Being Weak in the World of the Strong

Father, for some of us, the story we're going to read is very, very familiar.

And for others of us, Father, we're going to be hearing it for the first time.

We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do a wonderful work,

both for those who know this story very well and those of us who've never heard it,

that you would bring the story deep into our heart.

Father, I ask that it's not that people will remember my words or think that I am wise.

We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit will bring your word into each of our lives,

that your word will be what forms us and grips us at our heart.

And this I ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So some of you know I'm a runner.

Actually, as I get older, I probably shouldn't call myself a runner.

It's probably fairer to say that I shuffle very rapidly along the canal as I get slower, as I get older.

And on Friday afternoon, late afternoon, I went for a run along the canal.

I don't know, 3.30, 4 o'clock, something like that.

And as you know, it was bad weather on Friday.

And so I come to the canal and the path along the canal hasn't been plowed,

which makes the, you know, whatever, this much snow.

It's not very comfortable.

I get to where the ice has been open for people to skate.

And I look down, and as often the case, right along the edges,

there's a bit of a strip where it's been plowed but not ice.

So it's like hard-packed, flat snow.

So I go down there and I do the rest of my run.

I'm doing the rest of my run on the ice or beside the ice.

And as I'm sort of going down a little bit,

I see off in the distance ahead of me about three or four men.

And they're all, like, skating more like this.

You know, they're not skating like they did minor hockey as kids.

And they're all, you know, they're tottering around.

And as I'm getting closer to them,

one of them starts to totter over towards me

and starts saying something which I can't understand at first.

And then I realize he has a really deep Georgia or Mississippi or Alabama accent.

You know, one of those real southern accents.

And he's saying to me,

You're cheating.

And I said to him,

I am.

And then we just, I kept running,

and he sort of tottered over to the side.

So I'm going to begin this story.

You heard John read the beginning.

I'm going to, for those of you who have never heard the story,

I'm going to cheat and tell you the ending.

The ending, God does a remarkable, miraculous, providential thing.

And Gideon lives.

So I'm giving you the ending.

I'm going to cheat.

And for those of you who have never heard the story,

I'm going to let you know that Gideon wins.

But for those of you who've heard the story many times,

often Sunday school teachers,

in an attempt to spice things up,

not putting down Sunday school teachers,

many pastors,

they put parts and missed parts of the story

that are actually really, really significant

if they're going to affect our hearts.

So let's look at the story.

It's Judges chapter 7.

Judges 7 · chapter mention

Judges chapter 7.

Judges 7 · chapter mention

And if we were doing,

if we were,

if Netflix approached us to do a movie

on the story of Gideon,

it would be,

this would be episode 2 of three episodes.

And so last week in episode 1,

we meet Gideon,

amongst other things,

and we discover that Gideon is this Jewish man

who worships Baal, Baal, and the Asherah,

so he's paganized or Canaanized.

And Israel has been brought very, very, very, very low.

They, every, periodically,

at least once or twice a year,

the Midianites, the Amalekites,

and other nomadic tribes

come and enter into the land of Israel.

And it's not just that,

they don't just,

they don't come to conquer,

they don't come to occupy,

they just come to steal

whatever they can carry

and whatever they can eat,

and whatever they haven't stolen

and whatever they haven't eaten,

whatever's left,

they destroy it

so that the Israelites can't eat it.

So what this story is,

they've been brought low for seven years.

There's been seven years of attempted genocide.

Seven years of attempted genocide

of the people of Israel.

And Midian has been brought very, very low.

And just before we start to read this,

one of the things we talked about last week

is if you go through all of the book of Judges,

one of the things the book of Judges as a whole

wants to show you

is that it's not true that all paths lead to God.

It is not true that all paths lead to God.

But it is true that the triune God

uses many paths,

many different paths,

to bring people to himself.

And so in the book of Judges,

you're going to see God

constantly delivering his people,

but he does it in a different way every time.

And so last week,

we heard about Gideon and his call,

and God is going to be the one

who delivers them from the Midianites,

but he's going to use Gideon.

And so now we actually see it happen.

And here's how it begins.

I hope I point this the right way.

I think I did.

That's, yes.

Okay, so here's how it begins.

Then Jerobal, that is Gideon,

and all the people who were with him

rose early and encamped

beside the spring of Herod.

As we'll see in a moment,

Gideon's raised an army.

And the camp of Midian was north of them

by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

Verse 2.

And just before I read verse 2,

verse 2 is the key to understanding

the entire story of Gideon

from the beginning to the end.

In other words,

if we were to make this into a Netflix movie,

and you saw episode 1,

which is chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

episode 2,

which is chapter 7,

Isaiah 7 · chapter mention

and episode 3,

which is chapter 8,

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

and maybe into chapter 9

because it's connected to what happens there.

If you,

verse 2 is the key text

to help you to understand

what's going on in the whole story.

And it's the key

to being able to interpret it.

And here's what it says.

The Lord said to Gideon,

The people with you

are too many

for me.

Too many.

Your army's too big

for me to give the Midianites

into their hand.

Lest Israel

boast

over me,

saying,

My own hand

has saved me.

Now therefore,

proclaim in the ears

of the people,

saying,

Whoever is fearful

and trembling,

let him return home

and hurry away

from Mount Gilead.

Then 22,000

of the people

returned

and 10,000

remained.

So,

this advice

that the Lord

gives Gideon,

we have at least

one veteran

in the room,

is completely

insane advice.

Normally what you do

is you say,

Okay,

we got 32,000 people.

How can we get

30,000 more

so we can really guarantee

that we win this battle?

And I can also

well imagine

that many,

many commanders,

maybe even this is

what went through

Gideon's mind,

we're not told.

Gideon might have thought,

Sure,

I can say

whoever's afraid

go on home

because I know

my troops

and two will go home

because I know

my troops.

They're all

men's men

and they're all

pumped for this battle.

So he gives this thing

and before he knows

it,

over two-thirds

two-thirds

of the army

leaves

and he's left

with 10,000.

The book doesn't

go into the psychology

of what was going

through Gideon's mind

but it must have

been terrifying

for him to see

over two-thirds

of all of his troops

just leave,

left to 10,000.

But remember

verse 2,

God says,

the Lord says

to Gideon,

The people with you

are too many

for me to give

the Midianites

into their hand

lest Israel

boast over me

saying,

My own hand

to save me.

So,

what happens next?

Well,

what happens next

is in verse,

it's going to get worse.

Those of you

who've never heard

the story,

it gets worse.

Verse 4 and 5.

And the Lord

said to Gideon,

the people

are still too many.

Take them down

to the water.

I will test them

for you there.

And the word test

is different

than the word test

used other places

in the story of Judges.

This is a word

about refining.

I'm going to refine

them more

for you there.

And anyone

to whom I say to you,

still at the part

of verse 4,

anyone of whom

I say to you,

this one shall go

with you,

shall go with you.

And anyone of whom

I say to you,

this one shall not

go with you,

shall not go.

So Gideon brought

the people down

to the water.

And the Lord

said to Gideon,

everyone who laps

the water with his tongue

as a dog laps,

you shall set by himself.

Likewise,

everyone who kneels

down to drink.

Now just sort of pause.

If it's a little bit,

I think I've skipped

a bit here.

No, I didn't.

I think I'm fine.

If it's a little bit confusing,

this is one of the few places

in the Old Testament

where there is some confusion

in the grammar.

And if you read something

like the New Living Translation,

it smooths it out.

But it's not important

to get all the words right.

And I'll explain why

in a moment.

Let's see what happens next.

It's verses 6 and following.

And the number of those

who lapped,

putting their hands

to their mouths,

was 300 men.

But all the rest of the people

knelt down to drink water.

And the Lord said to Gideon,

with the 300 men who lapped,

I will save you

and give the Midianites

into your hand.

Let all the others

go every man to his home.

So the people took provisions

in their hands

and their trumpets.

And he sent all the rest

of Israel,

every man to his tent,

but retained the 300 men.

And the camp of Midian

was below him in the valley.

So now, once again,

the Lord has done

completely and utterly

crazy advice.

He's given another test

and he's got the people

down to 300.

Now here's where

many pastors

and many well-meaning

Sunday school teachers

make a big mistake.

The point of the test

is to get the number

down to 300.

It is not the point

to find out

Arnold Schwarzenegger

and The Rock

and Jason Statham

and 297 other

super soldiers.

That's not the point

of the test.

If that was the point

of the test,

they could still boast.

They could say,

listen,

we don't need 32,000 people.

All we need is The Rock

and maybe Stallone

and maybe Schwarzenegger

and we can handle

all of those people.

That's not the point

of the story.

I mean,

it could have been,

I don't know,

who scratched their chin

this way.

It could have been

who didn't pick their nose.

Like,

the point of the test

is it's not about

some type of special vigilance

or anything like that.

Just as,

and I don't want to

rain on the parade

of some people

and they're preaching,

there's no special power

about Israeli horns.

There's not.

It's completely irrelevant.

Like,

there's a whole,

there's whole,

like,

training sessions

in churches.

The shofar,

I think that's what it's called.

You know,

if you really want

to have success,

get a shofar

and,

no!

The point of it is,

you ask the average soldier,

would you rather go in

with a rifle or a horn

and they'll pick

the rifle every day.

Do you want to go in

with a sword or a horn?

They'll pick the sword.

The point is

that God's going to do

the delivery.

That's the whole point

of the story,

right?

God's going to do something

so that nobody

with even an ounce

of intelligence

can look and say

that we had anything

to do with the victory.

That's the point

of the story.

It's not to say

there's something special

about Israeli horns

and shofars.

Sorry,

I hope I didn't offend

anybody who's here

or who listens

to the sermon later.

But,

that's what's going on

in the text.

So now we have

300 people.

Well,

what's going to happen?

Let's see,

what happens next.

Now,

one of the things

which is really neat

is that,

and this is really important

for us in the story.

See,

the thing about these stories

is that if you read them

and read them

and read them

and they get into you,

it forms you in a way

that me being able

to talk doesn't form you.

It forms you in a way

that,

it forms you

at a deep level.

Stories form you

in a very subtle,

but at the end of the day,

maybe even a more important way

than using something

like a creed.

And one of the things

which is so wonderful

about the story

is this,

that the Lord knows

when you're afraid.

Like,

if there are some of us

here today

who are struggling

with fear

about something,

you don't have to worry

about pouring your heart out

about your fear

to the Lord

because the Lord

already knows

you're afraid.

And the Lord

doesn't despise you

because you have fear.

If you go back

and you read in the Gospels

time and time

and time and time again,

Jesus says,

do not be afraid.

He doesn't say,

do not be afraid

to shame you

if you're afraid.

He lets you know

that he's with you

even though you're afraid.

And so here,

even before Gideon

can say,

Lord,

I am terrified,

the Lord knows

he's afraid.

And so the Lord

goes ahead

of Gideon's fear,

so to speak,

speaks into it.

We don't know

whether Gideon

would have been

too afraid

to acknowledge

it before him or not,

but the Lord

knows he's afraid

and that's what

happens next.

That same night,

verse 9,

the Lord said to Gideon,

arise,

go down against the camp,

in other words,

right up to the very edge

of it,

for I have given it

into your hand.

But if you are afraid

to go down,

go down to the camp

with Purah,

your servant,

and you shall hear

what they say.

And afterward,

your hand shall be

strengthened

to go down

against the camp.

Then Gideon

went down

with Purah,

his servant,

to be to the outposts

of the armed men

who were in the camp.

So the Lord knows

he's afraid.

And the Lord knows

he's afraid

even to go down

and get close.

So he speaks

into it

because the Lord

knows we're afraid

when we're afraid.

And,

you know,

just once again,

think of verse 2.

he wants them

to know

that he is

the mighty deliverer,

that there's no reason

that we should boast

about our strength

or our accomplishment.

In other words,

he wants them

to understand

that they're weak.

And it isn't

that the Lord

looks down

and says,

I'm only going to

save the strong people.

I'm only going to

save the fearless people.

No,

he saves us

when we are fearful.

And this next part

of the story,

which is very subtle,

also says,

I'm going to

deal with you

and save you

even though

your heart

is still given

to a pagan

understanding

of me.

It's a very

small thing,

but just before

we get that,

we have to see

something that's

going to help

emphasize the magnitude

of what the Lord

is about to do.

Verse 12,

And the Midianites

and the Amalekites

and all the people

of the East

lay along the valley

like locusts

in abundance,

and their camels

were without number

as the sand

that is on the seashore

in abundance.

So here's Gideon

and Purah.

He has

299 men

back in the bush

and he looks down

and he sees

that you can't even

begin to count them.

Like 32,000

wouldn't have been enough.

They just seem

to stretch on forever

into the distance.

The lights

of the torches

and the campfire.

It just goes on

and on and on

like sand

in the seashore.

But Gideon

goes on down

close to the outpost

and here's

where we see

the Lord

takes great compassion

on him.

You see,

the Lord

doesn't wait

for you to have

perfect theology

to save you.

The Lord

doesn't wait

for you to have

like all religion

and all spirituality

says,

okay,

start to get

your life together

and learn

how to do

these rituals

and learn

how to do

a few good things

and then if you do that

you can sort of

start to maybe

talk to me

and I'll pay

a little bit

of attention

to you

and if you really

do that

very well

then I'll save you.

And the gospel message

is the complete opposite.

The gospel message is,

listen,

I know you can't

defeat Midian

and I know you like

to boast

and I know

that at the end

of the day

you have more

of a pagan notion

of God

than me

but I'm going

to deliver you.

And the Christian

life flows out

of God

delivering us

when we were

weak and helpless

and not deserving

of being saved

and all of the

Christian life

flows out of

God's mighty

deliverance

when we were

unworthy.

So here's

how it works here

if you look

at verse 13.

When Gideon

came

now he's right

up against

the edge

of the outpost

behold a man

was telling

a dream

to his comrades

so this is a

Midianite

or an Amalekite

or one of the

nomadic tribes

from the east

that's there

they're armed

they're on the

edge of the camp

keeping watch

and so I'll read

verse 13 again

when Gideon came

behold a man

was telling

a dream

to his comrade

and the man

said behold

I dreamed a dream

and behold

a cake

of barley bread

tumbled

into the camp

of Midian

and came

to the tent

and struck

it

so that it

fell

so it fell

and turned

it upside

down

so that the

tent lay

flat

now just

before I read

verse 14

the interpretation

this is like

most dreams

this is absurd

like I'm not

a camper

but generally

speaking if a

barley muffin

fell in the

tent I wouldn't

worry the

tent's going

to collapse

and so here

we have

a little

a bun

barley bun

in the dream

it's like

dreams

it comes

rolling in

the whole

tent gets

not only

knocked over

but turned

upside down

completely absurd

dream

like most

of our

dreams

right

but here's

the interpretation

verse 14

his comrade

answered

this is no

other than

the sword

of Gideon

the son

of Joash

a man

of Israel

God has

given into

his hand

Midian

and all

the camp

now just

sort of

you know

pause here

for a second

why did I

say that

this is

actually

God

condescending

to Gideon

like if you

go back

and read

episode 1

you'll discover

that

in chapter 6

you'll discover

that when

Gideon finally

has like a

huge miracle

done in front

of him

and he believes

in fact

that the Lord

is calling him

to do this

remarkable thing

and he goes

back and you

discover that

Gideon's

family are

the ones

who look

after Baal

and the

Asherah

they're the

sponsors

the patron

for it

they're in a

sense the

leading Baal

worshippers

of their

community

and then

you go

and you read

the story

and how

God tells

them to

tear it

down

and destroy

it

now

here's the

really big

thing

unlike idols

the triune

God is love

and he loves

ordinary people

like you

unlike idols

the triune

God is love

and he loves

ordinary people

like you

you see

if

so Louise

and I

I think

can

have to be

we'll be

39 years

married in

October

it's a long

time

not long

enough

long time

and if

on our

wedding day

Louise and I

talk to each

other

exchange our

vows

and then

for the

next

39

years

we

never

talk

to each

other

and we

can

I mean

we talk

to other

people

but we

never

talk

to each

other

that would

be just

wrong

weird

and wrong

because it's

of the nature

of love

to talk

to each

other

it's

of the

nature

of love

to reveal

yourself

to the

other

person

and you

reveal

yourself

not just

by your

actions

but also

by your

words

as you

interpret

your

actions

or try

to

or you

deal

with it

in

consistency

with it

and last

week

one of the

things

that we

saw

was that

the charge

that God

brought about

his people

is and we

don't really

grasp what

this means

because we

don't fully

grasp the

uniqueness of

the triune

God

that in the

nature

the very

nature

of the

triune

God

is that

from all

eternity

the Father

has loved

the Son

and the Son

has loved

the Father

and the Holy

Spirit

is both

another

person

also

communicating

love

but is also

sometimes

described as

love itself

and you

have this

marvelous

picture of

from all

eternity

this

over

flow of

love

given

and received

this

overflow

of

communication

given

and received

and it's

out of

this

overflow

of

love

that

God

creates

but for

idols

the gods

create

human beings

to be

their slaves

to feed

them

and in

much of

the world

you have

a distant

God

like in

Islam

you have

a distant

God

and when

you have

a distant

God

when you

have a

solitary

God

or when

you have

the gods

the God

doesn't

speak to

you

directly

like in

Islam

Allah

does not

speak to

Muhammad

Allah

speaks to

an angel

who speaks

to Muhammad

because the

God

does not

communicate to

you directly

because it's

really at the

end of the

day

love

is not the

defining

characteristic

of the

God

that is

described by

that religion

or spirituality

and so

that's why

it is

that in

most religions

dreams are

really important

because that's

how God

communicates to

you indirectly

through dreams

in Islam

dreams are

remarkably

important

and many

Muslims

will make

no decision

unless they

have first

had a dream

that communicates

to them

what God's

will is to

them communicated

indirectly

as with

paganism

as with

much of

monism

the dream

is spectacularly

significant

we don't

fully appreciate

that because

the Christian

view

is that God

is the

triune God

whom from

all eternity

has been

loving the

son and the

son has loved

the father

and the

holy spirit

is love

and the

father is

good to

the son

and the

son is

good to

the father

and there's

in a sense

this communication

this revelation

this opening

of the self

and the

giving of

the self

and the

receiving of

the self

and God

has created

us out of

who he is

the triune God

has created

us out of

who he is

and so it

is that the

triune God

reveals himself

in words

directly

Gideon

hasn't got

this entirely

and because

he is

canonized

now he

really gets

it

because

a dream

is revealed

you see

once again

I'm just

going to

this

this is

part of

why the

story is

so important

to us

you see

God

doesn't wait

for you

to have

a perfect

theology

he doesn't

wait for you

to have

a perfect

understanding

of who

he is

he doesn't

wait until

you're only

strong

and never

weak

he doesn't

wait until

you're only

good and

never bad

but when

you had

bad within

you

and when

you had

the most

crazy

absurd

ridiculous

notions

of God

still

he loved

you

and sends

his son

to die

for you

and he

does

everything

that needs

to be

accomplished

for you

to be

made right

with him

you do

nothing

so what

happens

next

well

now

Gideon

is really

energized

look at

what happens

in verse

15

as Gideon

as soon as

Gideon

heard the

telling of

the dream

and its

interpretation

he

worshipped

just pause

this is

just a

small thing

but it's

very important

and there's

nothing wrong

when we think

of the word

worship

we think

of all

of us

standing

and putting

our arms

up like

this

and exalting

we exalt

you

we exalt

you

that's

in a

sense

what we

understand

but here

you have

to understand

that what

they're

saying

is

face

time

as soon

as God

as Gideon

understands

it

he's flat

on his

face

arms spread

out

prostrate

that

usually

when you

see the

word

worshipped

in the

Old Testament

it's

describing

complete

and utter

prostration

it's an

acknowledgement

that

it's

making

yourself

defenseless

before the

triune God

and that's

what Gideon

does

he falls

flat on

his face

his arms

out

he is

defenseless

he is

worshipping

he is

trusting

continues

on

and he

returned

to the

camp

of

Israel

and said

arise

for the

Lord

has given

the

host

of

Midian

into

your

hand

remember

you

couldn't

even

see

them

they're

like

the

sand

on

the

seashore

and

now

he's

heard

the

dream

he's

had

God

speak

to

him

he's

heard

the

dream

God

condescends

to

his

weakness

as part

of

his

grace

and his

mercy

and his

goodness

and

verse

16

and

Gideon

divised

the

300

men

into

three

companies

and

put

trumpets

shofars

into

the

hands

of

all

of

them

and

empty

jars

with

torches

inside

the

jars

and

Gideon

said

to

them

look

at

me

and

do

likewise

when I

come

to

the

outskirts

of

the

camp

do

as

I

do

when I

blow

the

trumpet

I

and

all

who

are

with

me

then

blow

the

trumpets

also

on

every

side

of

all

things

about

this

story

is

it

helps

us

at

a

story

level

to

understand

how

it

is

that

God

answers

prayer

and

what

it

is

that

we're

asking

when

we

pray

now

I

don't

know

what

the

latest

statistics

are

but

I

believe

it's

something

like

90%

of

Canadians

or

more

at

least

pray

last

time

I

saw

a

statistic

one

third

of

all

atheists

pray

the

fact

the

matter

is

and

this

should

humble

us

if

you're

here

as

a

Christian

it

might

very

well

be

that

your

non

Christian

office

workers

pray

way

more

than

you

do

and

you

should

never

talk

to

them

as

if

I

pray

I

mean

it

might

very

well

be

wouldn't

it

just

be

terrifying

if

one

day

God

just

showed

up

and

just

paused

everybody

and

you

discovered

your

horror

hurt

well

you

did

pray

three

weeks

ago

and

this

person

who's

the

atheist

beside

he's

been

praying

every

day

like

human

beings

pray

I've

had

people

talk

to

me

I

remember

having

this

conversation

with

this

one

person

and

he

said

you

know

I

grew

up

in

a

completely

non

religious

household

I

didn't

go

to

a

religious

school

I

only

watch

secular

media

I've

never

been

to

a

church

a

synagogue

or

a

mosque

and

I

pray

every

day

I

pray

every

day

now

here's

what

works

in

prayer

so

we

pray

maybe

you

have

a

loved

one

they're

here

for

winter

lude

and

they're

going

to

drive

home

to

Toronto

this

evening

and

so

we

pray

for

them

not

just

we

maybe

our

atheist

friends

and

our

Muslim

friends

and

our

completely

and utterly

non

spiritual

Jack

Daniels

drinking

never

go

to

church

make

fun

of

Christians

friends

and

they

pray

as

well

that

the

person

will

get

home

safely

on

their

car

and

what

they're

not

praying

is

that

every

time

a

vehicle

veers

in

front

of

you

that

God's

hand

will

pick

the

vehicle

up

so

you

can

keep

going

they

just

pray

that

you

get

there

safely

don't

really

think

about

it

most

of the

time

way

that's

praying

for

a

miracle

but

generally

speaking

a

miracle

is

something

that

only

God

can

do

and

nature

can't

do

it

by

the

normal

way

that

nature

works

that's

what

we

pray

for

when

we

pray

for

a

miracle

and

we

do

pray

for

miracles

but

generally

we're

praying

that

God

will

work

through

the

normal

course

of

events

everybody