The Battle Is The Lord’s

So a wonderful story, isn't it? It's one of my favorites, and I can remember learning this one

so early in my life in Sunday school, and perhaps you can remember it as well. Maybe some of you,

this is the first time you've ever really come across this narrative before in the Bible, and

it's just fascinating. It's one of those stories that's fascinating to learn about. It's so

interesting to picture and to ponder in our minds, but it's so very important for us to understand

the theological truths that are here, and that's what we want to try to do this morning.

Remember the Gideon cycle, it begins in chapter 6, where we're told that the people of Israel did

what was evil in the sight of the Lord. That phrase in the book of Judges always has to do with

bell worship and the things that would come along with that, of course. And the Lord gave them into

the hand of Midian seven years. Now this is one of the shortest periods of oppression that we read

about in the book of Judges, but at the same time it might be the most difficult and devastating season

of oppression that Israel actually faced. Because of Israel's idolatry, God strengthened and allowed

this coalition of semi-nomadic tribes that was led by Midian. It included the Amalekites and the people

of the east as well. This giant coalition of nomadic tribes. God strengthens them, and God allows them for

seven years in a row annually to come into the land of Israel, specifically to the valley of Jezreel,

and they left utter devastation in its wake. The people of Israel would not stay in their homes.

They had to leave their homes. They would run, and they made caves in the mountains that they would

basically hide out in until this coalition left and went back east. And they're often described in

the story as locusts, not just as a description of their immeasurable number, but particularly because

of the devastation they left behind. They came in exactly like locusts that would fly in in a season

of harvest and devour everything of substance that's there. And that's exactly what the Midianites

were doing. They were taking all of the food from Israel. They were taking all of the livestock

from Israel. And this was probably the hardest seven years that we read about in the book of Judges.

Now, in most cases, it takes Israel sometimes decades of oppression before they actually cry out to God.

20, 30 years, maybe 40 in some cases. The suffering under Midian was such that it only takes them seven years.

Seven years, the shortest time frame we read about. It's so hard. They know that they will not survive

unless God steps in and does something on there. Perhaps. So they cry out to the Lord and God,

his faith wasn't he. He's gracious to raise up and empower this man, Gideon, who becomes his chosen

deliverer. And it's in verse one of chapter seven that we learn and begin to understand what this whole

conflict is really about. Look at verse one again. Then Jerobel, that is Gideon, and all the people who

were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Herod. And the camp of Midian was north

of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. So you don't necessarily have to read chapter six to know

what's happening here. There is an enemy. They are camped near the Mount Moreh. They're in the valley

of Jezreel. There's a lot of them. And then there's Gideon, and he's got his men, and they're just above,

and they're looking down. We can see there is a fight that is about to take place. That's what the author

is setting us up for. But he uses a term here that helps us understand really what it's about.

He starts with a different name for Gideon. That is the name Jerobel. And it's very unusual for the

author to do this. Typically, even in the rest of chapter seven, he's going to call him Gideon. That's

his common name. But at the beginning, he doesn't do that. Why? Why does he call him Jerobel?

Well, if you remember, the name means, if you look back at chapter six, I think somewhere around

verse, let's see, verse 32. It means, let Baal contend against him. That's what the name means.

It's a nickname. It was given to him by the people of his own town because in obedience to the Lord,

Gideon overnight one night took some servants, and he destroyed and beat down the altar that was set up

to Baal and the Asherah that was beside it. He destroyed their pagan worship, or at least the shrine

of their pagan worship. And he pounded it down, he broke it down, and then he built an altar to Yahweh

in its place, and he sacrificed a bull in its place. Well, the people of the town, they're so

incensed by this, they want to kill him. Remember, Gideon's dad steps up for him on his behalf. He

basically saves his life. And what the people do is they assign this nickname for Gideon,

Jerobel. Let Baal contend against him. It was something of a curse against him. Essentially,

the people were saying, okay, we're going to trust that Baal, the God we really want, the God we really

want to serve, that he's going to destroy you for what you've just done to his altar. And so they're

going to watch. They're going to watch and let Baal contend against Gideon. Now, interestingly,

the author uses Jerobel instead of Gideon to start the narrative. And the purpose of that is to remind us

what this whole scene is actually about. In the end, this chapter is not about Israel's conflict

with Midian. It's about God's conflict against Baal worship among his people. That's what this is

really about. Even the battle itself is not so much about God fighting against Midian as much as that it

is about God fighting for Israel. He's wooing them. He's proving himself again to them. And once again,

he's proving his faithfulness to his faithless chosen so that he might bring them back to love

and obedience and worship of him. Okay. That's what this is really about. It's not about Midian.

It's about Baal. It's about the Lord God winning his people back to himself. That's what this is.

Well, the focus of our text is on the actual battle between Midian's massive army and Gideon's

meager 300. But the message of the text is actually quite simple. The message is this.

The battle belongs to the Lord. The battle is the Lord's. Therefore, all the glory is the Lord's as

well. All the glory. He is sovereign over every detail that unfolds in this chapter. And that is

something that should motivate our worship. It should strengthen our hearts and it should lead to us

giving him glory. There's three things that God does in this battle. The first thing that he does

is he reduces the army. He reduces the army. Surprisingly, this is the first thing that he does in preparing

Gideon for the battle is he reduces the army to almost nothing, which is ironic, isn't it? Because

if you look back at chapter six again, particularly verses 34 and 35, it says that the spirit of God

clothed Gideon for the purpose of gathering these men. Do you remember that? After that whole episode with

the altar of Baal, it says that God clothed Gideon with his spirit so that Gideon would have this

divinely empowered mission to gather men for the battle. And now we find God is actually taking all

these men away. So something formerly meant to give Gideon confidence is now removed by the Lord

intentionally. And God used two different methods to actually do this. The first one was he sent the

fearful home. Look at verse three. Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people saying, whoever

is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gideon. 22,000 of the people

return. Only 10,000 remain. Deuteronomy chapter 20, it provides certain provisions for some men who did

Deuteronomy 20 · chapter mention

not have to go to battle. And in most cases, the provisions had to do with the circumstances of their

life. For example, if a young man had betrothed a woman to be his wife, but had not yet married her,

he was exempted from calls to battle. And the purpose of that was so that he could establish his marriage

and his family and continue his family's name rather than go to war, die, and let somebody else do it.

Right? Okay, so, and there are several different provisions that God made for the people. One provision

actually brought tremendous shame. The others were excusable. One brought tremendous shame. And it was that

anyone who was fearful of the battle could not remain and fight. They had to go home. Now, it's not that

some people just aren't afraid to fight. That's not what we're talking. We're talking about those who are

melting in fear, who are trembling in fear. And the reason for that provision was because fear spreads

like gangrene. If you got one person who's just scared to death of what's happening, that's going to

cause a lot of other people to start to be a little afraid themselves. And it can be devastating to an army.

So God makes this provision. If people are just completely afraid, don't let them go to the battle.

Now, whether or not God is doing that in this instance, I don't know. I don't think so. It could just be that

God wants Gideon to see exactly how much fear is out there among his own men. In any case, fear is a major

theme of this story. Fear and its effects on our faith. And throughout the Gideon narrative, we see it over and over

again. And it's going to come into play in a major way with the Midianites in just a moment. And in the

end of this, 22,000 of the 32,000 left. How devastating that is. You got 32,000 men, two-thirds of them

leave like that. Well, God wasn't finished dwindling the army. There was still more to reduce it now. Look

at verse four. The Lord said to Gideon, the people are still too many. Take them down to the water and

I will test them for you there. Anyone of whom I say to you, this one shall go with you, shall go with

you. Anyone of whom I say, this one shall not go with you, shall not go. So he brought the people to

the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps,

you shall set him by himself. Now this next phrase, this is a clarifying statement on the first one.

This is not a second condition. This is a clarification of the first condition. Okay. So,

and then he says, likewise, everyone who kneels down to drink. Well, you can't get down and drink water

like a dog without kneeling down. So that's essentially what's happening in this verse. And God's

saying, anyone who kneels down and puts their face down like that, just set them to the side,

mark them. And then he goes on to say in verse six, and the number of those who lapped putting

their hands to their mouth, as opposed to actually putting their face down to the water, was only 300

men. All the rest knelt down. And the Lord said to Gideon, verse seven, with the 300 men who lapped,

I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go home.

And this second test is interesting. It's interesting because it seems so arbitrary.

It just seems so random. Gideon's told to have them drink some water and just mark the ones who

drink in a particular way. And whoever drank with that method was sent home. And that leaves just 300

men to fight this battle against what Gideon sees as an innumerable amount of people.

Now, through the years, people have tried to suggest that there was a method to God's madness in this,

and that the method was he was preserving those who were truly courageous and those who demonstrated

alertness to the task. In other words, what they would say is that what God is doing here is he is

limiting the army to the best of the best, so that only the best of the best fighters are the ones who

are going to go against this army. That actually works against the text here. That's not what's

happening here. This is all about the numbers is what this is. God sends 22,000 home because he knows

22,000 of them are afraid. He does this test at the water because he knows what's going to be left

over. It's just very few men. It has nothing to do with their courage. It has nothing to do with

their alertness. It has everything to do with the numbers. God was reducing the army to nearly nothing.

And this was just the way that he chose to do it. Now, the 32,000 that Gideon began with,

that's still a weak army compared to the Midianite coalition. But now it's just 300

plus Gideon. And the question is, why? Why does God actually do this? Why does he whittle it down to

300 people? And the answer is in verse two. The Lord said to Gideon, the people with you are too

many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Now that seems backward, doesn't it? We would expect

God to say, you don't have enough to do this. We better get some more men. That's not what he says.

He says, no, you got too many men for this. You can't be delivered with this many men. We're going to have to

take some of them out. And here's his reason. Lest Israel boast over me, saying my own hand has saved me.

So knowing Israel's proclivity for ignoring God's presence and power, God strips away

everything that Gideon and his army could possibly trust in except God himself. That's what's happening here.

Even with 32,000 men, Israel was operating from a position of weakness, but God knew their pride.

Their pride was such that if they were to defeat the Midianites, even with just 32,000 men, they would

take glory for themselves. But God wants them to see clearly that this battle, it belongs to him,

that he is the one who will bring salvation to his people. But Israel would have been quick

to take the glory that belongs to God alone. So God needs to expose the depths of their weakness here

so that they might understand the truth of his gracious work on their behalf and thereby glorify him.

Dale Ralph Davis has a helpful statement about this. He says that the weakness of Israel in this moment

is not a superficial weakness. It is their real condition, he says. And he goes on,

so in Christian experience, it is important to define what weakness is not. Weakness does not mean

that you are a glob of spiritual jello that flops at God's feet. It does not mean that you whine a lot,

even though you may whine a lot. It does not mean that you look pale, even though many of us look a

little pale today. It does not mean that you have the flu. You may not feel weak at all, he says.

It has little to do with how you feel. You do not feel weak. You are weak. It's your genuine condition.

That is, you are stripped of all human resources and forced to lean upon God alone.

That is the true nature of our weakness. That we are stripped of all human resources to accomplish

anything of eternal value, of our salvific value in our lives. And we must lean on God alone.

Because like Israel, we are so often prone to ignore God's sovereign work in our lives.

And we ought not be surprised when we get to various circumstances where it seems like

God has stripped us of everything we feel like we need

so that we can trust in nothing else but Him.

But even if God doesn't do that,

even if He doesn't strip us the way that He strips the army in this moment,

He wants us to see that the battle is His.

He wants us to trust Him, not our own devices.

He wants us to glorify Him

rather than lift up our own egos.

Now whether it's in relation to your salvation,

or circumstances related to your spiritual growth,

or maybe just your progress in life,

you must reckon at some point with the reality of your own insufficiency.

Because it's only when you reckon with your own insufficiency

that you'll be able to grasp God's power and love at work in your life.

God wants you to understand the work that He's doing in you.

And often it takes Him reducing our resources to nothing

before we learn to truly trust Him.

And that's what He's doing with Gideon,

and He's doing it with the army itself.

That's the first thing God does.

He does the opposite of what we would do.

He reduces His army.

Number two, God strengthens His servant.

He strengthens His servant.

This is my favorite part.

I want you to take a moment and just imagine

how absolutely deflating this must have been for Gideon.

If you've been with us through the study,

you know Gideon's already prone to fear.

He is in constant need of reassurance from God.

Even after God clothes him with the power of His Spirit

so that he might gather these 32,000 men together,

he still goes back to God after that.

And he has this whole sign test that he has to do.

He lays out his fleece for God on two different occasions.

That's not because he's faithful.

That's because he's fearful.

He needs constant reassurance.

That's who he was.

Now, this chapter opens with Gideon and his men

getting up early and positioning themselves for this battle.

This is probably Gideon's most confident moment

in the whole story, at least before his sin at the end.

This is Gideon's most confident moment.

That is the morning before God reduces the army.

He's done the test.

He's seen the fleece.

He's gathered the men.

And now he's starting to feel some confidence about,

okay, maybe God is actually going to do this thing.

And what's the first thing that God does?

He takes away all the confidence.

He takes away everything that Gideon was trusting in.

In that moment, everything that he thought

was going to work for him.

How deflating.

How miserable Gideon must have been.

But this situation, it allows us to see something

truly wonderful about the Lord.

And that is his personal care for his servant.

Now, that's you.

That's just not spiritual leaders.

That is anyone who belongs to the Lord in Christ Jesus,

of course, as we look from a New Testament perspective.

We've been doing this all throughout the Gideon study.

We've tried to keep one eye on the big picture

of God's salvation of Israel, of his people as a whole.

And by application, we've tried to keep one eye

on God's gospel work globally in the global church, okay?

But we're trying to keep our other eye

on God's unique work in the individual person

that is Gideon in this story.

And what this does for us at this moment

is it helps us to remember

that God not only is doing this big work

that we may or may not feel like we're a part of,

but he is doing a unique and particular work

in you, in me.

He knows us.

He knows our weaknesses.

He knows the intricacies of what's in our mind

and in our hearts that no one else may know.

And he's doing a particular work in us.

And we see that come forward here

in this scenario with Gideon.

It's God who takes the initiative

to strengthen Gideon here.

And it's one of my favorite parts.

Look at verse nine.

That same night, that is the night

that he reduces the army.

God wastes no time here.

He says to Gideon, arise, go down against the camp,

for I have given it into your hand.

Now stop there for a second.

What's God saying?

He's saying it's time.

It's time to go fight the battle.

It's done.

Victory is secure.

But now notice what he says.

But if you're afraid to go down,

that is afraid to go and fight the battle

at this very moment,

I want you to go down to the camp.

Take Porah, your servant, with you.

And you shall hear what they say.

And afterward, your hands shall be strengthened

to go down against the camp.

And here's what I love about this.

Going down to the camp with Porah is optional.

This is not a command from God.

It's conditional.

Gideon, if you're too afraid

to go fight this battle at this moment,

just go down on your own.

Take Porah with you.

You don't have to go by yourself.

There's loneliness in Gideon's position right now.

Take Porah with you.

And I'm going to do something

that will build your confidence

if you're afraid.

And what I love about it

is there's no response from Gideon.

All we read in the next part of the verse is,

then he went down with Porah.

There's no question he's afraid.

I love it.

He goes down and he finds a place

to hide at the outpost of the armed men.

Isn't this wonderful?

Not only does God declare

that he's already given the Midianites

into Gideon's hand,

he's done that a number of times

through the story already,

but he very tenderly,

very patiently allows

for Gideon's anxieties to be soothed.

Now, those of you who are parents

know what it's like

to have to soothe an anxiety

that may or may not be rational.

You can tell your kids 100 times,

this is safe or this is good

and I've taken care of it

or whatever it is.

You can jump.

I promise I'll catch you.

And they're still going to be

plagued with anxieties, right?

Now, if you're like me,

you eventually grow a little impatient.

You say, would you just jump already?

Or whatever the thing is.

Notice the tenderness that God has here.

He has fought this fear

with Gideon the whole time,

but he never loses his patience.

He never loses his tenderness.

Knowing his fear,

God gives Gideon another sign

that Gideon didn't even ask for.

And Gideon's quick to take advantage of it.

And the sign comes with a promise,

the promise in verse 11.

What Gideon is privileged to hear

will give him the strength

that he needs to move forward full of faith.

Now, it's worth noting at this point

that there is a massive difference

between having no faith

and having a weak faith.

In fact, it's not just a massive difference.

It's an eternal difference.

No faith would have led Gideon

to go home with the other

20 or 32,700 men, right?

If he didn't have any faith,

he would have said,

this is ridiculous.

There's no way this will ever work.

I'm done with it.

But he doesn't do that.

That's not his position at all.

Despite his fear,

he stays and he trusts the Lord

with each step.

Now, it takes every step,

but he trusts the Lord with every step.

Now, we often think that faith

is the absence of fear,

but that's not true.

Faith is not the absence of fear.

Faith is better understood

as perseverance in the midst of fear.

And that's what we see in Gideon.

His faith may have been weak.

Still, it's not the strength of our faith,

but the object of our faith

that saves us.

He may have trembled

as he walked down the hill

to the outside of the camp,

but he still went.

We think about this sometimes

in relation to God's work of salvation

and justification by faith.

It might have been Mark Dever

that I heard one time

give an illustration

about the way faith works

and the life of a believer.

It's like two people

who are getting on an airplane.

One of them is completely comfortable.

They have no problems.

They have no anxiety whatsoever.

They get on the plane.

They know that they're going to get

where they need to go.

The second person

is the complete opposite, right?

The second person gets on the plane.

They're just an absolute wreck.

They're scared for their life.

They're not sure

if they can trust the pilot.

They're not sure

if they can trust the mechanics

to actually put this thing together.

They're not sure

if the side of the plane

is going to blow off

like it did with the one airline

this week, right?

They don't know

if this is going to be a convertible

or if it's going to be

just like a normal aircraft.

They don't know.

And they're scared to death.

Now, both of them get on the plane.

Right?

One's faith is stronger than the other,

but they both get on the plane.

And they both get to their destination.

One may get there

with a little more joy

and comfort than the other,

but they both get there.

And the point is,

it's not the strength of their faith

that gets them where it is

that they need to go.

It's the object of their faith.

And in this case,

it's not whether or not

Gideon was really full of faith.

It's the fact that he had enough faith

to trust God every step.

And anyway,

a lot of times in your life,

as a believer,

you're going to feel that.

Where you're not exactly sure

what to think about

five or six steps

down the road in your life.

But all you know

is I can trust God enough

to take the next step.

Well, that's good.

Keep taking those steps.

Keep moving forward.

Perhaps you're at one

of those moments spiritually

where God has stripped you

of everything you can possibly

trust except Him.

You're struggling to live

with a confident faith.

And you need to let this

be an encouragement to you

that God intends to strengthen you

in the way that He strengthened Gideon.

Weak or not,

you just need to take

the next step forward

in obedience to God.

You need to persevere

through the fear

that threatens to freeze you

and turn you around.

And I know

the testimony of the Scripture

is that God will meet you there.

I want you to look

at the next part.

Verse 13.

What is it that happens

with Gideon once he gets

down the hill?

When Gideon came,

behold, a man was telling

a dream to his comrade

and said,

Behold, I dreamed a dream

and behold,

a cake of barley bread

tumbled into the camp

of Midian,

came to the tent

and struck it

so that it fell

and turned it upside down

so that the tent lay flat.

And 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.

And as soon as Gideon

heard the telling

of the dream

and its interpretation,

he worshipped.

And he returned

to the camp of Israel

and said,

Arise,

for the Lord

has given the host

of Midian

into your hand.

Well, let's just walk

through this

for just a moment.

Gideon is hiding

outside the Midianite camp.

And he overhears

a watchman

in the middle

of the night

describe a bizarre dream

that involved

a giant loaf of bread

tumbling down the hill.

It hit a tent.

The tent flipped over

and went flat.

That's a weird dream.

So weird

that I don't know

that I would share it.

But this guy shares it.

He shares it

with his buddy

and then his buddy

interprets the dream.

There's nothing

facetious about this

at all.

There's nothing sarcastic

about this interpretation.

This is,

God is working

through these men.

This is a legitimate

interpretation

from the perspective

of this watchman.

And he says,

this has to have

something to do

with Gideon

who we heard

is up there

on the hill

with these men.

God's going to deliver

us into his hand.

Now Gideon hears

all of this.

That's what's interesting

about it,

isn't it?

This was the sign

that God had promised.

And it did exactly

what God said

it would do.

It strengthened Gideon

for the battle.

But what exactly

is it about the dream

that makes the difference

for Gideon?

What is it?

It caused him

to realize

that God

had brought upon

the Midianites

this heightened

state of anxiety.

anxiety.

It's reminiscent

of the Canaanites

back in Joshua,

in the book of Joshua.

They heard

of what God

had done

for the Israelites

and it says

that their hearts

melted with fear.

And God

has gone

before Gideon

and he has caused

that same experience

to come on

the Midianites

so that their hearts

are melting

with fear.

From their perspective

that may not even

be rational.

but nonetheless

they are operating

at a heightened

level of anxiety.

What Barry Webb

says,

what Gideon

finds out

is that things

are not as they seem

because the Midianites

too are frightened.

In fact,

they seem to believe

the very thing

that Gideon himself

has been finding

it so hard to believe.

That God

has given

the whole Midianite

camp

into his hands.

And this

does something

amazing in Gideon.

The effects

are dramatic.

Having this

renewed confidence

in the Word of God.

Gideon's instinct,

look at verse 15,

is to first

worship

and then

declare

his confidence

in the Lord

to others.

Now remember,

God's strengthening

his servant here.

His servant

is fearful.

And what does God do?

He gives him

revelation.

He opens up

his plan

for Gideon's

understanding.

He does it

in a unique way.

And what's Gideon's

first instinct?

He worships the Lord

in that moment

and then he runs

back to the camp

where his 300 men are

and look at the confidence

that he has.

Verse 15,

arise,

the Lord

has given

the host of Midian

into your hand.

The victory

has already been

won.

Let's go

get it.

We don't see

Gideon like that

anywhere else

in this whole story

except here.

Why?

Because of what

God's doing.

Now with this

in mind,

perhaps

a good test

for knowing

the nature

of your faith

is to consider

the nature

of your personal

worship

and your public

confidence

in the Lord

God.

think about that

for just a moment.

You say,

what is my faith

really like?

Because sometimes

it's hard to figure

that out,

isn't it?

But what's your

worship like?

What's your

declared confidence

in the Lord like?

Do you truly

worship from the heart

Sunday by Sunday?

Are you eager

in the gathering

of God's people

to sing to one another,

our sins,

they are many,

but His mercy

is more?

If you don't sing

that with confidence,

then you probably

don't have a very

strong faith.

What about your

personal worship?

Do you have any

private worship

to the Lord?

Time in His Word?

Time in prayer?

Maybe time in song?

Time where you are

fellowshipping,

communing with your God

because you believe

Him,

because you're

confident in Him.

What's your

worship like?

Do you ever

find yourself

declaring confidence

in God

to other people?

Do you ever

urge them

to trust

and obey the Lord

because you found

Him yourself

to be faithful

and worthy

of their

worship?

I think that's

a helpful text

because the

natural result

here

of God

strengthening

Gideon

through His Word

is worship

and public

praise.

Now,

God doesn't

reveal all of

His plan

to us all

the time.

We know

that.

And we

can't always

expect

God to do

for us

what He did

for Gideon

in this passage

as far as

just kind of

laying it out

there,

right?

He doesn't

always do

that.

But He

has made

some things

very clear

through the

revelation

of His Word,

particularly

His plan

of salvation.

If you

have eyes

to see

and ears

to hear

the gospel

of Jesus,

your faith

in Him

will radically

transform

your worship

and your

evangelism.

I'm not

talking about

those of us

who know

what the gospel

is and that

we can tell

you what it

is or we

are familiar

enough with

the theology

of it that

we can explain

it to you.

That's not

what I'm

talking about.

I'm talking

about those

of you who

have ears

to hear.

You have

come to know

Christ

personally

through the

gospel.

When that

happens,

your faith

in God

is strengthened

in a way

that only

God can

strengthen it.

And when

your faith

is strengthened

in the way

that only

God can

strengthen it,

it radically

transforms

your worship.

Your Sunday

worship is

different.

Your desire

for private

worship

day by day

is different.

Your declaration

of confidence

in God

is different.

Your evangelism

is different.

Why?

Because in

the revelation

of God

through His

word,

you have

come to

know His

Son in

the gospel.

And God

has done

this work

in you.

And we

see this

in seed

form with

Gideon

right here.

But God

hasn't only

revealed His

plan of

salvation.

He's made

that abundantly

clear to

us.

But there's

a lot of

other things

in the

scriptures

that God

has made

abundantly

clear.

Things about

who He

is.

Things about

how He

desires for

us to

live and

glorify Him.

And this

kind of

revelation,

we're not

talking about

subjective

revelation that

I just wake

up one morning

and I think,

well, God

has told me

this.

You can't

trust that.

We're talking

about the

written Word

of God,

our confidence

in the

scriptures.

And what

does it

tell us?

The

revelation of

the Word

of God.

It will

strengthen

your faith

to persevere

even when

faithfulness

will cost

you everything.

Now let's

put that

in some

shoe leather

to that for

just a moment.

When you

have a

confidence in

the Word

of God

and a

confidence in

the faithfulness

of God,

you will

stand for

His truth

culturally

even when

the culture

is vehemently

against you.

Whether that

be in the

hot topic

issues of

our day

with the

LGBTQ plus

movement,

the sexual

revolution,

whether that

be through

issues of

abortion,

whether it

be through

issues of

ethical and

moral considerations

and other

ways of our

life,

you will

stand

faithful

if you

are confident

in the

faithfulness

of God

and His

Word.

Even if it

costs you

everything,

and at some

point,

it's going to

cost us a

lot.

At some

point,

it's going to

cost us a

lot.

If faith

comes through

hearing the

Word of

Christ,

that's what

Romans 10

17 plainly

says.

Faith comes

by hearing,

hearing through

the Word of

Christ.

That is the

Bible,

that's the

Scriptures.

then it is

through the

Scriptures that

God intends to

strengthen you

and produce in

you the proper

worship and

zeal for His

glory.

You say,

you know,

I feel a lot

like Gideon.

I've heard the

call of God to

salvation.

I've got that.

But when it

comes to the

details of my

life and my

spiritual walk,

I struggle.

I struggle with

confidence in the

Lord and I

struggle with

confidence in what

the Bible says and

I struggle in all

of these ways.

And let me just

tell you, if we

follow this

progression the way

that the Scripture

lies it out, the

solution for you is

just to go back to

the Word.

It is in the

revelation of God

that the Spirit of

God does His work

in us.

That strengthens our

faith in a way that

we don't understand

all the time.

That's the thing

about this.

This is a divine

work of God in

us.

And He has a way

that He does it.

He does it by His

Spirit through His

Word.

But it's still His

work.

So what we need

to do is get back

to the Word and

let the Spirit do

the work through

the Word and

prayer that He has

determined to do.

And through that

commitment I think

we'll find that

God strengthening us

in the way that He

strengthened Gideon.

Third thing God

does.

First thing He does

He reduces the

army.

Then He strengthens

His servant.

Third thing, and

this is a simple

thing, He displays

His victory.

He displays His

victory.

So Gideon's got a

renewed faith now.

He returns to the

camp.

But he comes back

with a completely

unconventional plan of

attack.

He divides the men

into three companies.

He gave each man a

trumpet, a jar, and a

torch.

Hardly the things you

would expect for a

battle of this nature.

That's what He gives

them.

And then He just

tells them, whatever I

do, you do.

Okay?

Just trust me.

Look at verse 19.

So Gideon and the

hundred men who were

with him came to the

outskirts of the camp

at the beginning of the

middle watch when they

had just set the watch

and they blew the

trumpets, smashed the

jars that were in their

hands.

That's Gideon and the

men with him.

Then the three companies

blew the trumpets

together and they broke

the jars.

They held in their

left hands the torches

and in their right hands

the trumpets to blow.

And they cried out,

A sword for the Lord

and for Gideon.

Then every man stood

in his place around

the camp and all the

army ran.

They cried out and

fled and when they

blew the three hundred

trumpets the Lord set

every man's sword

against his comrade

and against all the

army and the army

fled.

This is amazing.

Amazing.

Ironically, the men

yell, a sword for the

Lord and for Gideon.

While none of them are

said to have actually

had a sword.

We don't even know if

they had weaponry at

this point.

The only weapons that

are mentioned in the

text were in the hands

of the Midianites.

Not only are they in a

heightened state of

anxiety, it's the

middle of the night and

they're all asleep.

Now you know what

that's like.

This morning, Ashlyn

had told me last night

I want to ride with you

to go to the school

tomorrow morning.

I said, okay, I'll

come wake you up.

So this morning,

whatever time it was,

I went into the

girl's room and Ashlyn

was still asleep and

she was sleeping soundly.

And I just nudged her a

little bit and I said,

Ashlyn, it's time to

get up.

And the expression that

I got in that moment

was, what?

What?

Now she reacts that way

because she's in a deep

sleep and she's just

been awakened and when

you're awakened in a deep

sleep by somebody else

intentionally, you don't

exactly know where you

are or what you're doing

and it's a little

frightening in that

moment.

Now take that and apply

it to someone who's just

definitely afraid of

everything in their life

at that moment.

They're afraid that at

any moment, Gideon and

this army is going to

come down and they're

going to kill us all.

And now all of a sudden,

all that they hear are

trumpets blowing and men

screaming and they look

out and they just see

they're encircled by

torches and they're just

trying to figure out

what's going on.

It's dark and what do

they do?

It tells us.

Look at verse 22.

When they blew the 300

trumpets, the Lord set

every man's sword against

his comrade and against

the army and the army

fled.

God had gone before

Gideon to create in the

enemy a sense of fear

and confusion that led

to their self-destruction.

They killed each other.

Gideon and his men, they

didn't have to do

anything.

You know what they got

to do?

They got to stand on the

outskirts of the camp and

watch God do God's work.

That's what they got to do.

And why did they get to do

that?

Because they were just

faithful enough.

They were just faithful

enough to take the next

step and go down the hill

and do the thing that

Gideon said to do.

And because of their

faithfulness, what they got

to see on display was not

their power.

They got to see God's

power.

Now, do you see how little

this had to do with Gideon

and his 300 men?

This is God all the way

through.

God calls the man.

God gathers the army.

God reduces the army and he

does it his way.

Then he strengthens his man.

He gives him a plan.

He goes before him in the

plan and he does the work

just so that his man can see

it happen.

That's amazing.

They were definitely

instruments in the hand of

God.

That is undoubted.

And the Lord was gracious to

use them in his work.

That's for sure.

But their simple faithfulness

allowed them to stand on the

outside and just watch God

work.

They were participants in God's

work so that they might see

that it is indeed God's work

and give him glory.

Now, I think this is an important

takeaway for Christians here.

God doesn't need us.

We're thinking, we may be

thinking about salvation and the

gospel and we can make those

applications too.

But primarily we're thinking as

Christians, the work that God

has called us to do in

evangelism and raising our kids,

perhaps in just everyday

faithfulness, we know that God

doesn't need us to do his work.

But he is pleased to use us in

his work.

And he does use us.

And in the process of that work,

it's easy to be gripped by fear

and anxiety.

That will be a common occurrence

in our lives until the day that

we die.

But when we're faithful to trust

and obey the Lord, we are blessed

to witness him do the work that

only he can do.

Because in the end, the battle is

the Lord's.

And so is the glory.

We can apply this in a lot of

different ways.

Think about it as a parent.

How fearful of a prospect is it

to be responsible for other human

beings?

Not only physically.

In fact, that might be the easier

part.

How daunting of a task is it, Andy,

to wake up every day knowing that

your responsibility is to raise

these kids in the discipline and

the admonition of the Lord.

Which means that you're going to

yourself have to be disciplined

in the truth of God and the

admonition of the Lord.

And then you're going to have to be

strong enough in that discipline

to actually communicate it to

others in a way that's helpful

and it's consistent and it's

faithful and truthful.

And those of us with kids know that

we can get to the end of that and

we can say this is an impossible

task.

And we can be gripped by fear in

that.

Is anything ever going to happen

with my kid?

What's the Lord going to do here?

Can he do anything here?

And really what the Lord's calling

us to is faithfulness.

Because you can't do the work that

only he can do.

And he's calling you to be

faithful and if you will be

faithful.

Not perfect.

Faithful.

Typically he's going to let you

watch him work.

That work may not always happen in

the way that you envision.

It may be a work that he's doing

in you.

Maybe even more than what he's

doing in the people that you care

for.

But you will be able to see him

work when you're faithful.

That's just one category.

We can think about this in our

evangelism, can't we?

You've got people in your life,

John, that you're trying to win

to the Lord and some of the

things that you're doing with

media.

You can get to the end of that.

I can testify to this personally

as a pastor who's pastored for

four years preaching the gospel

the best.

I know how to do it.

Sunday by Sunday seems very

little conversion as a result of

that.

I think that I don't know what to

do.

Like this is an impossible task.

It feels like those in your

talk sometimes with just our

evangelism.

But we're not called to provide

fruit.

We're called to be faithful.

And when we're faithful, God will

let us see his work accomplished

before us.

Because at the end of the day, the

battle is his and so is the glory.

And maybe the failures and the

weaknesses you feel now as a

Christian and in the things that

God has called you to be as a

Christian, maybe those failures are

there because God's having to strip

the pride away from your life so

that you will actually give him

some glory.

We could say there are a lot of

other ways.

We'll leave it there.

I said in the beginning that this

event was not about God's fight

against Midian.

It was his fight against bell

worship among his people.

And the Midianite coalition was

God's instrument of judgment against

Israel's idolatry.

That's what's interesting about

this, right?

God has to provide salvation for

his people, but what is he saving

them from?

He's saving them from himself.

And in his initiative, he raises up

a deliverer and empowers them to do

it.

Now, it's not very hard to draw the

gospel implications there, right?

We talk about salvation.

What is it that God is saving us

from?

He's saving us from himself, from his

justice and his wrath.

And then he takes the initiative by

sending his son to die on a cross, to

live the life that we were meant to

live and die the death that we deserve

to die in order that he might provide

salvation for us.

It's amazing.

It's amazing.

He proved his steadfast love by raising

up a deliverer for his people in

Judges chapter 7.

Judges 7 · chapter mention

And then he demanded that they repent of

their idolatry and turn back to him.

And if they were to do that, they would

receive the blessing of his covenant.

Well, it all ultimately points us to Jesus.

God has displayed his steadfast love for

us in the person and work of Christ.

And he demands that we repent of our

idolatry and that we turn to him through

faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And anyone who does that will receive the

blessings of his covenant.

Forgiveness, eternal life, reconciliation

with your creator.

And why wouldn't you want that?

The Savior's already been provided.

God says, believe and turn and the

blessings will be yours.

This story helps us understand that.

If not for any other reason, by just

pointing us forward to it.

Let's pray.

As I pray here and as your heads are bowed

where you are.

Acknowledge that at this point in our

service, Sunday by Sunday, I don't do a

great job of calling us to respond.

But a response to the word of God is

necessary anytime we come to it.

We don't respond to God if he has spoken.

We respond to God because he has spoken

in his word.

And whether it be through confession of sin or the

consecration of your life in a renewed sense of faith and

commitment of serving the Lord faithfully or maybe it's praise or

whatever it may be.

Faithfulness in this moment for each one of us is to properly

respond to God's word.

So as I pray, I want to encourage you not to waste the moment that

there in your seat respond to the Lord and to his word, to his

gospel, to his truth.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.