16. Gideon’s Faith
Hymns: RHC 441 Faith Is the Victory 445 O Master Let Me Walk with Thee 451 Ready!
Hebrews 11:32a (KJV)
32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon…
Gideon’s Faith
OUTLINE
(1) Faith to Obey God’s Call
(2) Faith to Fight God’s Battle God’s Way
(3) Faith that Perseveres Till Final Victory
INTRODUCTION
God has gathered for Himself a cloud of witnesses, men and women of faith and valour to fight the Lord’s battle, champion the Lord’s cause and advance the glorious kingdom of God on earth that His Name may be honoured and glorified and souls ushered to the kingdom of God. And the writer of Hebrews, I believe to be the Apostle Paul, had categorically by chronology listed the heroes of faith to uphold, strengthen and prepare the hearts of a new generation of men and women of faith to stand in the gap to make disciples of the nations before our Lord returns.
And it is indeed exciting to recount the conquest of faith in the lives of God’s people through the ages to fortify our hearts and we may hold the fort for His cause in our generation.
Gideon was the first of 5 men mentioned in verse 32 without any mention of their exploits for God. Did they not have a story to tell? Of course, they do! By the mention of their names will stir the hearts of the readers to faith!
Who was Gideon? He was the fifth judge of Israel described in Judges 6-8. The writer of Hebrews mentioned of Barak whom we will study next week and Jephthah, the following week, then Samson and of Samuel and David and of the prophets.
| Judge | Oppression | Reference | |
| 1 | Othniel | Mesopotamians | 3:7-11 |
| 2 | Ehud | Moabites | 3:12-30 |
| 3 | Shamgar | Philistines | 3:31 |
| 4 | Deborah with Barak | Canaanites | 4-5 |
| 5 | Gideon | Midianites | 6-8 |
| 6 | Tola | 10:1-2 | |
| 7 | Jair | 10:3-5 | |
| 8 | Jephthah | Ammonites | 10:6-12:7 |
| 9 | Izban | 12:8-10 | |
| 10 | Eglon | 12:11-12 | |
| 11 | Abdon | 12:13-15 | |
| 12 | Samson | Philistines | 13-16 |
(1) Faith to Obey God’s Call (Judges 6)
God called Gideon and commanded him to save Israel from the Midianites assuring him of victory! This was the background of the situation in Israel.
Judges 6:1-3 “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them.”
Why were the Israelites hiding in caves (Judges 6:2)? With few fortified cities, the Israelites’ only protection was to hide out in the hills, where they could preserve their supplies and their families. In this region, they are most likely to have used the caves from the Carmel range into the Iron Hills flanking the Valley of Jezreel on the southwest.
Invasion at harvest time (Judges 6:3). The timing of the raider was very important. If harvest time had passed, the villagers would have stored and hidden all of their grain and could withstand attack more easily. If the grain was still in the fields, the invader would have ample provisions and the villagers none. This would suggest April or May as the time of the invasions. The villages could easily be crippled if they were deprived of their year’s supply of grain, so what the invaders did not use or steal, they destroyed. The trampling of the fields would jeopardize future seasons.
What lessons can we learn from Gideon’s Call?
God makes no mistake when He calls (Judges 6:11-16).
A parallel verse is 1 Corinthians 1:27 “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” God does not make mistakes.
God called Gideon and commanded him to save Israel from the Midianites assuring him of victory!
What was Gideon’s response when God first called him?
(1) He was fearful and doubtful (Judges 6: 13, 15), (2) slow to accept God’s call (Judges 6:17) (3) and believe God’s promise to equip him (Judges 6:12,14,16) (4) and reluctant to accept leadership (Judges 6: 37-40).
“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour” (Judges 6:12).
“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?” (Judges 6:14)
“And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:16)
Twice God assured Gideon His abiding presence – “The LORD is with thee…surely I will be with thee”. Gideon was called by God Himself “thou mighty man of valour”. “Mighty man” is a single word that denotes the Spirit-filled man, “the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon” (verse 34). The work that God calls is a work that requires the help of the Holy Spirit to guide and accomplish. “Valour” means courage, boldness, bravery (verse 12). Do not despise God’s assessment of His chosen vessel as did Gideon of himself – “wherewith shall I save Israel?” (verse 15).
When it comes to God’s work, it is always God who first calls and then sends “Go, … have not I sent thee” (verse 14). The word “Go” is a verb in the imperative, a command by God. When Paul and Silas embarked on the first missionary journey, it was the Holy Spirit that gave the marching orders “the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them…So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed unto Seleucia.” (Acts 13:2, 3) It was God that called them to the task, they did not go by themselves.
Gideon’s task was clearly given by God “and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites”. Remember, the calling was from God, the work was given by God. The empowering and enabling was also from God.
Gideon’s response was fearful and doubtful. He posted four faithless questions to the angel of the LORD. The first and second question is out of doubt or unbelief and the third and four out fear and unbelief.
“Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us?” (Verse 13a)
Gideon put the blame of Israel’s plight on God, why didn’t God help Israel if You have promised to help us. Israel is in trouble because of their sins! “…but ye have not obeyed my voice.” (verse 10) is the pronouncement of the prophet sent to remind Israel to repent. Israel fell into the chastitive will of God as a result of their idolatry.
“And where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?” (Verse 13b)
Precisely the point! The prophet said to Israel “I have brought up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave you out from before you, and gave you their land.” (verse 9-10a) Now that you have entered the Promised Land, being freed from the bondage of slavery, you go back to your own vomit? Blessings are conditional upon obedience. God has put it so clearly in the Book of Deuteronomy, precept after precept, yet they spurned them all. Is it reasonable for Gideon to charge God for not helping them? Israel must first examine themselves and repent of their sins.
“But now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” (Verse 13c)
God has not forsaken them. God sent His prophet to point out to them their sin of disobedience (verse 10b). God had heard their cry, the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel (verse 8). And God is now calling Gideon to be “the man” (verse 16b) who shall smite the Midianites.
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. (Verse 15)
Now Gideon gave his excuse for not obeying the call of God. He cited his assessment of his abilities “wherewith shall I save Israel?” Then he cited his lack of status among his people, he was not a man of a somebody in Israel, how could he do anything to help Israel.
Notice that all the above questions and doubts were said out of a heart of weak faith, unbelief and a shallow understanding of Israel’s covenant with God – Yahweh. Gideon was leaning on his own understanding in his assessment, God and His power have never been in the equation.
Gideon needed God’s assurance when he was called. God called him personally (Judges 6:12, 14, 16). Gideon had to overcome his doubts and fears by faith, taking God at His Word.
Gideon exercised faith to submit to God’s Call and experienced God’s Peace (Judges 6:17, 36, 39, 22-24)
Gideon resisted God’s call. Gideon was assured in his heart that God would use him after seeing three unmistakable miracles (Judges 6:21, 38, 40). Gideon’s faith was weak, he needed further assurance from God apart from His promises to him (verse 12, 14, 16). Should we also do that? Well, looking back at my own experience, I must say that God is gracious and patient as He gradually prepared my heart to accept and wholehearted embrace His call and to act upon it. God knows our weakness and nevertheless condescended to strengthen our faith.
In verse 17, the question posed by Gideon to God with “if”, the Hebrew particle “~ai”, is a real condition meaning that if Gideon finds favour in God’s sight, then God would truly fulfil Gideon’s request for a sign. This first class or real condition indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. It will happen if the condition is true. Gideon knew in his heart that God had called him, that God favoured him yet he still asked the question for the sake of testing God. Obviously, it will be fulfilled. When he saw the sign recorded in verse 21, it confirmed God’s call.
“…the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes.” (Verse 21)
God was very patient and longsuffering with Gideon. By the use of “~ai”, we know that Gideon already knew the answer, it would be granted him yet he had to ask it. It stemmed from a weak faith. He later had to ask a second and third question to God, both of which also followed the syntax of the real condition with the particle “~ai”.
Gideon prayed and waited for God’s confirmation “And Gideon said to God, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said…And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.” (Judges 6:36-37)
Gideon prayed for a further confirmation of God’s call “Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.”
The call of God is irresistible. Gideon cannot escape from God’s call though he struggled hard. He asked God to do the impossible in the three miracles not so much to confirm God’s call but I believe to escape God’s call. God fulfilled on all three accounts miraculously to quench Gideon’s persistent doubt, leaving him with no excuse but to go in the strength of the Lord. He exercised faith to obey God’s call.
The call of God is paramount for work in God’s vineyard. It is between God and the person whom God calls. Others may not be able to understand the struggle that goes on in the heart of the person whom God calls. When Gideon saw the fire that rose out of the rock to consume the offerings, all his resistance vanished, he paid homage to God and submitted himself to God’s call. Gideon experienced God’s Peace – Jehovah Shalom when he submitted to God (verse 24).
(2) Faith to Fight God’s Battle God’s Way (Judges 7)
Obeying God’s Word Fully (Judges 7:2-3, 4-5, 7, 9)
Judges 7:2-3 “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 (boast) themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3 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.”
The 32000 men Israelites army has been reduced to 10000 when permission was granted for the fear and afraid to return. Deuteronomy 20:8-9 gives the injunction for their action “And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, “What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart. And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.” The fearful and trembling man God cannot use. Pride after the battle robs God of glory, and fear during the battle robs God’s soldiers of courage and power. Fear has a way of spreading and one timid soldier can do more damage than a whole company of enemy soldiers. Fear and faith cannot rule the heart at the same time. Either fear will conquer faith and we’ll quit, or faith will conquer fear and we’ll triumph. God cannot use people who constantly look at the enemy instead of at Him and are constantly filled with fear instead of faith!
John Wesley made this statement “Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but sin and love nothing but God, and I will shake the gates of hell!”
Judges 7:4-8 “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 say unto 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. So 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. And 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. So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.”
The 10000 remaining were further reduced to 300 by eliminating all those who knelt on the ground as they drank from a spring of water. The 300 who were chosen drank by using their cupped hands to carry the water from the spring to their mouths, always keeping head erect, as though to keep a constant lookout for the lurking enemy. Israel could learn a lesson about watchfulness from this symbolic action, but the more important God was teaching was that He would give deliverance to Israel in an impossible situation. This is a great test of faith of Gideon and the 300 men. They know in their hearts that victory is from the God and will give Him all the glory in their victory.
In the above instructions from the LORD, Gideon followed fully and wholeheartedly. Complete obedience to God’s Word is paramount to fighting God’s battle. The recipe for success must therefore be the ability to follow instructions. A good leader is, therefore, a good follower.
The lesson of humility is taught so that we may depend wholly on God and give to Him all the glory. We see our own insignificance and the greatness of God. Humility is the superior heart knowledge that enables, sanctifies and direct head knowledge. As the psalmist said, “LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.” John Calvin gave the secret of learning the knowledge of God and doing His work is in humility. The first is humility, the second is humility and third is also humility. A Christian writer said, “Being humble involves the willingness to be reckoned a failure in everyone’s sight but God’s.” The poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) said: “The flower of sweetest smell is shy and lowly.” Gideon was humbled to the dust following God’s instructions to reduce Israel’s army from 32000 to only 300. With 32000, it is already an impossible task against the overwhelming horde of Midianites but to allow 22000 to return further show the impossibility of the task, in terms of human strength and power.
A parallel passage that describes Gideon’s victorious battle is 2 Corinthians 2:14 “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.” “The man who is self-complacent, content with his own endowment, but blind to his wretched condition, does not aspire to God”, says John Calvin. It is only when we see our poverty, infirmity and depravity, it leads us to perceive and acknowledge that God is all strength, wisdom, goodness. Through our imperfections, we are to experience His perfections. This is what it is in fighting God’s battle. We have a true understanding of our own depraved condition and let God fight the battle for us, beholding the awesome hand of the living God moving amongst unworthy vessels.
I believe fighting the Lord’s battle is the same. We are to try our best, spare no effort, go in faith. Once we have done that, we leave everything in the hand of God to order it as He pleases! I do plead for God’s mercy, but it is of the Lord’s sovereign pleasure to give the results. We must accept it as from the Lord and be at peace with Him and ourselves in the heart. I believe it is also the same in God’s service. We have the role of sharing the gospel, we prepare the material, pray and do the best we know. The outcome is God’s work. How God will use His Word by the mighty working of His Spirit to accomplish His purpose is His prerogative, we have to submit to the outcome and leave the results to God. Salvation is of the Lord!
Experience the encouragement of God’s Guiding Hand (Judges 7:9-15)
Judges 7:9 “And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.”
God assured Gideon of victory! Remember the first three instances in Judges 6: 12, 14, 16 where God promised His abiding presence with Gideon. God’s encouragement provided the hope for victory to still his heart, take hold of faith and dispel all fears.
Judges 7:10-11 “But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host. And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.”
God strengthens the hands of his servant Gideon for the work ahead. God understood the heart of Gideon, He even suggested that Phurah, Gideon’s servant goes with him to the Midian camp. When God calls, He also supports and encourages us so that we can accomplish the task we are called to do.
Judges 7:12 “And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.”
The sight of the enemy power would put fear in the heart of God’s people. Therefore, God had to strengthen the heart of Gideon.
Judges 7:13-15 “And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.”
God used Gideon’s enemies to prophesy Israel’s victory by the dream of a Midianite soldier. Notice how God timed the whole event to encourage Gideon’s heart. He went to the enemy’s camp, at the precise moment to hear the conversation relating the Midianite soldier’s dream. The barley bread is the staple food of Israel. It is low-class food. It showed the low rank and poverty of Israel. It speaks of Israel’s weakness and humiliation. The Midianite soldier interpreted the dream for Gideon to hear and he kowtows to God in reverential worship. Gideon was so overwhelmed by the goodness of God and His mercy that he fell on his face in submission and gratitude.
(3) Faith that Perseveres Till Final Victory (Judges 7:16-25, 8:28)
Courage to Fight Until Final Victory – God builds them down to 300 men. Split them up in 3 groups of 100 each, surrounding the camp. Blow his trumpet, smash the pitcher. The pitcher is a clay vessel to keep water, to keep water cool. The useful object was broken, the light shown through. Pitchers made to hold water not to be broken. A most unusual strategy. The enemies thought they were surrounded. The Israelites shouted a sword for the Lord and for Gideon, it produced a surround-sound effect, it frightened the enemies attacked their own. They thought each light represent a whole battalion of men. The best way to get rid of an enemy, by breeding discord and discontent, no unity of spirit and of heart, they killed each other.
Israel won a great victory pursuing the enemies until final victory. Judges 8:28 “Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.”
CONCLUSION
Faith to Obey God’s Calling, Faith to Fight God’s Battle God’s Way, Faith to Persevere Till Final Victory. Amen.