship here and so what they need more than rescue and more than relief and more than Deliverance is that they need understanding they need understanding this is what is going on Ralph Davis says we want to escape our circumstances and God wants us to rightly interpret our circumstances okay we want to escape them and God wants us to rightly interpret them they hate the consequences of their sin they hate the circumstances that their sin has placed them in but they don't hate the sin they don't hate the idolatry that has caused all of this and so we expect a deliverer to come or that this Prophet will set Deliverance in motion and all the prophet does is explain how they have forfeited any right to ask for deliverance they have forfeited any right at all to ask for deliverance and then it just stops where does the sermon go from there we are expecting a dot dot dot dot dot therefore judgment and there's not a therefore and the crazy thing is that there is not a judgment and the next thing you know you turn over to verse 11 and there is the beginning of the most important word in the craziest way that gives us an insight into the love and the patience of God is what is the first word in verse 11 now now right now in the midst of that okay in the midst of what he just told them is true right now God does raise up a deliverer and in his grace he raises up Gideon and you're like get comfortable of course Gideon he's one of the god Squad he's one of the guys like you don't get past first or second grade Sunday school that you have not studied Gideon he is an of course guy and not if you've read the scripture if you read these passages it's not of course it is what in the world is Gideon a good guy or is he a bad guy it's really hard to tell actually it's not really hard to tell he's a really bad guy okay can God use him for the good and the answer is yes so much of our misunderstanding of Gideon is from a partial profile we have not read his biography we have read his LinkedIn profile and for some reason we teach LinkedIn profiles in our animated lessons like these simple equations they're always these simple equations right ask God to do this he'll do this for you let's close in prayer prayer and there's always more to it than that so we've got to look past this partial profile we've got to look past this LinkedIn profile so that we can get the whole story because only in the whole story do we get a true picture of God only in the whole story do we get a true picture of God obviously there's so much here that we are going to be surveying this okay think of it as the picture B book version of of the novel we we had a picture book version of Charles dick A Christmas Carol that was you know this beautiful thing and then my son got to middle school and they go to English class and they get assigned A Christmas Carol and he gets this book handed to him and he is like somebody expanded our picture book right I mean that was that was his thing like somebody I mean that's our thing is like oh my stars did somebody add all this to the story of Gideon right we we're going to do the picture B version but we're going to do the full picture book version in hopes that you will go back and real the read the real thing that you will go back and read and study the real thing you've got split personality Gideon you've got Gideon 1.0 and you've got Gideon 2.0 okay and they're both here and they're both here so let's unpack it in the picture book fashion look at back in chapter 6 begin in verse 11 the angel of the Lord now now the a now in the midst of their crying out and they're forfeiting any right to cry out now now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terabit at ofra which belonged to joash the abas right while his son Gideon was beating out the wheat in the wine press to hide it from the midianites because remember they were living in caves so he's hidden in a wine press threshing wheat there instead of on a threshing floor and the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him the Lord is with you oh mighty man of Valor and G and Gideon said to him please sir 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 us saying did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt but now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian so far Gideon sounds what like any old Israelite let's let's figure out what we're starting with here where is God every time every time things don't go well in our lives and he doesn't show up to be our powerful Divine personal assistant where is God how dare God okay Gideon sounds just like everybody else and the Lord Smite him that's what you expect to read after he just said this look at verse 14 and the Lord turned to him 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 Gideon 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 he said to him Gideon said to him if now I have found favor in your eyes show me a sign that it is you who speak with me please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you and the Lord said I will stay until you return so Gideon goes into the house he prepares an entire young goat with all of its broth and prepares bread from an epha of flow which is 22 liters so takes a long time time Brick Oven to bake all of this bread and to prepare this whole young goat and he brings all of this with the broad and comes out to them and the angel of the Lord said take the meat the unleavened cakes put them on this rock pour the broth over them and Gideon did so the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand touched the meat and the unleaving cakes and fire sprang up from the Rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord and Gideon said alas oh Lord God I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face but the Lord said to him peace be to you do not fear you shall not die then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it the Lord is peace to this day it still stands in ofra that night the Lord said to him take your father's bull the second Bull seven years old pull down the altar of Baal that your father has and cut down the ashro that is beside it build an altar to the Lord your God on top of the stronghold here with stones laid in order then take the second Bull offered as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asher that you shall cut down so Gideon took 10 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 now night when they wake up the next morning Baal has been torn down Ashera has been chopped up there is a bullet sacrifice to the Lord um on top of all of this and they tell joash his father bring him out that he may die they take they don't take God very seriously they take their Idols very seriously and joash Rises up and says if he's really baale let him contend for himself let him contend for himself and no one ever did that so they name they nicknamed Gideon jobal which means let Baal contend now we go down and then say now all the midianites verse 33 all the midianites the amalekites the people of the East came to go they crossed the Jordan they encamped in the valley of jezrael and Israel but the spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon he shound he sounded the trumpet the abas rites were called out to follow him he sent Messengers throughout all Manasseh they were called to follow him he sent Messengers to Asher zebel and nap and they all went up to meet him stop right there let's stop right here in Gideon 1.0 okay and we've got boom boom we've got all these things just to give us a road map for our picture book here that we may may stay on track with what is happening as the story as the account here unfolds God visibly shows up to Gideon as he does to no other judge no other judge receives this kind of theophonic though God shows up in a way to him that he does to no one else he is the only judge to receive a theophany like this a manifestation of God he's the only one that God speaks to in this way to this degree directly and how does Gideon respond Gideon 1.0 in the first place he points a finger okay this is quite the the Bold thing it's like you've got this at least Angelic visitor before he really realizes that it is a manifestation of God and look at Gideon's interpretation of what's been going on compared to God's okay we saw God's through the voice of the Prophet I did all these things for you and you have turned from me and Gideon is where has God been like we're really suffering here and we thought God lived to do cool things for us that's what we were told that he did for our forefathers and why is he not doing them for us he's actually blaming god with his highly selective history here I mean it sounds like a woman sitting there with her adulterous lover and like blaming her husband because he didn't send flowers I mean that's the situation that you that you find him in right here pointing the finger at God Gideon says God abandoned us and he is put us into the hands of Midian where we know from all of Judges is that the reason that the Lord put them in the hands of Midian is because he has not abandoned them okay because he is still pursuing them and his love again Gideon is not different God has not chosen the one righteous man in Israel to raise up to be a deliverer he sounds just like everybody else he is expecting even demanding that God do something for them instead of do something in them which is why we cry out to God Lord do this for me leave me me alone take care of this for me and so Gideon is resistant here because of who he thinks God is that God doesn't love them the way that Gideon thinks that he should sounds like Where's God how could God do this why won't God do that why is he not stepping up to do everything in my life that I have decided that he should do and instead of even correcting him the Lord Lord's like I'm glad you mentioned that I'm glad you mentioned that because actually I am going to step in I do love Israel I am going to deliver them and I'm going to use you to do it and then Gideon says what hold on hang on right there and he paints this brief picture of himself outlining the reasons that he is absolutely not the guy and it probably makes him think at the same time so you are probably not the God shows what you know I am part of the weakest Clan I am the weakest member here of the weakest Clan he is outlining his unsuitability to immediately disqualify himself and what does God say no but you're really great what does he say no duh all true okay no du we're not talking about you get what does he say he answers with one thing but I will be with you that's it what you need to know is that I will be with you in other words Gideon you're not painting a wrong picture you're painting a picture of the wrong deliverer you're you're in the totally wrong you're in the totally wrong place with with your with your thinking here and your faith probably okay you're not painting a wrong picture you're painting a picture of the wrong deliver and so God does not contradict what Gideon says about himself he does not contradict what Gideon says about himself he contradicts Gideon with what he says about himself the the but God all through the scripture not but you really are but you really aren't it's not but you at all it is but I will be with you God has nothing more to offer than that God has nothing less to offer than that because that is what everything that is everything my dad called one of his congrats a number of years ago and the seven-year-old daughter answered the phone and she said hello and he said hey honey what what what are you doing she said well nobody's home and he said oh wait are are are you at home alone she said I Am Me and Bobby and Billy and Johnny and daddy we are all here all alone mom is running errands right because what if mama ain't home what ain't nobody home okay it doesn't matter who else is there y'all if the Lord is not with us no one is with us if God is with us then what does it ask if God is with us then what then who can be against us I mean that's what he is offering is everything that there is everything that we need and there is nothing else that we do he does not tell him about the when or the where or the how he tells him the who he is always telling him the who Gideon is resistant not because he's really so humble it's because he really thinks he's wiser than God that that it always comes off as this a Shucks who me okay it always comes off as this humility but it's really really I think I am wiser than God but he's like hm this is interesting so he prepares this test he prepares this meal for this one whom he's not quite sure who he is so verse 17 let me make sure this is really you and so it's interesting it says the angel of the Lord appears him under the terth tree and after hours and hours and hours and hours of preparing a whole goat and 22 liters of flour into bread and all this stuff and packaging it up you know how it is to take meals to people it's always the pain to pack it up packing it all up and bringing it all out what does the next verse say the angel of the Lord is where still sitting under the taboth tree and this is just unbelievable just patience on the part of God let me make sure this is really you and the Lord has him lay it out on the Rock probably the rock where he had been sitting as an altar pour broth over it as a liation and then fire comes up okay out of the rock for at the at the touch of a staff fire comes up and consumes it and what is Gideon's response this is so great it's really you it's what oh no oh no it's really you and now he is completely terrified because he knows that no one can see the face of God and live maybe he's not so confident contradicting God as he thought now this is the only kind of sense that we see this is a totally legitimate reaction it's kind of when Elijah runs away and goes to complain to the Lord and then when the Lord shows up he like hides trembling in the Rock right because he has some small understanding of what he is dealing with he prepares that test and the test says yes this is me and now Gideon really doesn't know what to do with himself but he worships he he understands and he worships and in that correct understanding for just a moment he performs a couple of these tasks that he is told to do he tears down this altar he chops up the pole he takes the C he make he takes the Bulls and he makes the sacrifice and somebody says oh but he did it at night he was still really really fearful look he's not we're not looking for a hero we're just looking for obedience so I don't care when he did it okay but but he did it okay and the next morning they wake up and see that this is all going on now that really what that does is give us context for Gideon's complaints against God which represent Israel's complaints against God they have been crying out to the Lord to deliver them while what they got idol set up in their backyard I mean they have Idol you're like wait what and he is like where is the Lord why isn't the Lord helping us right while he's got these Idols set up in his backyard this is letting us know again and and again and again like it does God's main battle is not with Midian God's battle is with Israel God's battle is with them for their heart and for all of us that have some disappointment with the Lord right now and some frustration with the Lord right now his first question to all of us is can you identify the idols in your backyard can you identify those things that you really look to all the time you want me to fill in the gaps when things don't go well with your Idols you want me to mop up after your idols and so it's just a a pause to realize where Gideon was coming from and how he represents Israel here in this way and yet god um affirms what he has done with this surprising protection that's coming from his father whose Idols they were and for this moment joash actually appears stronger here than Gideon and he is spared and then Gideon blows the trumpet and calls his clan and calls his tribe and calls the neighboring tribes that surround this Valley of jezrael who are going to be most um most affected by the fact that Midian has crossed over and the Lord affirms this they come they actually come because Gideon has blown the trumpet and you say and you're thinking okay Gideon's now he's on a roll and he is going to look and all the men are with him now and he is going to say what next Lord and no he does not he does not do that he pauses in total fear all over again there are two things we know about Gideon from his link from his kind of LinkedIn profile okay one is that he has this famous battle that we'll talk about in just a moment the other is that he lays out this fleece and you talk about some crazy stuff you go read what people have to say about that fleece okay if you read God's word okay plainly and simply it is just not confusing at all when we talk about laying out a fleece we are usually talking about something totally different than is being said here let's read it together verse 36 then Gideon said to God this is after the the idols have been torn out after he's blown the trumpet after all the men have gathered then then Gideon said to God if you will save Israel by my hand as you have said behold I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor if there is DW on the fleece alone it is draw around the ground then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand as you have said and it was so when he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece he rung enough de from the fleece to fill a bowl with water then Gideon said to God let not your anger burn against me let me speak just once more please let me test just once more with the fleece please let it be dry on the fleece only and on all the ground let there be due and God did so that night and it was drawn on the fleece only and on the ground there was due is that a passage about Discerning God's will absolutely not absolutely not this is a passage about what obedience I mean Gideon is acknowledging this if you will do what you said as you plainly said and if will do what you said then if as you plainly said would you please plainly do this even though you have plainly said I mean what is happening here is just faltering reluctant fearful scrap of faith that is trying to kick the can down the road as long as he can this is not about discernment this is about his reluctance not his reluctance to to to um believe his reluctance here to obey here's the real question would Gideon have put out one fleece if not these two fleeces if God had told him to do something he wanted to do my husband is the only person I ever prayed would ask me out and when he did I didn't pray at all I said yes okay I said yes right we don't stop and pray when we are being asked to do the things that we want to do what is Gideon questioning God about something he has already commanded something that according to Gideon he has already plainly said it's about obedience and it is about willingness do not pray about being faithful to your spouse pray for your heart in that but as God has plainly said do not pray whether or not we should give generously and tithe pray about our hearts in that our willingness what needs to be changed in us but what God has plainly said God has already given Gideon more Assurance than he has given to any previous judge and it's this impertinence that is this reluctant and faltering faith and how does the Lord made it with no reproach at all is that crazy is that he's already been sitting under a taboth tree all day long right I mean it it's like why is there no no reproach here because he Stoops down again and again and again to reassure Gideon in the midst of his resistance the miracle is not the fleece the miracle is the patience of God the miracle is the patience here of God and we're like Gideon oh the Lord just meets us again and again and again I took communion last week and you know what I need it this week and I need it the next week and why has the Lord given us what are called means of Grace why does he give us means of Grace why hasn't he written a lot more than just this word that we read something new every day for the rest of our lives because we have to read the same thing again and again and again we get to sing the same songs and offer up the same prayers and repeat the same Creeds and take the same Sacrament again and again and again if you see that as Christian Duty instead of the Miracles of God's patience with us I think about it so often when I'm taking communion the way my dad would say it to me every he would say have I told you today that I love you have I told you today that I love you come to his table come to his work has he told you today that he loves you because he does and he does and he does and that's what he is doing here for Gideon we don't need fleeces to discern God's will we need the means of Grace to strengthen us to do it we need the means of Grace to strengthen us to do it he gives more grace you need more ask him he says you may have more and you may have more and you may have more grace upon Grace upon Grace this is hardly the formula of the Lord just raising up a deliverer immediately and deliverer delivering his people no one else in judges gets more Assurance no one else has greater doubt and yet the Lord continues to pursue him in the second place here under 1.0 okay is that not only is he resisting he does reveal here God's power he reveals God's power this is the good stuff chapter seven then jbel which is the new nickname Gideon and all the people who were with him Rose early and encamped beside the spring of Herod and the camp of Midian was north of them by the hill of morah and the valley the Lord said to Gideon the people with you are too many for me to give the MIDI ites into their hand lest Israel boast over me or boast against me saying my own hand saved me now therefore Proclaim in the ears of the people saying whoever is fearful and trembling since there are like 135,000 midianites whoever is fearful and trembling let him return home and hurry away from here hurry away from Mount Gilead 22,000 of the people returned and 10,000 remained the Lord said to Gideon the people are still too many take them down to the water and I will test them for you there any one of whom I say to you this one shall go with you shall go with you and any one of whom I say to you this one shall not go with you shall not go so he brought the people down to the water and the Lord said to Gideon everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps you shall set by himself likewise everyone who kneels down to drink and the number of those who laed putting their hands to their mouths with 300 men but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink the water and the Lord said to Gideon with the 300 men who laed I will save you and give the midianites into your hand let all the others go every man to his own home verse eight is where I am and and so the people took provision their hands and their trumpets he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent he retained the 300 men and the camp of Midian was below them in the valley okay the other famous part here you've got this forested reduction okay this Forest reduction here in the troops whoever is afraid in other words all the smart people all the smart people went home okay because they all should be afraid 22,000 of them then he says still what still too many and so they go to the thing n 9,700 okay kneel down to drink and 300 lap in with this way with 300 I will save you the only thing that probably has more terrible crazy out there misinterpretations than the fleece is the 300 I have read crazy stuff this week and it's why they are strategically wiser it's why they're more military ready and all of this thing y'all that is only assigning some kind of military or at least moral value to something that is meant to be arbitrary that's the whole point of the story is that this is meant to to be arbitrary there is no value in it at all I am from a little tiny town we had about two restaurants when I was really little one of them was a Sonic if you are from a small town okay here is what you know you never ever park on the close side of a sonic you just don't you pull around to The Far Side of a Sonic now all you City Slickers are looking at me all the small town people y'all are naughty you you feel me okay okay okay why do you do that I have no idea but I mean it is law I mean I I I can remember the first time I was at a Sonic with my husband he grew up in Dallas he is a city Slayer he is like about to park on the close side of a Sonic I was like ah I mean I I was so offended I mean now my children get it they would never ever they were raised right okay y it's it's arbitrary why the 300 because they were fewer than the other kind if 300 had knelt down it would have been the kneelers okay the whole point is I want to send over 99% of these people home I'm basically keeping the rest of them as eyewitnesses that's it okay I want to send over 99% of the people home the 300 are not the epitome of Israel's strength they are a sign of her weakness okay they are a sign of her weakness because when we are weak then he is not it's not that that makes the Lord strong it just shows how strong he is to think of this as some kind of elite fighting force is to completely undo the purpose for which the Lord did the reduction okay that there is nothing Elite or special about them at all the whole point he explains to us in the key verse which is verse two I am doing this so there is nothing to boast in I am doing this so you cannot boast against me so there's no way that this was anybody but me I'm not doing this to make you weak with 22,000 you're with 32,000 you're still weak right I'm doing this out of love for you so that you'll know you're weak I'll do I'm doing it so that you will know your week and then this is just dear read with me verse nine that same night the same night he lost over 99% of his people that same night the Lord said to Gideon arise go down against the camp for I have given it into your hand if you are afraid if you are afraid to go down go down to the camp with Pur your servant and you shall hear what they say and afterward your hand shall be strengthened to go down against the camp so Gideon went down with pure his servant to The Outpost of the Armed men who were in the camp and the midianites the amalekites the people of the East lay along the valley like Locust in abundance their camels were without were without number as the sand that is on the sea seashore in abundance when Gideon came Behold a man was telling a dream to his Conrad and he said behold I dreamed a dream and behold a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian came to the tent Struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat and his comrade answered this is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of joash a man of Israel God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp as soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation he worshiped he returned to the camp of Israel and said arise for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand who needs this this is not necessary to the story okay I mean but this isn't a story about Gideon it's a story about God and what do we see Gideon I know you're still afraid and so he gives him the strongest sign yet unasked for on the same day that he took all of his troops away and it was quite a sign in the midst of 135,000 people sitting there the irony is that Gideon gains more strength from hearing this from a midianite than he did from hearing it from the Lord but the Lord knows that about him and in assures him anyway and he knows that it's true I mean it's so crazy you know that it's true you always know the truth when you e drop right I mean let's be honest right I mean my biggest fear because I've done it before is you're talking on the phone back in the call waiting days and somebody Beeps in before it it's all labeled for you who everybody was and you click over and it's like hey it sounds so you're like hey yeah hey hang on one second and then you click back over to your real friend you're like oh my stars you're never gonna believe who's on the phone and their voice says oh it's still me my worst okay so you always really know right when you're e dropping on what you were not meant to hear so he knows this is true this is not God sent a message Meer from him but God let him EES drop and what does what is the Lord communicating to him Gideon I'm not telling you that you may not fear I'm not commanding you I'm telling you that you need not fear do we ever hear it that way we think that like bucking up is one more way we have to obey God okay I just I will not be afraid I will not be afraid the Lord is loving and telling me the reason that you may not fear is because it makes no sense you need not fear there is nothing of that you need to be afraid of you are a barley loaf I mean not necessarily the most you know complimentary picture here you are a barley loaf that is just going to roll into the camp and it's going to blow the whole thing down because of my will for you if someone loves you they love to assure that they love you and that's what the Lord does for him and that's what the Lord does for us and therefore Gideon worships 7:15 chapter 7 verse1 15 Gideon in the midst of this most urgent same night they're going to attack biggest hurry that there has been thus far he falls down on his face and worships this is the only place in the Book of Judges that you will find an Israelite on their face worshiping God kind of crazy okay this is the only time you will find one of them on their face worshiping God the Lord has given him out of his great love for him this final assurance and then you've got the cool battle verse 16 and I've got to find verse 16 um as soon as Gideon heard he fell down and he worshiped he returned to the camp of Israel and said arise the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand he divided the 300 men into three companies he put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars with torches inside the jars he said to them look at me do likewise when I come to the outskirts of the camp do as I do when I blow the trumpet I and all who are with me blow the Trumpets on every side of the camp and scream for the Lord and for Gideon so Gideon and the H hundred men who were with him came to the outst starts of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch when they just set the watch they blew the trumpets they smashed the jars that were in their hands then the three companies blew the trumpets broke the jars they held in their left hands the Torches and in their right hands the trumpets to blow and they cried out a sword for the Lord and for Gideon every man stood in his place around the camp and all the Army ran they cried out and fled when they blew the 300 Trumpets the Lord set every man sword against his comrade and against all the Army the Army fled as far as all these places and these borders and all of this stuff and they pursued after Midian that's the story that we all know that here is the famous battle and the famous route again look at subject's verb they blow They smash they shout they stand and they win that's what they do okay they have two hands in one hand they hold what a torch that had a jar over it and in one hand they hold a what a trumpet what do they not hold a sword a sword for the Lord and a sword for Gideon except for nobody's got any swords okay the only swords in that story are Midian swords turned against each other which again why are we talking about the 300 being an elite fighting force they can hold things right that's what they're good at they can hold things and they can scream really really loud no weapons okay no weapons at all that is the story they are just standing there it doesn't even say at that point that they were running I would say that they were what on the right team I mean I was I was play on a volleyball team at one of our summer conferences one time and I never ever ever touched the ball and at the end they made me this thing that I was called the MVP and of course I thought it meant most valuable player page and they called it most valuable potted plant okay that that's what they call me I did not contribute at all these these they are the most valuable potted plants that's all they are they are just actually standing there God can do it without them we see all these accounts of the Old Testament that he does do it without them why does include them because he loves them and Gideon gets this at the beginning what does he go down to say arise God has given Midian what into your hand that sounds just like the Book of Joshua God has given already in the past God has given them in to your hand this is the power of God in neon lights there were no swords for them no one else did any thing the question is never ever are we being strong for God is do we know how strong he is for us we ask it so wrongly all the time not who am I in Christ who is Christ in me the whole point is to start with who is he who is He Who Is He And Gideon is there for just a moment I love it when people say and God showed up I never know what that means right because he was there or when people say it was such a God thing I mean what isn't right I mean what isn't such a God thing it's always about his presence and his power the same presence that is promised to us and we just want to be able to close in prayer and most sermons do that's where we stop with Gideon 1.0 I looked on this website that just consolidates great sermons from all the scripture all over the place there were five times as many sermons in judges in on on Judges chapter six and seven as they were on chapter eight because it just we like the 1.0 we don't really like here the 2.0 but there is a 2.0 and the Lord records it for us okay 1.0 is all of his hesitant all of his hesitant 2.0 is all of his hubris okay if you read the rest the account you know that this is coming it starts when you basically he he pacifies the the ephraimites who were not included in the battle and he's very diplomatic with him and then everything changes in verse 4 in chapter 8 and Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over now y'all I don't know you have people that are really really different like he was this way and then he went in the office and he was a completely different way or she got I mean y' he crosses the Jordan and something snaps there is Gideon before he crossed the Jordan and there is Gideon after he crossed the Jordan a new Gideon a different Gideon a 2.0 Gideon emerges on the other side of the Jordan all of a sudden he left God's purposes on this side and Crosses over to pursue his own he crosses over to pursue his own we talk about people coming into their own I think that's really what this means he is coming into his own to his own self he is coming fully here into his own self there is no more worship okay in in this chapter there is no more talking here with with the Lord if you look in chapter8 he pursues okay he is pursuing these two kings of the midianites and the rest of the people he comes to there are some Israelites that live if you remember the allotment of the land that live on the east side of the Jordan the tribe of Reuben the tribe of GAD and half of the tribe of Manasseh he comes to two tribe to Two Towns sorry in the tribe of GAD he comes to suck and DEP penel and he basically says my men are absolutely exhausted do you have bread for us' and they say do you already have these Kings in your hand no I don't think so we're not giving you anything because you don't have these Kings in your hand and he says I will have them and when I do I'm coming back to thrash you with thorns and Briars and he goes to Pinel to the next city and ask the same thing will you give me bread and they basically say the same you don't have them in hand no we're not going to give you any bread and he says when I come back I'm going to tear down this tower now they lived on the Midian side of the river they were wrong to refuse to help him they they they should have helped him okay but they were also at Great risk they were at very great risk if things did not go well on that side of the river so it makes a little bit of sense verse 13 so he um he does capture the Kings they they they find the Midian army they defeat the they defeat the the remainder of the Midian Army he captures Zeba and Zuna the two kings then Gideon son of joaz returned from the battle by the by the ascent of heris he captured a young man of suck Town number one and questioned him he wrote down from him the officials and Elders of suck 77 men and he came to the men of suck and said behold Zeba and Zuna about whom you taunted me saying are the hands of Zeba and zmona already in your hand that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted he took the Elders of the city he took Thorns of the Wilderness and Briars with them and taught them in of suck the lesson he broke down the Tower of Pinel and killed the men of that City wait what what Gideon 2.0 Gideon and all of the hubris here he all of a sudden is taking matters into his own hands he was to get rid of Midian okay Midian were not the IES in Canaan this was not that kind of holy war they had to go back to their own land they could no long he delivered Israel from them and then it was supposed to stop now you've got this obsession over personal revenge in more than one way and what do you not have no conversation with the Lord no looking to him no reaching out no praying for him 40 times in chapter six and seven there is communication between Gideon and the Lord none in chapter eight none whatsoever the here's the thing advancement is a perilous thing success is here a very perilous thing he has taken all of these matters into his own hands I will con conduct this War I will exact this Revenge what Revenge so much so that now Gideon is turning on his own people they should have helped him they should have given him bread but again they had legitimate fear Gideon is the first judge to turn his sword against Israel now he does have a sword and now is he using his sword he is turning his sword on Israel you've got this crazy just kind of chilling ruthlessness here and this escalating violence he goes from whipping them and beating them and thrashing them to what to killing them all the way through on the same Continuum you've got this cruel excess of his revenge and who is he killing he's killing Israelites that what did not threaten him at all they did not threaten him at all they did not help him but they did not threaten him and if you are taking a step back from this account what do you see do you see the Irish do you see the irony of how he treated people who dared to doubt him compared to the way that the Lord treated him when he doubted the Lord I mean it it is truly like something has FL because it's it's like the parable of the unforgiving servant I mean it's just it it's almost parabolic it's such a crazy change in him let me tell you our greatest danger for all of us sitting in here right now it is not failure it is success it is success success feeds our idolatry it fed his idolatry Tim Keller says so much about this in his commentary as he does in all of his teaching there is such a danger in the reception of any great blessing because we have created this narrative always that ultimately we really are going to do and save ourselves and then we receive a blessing which seems to enforce that narrative see this really is working I really am this beautiful I really did make this much money my kids really are this cool and this sought after whatever it is that then reinforces that narrative the worst thing that can happen to us so often is that we have some success because it affirms everything that's idolatrous in our hearts already that's why the key verse was chapter 7 verse two I want to keep you from this idolatry says the Lord you've got to know that it's me it's going to be me whether you know it or not so my blessing to you and my gift to you is that you would know that it is me he does that for Israel's sake he does that for Gideon's sake and yet Gideon credits himself I will show you a lesson I will grab these Kings I have had this great Victory you cannot doubt me you better have gratitude or at least fear for what I I have done how dare you question me how dare you doubt me I'll show you what does he say I'll show you my strength when I get back I'll show you I'll show you who I really am this is how long it's taken for hesitant to become hubris how quickly can do we forget Grace how quickly do we forget Grace when we we have been so panicked in our job or in our marriage or with our children or with our ministry or with our social or whatever it is and we've ask and ask and ask the Lord to please intervene and he does and then it's who is God right who is God I've got it all going on you know what I hate I hate a double crossing story it makes me so uncomfortable sometime the last year the kids and I watched the count of Monty Christo it is just so uncomfortable and it UPS my youngest so much she goes I don't think I've ever seen anything that evil and I said okay I said tell me why you think that that you've seen scarier movies than that right tell me why you thought that was so evil she goes because he took everything from somebody else and acted like it was his own and used it for his own then to crush him and to imprison him and to and and Y that's who we're the double crossers I mean get here is the do there there is an evil in that of taking everything that the Lord has done and claiming credit for yourself and then using it against him and using it against his people Gideon here is focused on what he deserves do we really want to be focused on what we deserve I mean do we want to be focused on what we deserve and the Lord says it is only by my grace the real question for us is do we W Grace and our failures or do we run to Grace in our successes when is our prayer life most desperate when is our worship most robust when do we seek out the Lord's people when do we seek his face again and again and again when do we seek his Assurance because at that point we don't pray when everything's just great we don't pray we post that's what we we do look how this work I mean I'm so I just want my child to be asked to this I just want him to get into college I just want and then it's all pictures of look what he did look what we did look what we accomplished that is when we needed the most that is when we are in the greatest danger that's what we're seeing in Gideon is he really really that different because this is about him ultimately all hesitancy and faltering faith and this is about him it's not really as different as it be begins to look and then everything gets worse before we're done just in case y'all thought it was going to get better it's not going to okay verse 22 look down here he arose he killed them he took the Crescent ornament of of the Kings he took the Crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels he takes all their the signs of their royalty okay then the men of Israel said to Gideon rule over us you and your son and your grandson also for you have saved us from the hand of Midian Gideon said to them I will not rule over you my son will not rule over you the Lord will rule over you and G again if we could just stop right there but we can't and Gideon said to them let me make a request of you every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil they had Golden Earrings they were Israelites they answered we will willingly give them they spread a cloak every man threw into it the earrings of his spoil the way the Golden Earrings they requested was 1700 shekels of gold that's about 50 pounds of gold besides the Crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels all the Royal Garb and perks and Gideon made an ephod of it and he put it in his City in ofra and all Israel hoarded after it there it became a snare to Gideon and to his family so Midian was subdued before the people of Israel they raised their heads no more the land had rest for 40 years Gideon the son of joash went and lived in his own house gide had 70 Sons his own offspring for he had many wives his concubine who was in sheam also bore him a son and he called his name ailec Gideon the son of joash died in a good old age was buried in the Tomb of joash his father at Oprah of the abas rights what is going on is Gideon is he is he satisfied just to win is he satisfied even to take out his own personal Vengeance and the answer is no they come to him and they say let us make you King and I think about this scene if you've ever we love all musicals in my family and in Singing in the Rain when the voice over gets all messed up and they start talking pictures you have this funny part that they're going no no no yes yes yes no no no yes and it's all like you know because the voice the emotions and everything is a mixed signal Gideon will you be our King no no no no no okay you kind of have this total counterfeit you've got this mixed signal going on he says no I will not rule now he does not say he did not save they came to him and said you saved us therefore rule over us I'm not going to rule over you my son's not going to rule over you the Lord's going to rule over you but he does not say of course I'm not going to rule over you because what because I did not save you he did not say it that's why 72 is the key verse you're going to think that you did this yourself does not mention here that God saves them the truth is whoever saves should rule right isn't that the math whoever saves should Rule and so he is basically saying it probably should be me and so he accepts the kingship in every practical way even though it supposedly refused it bring me all of your gold bring me the Royal robes bring me the pendants from the camels let me be in charge of all of this he has a large herum he has many w he has 70 Sons he has a concubine and he names the kid of his concubine ailec whose name means my father is King okay so it's kind of like stands with a fist you know for Dances With The Wolves or whatever okay it's my father is King no no I I won't be your king no no no bring me all your gold and I'm GNA name my children this and I'm gonna have this herum in this way in every way he accepts it practically in his lifestyle he is the only judge that demands plunder okay that demands here all of the spoils with his great herum and his many sons and why does he do all this because he deserves it I mean because he deserves it because he is the guy I mean Pride always says life is by me I did this and life is for me I'm in charge of it right I mean that's where it's coming down to from him so he refuses but he does not refuse he does not refuse at all and we see that mostly because of this whole thing with the ephod this whole corrupt religion that he now comes back home and establishes the epod was this breastplate garment thing okay fixture that was worn only by the high priest it carried stones with all the 12 tribes of Israel and on the front of it were the irum and the thumin which were the ways that you discerned God's will for his people okay that was only at the Tabernacle later the temple only warn here by the the high priest this was the means that God revealed himself to his people Gideon has made some kind of reproduction here okay some kind of golden ephod that is in the form in this language of putting up or setting up is the language of idolatry that you're that you're setting something up why is he doing this because he's usurping that right why would you go to Shiloh to the Tabernacle you can come right here for me so he's not just grabbing the power he's not just grabbing the prestige he's grabbing the religious leadership I will mediate for you with God I am the guy that takes you to him this is a much more overt way of trying to control people than even taking a throne this is way more subtle because now he is the one with the voice of God you have to come to me to understand God's guidance for you and so he's using the Lord to consolidate his own power rather than using anything about him to serve God he's not using it as a mediator okay he's using it as as a trophy he's using it as a trophy for himself and so this only led to what even a greater idolatry and so You' got the same he's just still the same guy they hoard after it just like they do the Bales just like they do the Ashera in this way y'all this is the first time that you got idolatry sponsored by the judge they fall into apostasy in the lifetime of the judge they don't wait until he's dead and then it all falls apart y'all it was so hard for Gideon to worship God it is so easy for Gideon to worship self I mean all of this took all of this stuff and it takes nothing for him to worship self he goes from this trembling reluctant recruit to usurping all of God's glory he did what he took care of Midian and took no care for his own heart he took no care for if we can just rearrange our situation and the Lord is always saying are you dealing with your heart you're dealing with The Wrong Enemy we're always fighting against The Wrong Enemy it's amazing that the Lord could work through the hesitant Gideon of chapters six and seven and he does nothing through Gideon in chapter eight nothing for his people through Gideon in chapter 8 the greatest test here is not a fleece it's not a meal it's not a battle it's not anything the greatest test is the test of success and Gideon does not pass it the test of success is always going to be what reveals the true us people want to say the real you comes out in times of great suffering the real you comes out in times of great Prosperity the real you the real me comes out in times of great Prosperity I want you to think about somebody like Gideon in our world today they would be asked to speak everywhere the rags to riches kind of story The the lowly the lowly you know reluctant enlisted man that becomes the fourstar general that wins the war and whatever they would speak at everything from churches to Civic groups to colleges to graduations to everything because everybody would want to hear their story and you know what he would say he would say and God did this and God did that he would mention God always because that always helps any public speaker okay and he would always say that and he would always do that and you know what the whole theme of his talk would be God has made me awesome I want you to understand that that is not the same speech as God is awesome and I am not see it's interesting if you look at the at the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector we think the Pharisee is just doing this whole like Works righteousness I'm so thankful that he actually thanks God for his righteousness but the point is and look how righteous God has made me that's where the trust is what happened to Gideon okay is that God made him awesome and now all of Gideon's trust is in his awesomeness hey it came from God he didn't say it didn't but the trust is still in his own awesomeness I've worked really hard for this praise God I mean I know he helped I know he gave me this or that the other but ultimately what we're trusting is is our own awesomeness which one is the real Gideon this is the real Gideon this is the real Gideon this is the one that we are left with a mom was just battling with her little girl and she said we just need to talk to the Lord just daughter sits there and she goes let's start by thanking God little girl just sits there she goes come on I know that we have things we can thank God for she sits there and there she's just GNA the mom's just GNA wait out and finally she said Thank you Lord for nice me right I mean thank you for how great I am thank you for how great I am y'all where is our trust look what God has done for us and now we trust in what God has given us we trust in this and we trust in that and is not ever looking to him it's the test of success do you understand the 360 we started in ofra with Idols in the backyard we end in ofra with bigger Idols in the front yard it's crazy it is the craziest story and now it is sponsored by him what is God going to do with someone like Gideon that's really the question he's complicated we don't like complicated we like animated we like all the things that we are used to learning it's not just God's grace to Israel through Gideon okay to save them it is all of this Grace towards Gideon in a weird way this is really an account of him it's not really an account of Israel in this story it is really an account of him because he's the main one that needs saving he is the main one in this story that needs saving we understand God's patience with all of the hesitancy but what about the hubus what does the Lord do with that what does the Lord do with that just patience it is not just love as an idea it has to be accomplished it has to be a substitution Gideon is grasping a glory that is not his so Jesus leaves the glory that is his right Gideon sets himself up basically on a throne so the Lord Jesus comes and leaves his throne Gideon makes himself Lord and pretends to be Savior and so Jesus humbles himself as Lord to become the Savior everything is turned upside down John sto the concept of substitution may be said to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation okay it's not just in Salvation for the essence of sin is US sub substituting ourselves for God while the essence of Salvation is God substituting himself for us we assert ourselves against God and put ourselves where only God deserves to be God sacrifices himself for us and puts himself where only we deserve to be we claim prerogatives which belong to God alone and God accepts the penalties which belong to us alone so that is the deal okay is this dying or something is it really can y'all not hear me okay all right everybody wants it to be over so don't give me another one okay we might be here forever so do you I mean that that is the sin and the Salvation so here's what I want you to see because there's so much more we could say but I'm hoping you're going to go fill in the picture book The Pinnacle doesn't come at the fleece the Pinnacle doesn't come in the battle the Pinnacle comes with the angel of the Lord it all starts in chapter six at the beginning of chapter six when the angel of the Lord comes to him and Gideon know knows it's the Lord and He is terrified out of his mind and it says that the Lord turns to him and says I come to you in peace my name for you is the Lord is peace how is that possible why can Gideon sit there when the Lord knows he is going to be like this and not be consumed because the Lord stands up lets him lay out a sacrifice in his place and consumes the sacrifice instead that's why it that's the word that she used there he The Rock consumes it okay why am I not consumed when both this is me and this is more like me why are we not consumed because Jesus was consumed he didn't turn toward Jesus the father turned away from Jesus and he was consumed in my stad and we're like but Gideon forfeited that right we don't know is Gideon a good guy or a bad guy he's a bad guy that God used to do good the question is is he God's guy and we're not completely told but I think he was because you know what he can't earn his salvation and he can't une earn it either he can reject it but he cannot une earn it either because it's not deserving it's Grace it is Grace see here's the thing there is a Gideon 1.0 and there is a Gideon 2.0 what point is God what point is God I don't really do math but this is what I think God is he is three point what four one 5 9 2 6 what number is that Pi how long does Pi go on forever how consistent is Pi Pi is the constant every circumference divided by no matter where no matter the size no matter the century no matter the anything the infinite constant no matter what other numbers are plugged in the infinite constant what is the number of the heart of God it's the infinite constant it's the infinite constant and the only it is every hope that we ever need to have that he is the instant confidence but it has to be the only hope we we ever have it has to be the only hope because what most what is required to come to him is nothing and most people don't have it what is required to come to him is nothing and most people don't have it did Gideon ever get his eyes back off of himself and on to the Lord we don't know listen to Charles Spurgeon I will give you a means of detecting Satan so that you may know whether your convictions are from the Holy Spirit or mere ly the bellowing of Hell in your ears in the primary place you may always be sure that that which comes from the devil will make you look at yourselves and not at Christ the holy spirit's work is to turn our eyes from ourselves to Jesus Christ the enemy's work is the very opposite friends nothing is to be trusted but the finished work of Jesus Christ upon Calvary no feelings no emotion no believing no conversion even must ever be put into the place of that one Eternal Rock of Refuge the sacrifice and Merit of Jesus Christ fly there my friends whatever you are or whatever you are not fly there Gideon's problem 1.0 or 2.0 is that he was focused on Gideon God's heart his infinite constant pie heart from eternity past to Eternity future is set on us why would we look to anything else thank you for your patience let's pray Lord I Thank you for this complicated story that is so simple simpler than we want it to be Lord I pray that by your spirit you may literally rest our hands and our eyes off of ourselves and Lord that we may do nothing but lay hold of you everything you are for us everything you have done for us everything that you want to do through US Lord I pray that we would realize that we have nothing and that in you we have everything Lord I pray that you might give us by Grace by Grace the power to pass the SE the the test of success and Lord where we cannot I boldly pray you would take it away I pray that you would put us in a place that we have to look to you wherever that might be Lord I pray that we would not trust in the things that you have given us I pray that you would not trust in how awesome you've made us to be I pray Lord that we would trust in nothing but you and in you alone thank you Lord for your single-hearted mission to make us your own may that be our single-hearted joy and we pray it in Jesus name amen we are not here next week okay we are here the following week for an even weirder story so y'all write that down read it and we will see you then thank you [Music]