Skip to main content

Gideon - Judges 6

In junior church, kids learn about Gideon. It's an extraordinary story about how God chose 300 soldiers to fight against a vast army and win the victory. Unhappily, this tale came in a time very similar to our day. 

The Jews were in a terrible cycle of disobedience. First, they would forget God and his Law and go through a time of dominance by a pagan nation. Then, eventually, they would recognize their misdeeds and call to God for a deliverer. In this case, it was Gideon. 

Gideon summons the troops to battle, and 32,000 show up for the fight. They are heavely outnumbered as chapter 6:5 informs us that the enemy covered the ground like locusts. It was impossible to count them all. So, Not good odds. God, however, tells Gideon to release the men who are afraid to fight, and 22,000 leave the field. 

Still, too many, God says that they will think it was themselves who won the battle. So, he again instructs Gideon to take the men to a river where they can drink. God uses the soldier's drinking style to eliminate another 9,700! Now only 300 remain. Notwithstanding, These men would soon be in awe as they witnessed God's mighty hand striking down the Midianites and winning the battle for them. 

There are several lessons in this account. Here are three - Don't let sin take you away from serving God. Second, don't get off the true path of meaning and happiness. You will only suffer if you do. 

Third, realize that God is the one who fights your battles when they come. Don't forget that fact. When you do what God requires, he will fight for you! So, take courage. The victory is won!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abs of Steel with Glasses

Have you ever wondered why Clark Kent always took his glasses off before he turned into Superman? I hadn’t ever thought about it either until this last Saturday when I almost got sucker-punched. Wellington, one of my spunky Juniors, wanted to wrestle. He feigned a punch to my gut and I said, “Go ahead. I have abs of steel!” I think that my gym visits might be going to my head because my abs of steel are buried under a healthy layer of blubber. I have improved my six-pack but it is far from chiseled. It looks more like a quarter of a keg. Anyway, quick as a wink and with near lightening speed Wellington said, “Yeah but up here is made of glass!” as his poke went within a hair’s breadth of my glasses! I belly-laughed. His rapid reflexes and wit had caught me by surprise. And what he said was so true and funny. It was an excellent though brief lesson. I often prepare for an oncoming fray. I get ready, set and then “BLAM”! The proverbial punch comes from a totally different direction. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...
Post a Comment
Read more