#4
“The Lord Is With You”
Series
“THE LORD IS WITH YOU IN THE BATTLE!”
TEXT: Judges
6:11-8:21
INTRO: God has
helped some of the most unlikely people to be victors in the spiritual battles
we all face! How does God pick
people to fight great battles for Him?
What is it that God looks for when looking for a champion? Does He look for great talents, great
minds, great abilities, great standing in society, great pedigrees, or great
names?
Why
did God pick a deceitful Jacob? Why
did God pick Abel over Cain? Why
did God pick David over Saul? Why
did God pick a farmer like Amos over a trained prophet? Why did God pick a Moses who by his own
admission couldn't speak well? Why
did God pick sickly and fearful Timothy?
WHY DID GOD PICK A SHAKY AND FEARFUL GIDEON WHO BY ANYONE’S STANDARDS WAS
SEVERELY INSECURE?
Jacob
was deceitful because he wanted more than anything else God's blessings! He was committed to getting from God the
best!
Abel
was committed to being obedient to God's Word about proper
sacrifices!
David
was more concerned about God's name than his own!
Amos'
only concern was to see God's people experience
revival!
Moses
made some serious mistakes, but he wanted so much to see God's people released
from bondage!
Timothy,
Paul said there was no one like-minded more than Timothy, in spite of his
frailties and frequent illnesses and timidity Paul says he demonstrated a
faithfulness like few others in his day, both to Paul as a senior partner, and
to the church of Jesus Christ!
Each
of these men had serious flaws ... but there were some things they had in common
that made them candidates for God's help in battle:
THEY
WERE committed to God and His people! They were wiling to serve no matter the
resistance, they were quick to repent when shown their own wrong, they were
concerned more about others than themselves, they were faithful in spite of
setbacks, and they were not quitters though at times they felt like
quitting! They were willing to
overcome their own faults to put God first, and God’s people above
themselves. Their character was
something God found solid.
In
other words, God found in these flawed men characteristics that ministry could
be built on! God would help hone
their skills, it was their character however that enabled God to be with them in
battle!
PROP.
SENT: God promises to be
with us in battle when our hearts are in the right place, we need not fear being
overcome by the enemy; God will fight with us, for us, and through
us!
I. THE MAN
6:11-32
A. Characteristics
1. Why in the world did God pick
Gideon?
a. He was
cowardly.
b. He was the youngest in his
family.
c. He was from a family that had been
severely weakened by the enemy.
d. He had constant struggles with
doubts, he was severely insecure.
e. He was from a tribe that was not
known for its military strength.
f. If his family had been
wealthy at one time it was now poor from 7 years of raids by the
Midianites. (6:1)
2. Gideon hardly seemed like the
candidate of choice for such an important battle!
3. There must have been something that
God saw in him however that led God to hail him as a “MIGHTY
WARRIOR!” (6:12b)
a. Gideon was found by God threshing
wheat in a winepress, probably meaning he was doing this even while the enemy
was present in the land ... thus a place of hiding!
b. He was attempting to help feed his
brethren in spite of the enemy’s presence; he was committed and faithful to
serving others even when it meant endangering his own
life!
c. He was not a quitter, obvious by
the work he was doing, no enemy would stop him and he will outsmart them by
threshing in a winepress!
d Though he expresses some
doubts about God really caring for him or Israel, when he was asked to tear down
an idol in his own family he was obedient to do so ... he was OBEDIENT; in spite
of his doubts about God’s present miraculous help! (6:25ff)
e. Though his family was very poor
like most of
f. When his family discovered he
was the one that destroyed their family idol he doesn't run ... he stands his
ground and accepts the possible consequences; he is
CONSISTENT!
4. Well, it now becomes much clearer
why God chose this young man, in spite of his doubts, his fears, his
unimportance, and his lack of natural talents, there are other qualities in
formation that God can use!
a. God
is not moved by talent ... He is moved by character!
b. God will be with us in the battle
when we have such character!
c. REPEATEDLY GOD SAYS TO
GIDEON: “I WILL BE WITH YOU...!” (6:12,16)
ILLUS: I
don't know any other way to lead but by example.
-- Don Shula, former
B. Challenge!
6:25-32
1. While it is true that Gideon tests
God with the fleece because of his doubts God is willing perhaps to handle this
because God FIRST tested him to see if he would accept the challenge of
destroying his own father's idols in their home; and he
did!
a. To this Gideon was faithful ...
faithful to clean his own home before leading God's
people.
b. This was not an easy challenge, but
it proved his commitment to do what is right before God no matter the
consequences.
2. His natural fear is seen by the
fact he does the deed at night, he hoped no one would find out, his mistakes
however was taking 10 servants to help him do this … a secret known to 10 men is
no secret ... soon everyone knew it was him!
a. His challenge now was to stay and
face the consequences, and he does!
b. God spares him by Joash stating
that if Baal was a real god he could defend
himself!
3. He had proved his commitment,
faithfulness, and obedience in this challenge; the bigger battles could now be
fought ... God always takes us through
smaller ones before confronting us with bigger
ones!
4. All God needed was a man of
character, He can get anything done with such a
person.
ILLUS: Like
C. S. Lewis who once said, "no cleaver arrangement of bad eggs will make a good
omelet!" only The right stuff can
bring about the right results!
– Source
Unknown
II. THE MISSION 6:33-7:18
A. Conflict
6:33-40
1. Israel had several enemies and the
raids on their crops had gone on for 7 years now ... Israel was tired, poor, and
dispirited! How was one man going
to fight back!
a. Not alone but with an army of
saints! While it is true that God
will be with us in battle we also need the church united with us in
battle!
b. Together we can do great things for
God!
2. Gideon calls together the tired
saints, where did he get the strength and courage to do this? "THEN THE SPIRIT
OF THE LORD CAME UPON GIDEON." (6:34)
a. It took more than his own strength
to lead!
b. It would take more than just Gideon
to fight!
3. Gideon at this point has a relapse
of doubt, even after the SPIRIT OF GOD HAD COME UPON
HIM!
a. It happens even to the best of
God's people!
b. His doubts were honest, he shows
this, and God meets him where he's at!
His attitude no doubt was important, but it was not bitter or
nasty.
B. Compatriots 7:1-8
1. The response was encouraging; these
kinds of character men like to follow!
2. Gideon must have been quite
encouraged to see 33,000 men willing to fight the enemy with him even though
they still were greatly outnumbered!
(The enemy had well over 120,000 men; we know this because this many were
slain later while others escaped!)
3. God sends Gideon another
challenge however by telling him 33,000 men were too
many!!!
a. What
could God possibly be talking about!!!
b. ISN'T MORE BETTER? Not always in God's economy ... not if
those "many" fail to have their heart in it!
4. God wants Gideon to weed some
out:
a. THE
FAINTHEARTED: God asks Gideon to simply ask those
whose hearts are really not up to do battle to go home! (7:3)
(1. 22,000
leave!!! Boy, this could
hardly be encouraging! These were
the crowd followers ... but they weren't fighters!
(2. Gideon is barely recovering from the losses
when God tells him he still has too many!
(3. The natural question must surely
have come to his mind at this point: "God do you really know what you're
doing?"
b. THE
HALF-HEARTED: All those who simply knelt down to drink
water was suppose to be sent home, only those who took their hands to scoop
water up to their face to drink were suppose to fight!
(1. Why? They were only about 4 miles from the
enemy camp ... those who stuck their heads in the water to drink could not see
if the enemy was sneaking up on them, only those who used their hands to scoop
water to the mouths could keep looking out for the enemy at the same time they
were satisfying their thirst, they were the alert whole-hearted
soldiers!
(2. No sense trying to fight a battle
with half-hearted soldiers ... their commitment was their own needs, they are
not watching carefully to protect themselves and their brethren! REAL soldiers think of their
compatriot’s needs, not just their own!
(3. 9,700 men were eliminated out of
10,000!!! This left only 300 men who were really ready to
fight!
c. THE
WHOLE-HEARTED: Only 300 men left! God tells Gideon this is what he will
win the battle with!
(1. A few good
men or women sold out to God can do more for the
(2. God never has been impressed with
numbers or talents ... He is impressed with character and
service!
C. Comfort!
7:9-18
1. As might be expected this whole
process must have left Gideon wondering, and new doubts arise! He needs a word of
comfort!
2. "During that
night the Lord said to Gideon" – he must not have been sleeping! Would you!?
3. God tells him to sneak down into
the enemy camp ... God would use the enemy to encourage him and settle his
doubts!!! (What a plan! Only God could take the very enemy we
fight and make the enemy encourage us!)
4. Gideon doesn't go alone, God
encourages him to take a SERVANT with him, this was someone faithful to
him!
5. There in the enemy’s camp he hears
2 men talking about a dream one of them had, a dream of a barley loaf (barley was considered a poor grain ... a
symbol of poor Israel at this time) that tumbled into their camp and
destroyed their tent (the symbol of power
and of nomadic life in the dessert) ... even the enemy understood this dream
to mean that Israel would destroy them ... and this is said out loud for Gideon
to hear. God even has the enemy
interpret the meaning for Gideon, to be sure he understood God's promise to be
with him in the battle!
6. Gideon is comforted by this ... and
it helps him to be ready to fight ... in fact he breaks out in worship!
7. Nothing encourages worship more
than the knowledge that "GOD WILL BE WITH US IN THE
BATTLES!"
a. This is the only appropriate
response to the God we serve!
b. We do not fight
alone!
8. Look what this does for Gideon's
leadership ... (7:17-18)
a. "Watch me ...
follow my lead ... do exactly as I do!"
b. This is not arrogance speaking ...
it is the heart of a man whose character demonstrates commitment, sacrifice, and
is full of God's Spirit!
c. He is charged for battle ... when
you know God is with you, you can't wait to get going!
d. WHEN A MAN'S HEART IS RIGHT WITH
GOD HE ATTRACTS FOLLOWERS and HE
LEADS BY EXAMPLE!
III. THE MIRACLE! 7:19-8:21
A. Community
7:19-8:3
1. How would these 300 guys succeed
against about a 150,000 or so?
2. They would have to be united first;
they all formed a circle around the enemy’s camp and used what they
had!
a. They had no real weapons, just clay
jars, torches, and a ram's horn for a trumpet ... NO
SWORDS!
b. How in heaven's name could God
bring victory to this small group of saints when they didn't even have the right
equipment to fight with!
(1. Their equipment
was FAITH, UNITY, COURAGE, COMMITMENT ... and a few jars, torches, and
horns!
(2. They had exactly the right
equipment!
c. "Each man held
his position." 7:21
3. When even a few committed saints
are united the enemy is thrown into confusion!
4. The plan was to blow the trumpets
together, smash the clay jars for noise, and wave the torches wildly while
shouting the whole time. (SOUNDS
PRETTY PENTECOSTAL!)
a. This was done just as the next
shift was taking place in the enemy camp ... suddenly the enemy hears this
tremendous roar of crashing and as they get up in the dark and see themselves
surrounded by waving torches everywhere in all directions and hear the shouts of
men in every direction so they assume their own men who are changing shifts in
the night are the enemy in the camp and they get up and kill each other in the
chaos and surprise!
b. Gideon and his men simply stand
still and keep shouting ... they go on with their Pentecostal service while the
enemy destroys themselves and flee!
B. Commitment 8:4-21
1. Some of the enemy got away, Gideon
calls on the mighty tribe of Ephraim to please help them corner these fleeing
enemy, probably some of these helpers were the men who earlier had left for
fear, now they saw victory and joined in!
(Although they still had a bad attitude … see 8:1-3)
2. Notice 8:4 "exhausted, yet keeping up the pursuit..." Gideon and his men were not
quitters!
a. The job they started they would
stay with ... God needed their faithfulness all the way through the battle to
bring it to the proper end!
b. Ironically, they are refused
supplies from neighbors, his troops needed food but they are turned down for
fear that if they failed to beat Midianites those who gave food to Gideon would
then be targets from the Midianites!
c. This happens with not just one
neighbor, but from TWO!
3. Gideon and his men however are not
quitters even when others refused to help or follow ... they continued on though
they were hungry! THIS IS
COMMITMENT!
4. The results were total victory for
Israel ... GIDEON AND HIS SMALL BAND OF A FAITHFUL 300 CONQUER THE MUCH
STRONGER, MUCH LARGER ARMY ... and the result is that Israel enjoyed 40 years of
peace!
a. 40 years was considered a lifetime
... a full generation!
b. A small group of faithful saints
brought a lifetime of peace!
5. God proved that HE IS WITH US IN THE
BATTLES!
Conclusion: Gideon was fearful, his faith was up and
down, yet God picked him to win an important battle ... why? It certainly wasn't his natural gifts or
standing in Israel ... what God saw was a young man who was faithful to feed
God's people in spite of resistance. He also was faithful to do what was right
no matter the resistance. His
commitment to God was unwavering, he was consistent! In the end this is what God uses to beat
the enemy - character is more
important than talent!