Gideon the unlikely warrior

by Pastor MENG cham

Judges and Ruth part 3

3000 years from then, humankind still have not get any better

Importance of discipleship and disciple making

When God's people fail to advance his kingdom we'll be more dictated by the culture

Gideon the unlikely warrior

3rd unlikely choice

Is Gideon to be emulated?
He's an anti hero

He's rise to fame is sadly deemed from his fall of glory.

Put the faith in right place

Big idea:
God wants us to grow in faith in what we do and in who we are

Judges 6:12
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”


Judges 6:6a
Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.


And Israel was brought very low...

Judges 6:6b
Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.


Author didn't say they were repentance, they just cry out

God didn't immediately bring a judges, instead he brought a prophet

Judges 6:10b
I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”


Israel problem was not military but is spiritual

Judges 6:12b
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”


Angel of the lord called and commission Gideon. He was hiding ...

He was perplexed theologically, where are the good deeds of God? Why the suffering?
Not Because God has abandon but Because the people have abandoned Him

Judges 6:12
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”


Judges 6:14b
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?”


Judges 6:16b
The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”


Gideon wanted to test
- was afraid this was not yehweh
- alas he admitted
- he built his first altar, 'shalom'

God often raised people least likely to succeed, unremarkable

Faith journey begins when we know God knows us better than ourselves.

Even when nobody believes in you

2. Obey what God calls you to do

Judges 6:25-26
That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old.[a] Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole[b] beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of[c] altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second[d] bull as a burnt offering.”


First test was pull down idol sitting at altar of Baal...
* Israel not permitted to persist in spiritual idolatry

Gideon was surrounded by Baal worshippers
- he did it at night

Joash his father intervened

2nd test
Gideon was filled with the power of God

Judges 7:2
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.’


32000
10000
300
Madness or miracle?
300 against 135000

God ask Gideon go enemy camp

Judges 7:14
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.”


Gideon prostrated before God after this

Are we rather more concerned about everything surrounding us than God?

Judges 8:22
The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”


Because midanites already defeated psychologically

Each baby steps of obedience help us to be more confident in God. He knows perfectly what it takes for each one of us to be a warrior.

1. Believe who God says you are
2. Obey what God calls you to do
3. Remember God as the sole reason for your victory

15000 midanites still ran away

Gideon pursued them. He was rejected by men of two towns... He held grudges

He whipped them, executed them. Sucoth and penial are not outsiders but people of his own tribe.

Judges 8:22-23
The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”


Very good textbook answer

But he took an offering from them .... 20kg of gold and made an ephod ... Like a portable idol

Judges 8:27b
Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.


Gideon's account ends with an inductment.

Judges 8:33-35
No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god 34 and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.


Every judge after gideon will exhibit deep flaws in their leadership

Gideon's folly:
Pride after success