Then
the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which
belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing
wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The
angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with
you!” … “Pardon
me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel?” (Judges
6:11-12, 15)
Gideon was a
farmer who really liked being a farmer. He had no desire to be anything more
than Old McDonald. He didn’t have political
or financial ambitions, and he didn’t dream of becoming the next George S.
Patton. But God knew Gideon’s potential, and he had a very different plan for Gideon’s
life which, in this case, did not include putting a Bible in every hotel room.
Gideon is a story, however, of how God made a hero out of a very ordinary person
during a period in Israel’s history called the “judges,” which followed the
deaths of their previous leaders, Moses and Joshua.
The period of
the judges, however, was one of the lowest points in Israel’s history. In fact,
the book of Judges records seven “cycles,” spanning about 300 years,
documenting Israel’s downward spiral. These cycles would begin with
disobedience, bondage and misery. Suffering, the people would cry out to God to
rescue them from their oppressors. God would then raise up a judge to call the people
back to him. Result? Repentance, deliverance, rest and revival. But just when life
was getting a little easier, back into compromise and disobedience the people would
go. And with each cycle, Israel sank lower than it had previously sunk before.
This is the
setting in which Gideon’s story takes place. Gideon was one of these local
judges raised up by God to deliver a localized group of Israelites from a group
of people known as the Midianites and the Amalekites. The Midianites were a
nomadic people who would wait until the Israelites were ready to harvest their
crops and then would come swooping down to steal their produce and herds, while
simultaneously destroying everything else in their path. This went on for seven
long years and it was getting really old. So, the people cried out to God for
help. Enter Gideon.
Now, Gideon’s
not exactly the epitome of strength and courage here. In fact, he’s hiding down
in a winepress threshing wheat. Normally, the Israelites used an out-in-the-open,
flat place to thresh the wheat so that the prevailing winds would blow away the
chaff. But here’s Gideon – hiding in a winepress under a tree, threshing wheat
with a stick. Not exactly Superman. He’s
a defeated, discouraged man who’s filled with doubts and fears – both physically
and spiritually.
Two things
contributed to Gideon’s gloomy outlook: bitterness and timidity. Gideon lived a
life of frustration, and was bitter because God hadn’t come through for him.
Gideon also felt like he had nothing to offer to improve his circumstances. Just
look at what he says: “But Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan
is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” (Judges 6:15)
In other words, “Look, God, you’ve got the wrong guy here.” And like Gideon, we’ve
all faced times of bitterness and disappointment, hiding from the enemy and thrashing
around in the winepress of life. So what changed Gideon? A personal encounter
with God.
Like Gideon, we all
need reassurance from God that we’re doing the right thing, don’t we? And God
provided his assurance when Gideon needed it the most. It all began with Gideon’s
personal encounter with God through his angel: The LORD is with you, Mighty Warrior. Warrior? Gideon? Really? Yes,
really. But it’s one thing to meet God in the secrecy of your winepress, and
another thing altogether to stand up for God in the middle of an enemy camp. So,
where do you start? Well, Gideon started at home. Even though he was still
fearful, he was willing to take a risk in his own backyard. And his actions inspired
others to go with him and remove idols that had been erected in the city, even idols
that were in his Dad’s backyard. In other words, Gideon’s risk-taking inspired
others to move out in faith.
Having cleaned
up the mess at home, Gideon issued a call to arms and all of Israel responded.
But it’s one thing for a farmer boy to say he’s going to lead an army into
battle, and quite another to actually do it – especially when there’s 135,000
bad guys. And so our hero has a little chat with God. “Tell you what, God. If
this is what you really want me to do, you’re gonna have to give me some sorta sign.
So, here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m gonna put my Uggs (Judges 6:37 – wool fleece) outside the tent tonight, OK? And
if tomorrow morning the ground is dry and my Uggs are wet, then I’m your guy.” Sure enough, the next morning
when he got out of bed, he could squeeze enough water out of his Uggs to fill a bowl, despite the fact that the ground all around was bone-dry. Skeptic,
or timid that he was, Gideon remained unconvinced. So, our hero tried it once
again. “I don’t want to be annoying or anything, God, but let’s try it the
other way ‘round. I’ll leave my Uggs out
again tonight, OK? And in the morning, if the ground is wet and my Uggs are dry then I’ll really know that I’m
your man.” So, he gets up the next morning and, sure enough, the ground is soaked
and his Uggs are dry. “Hmm. I guess
God’s serious.”
God’s will can
be a very mysterious thing at times. Knowing what he wants us to do, and what
we should wait on him to do, is hard to balance sometimes. And Gideon was
having this same trouble. He wanted to be sure of God’s will before he led these
men into battle, so he set up this little test with God. In reality, however, this
experiment with his Uggs, so to
speak, was about Gideon’s own fears and
doubt and timidity; Gideon already knew God’s will – he just needed reassurance.
And for whatever reason, God went along with Gideon’s little game. God was so
good to Gideon, and he’s good to us, too. We should always make sure that we’re
in God’s will as best we can, and God provides us with the Holy Spirit to
assist us. Personally, rather than using the Uggs method, I use the Stack
Up test, as in “How do things stack up?” If several good reasons can be
stacked up, or together for making a particular decision, it’s usually the
right thing for me to do. But that’s just me, and you may have your own method.
Regardless, having
clearly determined the will of God, Gideon becomes a challenger. Gideon is
psyched now. God had told him that he’d lead the Israelites to a great victory
over the Midianites, and then God confirmed it through that little Uggs test. So, Gideon calls for all the
able-bodied men in the area to join him and 32,000 able-bodied show up. He
looks out at the sea of soldiers and thinks, “Wow, maybe we can pull this one
off after all.” And God says, “Not so fast, Gideon. There’s too many of you.” Now
wait. Too many men? How can you have too many men going into battle against an
army of 135,000? But God wanted this to be a God thing, not a man thing, as God
explains: “You have too many warriors, and when they win they’re going to think
they did it all by themselves. So, tell them that whoever’s afraid can go back home.”
(Judges 7:2) Terrific, but Gideon gets up and says, “OK. Here’s what God says: ‘All
you chickens can leave.’” And just like that, 22,000 turn and run.
And while Gideon
is doing the math and trying to get his head around what just happened, God says,
“Still too many, Gideon. Tell the men to whet their whistle down at the river,
and pay attention to the ones who lap like a dog versus those who kneel down to
get a drink.” There were 300 lappers. “That’s it,” God said. “With those 300
men I will deliver Midian’s entire army over to you.” Really? 300? Against 135,000?
That’s 450:1 odds. “You’re kidding me, right God?”
Now, at this
point, I’m pretty sure that Gideon wasn’t all that convinced of the wisdom of God’s
plan. So, God told him that if he didn’t believe it to sneak down to the enemy’s
camp and do a little eavesdropping. So, Gideon being Gideon, he and an aid snuck
into enemy territory at night and overheard two guys talking around a campfire:
“You know, Joe, I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamed that a loaf of
barley bread came rolling down the hill into our camp and flattened us.” “That’s
not a good thing, Fred. Call me crazy, but that can only mean one thing: Gideon
and his men are going to wipe us out!” Really? He got that from a dream about a
loaf of bread? But I digress.
Wisely, Gideon
took the dream, and its interpretation, as a sign from God and went back to
camp to rally the troops. Oh, one other thing. God’s choice of weaponry to
conquer an army the size of Escondido? Trumpets, Coleman lanterns and flower pots. The rest, as they say, is
history. And God’s looking for Gideons today – men and women of faith who’re willing
to step out and do great things for God. Men and women who don’t forget about
God, and realize that he uses ordinary people in extraordinary ways – even in the
face of insurmountable odds.
Looking back on
the story, the steps in Gideon’s victory are pretty easy to trace: he had a
promise to believe; a vessel to break; a lamp to burn; and a trumpet to blow.
None of these things were incredibly difficult to do, and most of the stuff he
found lying around in his garage. Likewise, there are simple things we can do
that God will bless: pray, read the Bible, attend church, and share our faith. Remember,
God can do a lot with a little. God loves working through the few, and you may
be among the few at your job, or in your family, or maybe even in your church who’ve
come out of the winepress of life to face the challenges of the open plains
with the enemy starring you in the face. But for the first time in seven long years,
Israel had homes, and crops, and horses and camels that weren’t destroyed or
taken by the enemy.
The coronavirus
has people concerned about their health, and scrambling for their spiritual
lives. They’re looking for a first responder to lead them to the antidote of
the cross. Will you be their hero? Will you answer the alarm? You can, you know.
God says so. He says that “… we are more than conquerors through him who loved
us.” (Rom. 8:37)
Grace,
Randy
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