Gideon II: Work and Downfall

fantastic thank you so much to Jamie for leading us in the first part of our service

thank you so much to Neil and to Rachel that was not an easy reading to deal with

and my deep appreciation for that last week I said that we would see God shown mighty and

weakness perhaps you were there and you saw this slide on the screen and I thought that was a fair

summation for our section this week but as I've read about it read it and talked to others about it

I've maybe realized that that is a good summary of some of the passage but it takes a back seat

to the fact that God continues to be shown gracious in folly so if you can forgive my mistake please

dig in with me as we see what God as we see God again being remarkably gracious to his people

despite their outrageous folly at almost every turn there are three major themes they're not on the

screen which go into displaying God's grace despite our folly they're the fact that there is one source

of victory in God rather than in our strengths and abilities there's one source of guidance

in God rather than in what our world says or what we might think is good and there is one source of

unity for God's people and that will be found only in God one source of victory one source of guidance and

one source of unity and you'll see these themes appearing and disappearing at different parts of our passage

as we said it's rather long there's a six point breakdown which ties into each of the sections that

Neil and Rachel read respectively and so there's too many soldiers and in verses one to eight of chapter

seven there's these pagan dreams in verses nine to fourteen there's Israel actually being delivered the actual

battle and the pursuit in fifteen to twenty three and then in that weird little section of a chapter seven

twenty four over to eight three we have this odd a dialogue between a Gideon and Ephraim

then eight four until twenty eight the bulk of chapter eight we see this odd kind of a situation with the

towns of Succoth and Peniel and then finally we get to verse twenty two to twenty eight where we have this

odd description of Gideon being asked to become king and this rather odd ephod business at the end

so that that's the the brief overview of where we're going this evening I hope that we'll get

there in relatively good time leading on from last week perhaps you weren't here last week or perhaps

you've forgotten already we saw Gideon raised up rather begrudgingly as a judge he wasn't the most

willing of volunteers and he's taken from among a battle worshiping family far less than perfect

circumstances and he has just called up the surrounding tribes of Israel to join him he has a army

around him to expel these Midianite invaders he's just been reassured twice that God is with him that God

will do what he says that he will do and then we come into verses one to eight of chapter seven

but our first section it's a surprise it's not what we would expect we would expect following this

story along that Gideon went with his army and rode down into the valley and conquered everything before

him but we find God intervening in Gideon's battle preparations Gideon has a serious problem

he has too many men I certainly have never been in a battle I don't think I've ever been in anything

I don't even think I've particularly been in a fist fight and perhaps I would say something of my

character and if I had been but I don't think there is ever a time or a place where you're in physical

conflict with someone someone or some group other than yourself where you think too many men I won't

bother with that last little group of folk that I could call out to this occasion I'll just go myself

but God has a problem with Gideon's army there are too many men so God gives them two opportunities to

leave the army firstly by their own choice if they are afraid and then by this water test and if you

want some sort of a visual sense of of how the army stack up here's the relative sizes at the beginning

each of those tiny little squares is 300 people approximately and so you start off with this rather

uneven battle the Midianites the green massively outnumbering this small army of Israel but God says that this

isn't good enough and so at the first opportunity that people have to get out of this battle they run in

their droves 22,000 men leave the army could you imagine being one of the 10,000 left

if you weren't scared at the beginning certainly you would be terrified now 10,000 against 135,000

and then eventually the one red square 300 men against this colossal army a great deal has been said about

how God has whittled down his people here particularly about that second test perhaps you've heard that

these 300 men are the most alert they're the most tactically aware there's something special about how

they've drunk the water but as we read the passage I hope that you caught that that doesn't quite fit

with what the test was the test the purpose of these culls to the army are not that God would pick out the

brightest or the brightest or the best but purely to remove the possibility of Gideon and Israel congratulating

themselves when God saves them God knows Israel's heart God knows Gideon's heart and he knows each one of our hearts

he knows what we're like that we are so keen to take the the credit for things that happen we're so keen to appear the hero we're so keen to be able to tell the best story

we want to be able to say we want to be able to claim the victory but there is only one source of victory

and God is that source yet how often do we come to this passage and we try to congratulate

Gideon for his brilliance I flicked the internet on a few days ago and started scrolling through sermons and just from the sermon titles

on this chapter time and time and time again the title was isn't Gideon great

isn't Israel doing it wonderfully isn't this a fantastic thing that Gideon does

and I hate to be controversial but that is completely not the point of what happens here the point is that Israel is a complete

underdog and God takes them as an underdog and strips them of all strength

so that nobody else can get the credit but God

and this is our same God

and perhaps we can bring this idea forward a few thousand years into our lives

and perhaps there's something of a similarity

don't we sometimes hear the statistics of Christianity in our society

and we are dismayed

we hear

I think it's Robert Murdoch who's been

saying it most frequently at least in my hearing

that

under 2%

of Scottish

people are evangelical Christians

but that's us only outnumbered 98 or 99 people to 1

these Israelites were outnumbered 450 to 1

and yet God chose to win through those people

if God can relieve his people

back then against these odds

he's certainly able to relieve his people here and now

regardless of what government we find ourselves under

regardless of what line we see our nation going down

we may feel weak

and we may feel outnumbered

we may tremble for our lack of strength

and worry for our little ability

but our God is able

even now

but let us be clear

there is only one source of victory

by God's power working through

broken people

like you

and like me

this strategy

looks utterly foolish

and Gideon is dismayed

but God preempts any of

Gideon's attempts to make excuses

he tells Gideon to go

and to scout out

the camp of Midian

and this is perhaps one of the strangest parts of our story

did you notice in the reading

that the Midianites are described as both a plague

they're like locusts in the valley

but they're also

blessed the same way Israel should be

did you notice that it said that their camels

outnumber the sand of the sea on the seashore

that was the promise made to Abraham

of his descendants

of his chosen people

but here is this Israelite deliverer

Gideon

the one who is

the truly chosen one

he knows what God would have him do

but rather than listening to God

and being confident based on his word

he hears

he goes and he hears this improbable dream

and it's impossible interpretation

isn't it funny

a barley loaf flying into a tent overturning

it's just completely silly

but on the basis of these pagan Midianite dreams

Gideon is strengthened to carry out God's will

it just makes no sense

why would Gideon believe

these dreams

but not believe what God has said to him several times

was it that this was corroboration

this was somebody else saying it

and therefore he could kind of take that

I don't know

or was something so messed up in Gideon's mind

that this dream makes more sense

than God speaking to him

and yet so often we can go through similar experiences

I have a friend who came to mind

when I was reading this section

and I messaged him

and got him to share a bit of his story with us

this is what he says

basically I hadn't a clue of what I was supposed to do

and at that stage

couldn't even really see

why I had even went to Bible college

we just played volleyball

and everyone else was inside

and I was lying on the grass

looking at the sky

and didn't they

they being the miners club

that's over the back of the Bible college

didn't they just start playing

don't stop believing by the journey

it was so weird

but it was like a word to me that night

and probably the beginning of me getting out of the rut

that I was in

and then he laughs at the end

and says thankfully I got more clear guidance

from the Bible after that

though

now this is a good friend of mine

I'm not criticizing Johnny in any way shape or form

but doesn't that just sound like me

that I would need the pagans

to play a completely un-Christian song

about something completely

inappropriate

and completely nothing to do with my situation

for me to actually take God serious

in what he's told me to do

and to go and do what he's told me

I'm not telling that story to show how silly Johnny is

but rather I want us to see how easily we

like Eve in the garden

will slip into a complete lack of confidence

in God's word

and the only reason that any of us are still here

the only reason that any of us are still believing

the only reason that any of us are still listening to God's word

is because of his work in our life

it's not our wisdom

and it's not our insight

it's purely God's grace

and likewise with Gideon

he was seeking guidance from all of the wrong places

but God graciously gave this dream to this pagan

the interpretation to another

and had them just at the right place at the right time

that Gideon could go and hear

so that he could go and deliver Israel

there's

the story moves on

Gideon is

given strength

by the hearing of the dream

and he goes back

and he arms his people

you think great

the story's going to get going

we're going to get some good

gory story here

he goes back and he arms his people

and what does he give them?

he gives them trumpets and torches

this is the famous part of the story that we know

and I love a bit of military history

but of all the strategies I have ever heard of

this is definitively the worst that I have ever come across

notice the lack of weapons

notice taking this tinily outnumbered force

and dividing it even more

so that it's even more scattered

and less potent

notice that their whole plan

is that the enemy would kill themselves

which normally isn't a good plan

when you go to war

all of this is pure folly

in the eyes of this world

but then we look at the results

and even though the text is silent

about whether God told Gideon

to use this plan

or whether Gideon just dreamed it up on the spot

we must conclude that God was working in it

we cannot help to see

that this was a truly great plan

here this little dot

that you can probably barely see

the force under Gideon

the massive section over here

the massive force that started out

under Midian's control

and the red

the number of folks that fell

to Gideon's strategy

God used these 300 men

with their trumpets and torches

to rout the entire army

but did you notice

the true folly that appears here

verse 8 and then again

in verse 20

there's this

you could call it a slip of the tongue

a sword for the Lord

and for Gideon

twice the author brings it to our attention

this isn't just some passing

information

this flies in the face of

what God has already been up to

God has taken such drastic action

to ensure that his people

would not claim the victory

but here they are

and they're already showing signs

that they're going to give the credit

to Gideon

and as we consider

that there is only one source

of victory

in his gospel

and not in our plans

perhaps we should take a moment

to ask ourselves

whether we're falling into the same error

as Gideon's little group

will our tongues slip

when God does great things with us

do we think back

to the great men and women of old

and maybe not of that long ago

and do we put our trust in them

and in their legacies

in their ability to preach

in their ability to see people converted

and do we find ourselves

slipping into this very same folly

of these Israelite soldiers

oh it was great when so and so was preaching

oh wasn't it wonderful

when those campaigns were on

God did great things

yes

but it was God that did great things

yet God does not abandon

these men

God still graciously uses Gideon

despite this problem

and perhaps there's a comment

that needs to be made

we should never look at the work

of Christian ministry

and think that it reflects

how honoured God is

through that ministry

what I mean is

everyone who speaks the word of God

is a flawed vessel

right

and every person

reached by any gospel ministry

is reached and converted

purely by God's grace

and sometimes we look at how well

some people do

and we put it down to

their abilities

and sometimes we look at others

and see how little fruit there is

of their preaching and conversions

and we think that they are bereft of God

but the opposite is true

there's a lot more that should be said

about that

but this is not the time for it

but there is one source of victory

and that is God

there is also one source of unity

the Midianites are routed

and all the Israelites

of the surrounding tribes

all those who were sent home

come down to join the pursuit

but Gideon sees a brilliant opportunity

he calls out the tribe of Ephraim

who are down here at the bottom

the battle happens up here

up around Ophrah and Mount Tabor

Ephraim down here at the bottom

are in a brilliant position

to go ahead of the retreating army

to capture rivers and river crossings

to stop the Midianites

from going home safely

and whether again this is part of God's strategy

or whether this is Gideon being clever

we don't see

but clearly God is using it

the Ephraimites managed to control much

of those crossing the Jordan to the east

and they managed to capture these two

Midianite commanders

Oreb and Zeb

the raven and the wolf

but Ephraim isn't happy with this

they're not content

remember that there is still no king in Israel

it's not comfortably united by a single monarch

and Ephraim seems to consider itself

as one of the more prominent tribes

they're one of the good guys

and here's this so-called judge

from little tribe Manasseh

who's he to be leading us in battle?

there's a bit of tribal rivalry going on here

and it threatens Gideon's position in leadership

they don't seem to care that God has raised him up as a leader

or that he has done great things through God

but Gideon's very deft in how he answers Ephraim

he uses this lovely little bit of flattery

to sate their wrath

and their resentment just dissipates

it's a brilliant example of what Proverbs 15 talks about

a soft answer turning away wrath

it's an excellent example

but as I come across this

I start to wonder

when's the foot going to fall?

you see when Gideon does something right

it usually has something behind it that's wrong

but no this seems to be good

until we get to the next little bit

we get this larger section

of Gideon and his soldiers

needing supplies from these two Israelite towns

Succoth and Peniel

these two towns are just over the Jordan

on the eastern banks of the Jordan

and we maybe need to remember

a couple of background things here

if you lived on the east of the Jordan

the Midianites had nothing stopping them

from raiding your land

and for seven years

the Midianites have been strong

these towns would have been

oppressed most of anywhere

in Israel

and they had no ability to really stop

anything that was going on

the past seven years have doubtless been a harrowing time

for these towns

and can you imagine the position that Gideon puts them into

with this request

they can align with this nobody called Gideon

who's managed to win one battle

who has only 300 men following him

and what happens when Midian recovers

they'll come back and they'll wipe us from the face of the earth

I doubt many of us would stand on the walls of those cities

and look at Gideon and his little group of exhausted men

and say that's who we're siding with

and they taunt Gideon

oh Gideon you're going to kill Midianite kings

oh very good

where are they then

are they in handcuffs with you

oh maybe if that happens

maybe then we'll give you bread

and Gideon promises revenge

on them

and there's irony

incredible irony in verse 9

when I come in triumph

I will tear down this tower

that word triumph

it can also be translated peace

what sort of peace is this going to be

if the first thing he does is come back

and destroy Israelite towns

as we read that Gideon pursues

his enemies

the numbers are still outrageously against Gideon

but the Midianites think that they're safe

and in the comfort of their own camp

they're attacked

they're routed

and the two kings are captured

and so Gideon returns to Succoth

and in a brutal fashion

he disciplines the elders of the town

then in Peniel he comes

tears down their stronghold

and kills their townsfolk

and we read that

and we wonder

what on earth is going on here

here is Gideon

the victorious judge

God has just delivered his people

this should be the pinnacle of the story

but his wrath against his own people

is repulsive

these are Israelites

these should be brothers and sisters

these aren't the enemy

the battle's over Gideon

stop killing

yes they were misguided

yes they made the wrong call

but was Gideon's revenge really necessary?

no

and I think the detail

that the author is giving us here

is pointing us to Gideon's character

as a warning bell

here's a judge

here's a deliverer

used by God

but that doesn't sanctify

what Gideon does

here we see Gideon's strength

seeping out

and I hinted to this way back

when we were talking about Gideon's call

God says go and deliver

Israel by the strength

that you have

and here we see this strength

and it's beastly

it's fearsome

it's indiscriminate

Gideon's relying on his own strength

he has no pity

no compassion

for his fearful fellow Israelites

surely there's no application of this

to us as Christians

no preacher or group

that has ever seen God's blessing

has ever demonised others

who failed to support them

at a time of trouble

it was interesting

that this coincides with

our morning teaching

on Philippians

where Paul is talking about

our need to be united

and of one mind

and perhaps some of us

have been party to

some very hurtful disunity

in the past

whether we play the part

of treacherous Succoth

or vengeful Gideon

or somewhere in the middle

do we need

to have our names

written in a letter

by Paul

to cause us

to take steps

to mend those bridges

I hope not

in this section

we also find

Gideon dealing with

Ziba and Zalmunna

it seems that

they've murdered

Gideon's brothers

in some sort of

an altercation

at Tabor

it doesn't seem

that they were killed

in battle

rather that

they were murdered

and again

we see Gideon's character

coming through clearly

he wasn't going

to kill

these pagan kings

who caused so much

trouble for Israel

but on discovering

that these men

were responsible

for the death

of his brothers

he is set on vengeance

and he attempts

to use his child

as a way of shaming

the memory

of these kings

a character

building exercise

if ever I've heard

of one

but his son

Jether

he looks like

a younger version

of Gideon

he isn't

self-assured

and full of wrath

and spite

rather he's like

the man that we met

at the beginning

timid

and fearful

and halting

and so Gideon

steps up

and executes

the kings

in cold blood

he's proving

what sort of man

he is

and I doubt

many of us

are thinking

that he's showing

stellar qualities

in many areas

our last section

as we come

into this

we have a

quite interesting

little finisher

we see what sort

of man

Gideon is

and we're repulsed

or at least

I hope we are

but the people

of Israel

they've forgotten

the characteristics

that God requires

for a king

they're just set

free from

one set

of tyrants

foreign tyrants

and instantly

they begin

to think

that maybe

another bloody

tyrant

will help them

maybe we'll give

Gideon

the reins

for a while

maybe he'll

reign

well as a king

and don't think

that they're

fulfilling

what Deuteronomy

is talking about

and setting over

a king over

themselves

who is one

who is

caring about

God's law

and who

is just

rather they're

looking for a king

in the same pattern

as all the Canaanites

around themselves

and our hearts

sink when we hear

them making this

request of Gideon

because Gideon

almost always does

the wrong thing

but Gideon

surprises us

in a good way

he rejects

the offer

has Gideon

finally got it

has he finally

twigged

is this whole

tale going to

end well

with Gideon

finishing well

after a few

rocky parts

maybe Gideon's

going to turn

around his life

and God's

going to use

him as a good

judge that's

going to lead

his people well

under God

not as a king

but as a judge

and we read

his response

and it sounds

great

I'm not going

to be your

king

my sons

aren't going

to be your

king

no no no

no God's

your king

but he doesn't

stop

he then

makes

just one

request

I just want

one thing

from you

what he asked

for we may

not quite get

it from what's

said in the

text

it's the

spoil that a

king would be

due in winning

a battle

and the people

have no problem

with giving

Gideon

what he wants

19 kilos

of gold

were collected

over 19

kilos

at current

day gold

prices were

talking well

over 600,000

pounds

to give you

some sense

of the

monetary

amount

and that's

beside the

spoil taken

from the

Midianite

kings

which would

have been

substantial

and he

takes all

this gold

and he

puts it

to fantastic

use

he invests

it

into making

an ephod

now

there's

controversy

over this

we can't

be exactly

sure what

it was

or what

it looked

like

it could

have been

kind of

styled on

what the

priest wore

at the

tabernacle

a kind

of a

top

breastplate

it could

have been

some sort

of an

idol

or some

sort

of an

image

we're not

quite sure

but whatever

intention there

was in

Gideon's

mind

it certainly

wasn't

particularly

well thought

out

there was

no reason

for him

to make

this

except if

he was

attempting

to resurrect

the Baal

worship

that his

father

sponsored

and that

he put

an end

to himself

at God's

behest

this wasn't

in the

law

he wasn't

commanded

by God

to make

this thing

this isn't

sanctioned

by God

in God's

worship

Gideon is

acting like

a Canaanite

king

sponsoring

his preferred

religious

cult

and we

find that

the end

of Gideon

is even

worse than

the beginning

he starts

off the

son

of a

man

who

sponsors

Baalism

that seems

to capture

this area

just around

Ophrah

and now

Ophrah

becomes the

place of

established

idolatry

for the

whole nation

of Israel

and again

Israel just

plays the

whore

and forsakes

Yahweh

who should

be their

God

yet we

get this

incredible

summary at

the end

of our

passage

and it

doesn't

look like

it fits

in

it flies

in the

face of

everything

that we

would

expect

despite

the

depravity

despite

the

disunity

despite

the

idolatry

and the

utter

stupidity

displayed

by all

and sundry

in the

passage

we get

to the

end

and we

read

so Midian

was subdued

before the

people of

Israel

and they

raised their

heads no

more

and the

land had

rest 40

years

in the

days

of Gideon

God

used

Gideon

as flawed

as feeble

as wayward

as he

was

to bring

about this

incredible

salvation

for his

people

and I

don't know

where many

of our

minds are

at

I don't

know what

you think

about the

state

of our

nation

I don't

know what

you think

about what's

going on

in your

life

but surely

we can take

comfort

that if God

can use

Gideon

he can use

anybody

if God

can bring

good from

what happens

in Gideon's

story

he can

bring good

from anything

if God

can use

Gideon to

give his

people rest

for 40

years

what can

he do

with each

one of

us as

we seek

to follow

God's

word

as we

seek

to hear

from

him

as we

seek to

live by

his

standards

place

because I

think we

all agree

there is

one source

of victory

it is

God

there is

one source

of guidance

it is

God

and there

is one

source of

unity

it is

God

and if we get all that

that Gideon completely missed

how much more

should we be able to accomplish

through

God's power

in our lives

can we pray just before we finish

Father

we're very aware

that

there is a lot to take in

in this passage

there's a lot of material

and this has been

but a scratching of the surface

and yet

Father we long that we would

have heard your voice

we long that

you would have spoken and that

you would continue to speak

and as

we seek to do

your will

as we seek to see

your name glorified

as we seek

for you to bring

the victory

in our lives

and to this nation

that has wandered far from you

we pray

that you would do

incredible things

in these days

that you would open our mouths

to speak

that you would give us courage

Lord

that you would unite us

to go

and to tell

this world of ours

the incredible good news

that you have

for them

Father we need

your help

and Father

we long that you would get

all of the glory

in Jesus name

Amen