MIGHTY WARRIOR

Judges 6:1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.

7 When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to me."

11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."

13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

15 "But Lord, " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

16 The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

17 Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return."

19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"

23 But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."

27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

Judges chapter 6 we find the children of Israel under the oppression of the Midianites and Amalekites. The Hebrews fled to the mountains and were hiding in caves and strongholds. The problem was that the Israelites were not following the ways of the Lord, and they were facing some consequences. And God was looking for a Godly individual to take a stand for righteousness.

Have you ever felt that you are the only Godly person in the midst of people who are doing wrong?

In Judges 6, Gideon was that man. Let’s learn some lessons from this story.

1) As warriors, we need . . . faith to believe the Lord’s promise. (Judges 6:12)

12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."

Some of us don’t get anywhere in life because we don’t have any faith. Perhaps some of have fears of going into battle. Every single one of us need faith. Whether we are young or old. Whether we make a million a year or if we don’t even have a job.

But sometimes, we don’t realize who we are in Christ Jesus: You are God’s child (John 1:12)
You are God’s friend (John 15:15)
You have been chosen to bear fruit (John 15:16)
You have been justified (Romans 5:1)
You are free forever from condemnation (Romans 8:1)
You will never be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35)
You belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20)
You are a saint (Ephesians 1:1)
You have been adopted as God’s child (Ephesians 1:5)
You are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)
You are a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)
You have been redeemed and forgiven (Colossians 1:14)
You are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)
God knows who you are even if you don’t. One of the biggest lies we can tell ourselves is that God only uses special people. This is actually a half-truth. God does use only special people, but they’re special because He uses them.

He was a farmer who really enjoyed his trade. Unlike some farmers, he had no desire to be anything more than a farmer. He never had political ambitions, nor did he dream of becoming a military leader and yet God had a different plan for his life. I’m talking about Gideon – not the guy that wrote all the Bibles in the hotel rooms. The Gideon story in the Old Testament is unique in that it is the story of how God made a hero out of an unlikely person. It’s not just a story of great exploits; it is a transformation story as well.

14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

God is looking for Gideons today - men and women of faith, who are willing to step out and do great things for God.

However, Gideon immediately began to make EXCUSES for himself. He gives three excuses in verse 15: "But Lord, " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

• HIS FAMILY WAS POOR.
• HE BELONGED TO THE TRIBE OF MANASSEH—a tribe not know for its military strength.
• HE WAS THE LEAST IN HIS FATHER’S HOUSE, meaning that he was the youngest son of his family.

When the angel said to Gideon, “Go in this thy might,” Gideon must have been thinking, “WHAT MIGHT?” He said, “I’m the youngest son of an insignificant family from a militarily impoverished tribe.” In essence, he was saying that he was NOT QUALIFIED for this task, neither was his family, and neither was his tribe. He was telling God, “You’ve got the wrong guy.”

GOD KNOWS OUR WEAKNESSES BEFORE HE CALLS US; THEREFORE, OUR EXCUSES HAVE NO EFFECT ON HIM.

2) As warriors, we need . . . to understand the cost of victory (Judges 6:18)

18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you."

3) As warriors, we need . . . to pray and obey. (Judges 6:24)

24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. (Jehovah Shalom)

Travel On Your Knees

Last night I took a journey to a land far "cross the seas;
I didn't go by boat or plane, I trusted on my knees.

I saw so many people there in deepest depths of sin,
And Jesus told me I should go, that there were souls to win.

But I said, "Jesus, I can't go and work with such as these.'
He answered quickly, "Yes, you can; By traveling on your knees.'

He said, "You pray; I'll meet the need, You call and I will hear;
Be concerned about lost souls, Of those both far and near.'

And so I tried it, knelt in prayer, gave up some hours of ease;
I felt the Lord right by my side, while traveling on my knees.

As I prayed on and saw souls saved, and twisted bodies healed,
And saw God's workers? strength renewed, While laboring on the filed.

I said, "Yes, Lord, I have a job, my desire Thy will to please;
I can go and heed Thy call by traveling on my knees.'

-Sandra Goodwin

a) The Lord welcomes your questions. He wants to hear your heart.

b) Build an altar.

c) Tear down the wrong altars.

4) As warriors, we need . . . vision to know where we are going. (Judges 7:1-8)

1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.' " So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go."

5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." 6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

7 The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place." 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” - Corrie Ten Boom

Vision – to lead our families. Vision – to lead our churches

5) As warriors, we need . . . the courage to overcome the enemy. (Judges 7:20-22)

20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

It was one thing for a farmer to say he was going to lead an army into battle it was another thing for a farmer to actually lead an army into battle, especially when you have 32,000 men (Judges 7:3) and the other guys have 135,000 (Judges 7:12; 8:10).

The word courage comes from the French word, “Coeur” which means ‘heart.’ Show me someone who has courage and I’ll show you someone who has heart.

We must have courage . . . to lead your family. We must have courage . . . to stand up for righteousness. We must have courage . . . to resist temptations.And one of the most difficult things to have the courage to do is to forgive.

Courage rises when your vision is greater than your circumstances. Courage falls when your circumstances are greater than your vision.

A man and his son found themselves in front of an approaching fire. The fire was coming fast at them, so they began to run. The dad realized that they would not be able to outrun the blaze, but then he noticed a small area of burnt grass – a clearing, so they ran to stand in the middle of it A few seconds later, the fire came at them, but they were standing in the middle of the small clearing – the blaze went all around them, but didn’t touch the portion that was already burnt. They stood firm in the circle.

Too many of us keep on running, when God is saying, “Won’t you stop and stand firm in the circle I have provided for you?” Stand firm. When Satan comes, he’ll have to go around you. The blood of Jesus has already made this clearing for you.

We are to stand firm in the victory that we already have in Christ. Christ defeated Satan on the cross, by virtue of the glorious resurrection which rendured Satan powerless in terms on his ability to defeat the Christian.

Satan can no longer whip you by power – he can only whip you by deception.

But in order to stand firm – to maintain your position as a child of God – you must stand firm with the proper attire- or should I say, you must dress for success. Special battles require special equipment. Many Christians go into battle wearing paper armor. As comfortable as it may feel, it has no lasting value – because it is not God’s armor.

When David defeated Goliath, you may recall that he was offered the king’s armor, and David turned it down. Because there was a higher king with a more powerful armor. David took on the armor of God and defeated a huge enemy.

We’ve got a new year facing us. A new set of challenges. A new beginning.