Transcript Document

• The Israelites had already been in bondage 3 times.
– 1st Period – Othniel (3:8)
– 2nd Period – Ehud (3:13)
– 3rd Period – Deborah (4:2)
• It had been forty years since the defeat of Jabin
– Jud. 4:24 “And the hand of the children of Israel
prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of
Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of
Canaan.”
– Jud. 5:31 “So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD:
but let them that love him be as the sun when he
goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty
years.”).
“Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall.”
“Wherefore the rather, brethren,
give diligence to make your calling
and election sure: for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall:”
• Israel became prosperous and the business of living
and making a living occupied all their time and
effort.
• It is always on hand!
– If a man neglect his fields, nature will remind him of his
neglect: weeds will take over and his crops will be
ruined.
• Israel
– Did they think that work in the fields and harvesting was
their chief concern?
• Man Today
– Do we think that material things are the chief aim of life?
“But seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and his righteousness; and
all these things shall be added
unto you.”
“And he said to them all, If any
man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow me.”
• Our Nation
– Do we not, in our nation, think about material
matters?
– What about the moral evils that affect this
nation?
“And Israel was greatly
impoverished because of the
Midianites; and the children of
Israel cried unto the LORD.”
• Now the Israelites think about God! V. 6
• The first answer by God was the message
of a prophet. Vs. 8-10
“that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of
Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the Lord God
of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought
you out of the house of bondage; 9 and I delivered
you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of
the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove
them out before you and gave you their land. 10
Also I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not
fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you
dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’”
“And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak
which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite:
and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide
it from the Midianites. 12And the angel of the LORD appeared
unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou
mighty man of valour. 13And Gideon said unto him, Oh my
Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us?
and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of,
saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the
LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the
Midianites…
“And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might,
and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites:
have not I sent thee? 15And he said unto him, Oh my Lord,
wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in
Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16And the
LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt
smite the Midianites as one man. 17And he said unto him, If
now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that
thou talkest with me. 18Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I
come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before
thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.”
“And it came to pass the same
night, that the LORD said unto
him, Take thy father’s young
bullock, even the second
bullock of seven years old, and
throw down the altar of Baal
that thy father hath, and cut
down the grove that is by it:” –
Judges 6:25
“And build an altar unto the
LORD thy God upon the top
of this rock, in the ordered
place, and take the second
bullock, and offer a burnt
sacrifice with the wood of
the grove which thou shalt
cut down.” – Judges 6:26
• Gideon started with 32,000 soldiers, but God
said this was too many.
– “And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are
with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites
into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me,
saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.” – Judges 7:2
• The faint-hearted were rejected.
– “Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the
people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid,
let him return and depart early from mount
Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty
and two thousand; and there remained ten
thousand.” – Judges 7:3
“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith,
quit you like men, be strong.”
“Thou therefore, my son, be strong
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
• The Water Test
– “And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too
many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try
them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I
sayunto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go
with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall
not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5So he brought
down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto
Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his
tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself;
likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to
drink…
• The Water Test
– “And the number of them that lapped, putting
their hand to their mouth, were three hundred
men: but all the rest of the people bowed down
upon their knees to drink water. 7And the LORD
said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that
lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites
into thine hand: and let all the other people go
every man unto his place.”
• Many commonplace things test the quality of men.
• Every day we are led to the stream to drink to show
what we are and whether we are earnest about
divine things.
• We show our spiritual state by our attitude and
actions.
• Do we pile up engagement after engagement until
we spend all our time at the stream and forget the
battle?
• The 300 Soldiers – Judges 7:7 – 8:4
–They were selected men.
–They had faith in the cause they were
fighting for.
–They made the fullest use of their means
and left the results to God.
–Every man stood in his place.
• The 300 Soldiers – Judges 7:7 – 8:4
–They acted in unity! (16-22)
“And Gideon came to Jordan, and
passed over, he, and the three
hundred men that were with him,
faint, yet pursuing them.”
• The reason for their success is the reason for
our success:
– Unity – Are you hearing only the voice of the captain!
– Obedience – Following the example of Christ!
– Faithfulness – “every man stood in his own place”
• Are we united in the battle cry, “The sword of the Lord”!
– Our sword today is the word of God and it is allsufficient and always victorious! (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12;
Rom. 1:16)
“Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your
labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
“Let your conversation be without
covetousness; and be content with such
things as ye have: for he hath said, I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So
that we may boldly say, The Lord is my
helper, and I will not fear what man
shall do unto me.”