Courage for the Faint

Judges 6

March 7 & 21, 2004

 

The fault-lines ran deeply in Israel's faith.  Rather than learning from the mistakes and misstep of their past and immediate history, they tended to sing the same old song - next verse.  The common refrain confronts us again and again, as Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord and the Lord sells them into bondage.  You would think that by now, they would learn their lesson!  But it seems they are slow-learners with a penchant for repeating the sins of their fathers.

 

Can our generation claim any better track record?  Sometimes I try to sit back and ponder the spiritual shape of our nation as a whole.  Certainly there are some bright spot with those who faithfully follow the Lord.  But look at the bigger picture.  It seems that we are very satisfied with faith and religion and even worship as long as it contains no cross, no repentance, no holiness, no discipline, and no transcendent God who judges sinners.  A "nice God," much the same as some think of a nice dog, is what people clamor for and choose to follow.  But the God of Holy Scripture, transcendent, lofty, holy, separate from sinners, wrathful, jealous - oh such a God is foreign to the modern mind!  Yet that same general idea pervaded the ranks of several generations before us who left a legacy of Christianity with no teeth and no bite.

 

Israel had stooped so low at the point of Judges 6 that they had dropped the Lord who delivered them from Egypt and followed Baal and the Asherah - the gods of their pagan neighbors.  Keeping covenant meant nothing.  Remembering God's past mercies and gifts, promises and warnings appeared to be out-of-sight-out-of-mind.  Only when the oppression of Midian became lengthy and unbearable did a few among them raise their shamed voices in cries to the Lord.  We might expect that the Lord would justly say, "Enough is enough!  You've spurned Me one time too many.  Away with you!  Let the Midianites engulf you for all I care!"

 

That's what we expect if we have any sense of justice and any notion of God's holiness.  We expect that He would bring crashing judgment that buries Israel forever.  "But God" - As Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2 after a gut-wrenching description of our sinfulness and rebellion - "But God, being rich in mercy and the love with which He loved us (by grace you are saved)."  And there we come full circle from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and we taste and see again the mercy and grace of God toward us.  Though the author tells us much about Gideon in chapters 6-8, he tells us even more about the God of great mercy.  Perhaps you sit among us as one who has little hope for life and eternity.  Then consider the great mercy of God who intervenes in weak, faithless sinners to display His grace that conquers our fears and doubts.

 

I. Oppressed - again, 6:1-10

 

1. Staggering condition

 

- Evil in the sight of the Lord - God in righteousness gives them into another master's hands.  They did their best to try and wriggle out of God's hands, thinking that to obey and follow Him was bondage.  Yet they found that the only place free from bondage was in His hands (v. 1).

- Reduced to a hideous lifestyle, never able to get ahead, never able to find satisfaction (v. 2).

- Every year they hoped things would change, and every year the cycle was repeated (3-5).  As Ralph Davis quips, "Every year, as sure as income tax, Midian's buzzards come" (Judges: So Great a Salvation, 91).

- Economically and emotionally, they were brought "very low" (v. 6).  The word means, "impoverished" or "became small" (NAC - Judges and Ruth, D. Block, 253).  Just when they thought it could not get worse, their situation worsened. 

 

2. No surprise

 

The prophet was sent to give a word from God.  Frankly, that's not what they wanted.  They just wanted out of the mess of oppression that engulfed them.  In familiar fashion, many felt the weight of spiritual oppression, hopelessness, and despair; but their only interest was relief rather than hearing God.  They tolerate biblical instruction if they think relief is in sight.  Even temporary relief to bondage satisfied such debased thoughts of God.  And so after a tragedy or national peril or time of great loss, some will feign spirituality in order to grasp emotional relief.  But they only tolerate the spiritual message that becomes the means to relief instead of finding it as the truth that sets them free (John 8).  In v. 7, "they cried to the Lord" for relief - which means "Get us out of this!  Send out the troops!  Give us a deliverer!"  But He sent them a prophet - which they needed even more than a deliverer.  They could not see it, but looking back we recognize that all a deliverer could do apart from their heeding the Word of God, was to buy them a little time.  "God means to instruct us, not pacify us" (Davis 92).  Someone might say, "They were in too big of a mess for a preacher!  They needed relief not lectures!"  Yet what the prophet did was offer meaning - interpretation and instruction - to the waves of oppression rolling over them.  Do you honestly seek the Lord to interpret the circumstances of your life?  We welcome deliverance but perhaps see little need for instruction.  Yet it is only when the lessons are learned that we make the most of the issues of life.  Notice what the prophet spoke (vv. 7-10):

 

(1) Rehearses God's past mercies (vv. 8-9)

 

(2) Reminds them of God's present Lordship (v. 10a)

 

(3) Reasserts the singular nature of true worship (v. 10b) - fearing the gods of the Amorites implies breaking the 1st Commandment by worshiping other gods.  Here was the root of their oppression.  Wake up and see it, the prophet urges.  The Lord brooks no rivals.  He will not tolerate sharing our loyal love and affections.

 

(4) Rebukes their specific sin (v. 10c).  Davis, "One of the kindest things God does for us is to bring us under the criticism of his word to expose the reasons for our helplessness and misery" (92).

 

II. The Lord takes action, 6:11-24

 

Though we expect Him to say, "You are getting what you deserve," the Lord works through weak people to bring about liberation.  Do not miss in these chapters the heart of the matter:  the Lord taking action in spite of us!  If He did not assert Himself in our lives we would all go the way of rebellion.  I was reminded of this recently as I heard someone publicly expressing universalism.  This person pictured a God for everyone regardless of faith and obedience.  I thought of just how appealing this was to the human mind in rebellion against the God of holiness and law.  And then I thought further of the mercy shown to me by His divine "intrusion" into my wayward life with the gospel of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ!  The Lord asserts Himself so mercifully in our lives.  He does not have to do so.  He is not obligated to pursue sinners to deliver us from our sin and turn us from our way to His way.  He could justly - fairly - leave us in our sin to face His righteous judgment.  But thankfully, He shows mercy.  This is what strikes us in this text.  In mercy, the Lord raises up a reluctant deliverer for an obstinate people.

 

1. Gideon's struggle

 

Maybe Gideon's struggle is your struggle.

 

(1) He could not believe a reassuring promise of grace (v. 12), "The Lord is with you."  He judged God's Word by his experience (v. 13).  "If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?  And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us...?"  His assessment - "the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."  Given into Midian's hand, yes; abandoned, no!  At this point we have to assess Gideon:

 

(a) There was no fear of God before his eyes.  At best, he was therefore a skeptic who refused to rely upon God's Word.

 

(b) There was also an exaggerated sense of what he thought Israel deserved.  There was no consciousness of Israel's sin - just of their suffering.

 

(2) He could not comprehend the calling and empowering of the Lord (vv. 14-15)

 

(a) I think we have to think of it in terms of conversion and relationship to the Lord though the language is somewhat different than typical New Testament terminology.  Gideon's family housed a Boal cult in his own backyard.  He had heard of the Lord but obviously had no grasp of Him as Lord.  So, even though the angel of the lord called him, he fired off his excuses.

 

(b) His talk of being the least in Manasseh reveals the problem.  Gideon was still thinking of Gideon and not the Lord.  His perception of the Lord was so eclipsed by his view of his circumstances that he could not believe. 

 

2. God's patience (vv. 16-21)

 

(1) Gideon begins to test the waters of faith and abandonment to the Lord (vv. 16-18).

 

(2) Could this God be truly God?  Is He really showing favor (grace) to one as little and insignificant as Gideon?

 

(3) The preparation for the offering might have taken a couple to several hours (v. 19), yet still the angel of the Lord waited.

 

(4) The confirmation came when the sacrifice was offered (vv. 20-21).

 

3. Fear and faith (vv. 22-24)

 

What was missing all along was fear of God.  He did not fear God because he thought wrongly of Him.  Impoverished thoughts of God, more colored by perception of circumstances than revelation through the Word, lack the spark to inflame faith.  Gideon needed to fear God so that he might believe Him.  In this sense, proper, reverential fear, and awe of the Lord serves as a prelude and even a companion to faith.  I would call this Gideon's conversion:

 

(1) Awed by the Lord

 

(2) Rightly recognizes the Lord through the angel.  In Old Testament settings the Lord reveals Himself on numerous occasions through such divine messengers, even as now He reveals Himself through the encounter of His Word (Romans 10:17)

 

(3) Declaration of peace comes from the Lord (Romans 5:1)

 

(4) Gideon's altar was a marker, a confession and reminder.  "The Lord is Peace" - Yahweh Shalom.  His view of the Lord changed.

 

III. No turning back, (vv. 25-40) - March 21, 2004

 

To follow the Lord means, "no turning back, no turning back" as the 60's spiritual put it.  Jesus declared that one putting his hands to the plow and turning back is not fit for the kingdom.  So what does it look like when we go forward with faith in the Lord?

 

1. Tear down the idols (vv. 25-27)

 

(1) The dearest idols (belonging to his father) cannot remain because the Lord is a jealous God.  This is where so many err in their understanding of following Christ.  They want the benefits of the gospel without the killing power of the cross.  They want God's favor while still clinging to other gods.  The Lord would not use Gideon or bless him until the idols were removed.

 

(2) A new order of worship must be established (v. 26).  It is different from the worship of the past.  The "orderly manner" shows that the Lord does not accept our religious frenzies but worship in spirit and in truth.

 

(3) Commitment to Christ alone demonstrates a true heart of worship (v. 27).  Finally, "Gideon...did as the Lord had spoken to him."  It mattered not whether by day or night - he obeyed.  "Evidently, obedience was essential and heroism optional" (Davis 98).

 

2. Depend on the Lord (vv. 28-32). 

 

Here is irony dripping from the pages!  His father who owned the destroyed idols now comes to his defense!  Only the Lord can turn the tables - and indeed He does as we step out in obedience to Him.  Here was an important lesson in faith for Gideon as he learned to obey and trust the Lord with the results and consequences.

 

3. Go forth in service (vv. 33-35)

 

"Little Gideon" discovers that in God's power, by His Spirit, there is great response!  The key is not Gideon but the Lord's Spirit upon him.  We must learn the same lesson in our service:  the Holy Spirit aids us in our weakness so that the Lord receives the glory.

 

4. Strengthening faith (vv. 36-40)

 

(1) This is not a pattern to repeat but an example of God's great patience with us as we wrestle through steps of faith, e.g., when Paul struggled at Corinth the Lord appeared to him to give him encouragement.  So often in George Whitefield's Journals, we find him weakened through opposition and trials, but as he met the Lord in the divine ordinance of the Lord's Supper, his faith to press on would be kindled again.

 

(a) Don't get hung up on "the fleece"

 

(b) The Lord has ample ways to encourage our faith.  Make use of the "means of grace" He has given:  worship, proclamation, the Lord's Supper.

 

(2) The Lord knew Gideon's weakness, and even later provided more encouragement to believe (7:9-14)

 

(3) Davis - "Gideon wants to be more sure of Yahweh's sure word.  He is hesitant, not unbelieving.  It is not the absence of faith but the caution of faith we see here" (99).  "God is not ashamed to stoop down and reassure us in our fears" (Davis 100).

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