Faith Even In Weakness

INTRO

Mindi’s picture does an incredible job of portraying not just the book of Judges, but the period of the judges as well. It was 300 years of chaos in Israel, seen in cycles of disobedience and rebellion against God, receiving God’s judgment, until they cried out for Him to save them. God, listening, raised up of a judge to be the nation’s deliverer, which saw them restored back to Himself. And then, the chaotic cycle began again. The judges God raised up were a foreshadow of Christ. Gideon was the fifth judge after Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, and Deborah. In chapter 6, Gideon carefully considered what God had called him to do because he felt he was not capable. Twice, Gideon set out a fleece to make sure of God’s intentions for his life. It brings up the question of whether we need a fleece in our lives as well to affirm what God wants us to do when we feel we’re not capable. In Judges 6, Gideon had an encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ, and since he was always committed to the Lord, God was getting him ready for more. Despite all of Gideon’s complaints, questions, and doubts, he ended up walking through what God had called him to do. And, God was still able to use Gideon, despite everything.

TEACHING

Judges 7:1-4: Wiersbe uses a simple, three-point outline for this chapter: “God tests our faith”; “God encourages our faith”; and, “God honors our faith.”¹Gideon’s army camped beside the spring of Harod, and God told Gideon if his army was too large the Israelites might claim the victory as their own (vv. 1-2). God wants us to have utter dependence upon Him (2 Corinthians 12:9). God told Gideon to send home all who were afraid, and 22,000 left (v. 3). Two-thirds of Gideon’s army bailed out. Wiersbe refers to this as “the first sifting.”²Wouldn’t that have been depressing to see 22,000 soldiers leave. The army they would face had 135,000 soldiers (Judges 8:10). Inrig says, “God doesn’t want to just give us victory. He is concerned with teaching us trust. In fact, if our victories make us self-reliant, they are ultimately more disastrous than defeat.”³God’s question was, “Do you trust Me when things get tougher?” People are facing that every day.

Remember in the Pentateuch study, we discovered there were various reasons soldiers could leave a battle and not fight besides cowardice: if they had just built a new house; if they were engaged to be married; or, if they had planted a vineyard.

Judges 7:4-8: God sifted the troops a second time, reducing the 10,000 soldiers to 300, based on the way they drank water from the spring, either lapping with their tongues or using their hands to bring water to their mouths. This was a true test of faith. It’s like what Winston Churchill said after World War II, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed to so many by so few.” This is a good example of that quote. God wanted these 300 men under the leadership of Gideon, the deliverer, to have victory over the Midianites.

Judges 7:9-14: In the process of testing our faith, God will encourage our faith. Many people give up during the testing and never make it to verse 9. We tend to live in the posture that we’re the weakest, the youngest, the least capable. God promised Gideon that He had already given him victory (v. 9). This was the third time God made that promise, but He also gave Gideon three signs––Judges 6:20-21, 36-38, 39-40. Then, God told Gideon to take his servant Purah to walk beside him in the battle since he was still afraid (v. 10). Davis and Whitcomb described Gideon’s position this way: “Gideon is no fearless all-pro linebacker, no General Patten and John Wayne rolled into one huge ball of true grit.”4 He was going up against 135,000 enemy soldiers.

Verse 12 describes the enemy soldiers as “a swarm of locusts” and their camels as “innumerable as the sand on the seashore.” Gideon heard a Midianite man telling his friend about a dream in which a loaf of barley bread fell from above and turned the tent upside down (v. 13). A dream means that it had taken place while asleep; a vision means that it had taken place while awake. The friend responded that God had given Gideon victory over the Midianites (v. 14). Some people deny

4 John J. Davis and John C. Whitcomb, A History of Israel, reprint ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980), pp. 106-107; quoted in Dr. Constable’s Expository Bible Study Notes, available online at http://planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/judges.pdf, p. 65.

theologically that dreams from God still happen today (1 Kings 3:5; Joel 2:28; Matthew 2:13; Acts 2:17). Have the last days come? If not, then dreams are still relevant today. God can speak to us in dreams. If what we hear doesn’t contradict God’s Word, then God could be speaking to us. And God can speak through dreams of non-believers.

Judges 7:15-25: God will honor our faith. When Gideon heard the Midianite’s dream, then he called his troops to battle. He gave each man a trumpet in one hand and a pitcher with a torch inside it in the other, and then he told them to watch him to know what to do. Gideon was acting like an army general. When they saw him outside the camp, they blew their trumpets and busted the pitcher to expose their lights. They yelled out and chased the Midianite soldiers who turned on each other, killing each other with Midianite swords. The Israelites called on more of their own tribes and they pursued the Midianites so that none escaped.

CLOSING

Hebrews 11:6 says, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.” We are all Gideons. God honored Gideon for his leap of faith and he succeeded.