The Rise of Gideon

Please turn in your copy of Scripture with me to Judges chapter 6 and 7. Yes,
you heard me correctly, chapters 6 and 7. This morning we have a great deal of text to get through,
and so we are going to have to make haste. We are going to read the entirety of these two long
chapters here in a moment. Don't worry, you're going to be able to sit down. I'm not going to ask
you to stand. But I am aware that as we make our way through reading and process such large texts,
that in doing so, there can be a tendency to get lost in the narrative. So this morning, I want to
ask you all to remember four words. That's all, okay? You can remember more,
but if you don't remember anything else this morning, I want you to take hold of four words. Those
words are mercy and might, glory,
mercy and might, glory and good. And the reason that I want you guys to hold on to those four words
is because really there are a lot of lessons that we could learn from these two chapters this
morning. But the main lesson that the author is trying to point us to,
the main idea of this text is that through the display of his mercy and might,
God is proving that he is committed to both his glory and our good.
That is the main point. Now, there's nine this morning, count them, nine movements that we're going
to observe in this text. Those are not points, okay? Don't fear.
There's nine movements that are going to serve as anchor points for us to make our way through this
narrative. But the main point we need to get in this text is that God has worked displaying his
mercy and might specifically to prove his commitment to his glory and our good.
So, what were the words? Mercy and? Glory and?
Good, there'll be a quiz later. With that said, friends, we need to make haste and turn our
attention to God's word. So join me in Judges chapter 6.
Hear the word of the Lord.
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord gave them into the
hand of Midian seven years. And 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 and 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 and leave no sustenance in
Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents
and 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. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian.
And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.
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. 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. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to
him, The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor. 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 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. 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? And he said to him,
And he said to him, And he said,
I will stay till you return. So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened
cakes from an ephah flower. 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. 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. And 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. 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. 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 at Ophrah,
which belongs to the Abiezrites. 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 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. 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 his town to do it by day, he did it by night.
When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cut down and the
Asherah was broken down and the Asherah beside it was cut down. And the second bull was offered on
the altar that had been built. 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. 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. But Joash said to all who stood against him,
Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whomever 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.
Therefore, on that day, Gideon was called Jerubael, that is to say, let Baal contend against him,
because he broke down his altar. Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the
east came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. But the
Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out
to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they were called out to follow
him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet him.
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 dew on the fleece alone,
and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand,
as you have said. And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece,
he wrung enough dew 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 dew.
And God did so that night. And it was dry on the fleece only. And on all the ground there was dew.
Then Jerubal, that is 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 in the valley.
The Lord said to Gideon, The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their
hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, My own hand has saved me. Now therefore proclaim in the
ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away
from Mount Gilead. Then 22,000 of the people returned,
and 10,000 remained. And 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. And anyone of whom I say to you,
This one shall go with you. shall go with you. And anyone 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 sit by himself.
Likewise, everyone who kneels down to drink. And the number of those who lapped,
putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men. But all the rest of the people knelt down to
drink water. And the Lord said to Gideon, With the 300 men who lapped,
I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand and let all the others go,
every man to his home. So the people took provisions in their hands and their trumpets,
and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men.
And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. That same night the Lord said to him,
Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go
down, go down to the camp with Purah, your servant, and you shall hear what they say,
and afterwards your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp. Then he went down with
Purah, his servant, to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp.
And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley like
locusts in abundance. And their camels were without number as the sand that is on the seashore in
abundance. When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade.
And he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream. And behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of
Midian and came to the tent and 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 worshipped.
And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise. For the Lord has given the host of Midian
into your hand. And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of
all of them and empty jars with torches inside the jars. And he said to them,
Look at me and 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, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and
shout for the Lord and for Gideon.
And in their right hands, the trumpets to blow.
And they cried out,
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's sword against his comrade and against all
the army. And the army fled as far as Bethshida toward Zerorah,
as far as the border of Abel-Meholah by Tabith. And the men of Israel were called out from
Naphtali, from Asher, and from all Manasseh. And they pursued after Midian.
Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against the
Midianites and capture the waters against them as far as Beth Barah and also the Jordan.
So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth Barah and
also the Jordan. And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeab. They killed Oreb at
the rock of Oreb, and Zeab they killed at the winepress of Zeab. Then they pursued Midian,
and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeab to Gideon across the Jordan.
This is God's holy, inspired, and an errant word, friends. Let's pray.
Lord, we need your help this morning. There is so much here for us to process,
and there is so much truth laid out in this text.
Lord God, we want to see you for who you are. I pray,
God, that you would, this morning, give a desire to see you where it is not.
That you would feed the desire to see you rightly where it exists. And, God, that in our desire to
see you, Lord, in contemplating the truths of this text, I pray that we would be satisfied in
beholding you. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen.
The four words. What were they? Mercy and glory and...
Yes. Hold on to those. It's a lot of text, friends. The text opens by recording how...
Lord chastened Israel. We're introduced to this era of history in the life of Israel in chapter 6
verse 1 by reading, the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
Notice this now recurring pattern is what sets the stage for the narrative that lays before us this
morning. If you've been with us, In our study of the book of Judges so far, then you're familiar
with the cycle of misery that we continue to reference because it crops up over and over and over
in the book of Judges. We see it repeated throughout. And at this point in the nation's life,
Israel was in the stage of misery. They had been complacent and they had compromised.
And so now where we come to them at the point in this text, they are in the state of misery.
And as God had dealt with his people before, so here we read, and the Lord gave them into the hand
of Midian seven years. So thoroughly did God give them into the hand of Midian that at this point,
it seems that Israel did not even fight back or defend their land and their provisions.
Rather, what we read is that after working all season, toiling with sweat and sore bodies to plant
fields, losing sleep to wean and tend livestock, after these long seasons of hard labor in hopes of
feeding their families, what would happen? The Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the
East would come. And how would they come? Well, look at verse 5. How did they come?
Like locusts in number, such that both they and their camels could not be counted.
And don't miss that reference to locusts there, friends, in verse 5. This was to underscore not
just simply the number of Midianites that would come, though it was great. That reference to
locusts there is to underscore the devouring devastation. that would leave Israel dismayed and
demoralized each time they would come.
So what did this devastation produce in Israel? Well,
look at verse 6. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian.
Israel had arrogantly ignored God's word and assumed that they could honor false gods without fear
of Yahweh's response. But God will not be mocked. Therefore,
we have here the first display of God's might, working to break Israel down in this era,
break Israel down through this season of hardship, break them of their stiff-necked arrogance,
and make them humbly teachable. That's where we find Israel in the narrative.
One can make the argument that the Midianite oppression of Israel for these years is just nations
doing what nations do. Oppressing and exploiting weaker nations.
But the narrative won't allow us to read it that way, in such a naturalistic kind of way.
Remember verse 1, we read, The Lord gave them into the hand of Midian.
This is the sovereign. superintending work of God to break the spirit that had so infected Israel,
the spirit of pride and spiritual apathy.
Yet we cannot read long without seeing evidence of the fact that toward his people,
God in his might is always working his mercy.
Toward his people, friends, God's might is always married to and mingled with his mercy.
Verse 7 tells us that the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites.
And when they cried out, in his great mercy, God responds. In verses 8 through 10,
through the mouth of the prophet, the Lord reminds Israel. of the salvation that he worked for
them, and the terms of the covenant that he made with them, terms that they had failed to honor.
And what we see in these verses is in God rebuking his people with this history lesson,
working mercy toward them. Now that may sound odd, God rebuking his people with this history
lesson, working mercy toward them. It may not sound like mercy to us, but we have to remember,
God did not owe Israel the tender mercy to point out to them that he alone had been their hope in
years past. God did not owe Israel the tender mercy to point out to them precisely where they had
failed to keep the covenant and so invite devastation on themselves. No. According to Hebrews
chapter 12 and verse 6, we can only interpret this as the act of a loving father.
As he, yes, rebukes, but instructs his child Israel. You'll remember Hebrews 12,
verse 6, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastises every son whom he receives.
You don't have to be a Bible scholar to see that the Lord even responding to Israel's failure here
is an act of mercy. But to respond with more than the rod of punishment,
but his instruction toward Israel, to take them by the hand and show them where they had gone
wrong, it highlights God's affection toward them.
But don't miss that before the Lord here will send Israel a warrior to deliver them,
he sends his word to discipline them. Before the Lord sends a warrior to deliver Israel,
he sends his word to discipline them. This is to underscore that the true problem his people were
facing was not their physical enemy. It was their spiritual apathy.
That's what was going on here. And so God wanted to set the stage and make clear before he saved
them that their problem was not only external, it was internal.
Yet raise up a warrior, God did. Notice the progression in the narrative to the Lord's call of
Gideon. In verse 11, we're introduced to this character, Gideon. The angel of the Lord appears to
Gideon while he is hiding in a cave because he was afraid that the Midianites would steal his food.
So the author obviously wants us to see that Gideon is no one special.
He's just like the other Israelites. Fearful,
cowering in a cave. Yet the Lord addresses him in a most peculiar kind of way.
In verse 12, we read, Now, listen,
scholars differ about what's going on here, but what's undoubtedly clear... about what's going on
here is this. The Lord is calling Gideon by an identity that he didn't possess before.
The Lord's calling Gideon by an identity that he did not possess before. He was not a mighty man of
valor. He was cowering in a cave, afraid that they would take his food.
Yet, mighty man of valor is how the Lord addressed him. And what we find as the narrative
progresses is that's who the Lord so patiently and kindly molds Gideon into.
And so we see this tender mercy here of the Lord assigning and calling out in his child an identity
that didn't belong to him before, but that the Lord works in him. An identity that he did not
merit, but that the Lord assigns and calls him by.
Now then, we continue on to see the Lord's confirmation. Consider the immeasurable mercy of God on
display here in the Lord calling Gideon and then subsequently confirming that call to Gideon.
First of all, that God would even take action to rise up any man to deliver his people is merciful,
just on the macro scale. But then when you work it down and you consider the detail and nuance of
how the Lord does this on a micro scale, it's so remarkable. The Lord calls Gideon by this new
identity, this identity that he didn't merit on his own, and he calls him in this new identity to
rise up and to conquer the enemies of God. And the Lord is asking him to contend for the Lord.
What do we find in the text? But Gideon contending with the Lord. Not only once or twice,
but three times Gideon protests. And the third time saying, I don't even know if you're Yahweh.
And how does God respond?
With tender, undeserved mercy. He assures Gideon that it is he that is calling and sending him.
With compassion, God comforts Gideon with the promise that he's not going to depart from him.
He's not going to leave him, but that he will be with Gideon. And then God graciously acquiesces to
Gideon, and he proves himself through a miraculous display of his might.
This is grace upon grace that we find here, friends.
And I don't have a whole lot of time this morning to unpack the implications of this for us today,
but just hear me say this. In every way... the mercy of God is made manifest in this passage.
If you are a Christian here this morning, that is the character of God toward you in Christ.
Every aspect of the mercy of God that we find in this text this morning,
that is the character of God toward you in Christ.
Now the author moves us along to observe the Lord's command that he issues next to Gideon.
It's clear that the Lord is raising up Gideon for this work of deliverance from oppression.
However, as we've already seen, Israel's primary threat is not a physical enemy.
It is spiritual apathy. So just as the Lord sent his word before he calls a warrior,
Now, in the fourth movement of the text, we see that before he executes on deliverance,
he commands exaltation and devotion.
And the lesson here is plain for us. Through these displays of his mercy and might,
God is proving that he is totally committed to the good of his people.
totally committed. He is proving it. He is evidencing it by these feats of might and mercy.
He is proving that he's totally committed to the good of his people. But simultaneously,
God is resolutely committed to his own glory,
church.
And from our human vantage point, those two things sometimes can seem at odds with each other.
But in reality, There's no conflict there. We see this plainly when we consider a couple of
different catechisms and what they situate as the first, the most important question that can be
asked. The first question of Keech's catechism is this, who is the first and chiefest of beings?
Answer, God is the first and chiefest of beings.
So if God... is the first and chiefest of all beings,
it is right and good that he not only desire,
but demand that he be lifted up and honored as the first and chiefest of beings.
For him to do otherwise would make him an idolater. For God to do anything else but demand and
desire him to be lifted up and worship, it would... It would passively encourage,
if he allowed such, it would passively encourage his people to live out of step with reality.
Because reality is, he deserves all the glory. God is the first and chiefest of all beings.
And so he deserves all the glory. The Westminster Catechism,
it brings this to the fore in posing its first question. What is the chief end of man?
Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. You see,
in these distillations of Scripture, we learn that it's not only right for God to desire and demand
Himself be exalted in worship, it's our greatest good to exalt and worship God.
It's how we live in alignment with what's really real, church.
The gods of the Midianites, like... other so-called God in the world, they had no power or
affection to save anyone
because no God but Yahweh has any being at all.
So before he executes on deliverance, God demands exaltation and devotion.
And that's why we read in verses 25 and 26, 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 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.
And
faithfully, though fearfully, Gideon did as the Lord commanded.
Yet the author is careful to show here how deep the infection of idolatry had spread in Israel.
Upon discovering that Gideon had pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah,
the men of Israel, the covenant people of God, sought to murder Gideon.
Does that sound familiar, friends? That God sends a deliverer to save his people,
but the people of God are so deceived by their sin that they not only contend with,
but seek to kill the one that God sends to deliver them.
Church, this text is meant to teach us a lot of things. But one of the things that it's intended to
teach us is how bad sin is, how horrible it is,
how infectious it is. It's intended to teach us, friends,
how deceived by sin that we can be. Because so often we can be deceived by sin so much that we
disdain and reject God's means of delivering us out of our sin.
But yet again, the mercy of God is made manifest in saving Gideon. In a striking turn of events,
Gideon's father, who owned the idol, an idolater himself,
addresses these men of Israel with perhaps the most wisdom that we've seen on display in Israel up
to this point in the narrative. Thus, Gideon is not only rescued, but he's renamed,
verse 32. On that day, Gideon was called Jerubal. That is to say,
let Baal contend against him because he broke down his altar. And with that,
the writer turns our attention away from Israel's internal battle to the external battle with the
enemy forces. In verse 33, we're told that a coalition of foreign countries,
including the Midianites and the Amalekites, that they had crossed the Jordan. This was a sign of
aggression. And they had encamped in the valley of Jezreel, which was a known place of battle.
But the author draws our focus to the faithfulness of God at this point.
So remember the Lord's assurance to Gideon back up in verse 16.
I will be with you. And now, in faithfulness to his word,
And a marvelous display of mercy. Verse 34 tells us, the spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon.
You see, as the enemy forces drew near for the destruction of Israel,
God drew near to Gideon for the deliverance of Israel. It's so sweet.
It's so merciful. He's such a tender, loving father,
friends.
We see the Lord in this act of mercy toward Gideon. The spirit of the Lord clothes him,
and the Lord is going to deliver Israel. But before that,
we see in the fifth movement of the narrative, the Lord confirming his purposes for Gideon again.
In so much, the mercy of God meets Gideon here yet again. Because as the enemy...
has made their advance toward Israel, Gideon's fear of man yet again eclipses his confidence in
God. So we read in verse 36, Then Gideon said to God,
If you will save Israel by my hand as you have said.
If.
And that should tell us everything that we need to know. It should have been enough for Gideon.
He knew that this is what the Lord had already told him that he would do, if you will save Israel
by my hand.
But we want to be careful at this moment.
Honestly, I think most people get Gideon wrong.
If you read much on this passage or if you've heard very many sermons about Gideon before,
what you'll find is that most people either belittle him or they make too much of him.
We have to keep in mind at this point in the text that this is no small act of faith that the Lord
has called Gideon to. The Midianites and Amalekites and the others,
they had terrorized Israel for years at this point. Just passively, they would come in and have
their way. Now, they were set to rise up and Israel was to be the object of their strategic
aggression.
I think an honest reading of the text would force anyone to acknowledge that we would be much more
like this fearful, frightful character than we care to admit.
And you know what the key to getting over making too much or too little of Gideon in the text is?
It's remembering that this narrative is not actually about Gideon. The narrative is about God,
church. So while what follows in Gideon's laying out this fleece, We should not commend.
This is one of those moments, as Rick stated last week, that we should understand as descriptive,
not prescriptive. This is narrative, not normative, okay, for the life of a believer.
And while all that is true, what we see from this fleece-laying scene is that what
the Lord requires, He always provides. What the Lord requires,
He always provides. The very faith required for Gideon to face the Midianites,
the Lord provides in what I can only interpret as a sweet moment of mercy.
We know it's mercy because Gideon knows he shouldn't be asking for these signs.
Verse 39, then Gideon said to God, look at it, let not your anger burn against me.
Please, God, please.
If you're familiar with the Old Testament, you almost can't help but call to mind Deuteronomy 6,
verse 16. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him at Mesa.
What happened at Mesa? Israel doubted the Lord's provision and his presence.
Israel was in legitimately dire straits. They didn't have water.
They didn't know where it was coming from. And their faith was lacking.
And in their lacking faith, they grumbled against Moses and they grumbled against God. It was a low
and reprehensible point in the life of Israel and their relationship with Yahweh.
So when Moses then later gives the second teaching of the law in Deuteronomy,
he sternly warned against testing the Lord.
And as I read through this account and I observe this, you know, Gideon being given the instruction
and holding back and all of that, I'm kind of reminded of this phrase that we have in our house
that we have derived from biblical principles, but it goes,
delayed obedience is disobedience. And friends,
that's how I'm tempted to read this text. I got to tell you. just naturally.
But then we read of the marvelous, matchless mercy of God,
with that tendency to read the text, with the instruction and the stern warning from Moses in the
background. Friends, I don't know what else to tell you about this and how to interpret it, but
this is just a moment of mercy between God and his servant.
Because we read in the text, the mercy of God, verse 40, and God did so.
that night. And
I'm reminded of
Psalm 103, verse 13 to 14. As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame.
He remembers that we are dust.
He knows our frame, friends.
Now, as we turn the page to chapter 7, this is a...
There's a notable shift in the narrative here. Chapter 6 is laden with evidences of the Lord's
mercy and might, but it's primarily been to emphasize his commitment to the good of his people,
and it's accented by the reminder that he's also committed to his own glory. But as we turn to
chapter 7, that balance shifts. Now the author begins to relay these evidences of God's mercy and
might primarily to emphasize God's commitment to his own glory, accented by the good that he works
for his people. So we see this immediately as the Lord begins to cull the army that Gideon had
amassed. According to the text, Gideon had gathered 32,000 to go to battle.
A far cry from the 135,000 we're told later in the narrative that were coming against Israel.
But perhaps,
perhaps with 32,000 of the right men, with the right weapons,
and the right strategy, there could be hope for Israel to conquer the enemy.
Yet that is just the sort of... and possibility that the Lord would not tolerate.
So God gives instruction to trim down the number of those who would go to battle for him.
Instead of calling others to join in the battle so that victory might seem obtainable,
God calls the army down, not once, but twice.
And scholars here, they differ. about what exactly is going on with the way that the Lord thins out
those who are to fight. But that's really a moot discussion because the author tells us exactly why
God did this. It was to make it unequivocally clear to all that victory for Israel was absolutely
unattainable unless the Lord worked a miraculous display of His might in mercy toward Israel.
Just read chapter 7, verse 2. The Lord said to Gideon,
The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast
over me, saying, My own hand has saved me. And again, verse 4.
The people are still too many. And when there are just 300 men remaining,
and all logical hope of survival, much less victory,
is gone, then... Then the Lord says, verse 7,
with the 300 men who lapped, I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand.
Church, remember Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 8? It's there that the Lord prophesied.
In reference to his ultimate act of deliverance from bondage to sin,
it's there the Lord says, I am the Lord. That is my name.
My glory I give to no other.
Friends, it is God's great delight to deliver his people from bondage to the enemy.
By the way, on the macro level, that's what's going on here. That's the analogy at work in the
passage before us. God is rescuing Israel from the consequences of their sin and the enemy nations.
Those enemy nations are to be taken as representatives of remaining sin in the land.
And so that's what's going on on the macro level here. We're watching this analogy play out.
It is God's great delight to deliver his people from bondage to the enemy.
But sometimes we forget that we aren't freed from sin for freedom's sake.
We're freed from sin to... and honor, worship and exalt the greatness of our God,
who is our only hope. The Lord is serious about that.
And it's why in our narrative, he sent his word before raising up a warrior. It's why he commanded
exaltation and devotion before executing their deliverance. And it's why at this point in the text,
he won't allow Israel to have any hope of victory apart. from a miraculous display of his might and
mercy toward them.
And with that established, immediately the Lord formally commissions Gideon for battle.
In verse 9, we're told, Notice that God does not tell Gideon here to take the camp.
It's very interesting.
God didn't tell him to take the camp because it wasn't Gideon's to take. It was God's to give.
Note the tense of the verb, even, in verse 9. I have given, he says. You see,
the Holy Spirit, through the writing of the biblical author, is focusing our attention to see that
Gideon is not the main actor or agent in the scene that's about to unfold. God is the primary agent
at work here. And in the mind of the Lord, This was already a done deal. He had given the camp into
their hand.
Now as quickly as the Lord commissions Gideon, we find the Lord confirms for Gideon the certainty
of Israel's victory.
Before the Lord's even done speaking to him, in another astonishing act of mercy toward Gideon,
the Lord preemptively invites Gideon to have further confirmation of the fact that the Lord will
act on Israel's behalf. Look with me, verses 10 and 11. But if you are afraid to go down,
go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say, and afterwards your
hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.
Brothers and sisters,
the Lord knows us.
The Lord knows us on an individual level. He knows our frame and he remembers that we are dust.
I just marvel at this now preemptive confirmation that the Lord is granting Gideon here.
And of course, Gideon looks at Pura and with some... sanctified imagination,
I am sure that Gideon said something to the effect of, load up, buddy, we're going down.
And what happens, but the recurring theme, that which God requires,
he always supplies. This mercy of God was enough to muster the courage Gideon needed to organize
his men and see the Lord conquer his enemies. That is the next and the final movement of the text.
The Lord conquers his enemies. With the courage that God supplied,
Gideon instructs his men with a peculiar engagement strategy. We don't know where this strategy
came from that we read a moment ago, whether it originated in the mind of God or of Gideon.
What we do know is that When the Israelites cried out in verse 20,
a sword for the Lord and for Gideon, the Lord won the battle.
They cried out a sword for the Lord and for Gideon, and the Lord won the battle without Israel ever
swinging a sword.
Look at verse 22, church. The Lord set every man's sword against his comrade and against all the
army, and the army fled.
In a miraculous showcase of his might, the Lord sent a delusion upon the opposition forces to the
effect that their swords came back upon themselves.
In the fit of chaos, the enemy killed one another,
which may just be one of the clearest pictures in Scripture of what rebellion against God brings.
Their swords came back on themselves. They killed one another.
In this display of his might, God proves, friends, that he is jealous for his own glory.
And he proves it not only to Israel, but in finality to those who are settled in opposition to him.
The Lord conquers his enemies.
Friends, maybe you're here this morning and you're aware that you're living in opposition.
You know that you've sinned against Him and you're not trusting in the finished work of Jesus to
deal with the wrath of God that our sins demand.
Listen, if that's you, would you hear the testimony of the Scriptures this morning?
God has evidenced His immeasurable might.
And He has made clear that His commitment to His own glory will not allow sin to go unpunished,
friend.
He will work by his immeasurable might to punish sin, not just in the cessation of this life,
but for all eternity future, he will punish sin.
And so if that's you, let me just tell you, your only hope is the person and work of Jesus.
Your only hope is the one who would come later in the scriptures,
who is the ultimate deliverer of God's people. He is the one that all these deliverers that we're
looking at in the book of Judges, he's the one they're all pointing toward. Jesus is the one who
would deliver us out of the slavery to sin and the wrath of God that that sin demands.
Friend, this morning, if you are not trusting in Jesus as your great deliverer,
your only hope before God, let me plead with you. Trust him.
Let me plead with you that the might of God has been set on display. His character is made known.
His commitment to his own glory is made known. And his commitment to punishing sin has been made
known. Flee from your sin this morning. Trust in the great deliverer. Cast yourself upon the
promise of God's mercy in Christ.
And I wish we had more time to unpack what all this means for the believers in this room,
because there is immense encouragement and comfort here for us in the character of God toward the
believer.
Maybe that's an exercise you should do this afternoon. Maybe grab somebody else in this room or
somebody in your small group and work through this passage, pulling out all of the mercies of God
and then recounting how you have observed the mercy of God in your life.
We don't have time to work through each of those details this morning that are here in the text.
But if you're trusting in Christ, I do pray that these chapters will be a reminder.
A reminder of the innumerable ways that in your own life and in the history of His people,
God has proved His commitment to His glory and our good through the display of His mercy and might.
And as we contemplate his mercy... and might, let that motivate us to seek out our greatest good in
living lives that glorify Him. Amen? Amen. Let's pray.
Father, we are grateful for Your Word.
Oh God, we are
astounded by Your grace, Your mercy that You give to undeserved sinners like us.
Father, I pray this morning that you would help us to see it anew. And as we linger on this text
for the rest of the day and into this week, Lord, I pray that you would work to sanctify us in
recounting all of your wonderful works, in considering the mercy that you've worked throughout
history to work our salvation here this morning.
all of the tender mercies that you've worked in our life. I pray,
Lord, that you would help us to see these things, to rejoice in them, and to worship you all the
more. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.