Romans 15:4 “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning.” 1 Corinthian’s 10:11 “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us..”
We need to recap 6..or we’ll never truly understand the victory of 7
Israel did evil in the sight of God, again. They worshipped the false gods of the Amorites and were greatly oppressed by their enemies. The Midianites, the Amalekites and other Eastern nations came against Israel in big numbers, like swarms of locusts. They ruined their crops and spared no living thing for Israel, destroying all their livestock. The people were forced to hide in mountain clefts and caves. This went on for 7 years and in their suffering, they cried out to God.
God appears to Gideon 6:12 “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
Gideon has some issues. Disappointment 6:13 BUT if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” God shows Gideon He had never forsaken them, they had left God
Judges 6:14 “The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
Doubt Judges 6:15 “BUT how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
Judges 6:16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Give me a sign-another sign-another sign
6-We see God leading, guiding directing Gideon through and out of his disappointments and doubts. Why? Gideon needs to settle these before he can become the “mighty warrior” God wants him to be.
Judges 7 So now it was time for Gideon to demonstrate his trust in God.
Judges 7:1-2 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’
Now let me condense the rest of the story for you. God told Gideon, “You don’t need a powerful military; you only need me. So let’s begin to trim down your troops. Tell them that anyone trembling with fear may go home.”
So Gideon did. Vs3 And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. Gideon’s heart must have sunk! Big numbers almost always represent strength to us. A loss of more than 2/3rds of your army would be devastating. But God said to Gideon, “There are still too many. Take them down to the water & I will sift them out there.”
“When they get to the water, watch how they drink, & send back those who kneel down at the water to drink. The ones who lift the water to their mouths & lap it from their hands you keep.” Only 300 men lapped the water from their hands.
“The Lord told Gideon, Judges 7:7 ‘With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.”
Only 300 were left out of the original 32,000. But Gideon did as God said. He sent the others home, but he kept all their trumpets. Vs8
Now let’s look at 2 things Gideon did that helped conquer his fear.
First, he trusted God. He’d seen/heard enough to be convinced God was with Him.
Secondly, Gideon was obedient. When God instructed him to go, he went – even though he was afraid. Judges 7:9-11 During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.”
What we learn from this is that Gideon did have some fear. God says “if you are afraid, take Purah with you.” So Gideon goes down with his servant.
It’s okay to be a little fearful when responding to God’s call on your life. It isn’t a sign of weakness; you are simply acknowledging the reality of the situation.
Gideon is afraid, but no longer timid, and there is a difference. Timidity says “I can’t and I won’t.” Humility says “I can’t but I will if you say so.” Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is being afraid but proceeding anyway!
Gideon didn’t say, “Oh, no, that won’t be necessary, Lord.” He & his servant sneaked down to the edge of the enemy camp, where they overheard two enemy soldiers discussing a weird dream.
7:13-14 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.” 14 His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”
Judges 7:15a When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. I love how confidence in God rather than self leads us to worship. How much anguish could be avoided if we would hear God’s voice, and obey it, and worship Him for what He is about to do?
Now it was time for boldness. Judges 7:15b He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”
Judges 7:16-17 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. 17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.
“Watch me,” “Follow my lead” Do exactly as I do”
God has changed Gideon right before our eyes. Gideon has now become a mighty warrior!
The Israelites silently surrounded the Midianite camp. At a given signal, all 300 men smashed their clay jars, waved their flaming torches, & shouted “A sword for the Lord & for Gideon!” (vs. 20), instantly awakening the sleeping enemy. Then they blew their trumpets, making the loudest racket they could make.
When the startled Midianites saw the torches & heard the awful racket, they panicked. They thought they were surrounded by a powerful army.
Vs. 22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.
Those who survived fled for their lives. Gideon & his mighty 300 were victorious, & God was once again honored in Israel.
Vs12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
What enemies are you facing? What has made you feel INTIMIDATED DEFEATED & DISCOURAGED? Today is the time to take a stand. God is coming to you at this moment & saying, “The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior!”
God is calling you to victory.
We keep wanting God to do something without our help. We keep wanting somebody else to do it. But God wants to use you & me. He always works through people.
God is looking for that willing vessel, to trust and to take Him at his word and leave the results up to Him!
We all know the story of Moses, how God took a stutterer that couldn’t string two words together. Who was willing to go head-to-head with the great pharaoh and not only saved the whole nation of Israel! But walked out with all the wealth of Egypt as well!
We all know the story of David and it’s a fascinating story, of how a shepherd boy who loved and trusted God, became a mighty warrior and went on to be the king of all Israel!
We all know the story of Esther, how God took a beautiful young woman that was willing to step out and trust Him. And over thousands of other young ladies, won the heart of a king–became his queen and saved all the lives of her people!
All were certainly heroes. Yet all were called out of the shadows, out of obscurity. And they all had one thing in common, a willing heart. A willingness to be transformed by God.
God called Gideon a mighty warrior, but that was not who he was at first. It was who he would become – with God’s help. God saw his potential rather than his weaknesses.
THE CROSS IS NOT A DESTINATION POINT, IT IS A POINT OF TRANSITION. THE CROSS OPENS THE GATES OF HEAVEN…It’s not the end of the journey, It’s the beginning.
- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
- Greater is He who is in me, than he that is in the world
- No weapon formed against me shall prosper
- We are more than conquerors, through Him who loved us.
To conquer is to be victorious over an adversary. To be “more than a conqueror” means we not only achieve victory, but we are overwhelmingly victorious.
“Go with the strength you have…for I am sending you!”
There is a place in God where we can get and it is a place of walking in power and victory.
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