10/11/2025
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON FOR OCTOBER 12, 2025 (PROVIDED BY DONNA DICKERSON)
WE OFTEN MISS GOD’S BLESSINGS BECAUSE WE FAIL TO OBEY HIS WISHES BECAUSE WE EITHER DO NOT WANT TO OBEY OR WE ARE AFRAID WE DO NOT HAVE WHAT IS NEEDED TO DO AS GOD ASKS. NOT WANTING TO OBEY IS A CHOICE MADE BY THE INDIVIDUAL. IT IS REJECTION OF SERVING GOD. TO NOT OBEY BECAUSE WE ARE AFRAID, WE CANNOT MEASURE UP IS AN EXCUSE WE HAVE CONCOCTED BUT THIS IS ALSO SIN.
IN THE SECOND LESSON IN JUDGES, WE FIND TWO UNLIKELY VICTORS, DEBORAH AND GIDEON, WHO WERE NOT AMONG THE RICH AND FAMOUS BUT WERE ORDINARY PEOPLE JUST AS WE. IN THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES, THERE WERE FIFTEEN JUDGES WHO SERVED FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE COMING OF KING SAUL. THIS INCLUDED ELI AND SAMUEL. ALL CAME FROM A VARIETY OF BACKGROUNDS WITH A HOST OF EXPERIENCES. GOD USED ALL OF THESE INDIVIDUALS TO ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS FOR HIM.
WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS WE LOOK FOR IN A GOOD LEADER? THEY MUST BE TRUST-WORTHY, DEPENDABLE, ON TIME, AND HONEST TO A FAULT. WE LOOK FOR PEOPLE WITH GOOD BACKGROUNDS, ARE INTELLIGENT, AND HAVE A SENSE OF CARING FOR OTHERS. WE LOOK FOR PEOPLE OF INTEGRITY WHOSE WORDS ARE TRUE. ALL GOOD ATTRIBUTES.
GOD DOES NOT CHOOSE PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THEIR WEALTH OR SOCIAL STATUS. HE LOOKS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE LEADERS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, WHO HAVE A GOOD LINEAGE, AND AS IN THE DAY OF JUDGES AND THE OLD TESTAMENT, MASCULINITY. A JUDGE WAS SIMILAR TO WHAT WE WOULD CALL A TRIBAL CHIEFTAIN. IN OUR LESSON TODAY, WE SEE THAT GOD CALLED DEBORAH AS A LEADER OF THE ISRAELITES AND THEN GIDEON IN WHOM GOD SAW A MAN OF VALOR. LET US READ TO SEE HOW GOD USED EACH OF THESE INDIVIDUALS TO GAIN VICTORIES.
OUR TEXT COMES FROM JUDGES, CHAPTERS FOUR, SIX AND SEVEN SO PLEASE MARK THESE. PLEASE HAVE YOUR LITERATURE AND PEN READY. WE WANT TO OBTAIN GOD’S USE OF UNLIKELY PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES AND DETERMINE IN OUR HEARTS TO FOLLOW HIS CALL.
JUDGES, CHAPTER 4, VERSES 1-10:
THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS THE ACCOUNTS OF DEBORAH AND JAEL, TWO WOMEN WHO WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN DEFEATING AN OPPRESSOR OF ISRAEL NAMED JABIN AND HIS GENERAL, SISERA. JABIN IS REFERRED TO AS “KING OF CANAAN.” THIS SUGGESTS HE WAS THE DOMINANT KING IN THE REGION WITH A VERY LARGE ARMY. HE REIGNED IN HAZOR WHERE HE REIGNED AS KING. HAZOR WAS AN IMPORTANT CITY IN NORTHERN GALILEE. JABIN HAD AMASSED MUCH POWER IN HAVING BOTH 900 CHARIOTS OF IRON AND NUMEROUS SOLDIERS, REVEALING HIS DOMINANCE IN THE REGION.
AFTER EHUD DIED, “THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AGAIN DID EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD,” AS A RESULT, GOD ALLOWED JABIN AND HIS IMPRESSIVE ARMY TO OPPRESS ISRAEL UNTIL THEY CRIED OUT TO GOD. DURING THIS TIME, DEBORAH WAS BOTH A PROPHETESS AND A JUDGE. SHE SAT BENEATH A PALM TREE AT MOUNT EPHRAIM, WHERE PEOPLE “CAME UP TO HER FOR JUDGMENT.” DEBORAH IS THE ONLY PERSON IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES IDENTIFIED AS BOTH A PROPHETESS AND A JUDGE.”
AS A JUDGE, SHE PROVIDED GODLY WISDOM FOR PEOPLE SEEKING GUIDANCE ON VARIOUS ISSUES. AS A PROPHETESS, SHE SPOKE FOR GOD TO HIS PEOPLE, AND ONE OF THE PEOPLE GOD TOLD HER TO SPEAK TO WAS BARAK. SHE TOLD HIM GOD WAS COMMANDING HIM TO TAKE TEN THOUSAND MEN FROM NAPHTALI AND ZEBULUN TO ENGAGE THE ARMIES OF SISERA AT THE KISHON RIVER WHERE GOD WOULD DELIVER SISERA INTO HIS HAND.
HOWEVER, BARAK REFUSED TO GO UNLESS DEBORAH WENT WITH HIM. SHE AGREED TO ACCOMPANY HIM BUT FOREWARNED HIM THAT A WOMAN WOULD KILL SISERA. BARAK SEEMED UNCONCERNED THAT A WOMAN WOULD GET THE GLORY OF ENDING THE LIFE OF THE OPPOSING GENERAL AND AGREED TO THE CONDITION STATED BY DEBORAH. BARAK MARSHALED TEN THOUSAND FIGHTING MEN FROM ZEBULUN AND NAPHTALI, AND WITH DEBORAH, THEY WENT TO KEDESH AS GOD COMMANDED.
DEBORAH’S PROPHETIC PLAN FOR BARAK DETAILED A MASTERFUL MILITARY STRATEGY. BARAK HAD TO DO THREE THINGS:
CALL ISRAEL TO WAR;
GATHER AT MOUNT TABOR; AND
ENGAGE SISERA IN THE KISHON RIVER BASIN.
ALTHOUGH BARAK WAS RELUCTANT AND ACTED WITH HESITATION, HE RECOGNIZED THE AUTHORITY WHICH DEBORAH HAD SPOKEN. THIS IS WHY HE SAID HE WOULD ONLY GO IF DEBORAH WENT WITH HIM. SHE AGREED BUT TOLD BARAK THE HONOR WOULD NOT BE HIS IN KILLING SISERA. IT WOULD BELONG TO A WOMAN WHO WOULD GET THE GLORY OF ENDING THE LIFE OF THE OPPOSING GENERAL AND BARAK AGREED TO THE CONDITION STATED BY DEBORAH. BARAK MARSHALED TEN THOUSAND FIGHTING MEN FROM ZEBULUN AND NAPHTALI AND WITH DEBORAH, THEY WENT TO KEDESH AS GOD COMMANDED.
VERSES 11-23:
HEBER IS INTRODUCED IN VERSES 11-12. HE WAS A KENITE OF THE CHILDREN OF HOBAB, ALSO KNOWN AS JETHRO, THE FATHER-IN-LAW OF MOSES. HEBER HAD SEPARATED HIMSELF FROM THE KENITES, PITCHING HIS TENT NEAR THE TEREBINTH TREE AT ZAANAIM, WHICH IS BESIDE KEDESH. THE KENITES WERE THE LARGEST NOMADIC PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY HAD SHOWN KINDNESS TO ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS, LATER SETTLING AMONG THE TRIBES OF JUDAH AND NAPHTALI.
AT THIS TIME, THE KENITES WERE ON PEACEFUL TERMS WITH JABIN, AND HEBER HAD PITCHED HIS TENT IN THE PLAIN NEAR KEDESH. SISERA, HIS CHARIOTS OF IRON, AND HIS SOLDIERS GATHERED IN THE VALLEY NEAR THE RIVER KISHON. GOD HAD JABIN’S ARMY RIGHT WHERE HE WANTED THEM SO DEBORAH TOLD BARAK, “UP; FOR THIS IS THE DAY IN WHICH THE LORD HATH DELIVERED SISERA INTO THINE HAND: IS NOT THE LORD GONE OUT BEFORE THEE?”
BARAK LED HIS MEN DOWN FROM MOUNT TABOR TO ENGAGE THE ENEMY AT THE RIVER. GOD PLANNED THESE EVENTS SO THAT THE SOLDIERS AND CHARIOTS OF SISERA’S BECAME “DISCOMFITED (IN DISARRAY). ISRAEL GAINED THE ADVANTAGE AND WON A DECISIVE VICTORY BY KILLING THEIR ADVERSARIES BY THE EDGE OF THE SWORD. TWO FACTORS BROUGHT ABOUT ISRAEL’S VICTORY:
THE LORD “ENTICED” SISERA TO BATTLE AT THE KISHON. THIS REGION IS MOSTLY SWAMP LAND. SISERA’S HORSES AND CHARIOTS LIKELY BECAME BOGGED DOWN IN THE MUDDY TERRAIN.
THE LORD HIMSELF FOUGHT AGAINST SISERA AND DEFEATED HIM.
IN DEBORAH’S POST-VICTORY SONG OF TRIUMPH, SHE PICTURES THE HEAVENS THEMSELVES OPPOSING SISERA WHICH CAN BE FOUND IN CHAPTER 5, VERSE 20.
SISERA HAD TO FLEE THE BATTLEFIELD ON FOOT. AFTER RUNNING TO THE POINT OF EXHAUSTION, HE CAME TO HEBER’S TENT, WHERE THE WIFE OF HEBER, JAEL, WAS ALONE. BECAUSE OF THE PEACE BETWEEN JABIN AND THE KENITES, SISERA ASKED JAEL TO ALLOW HIM TO REST IN THE TENT. SHE INVITED HIM IN AND HE ASKED FOR WATER. AFTER ALL THAT RUNNING, SISERA WAS MOST LIKELY THIRSTY. INSTEAD OF WATER, JAEL GAVE HIM WARM MILK. AFTER SISERA LAID DOWN, SHE COVERED HIM. WE ALL KNOW THAT WARM MILK AND A WARM BLANKET ARE GREAT INDUCERS TO SLEEP.
JAEL ALSO AGREED TO GUARD THE TENT OPENING AS SISERA REQUESTED. THEN HE FELL INTO A DEEP SLEEP. JAEL THEN DROVE A TENT PEG THROUGH HIS TEMPLES INTO THE GROUND, KILLING HIM INSTANTLY. THIS WAS A BRUTAL VIOLENT ACT BUT WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE TIME OF THE AGE WAS BRUTAL. WHAT SHE DID ALSO VIOLATED THE NORMAL PRACTICES OF HOSPITALITY IN WHICH A GUEST MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS. YET, HER ACT WAS ACCOUNTED AS A HEROIC ACT BY DEBORAH AND JAEL WAS CONSIDERED “BLESSED.”
BARAK, WHO WAS TRACKING SISERA, CAME TO THE TENT WHERE JAEL REVEALED SISERA’S DEAD BODY. AS DEBORAH, THE PROPHETESS HAD PROPHESIED, THE GLORY OF TAKING THE OPPOSING GENERAL’S LIFE WENT TO A WOMAN. WITH THE ARMY DEFEATED AND THE GENERAL DEAD, JABIN WAS SUBDUED. BARAK AND HIS ARMY PURSUED ALL SURVIVORS OF SISERA’S ARMY AND DESTROYED THEM.
BARAK WAS WILLING TO FORFEIT THE HONOR OF KILLING THE OPPOSING GENERAL RATHER THAN GO INTO BATTLE WITHOUT DEBORAH. THIS REVEALS MUCH ABOUT HIS CONFIDENCE IN THE WOMAN OF GOD. AS FOR US, IT TEACHES US A VERY IMPORTANT LESSON. IT SHOWS WHO WE ASSOCIATE WITH IS IMPORTANT. SOME PEOPLE WOULD LEAD US DOWN THE WRONG ROADS TO DEFEAT, SO WE MUST LEARN TO RECOGNIZE THE PEOPLE GOD HAS ANOINTED TO SERVE IN LEADERSHIP ROLES IN THE CHURCH AND IN OUR LIVES.
JUDGES, CHAPTER 6, VERSES 11-13:
THIS PART OF THE LESSON INTRODUCES US TO GIDEON, PERHAPS THE BEST-KNOWN JUDGE IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES. AFTER THE DEFEAT OF SISERA, THE ISRAELITES HAD REST FOR FORTY YEARS. BUT THEN, THEY REVERTED BACK INTO SIN AND IDOLATRY. THIS TIME THEY WERE WORSHIPING BAAL AND ASHERAH AND MIXING THAT WORSHIP WITH THEIR WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH. THIS PRACTICE IS KNOWN AS “SYNCRETISM” AND IT WOULD PLAGUE ISRAEL THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY.
LET US TAKE THIS PART OF THE LESSON AS A WARNING FOR CHRISTIANS TODAY. WE LIVE IN AN AGE OF MIXED BIBLICAL FAITH WITH SUPERSTITIONS, THE OCCULT, EASTERN MYSTICISM, AND A WHOLE NEW REALM OF NEW AGE PRACTICES. THE OCCULT PERTAINS TO DEALING WITH SUPERNATURAL INFLUENCES, AGENCIES, OR PHENOMENA. IT IS BEYOND THE REALM OF HUMAN COMPREHENSION. MYSTICISM IS THE BELIEF IN THE EXISTENCE OF REALITIES BEYOND PERCEPTUAL OR INTELLECTUAL APPREHENSION THAT ARE CENTRAL TO BEING AND DIRECTLY ACCESSIBLE BY SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCES. IT IS VAGUE, GROUNDLESS SPECULATION.
IF WE REMEMBER, PAUL IN THE BOOK OF ACTS, CHAPTER 17, BEGINNING IN VERSE 16, PAUL ENCOUNTERS PHILOSOPHERS IN ATHENS WHO HAD AN ALTAR SET UP FOR EVERY KNOWN GOD AND ONE “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” ALL THE ATHENIANS AND THE FOREIGNERS WHO WERE THERE SPENT THEIR TIME IN NOTHING ELSE “BUT EITHER TO TELL OR TO HEAR SOME NEW THING.” PAUL BEGAN TO TEACH WHO THIS UNKNOWN GOD WAS, THE SOVEREIGN GOD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH AND EVERYTHING IN THEM. HE IS THE GIVER OF LIFE TO PEOPLE AND ALL LIVING THINGS. HE IS THE MASTER OF HIS CREATION. HE GIVES LIFE AND HE TAKES LIFE. HE HAS DETERMINED OUR APPOINTED TIMES.
DURING THE TIME OF GIDEON, THE MIDIANITES OPPRESSED ISRAEL. ONE OF THEIR TACTICS WAS TO ALLOW ISRAEL TO PLANT AND HARVEST THEIR CROPS AND THEN COME AND TAKE OR DESTROY THE HARVEST THE GIDEONITES HAD LABORED TO PRODUCE. THEREFORE, TO HIDE HIS HARVEST FROM THE MIDIANITES, GIDEON WAS THRESHING THE WHEAT BESIDE THE WINEPRESS RATHER THAN OUT IN THE OPEN ON THE THRESHING FLOOR. TO PROPERLY THRESH WHEAT, A BUNDLE OF STALKS OF GRAIN, CALLED A SHEAF, WAS STRUCK WITH A STICK OR BEATEN ON THE FLOOR. WHILE DOING THIS THE SHEAF WAS SHAKEN IN THE WIND TO ALLOW THE GRAIN TO FALL TO THE FLOOR WHILE THE LIGHTER HUSK OF THE WHEAT, THE CHAFF, WAS BLOWN AWAY.
WHILE GIDEON WAS TRYING TO THRESH THE WHEAT WITHOUT BEING SEEN BY THE MIDIANITES, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD, NOT THE LORD HIMSELF, BUT THE ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO HIM WITH THE GREETING, “THE LORD (GOD) IS WITH THEE, THOU MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR.” GIDEON, HOWEVER, RESPONSED BY ASKING WHY THE GOD WHO MIRACULOUSLY DELIVERED ISRAEL FROM EGYPTIAN BO***GE WAS NOW ALLOWING THE MIDIANITES TO OPPRESS THEM. IN FACT, GIDEON ACCUSED GOD OF FORSAKING ISRAEL, BUT THE TRUTH WAS THAT ISRAEL HAD FORSAKEN THE LORD. GIDEON ASKS SEVERAL QUESTIONS IN VERSE 13, QUESTIONING THE LACK OF GOD’S APPEARANCE, HIS MIRACLES, AND THEIR CURRENT PLIGHT OF BEING UNDER THE HAND OF MIDIAN.
SOUND FAMILIAR? IT SHOULD BECAUSE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US HAS FORSAKEN OUR GOD FOR WORLDLY LUSTS AND DESIRES. FIRST, WE WANT TO KNOW WHERE GOD IS WHEN THINGS GO WRONG. WHY IS HE ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN? ONCE WE LOOK WITHIN OURSELVES AND SEE THAT WE PULLED AWAY FROM GOD, WE COME CRAWLING BACK TO GOD TO SEEK HIS FORGIVENESS. ARE WE ANY DIFFERENT THAN THE ISRAELITES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT? I THINK NOT. HOWEVER, IF WE ARE SAVED, WE DO HAVE THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS CHRIST TO FOLLOW TO SERVE THE HOLY FATHER IN OUR GREATEST CAPACITY WITH THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
VERSES 14-16:
THE ANGEL DID NOT RESPOND TO GIDEON’S QUESTIONS. INSTEAD, HE TOLD GIDEON TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE SITUATION SAYING, “GO IN THIS MIGHT OF YOURS, AND YOU SHALL SAVE ISRAEL FROM THE HAND OF THE MIDIANITES. HAVE I (GOD) NOT SENT YOU?” GIDEON ASKED, “O, MY LORD, HOW CAN I SAVE ISRAEL? INDEED, MY CLAN IS THE LEAST IN MANASSEH, AND I AM THE LEAST (THE SMALLEST OR YOUNGEST, THE RUNT) IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE.” AND THE LORD SAID TO HIM, “SURELY I WILL BE WITH YOU, AND YOU SHALL SMITE (DEFEAT) THE MIDIANITES AS ONE MAN.” THERE WOULD BE ONLY ONE BATTLE INSTEAD OF MANY SKIRMISHES SPREAD OUT OVER MONTHS OR YEARS AGAINST VARIOUS MIDIANITE FORCES.
WHY WOULD GOD CALL THIS INSECURE PERSON A “MAN OF VALOR?” PROBABLY FOR THE SAME REASON HE CALLS THOSE OF LOWLY STATUS TODAY. HE SAW IN GIDEON POTENTIAL TO DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. HE SEES IN EACH OF US THE POTENTIAL TO DO WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO. THIS SHOULD GIVE US HOPE BECAUSE GOD DOES NOT JUST SEE US AS WE ARE, HE SEES US FOR WHO WE CAN BECOME. REMEMBER, GOD SEES EVERYTHING ABOUT US. NOTHING IS HIDDEN. CLOSET DOORS, WHETHER PHYSICAL OR IN OUR HEART, ARE OPEN TO HIS VIEWING ALL THE TIME.
LIKE GIDEON, WHEN GOD CALLS US TO A MINISTRY OR A ROLE IN THE CHURCH OR COMMUNITY, WE MIGHT FEEL INADEQUATE TO DO WHAT WE ARE ASKED BUT WE MUST REMEMBER THAT AFTER AN HONEST ASSESSMENT OF OUR INABILITY, IF GOD CALLS US TO IT, HE WILL SEE US THROUGH IT. HE NEVER SETS US UP TO FAIL, BUT HE PROVIDES US OPPORTUNITIES TO SUCCEED WHEN WE TRUST HIM AND WALK BY FAITH IN THE WILL OF THE FATHER. JESUS PROMISED THAT HE WOULD NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US” IN HEBREWS, CHAPTER 13, VERSE 5. THEREFORE, AS THE APOSTLE PAUL SAID, “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME,” IN PHILIPPINES, CHAPTER 4, VERSE 13; WE CAN CLAIM THIS SAME PROMISE—GOD WILL BE WITH US IN ALL HE CALLS US TO DO.
VERSES 21-32:
AFTER TESTING THE ANGEL OF THE LORD, GIDEON KILLED A GOAT, MADE A MEAL FOR THE ANGEL, AND LAID IT ON A ROCK. FIRE CAME UP FROM THE ROCK AND CONSUMED THE MEAT AND THE UNLEAVENED BREAD, WHICH WAS ESSENTIALLY A SACRIFICE. GIDEON CRIED OUT IN FEAR, SAYING HE HAD “SEEN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD FACE TO FACE.” THEN GOD SAID TO HIM, “PEACE BE WITH YOU; DO NOT FEAR, YOU SHALL NOT DIE.” SO GIDEON BUILT AN ALTAR THERE TO THE LORD AND CALLED IT “THE-LORD-IS-PEACE.”
GOD THEN INSTRUCTS GIDEON TO TEAR DOWN THE ALTAR OF BAAL USING THE YOUNG BULL BELONGING TO HIS FATHER AND CUT DOWN THE WOODEN IMAGE THAT IS BESIDE IT AND BUILD AN ALTAR TO THE LORD YOUR GOD ON TOP OF THIS ROCK IN THE PROPER ARRANGEMENT. THEN GIDEON BURNT THE SEVEN-YEAR-OLD BULL AS A SACRIFICE ALONG WITH THE WOOD OF THE WOODEN IMAGE. BECAUSE GIDEON FEARED HIS FATHER’S WRATH AND THE MEN OF THE CITY, HE AND TEN OF HIS MEN WAITED UNTIL NIGHTTIME.
THE NEXT MORNING THERE WAS THE ALTAR OF BAAL TORN DOWN ALONG WITH WHAT WAS LEFT OF THE WOODEN IMAGE. THE FIRE WITH THE OLDER BULL WAS BURNING ON THE ALTAR GIDEON HAD BUILT. THEY WANTED TO KNOW WHO HAD DONE THIS DEED, AND WERE TOLD GIDEON, THE SON OF JOASH, HAD DONE THIS THING. THE MEN DEMANDED THAT JOASH BRING OUT GIDEON TO KILL HIM FOR HIS ACTIONS.
JOASH ASKS THE PEOPLE, “WOULD YOU PLEAD FOR BAAL? WOULD YOU SAVE HIM? LET THE ONE WHO WOULD PLEAD FOR HIM BE PUT TO DEATH BY MORNING. IF BAAL IS A GOD, LET HIM PLEAD FOR HIMSELF BECAUSE HIS ALTAR HAS BEEN TORN DOWN!” ON THIS DAY, GIDEON’S NAME WAS CHANGED TO JERUBBAAL.
VERSES 33-40:
THEN GIDEON SAYS TO GOD, “IF NOW I HAVE FOUND FAVOR IN YOUR SIGHT, THEN SHOW ME A SIGN THAT IT IS YOU WHO TALKS WITH ME.” THIS IS A WELL-KNOWN STORY BY MOST CHURCH GOERS AS IT IS TAUGHT IN MOST SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES.
GIDEON ASKED GOD TO PROVE HIMSELF USING FLEECE. THE FIRST NIGHT GIDEON ASKED GOD TO ALLOW THE FLEECE ON THE THRESHING FLOOR TO BE WET AND ALL THE GROUND DRY. WHEN GIDEON AROSE, THE FLEECE WAS WET AND THE GROUND DRY. TO TEST GOD FURTHER, GIDEON THEN ASKED GOD ON THE SECOND NIGHT TO KEEP THE FLEECE DRY WHILE EVERYTHING AROUND IT WAS WET AND IT WAS SO. GIDEON BELIEVED.
CHAPTER 7, VERSES 1-8:
WE ARE TOLD 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 (CLAIM GLORY FOR ISRAEL) THEMSELVES AGAINST ME, SAYING, ‘MINE OWN HAND HATH SAVED ME.’” THE MEN OF ISRAEL WERE ABOUT 32,000 GATHERED IN THE VALLEY OF JEZREEL, ONE OF THE MOST FERTILE AND PRODUCTIVE REGIONS IN ISRAEL. IT HAS BEEN THE SOURCE OF MANY BATTLES THROUGHOUT HISTORY AND IT IS BELIEVED THE FUTURE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON WILL TAKE PLACE IN THIS VALLEY.
THE ISRAELITES CAMPED ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE VALLEY AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT GILBOA NEAR THE WELL OF HAROD. HAROD MEANS “TREMBLING” AND MAY REFER TO THE SHAKING FEAR THE MEN FELT AT THE PROSPECT OF FACING THE MIDIANITES. THE ENEMY ARMY WAS CAMPED ABOUT FOUR MILES AWAY NEAR THE HILL OF MOREH ON THE NORTHERN EDGE OF THE VALLEY.
THE MEN HAD A RIGHT TO BE AFRAID. THEY WERE FACING A HUGE MASS OF PEOPLE COMPARED TO THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS IN CHAPTER 6, VERSE 5, COVERING THE GROUND. THE ENEMY HAD LARGE NUMBERS OF CAMELS, USED FOR BOTH RAIDING AND FIGHTING. THE ENEMY COULD EASILY WIN THIS BATTLE. HOWEVER, GOD SAW THINGS DIFFERENTLY.
GOD TOLD GIDEON “YOU HAVE TOO MANY MEN.” GOD INSTRUCTED GIDEON TO TELL ANYONE WHO WAS AFRAID TO LEAVE AND ABOUT 22,000 MEN WENT HOME. THIS LEFT GIDEON WITH 10,000 MEN. THE ODDS WERE BAD ENOUGH WITH 32,000 BUT HAD NOW BECOME MUCH GREATER. GOD TELLS GIDEON HE STILL HAS TOO MANY MEN AND HE TOLD HIM TO TAKE THE MEN TO THE WATER TO DRINK. THOSE WHO KNELT TO DRINK PUTTING THEIR FACES TO THE WATER WOULD BE SENT HOME. GIDEON LOST ALL BUT 300 MEN AS THE OTHER NINE THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED MEN WERE SENT HOME.
THEN, GOD SAID “BY THE THREE HUNDRED MEN THAT LAPPED WILL I SAVE YOU AND DELIVER THE MIDIANITES INTO THINE HAND.” THIS PROVES THAT GOD DOES NOT NEED GREAT NUMBERS, MIGHTY PEOPLE, OR SOPHISTICATED MEANS TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSE. OUR GOD IS ABLE “TO SAVE BY MANY OR BY A FEW” AS STATED IN 1 SAMUEL, CHAPTER 14, VERSE 6.
VERSES 9-25:
GOD SENT GIDEON AND HIS SERVANT PHURAH INTO THE ENEMY’S CAMP WHERE THEY SAW THE MIDIANITE ARMY SPREAD OUT “IN THE VALLEY LIKE GRASSHOPPERS FOR MULTITUDE.” THEY HAD MORE CAMELS THAN GIDEON COULD COUNT. THE NUMBER OF SOLDIERS LOOKED AS NUMEROUS AS THE SAND ON A BEACH. THIS MUST HAVE TERRORIZED GIDEON AND PHURAH. HOWEVER, GOD SENT THEM INTO THE CAMP BECAUSE HE WANTED THESE TWO MEN TO HEAR AN ENEMY SOLDIER SHARING HIS DREAM WITH A FELLOW SOLDIER. THE MAN SAID HE DREAMED OF A LOAF OF BARLEY TUMBLING INTO THE CAMP OF MIDIAN WHERE IT KNOCKED OVER A TENT. A SECOND SOLDIER INTERPRETED THIS TO MEAN GIDEON WOULD DEFEAT MIDIAN.
THE REVELATION ENCOURAGED GIDEON, WHO WENT BACK TO HIS CAMP, AND HE DIVIDED THE THREE HUNDRED MEN INTO THREE GROUPS OF ONE HUNDRED AS GOD TOLD HIM. HE ARMED EACH MAN WITH A SWORD, A PITCHER WITH A CANDLE INSIDE, AND A TRUMPET. SENDING THE MEN IN A THREE-PRONGED ATTACK, THEY WERE TO FOLLOW GIDEON’S LEAD. WHEN HE BLEW HIS TRUMPET, HIS MEN WERE ALSO TO BLOW THEIR TRUMPETS AND YELL, “THE SWORD OF THE LORD, AND OF GIDEON.”
AS THE MIDIANITES WERE CHANGING SHIFTS OF TROOPS ON WATCH, THE THREE HUNDRED ISRAELITES DID AS GIDEON INSTRUCTED, ALARMING THE MIDIANITES WITH TRUMPETS AND SHOUTING. THEY SAW THE LIGHTS SUDDENLY APPEARING AND COMING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN TOWARD THEM. THE CONFUSED MIDIANITES, THINKING THE ENEMY WAS OVERRUNNING THEIR CAMP, BEGAN KILLING ONE ANOTHER AS THEY RAN FROM THE ENEMY.
THE ONES WHO WERE NOT KILLED AND WERE DESPARATELY TRYING TO FLEE WERE MET WITH MEN FROM EPHRAIM TO HEAD OFF THE FLEEING ENEMY AT THE JORDAN RIVER. THE ISRAELITE MEN FINISHED THE FIGHT BY CAPTURING AND KILLING THE MIDIANITES’ PRINCES, OREB AND ZEEB, AND BRINGING THEIR BODIES TO GIDEON.
SUMMARY:
WHEN WE FACE A BATTLE, WE MUST REMEMBER JESUS IS THE CAPTAIN OF OUR SALVATIION AND ALWAYS HAS A PLAN FOR VICTORY. THE POINT OF GIDEON’S VICTORY WAS THAT GOD, NOT GIDEON, RECEIVED THE GLORY JUST AS HE DID IN THE VICTORY OVER SISERA.
WE LEARNED MANY LESSONS FROM THESE TWO STUDIES. WHEN WE ARE WILLING FOR GOD TO GET THE GLORY FOR OUR VICTORIES, WE CAN BRAVELY MARCH INTO BATTLE WITH CONFIDENCE THAT THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S AND HE HAS NEVER LOST A BATTLE. FOR THAT TO HAPPEN WE MUST PUT ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD, NOT JUST A PIECE OR TWO, BUT THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD AS IS STATED IN EPHESIANS, CHAPTER 6, STARTING IN VERSE 10. THERE IS AN OLD HYMN THAT STATES IT ALL. IT STATES WE MUST “TRUST AND OBEY FOR THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO BE HAPPY IN JESUS THAN TO TRUST AND OBEY.”
LET US NOT THINK WE CANNOT BE USED BY GOD. WE CAN BE USED IF WE ARE WILLING TO SURRENDER TO HIM AND OBEY WHAT HE TELLS US TO DO. YOU CAN ASK QUESTIONS BUT IN THE END HE HAS YOUR PLAN LAID OUT. TRUST HIM TO CARRY YOU THROUGH. WE ARE GOING TO FACE BATTLES THAT ARE BIGGER THAN WE ARE BUT REMEMBER THERE IS NO BATTLE BIGGER THAN GOD.
