“All the Midianites and Amalakites
and the people of the east came together, and crossing the Jordan River, they
encamped in the Valley of Jezreel” (Judges 6:33). Don’t worry if you’re don’t
who the Midianites, Amalakites, or people of the east are and if you have no
clue where the Valley of Jezreel is. I’m
going to tell the story.
It starts with some bad news. The Israelites had been in the process of
settling the land God promised to Abraham.
As they traveled from slavery in Egypt through the wilderness of Sinai,
God gave the law by which they were to live.
That story is told in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The story of settling the land starts in the
book of Joshua and picks up here in Judges.
God’s chosen people, the Israelites,
are to live in this land and worship God.
The problem comes when they decide to worship other, false gods and live
by the morality of other nations instead of worshiping the one true God and
obeying him. God withdraws his
protection and other peoples – Midianites and Amalakites – move into the area
and harass the Israelites.
As we hear this story, ponder
this. If you worship and follow Jesus,
you are counted among the people of God.
Who or what in your life makes it difficult to trust God, to follow God,
and stay true to His vision for you? It
could be people or institutions. It
could be temptations or addictions or bad habits or bad relationship. Anything that seduces you into turning away
from God is an enemy. What enemy weakens
your faith?
The desperate Israelites cried out. An unnamed prophet from God tells them, you’ve been unfaithful to the call of God
(6:7-10). But, God does more than just
send a condemning word through the prophet.
In spite of all our sins, God still hears us when we pray. Even when we are guilty of hurting others,
debasing people, and breaking several of the ten commandments – even when we
know that God knows we’re totally busted – even then, we can pray and God hear
us and answer.
After God sent the prophet, God’s
angel came to Gideon. The angel says,
“The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (6:12).
What is Gideon the mighty warrior doing when this angel shows up?
“Gideon was beating out wheat in the
wine press, to hide it from the Midianites” (6:11). Mighty
warrior? Gideon has to be thinking, you’ve got the wrong guy! Gideon starts questioning. Where
are all God’s wonderful deeds that our ancestors talked about? If the Lord is with us, why has all this
happened to us? The Lord has cast us
off” (v.12-13). The angel called him
mighty warrior, but Gideon spoke like a mighty complainer.
He was terrified of the Midianite
warriors. They dominated the
valley. He along with the other
Israelites hid in the hills. It’s hard
to do any farming while hiding. You end
up beating wheat in a wine press, hoping the big bad Midianites won’t find you. Mighty warrior? Gideon was a coward. But the angel of the Lord told him, “In this
might of yours, go and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. I hereby commission you” (v.14).
It’s amazing that the Midianites
made Gideon tremble with fear, but he had no trouble talking back to the angel
of the Lord. You don’t get it, Angel of God,
he explains. “My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my
family” (v. 15). With God, that doesn’t
matter. Spoiler alert! That’s the moral of the story. The angel, speaking for God, says, “I will be
with you and you will strike down the Midianites, every one of them” (v.16.).
Again, knock-kneed Gideon, yellow
with fright before Midian, boldly negotiates with the angel. If this is truly the Lord, Gideon needs
proof. He tells the angel to wait right there. I mean, who tells God, ‘hold on, I’ll be with
you in a second.’ He runs and gets a
goat and prepares an offering. The angel
consumes the offering in fire and then vanishes (v.19).
Of course at this point Gideon
totally freaks out! “Help me, Lord
God! For I have seen the angel of the
Lord face to face” (v.22). “Shalom,”
God says, “you shall not die.” God calms
the man and Gideon then does what Old Testament people do. He gives God a new name. He calls God “Shalom;” peace.
Then the man goes into town and
boldly rips down the poles offered to the false god Baal. They’re called Asherah poles. Gideon defies the false god tearing down his
blasphemous altar.
Well, OK; Gideon sneaks out at night
and does the deed under the cover of darkness and then runs home and hides in
his dad’s house. In the morning, when
the people – Jewish people who aren’t supposed to worship false gods (#1 of the
10 commandments) – when they see their Asherah torn down and an altar to the
Lord in its place, they aren’t happy.
Who
did this? Gideon, son of Joash? Bring him
out here. We’re going to kill him. You’ve never heard of this Joash, hero of
Judges chapter 6? This is his finest
moment. He’s up to his neck in the same
sins as the rest of the community. He’s
in trouble with God. They all are. But, when the community surrounds his house,
intent on executing his son, he finds his courage. He’s struck by a truth bomb and he drops that
truth bomb on the heads of his idolatrous neighbors.
O,
you want to fight for Baal, do you? If
this Baal is really a god as we have been saying he is, let him fight for
himself. They can’t really say
anything to that. The whole uproar dies
down immediately, but there is one outcome we need to hear and heed. Instead of killing Gideon, the people give him
a new name, Jerubaal. It means let Baal
contend against him.
He was renamed Baal-fighter. A lot of people in the community thought Baal
was real and was a god of some sort.
They were calling Gideon god-fighter.
Earlier I asked, what relationship or institution or temptation or bad
habit or addiction or mistake acts as an enemy to your faith? Now, imagine you face that enemy and declare
that it will not come between you and God.
Alcohol? You will not ruin my
walk with the Lord. Past mistakes? You will not come between Jesus and me. Abusive family history? You will not tell me I am worthless. I am a child of God, made in the image of
God. Imagine you have mustered the
courage to face your demons and turn to Jesus.
Those people in Gideon’s town would rename you “Satan-enemy” or
“evil-fighter.”
Sure, we want to be thought of as
opposite the devil and we oppose all that is bad and evil and cruel. But it’s also terrifying. Here
comes Satan to wreak havoc on the church!
What do we do? Don’t
worry! We’ll all stand behind old
“Satan-enemy” and he’ll take care of it.
They’re talking about you.
Gideon hid high in the hills above
the Midianite hoards with their swords and iron chariots. He was safe in his hill side refuge. We hide in a refuge to be safe from that
which frightens us, to regroup, and catch our breath. But, once we’ve recovered, we can’t stay in
hiding forever. God came to Gideon as he
was hiding. God met him in his
refuge. God called him as he was –
lacking in confidence and cowardly.
The chapter ends with Gideon
continuing to show his true colors. In
addition to his timidity, he was a negotiator.
OK, God, I’m going to do what you
said, but I need proof that you’re with me (6:36). God’s already said the only way this will
work is I, God, will be with you. Now Gideon wants proof!
Gideon’s going to lay some fleece
out in the open night air. If, the next
morning, there’s dew on the fleece and the ground is dry, he’ll know God is
with him. God goes along with this farcical
proposition. The next morning the ground
is dry. The fleece is soaked with
dew. OK,
Gideon, are we good to go?
How about just one more
little confirmation? Gideon asks that the
next night, the fleece be dry, but the ground wet. The next morning, Gideon steps out of his
tent and his socking feet squish as he steps one the wet, dew-soaked
ground. He dries his feet with the
fleece that doesn’t have a drop on it. Then
he goes and rounds up an army. He’s run
out of tricks for God to perform. It’s
time to leave the hill side refuge and go face the mighty Midianites. Next week, we’ll talk about that contest and
how God can negotiate even better than Gideon.
For
now, our time is up. We must leave this
Hillside refuge and step into the world.
We don’t go alone. We are mighty
warriors in the same way cowardly Gideon was because the God who went with him
goes with us.
What
challenges await you in the week to come?
Are there people in your life make you turn mean? Or threats that
shatter your confidence? Or temptations
that try to lure you away from God?
God’s got you. God loves you and
goes with you. Even if you don’t feel His
power, God’s love is more powerful than the evils we face.
So,
go from this refuge, you who are called Opponents
of Satan, Enemies of Evil. Go in the power of the Holy Spirit and face
the world. Share the good news of
salvation. Meet hatred with love. And by the time the week is over and you’re
tired and beaten up, then come right back here.
The Hillside refuge will be here and the God of Gideon will give you
peace, shalom.
AMEN
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