You may remember my telling you two weeks ago about some of the books I’ve enjoyed reading lately. One of the series I mentioned was the historical novels of the civil war written by Michael & Jeff Shaara-father and son. The father, Michael, wrote the first novel, Killer Angels, which chronicles the Battle of Gettysburg. You may have seen the movie version on TNT. When he died, his son, Jeff, wrote a prequel and a sequel…so that together these three books tell a fairly complete story of the Civil War from the perspectives of the officers in both armies. As I read these books I came to admire a Union Colonel by the name of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
Chamberlain had been a professor of rhetoric at Bowdin College in Maine. But when the war broke out he requested and was given a commission to lead the 20th Regiment of Infantry – Maine volunteers. On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain and his regiment were positioned on a hill called Little Round Top, where they protected the union flank. The confederates attacked with a vastly superior force and, even though Chamberlain and his troops were out-numbered four to one. They held their ground but after several hours of intense fighting, these men from Maine began to run out of ammunition.
Chamberlain knew he could not retreat because if he did the confederate forces could then flank the Union troops and the entire battle would be lost….perhaps the entire war. So he did an amazing thing, a very BRAVE thing. He ordered his troops to fix their bayonets on their unloaded rifles and prepare for a bayonet charge down the hill. He reasoned that if the confederate troops saw him and his remaining soldiers running down the hill with bayonets fixed, they would assume there was a vastly superior force close behind them. After all, no one would order a bayonet charge unless they had the numbers to make it work.
Well, Chamberlain’s brave bluff had the desired effect! When he and his men charged down the hill screaming, the Confederate troops did something they had not done in the war up until that point. They turned and ran. Hundreds were taken prisoner. In fact there is a scene where shortly after the charge down the hill, one of Chamberlain’s men is guarding dozens of captured Confederate soldiers and he whispers to Chamberlain, “Sir, I don’t have a bullet in this gun.” And Chamberlain whispers back, “Not so loud private.” Well, Chamberlain went on to become one of the most remarkable soldiers in American history. He was wounded six times…cited for bravery in action four times. For his bravery at Little Round Top, Chamberlain received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Because of his heroism at Petersburg, he was promoted to Brigadier General by special order of Ulysses Grant. I believe this was the only battlefield promotion that Grant gave. In fact, Grant chose Chamberlain above all other northern officers to have the honor of receiving the southern surrender at Appomattox where he startled the world by calling his troops to attention to salute the defeated soldiers of the south.
As I read about Chamberlain’s experiences I grew to really respect this brave soldier. And I’m not the only one who appreciated his bravery in battle. After the war Chamberlain was elected Governor of Maine by the largest majority in the history of the state and returned to that office three times. Shaara’s book says he finally, “died of his wounds” in June of 1914 at the age of 83.
Well, what about you? Don’t you agree that this man was an awesome soldier?! Don’t YOU admire this guy?! I mean….isn’t there something in side you that wishes you could be as brave as he was on the field of battle? You know, when you think about it, we are in an army of sorts…I mean, in a very real sense the Christian life is a battle. Remember Paul’s words in Ephesians 6:12 ? He said that all Christians struggle, “…not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” So, it’s like that old chorus we used to sing when we were children, “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. I may never fly o’er the enemy. But I’m in the Lord’s army!” And this little chorus actually presents a very biblical picture of the Christian life. For, the Bible often compares Christians to soldiers. In the book of Ephesians we are commanded to “…put on the full armor of God….” In 2 Timothy, Paul instructs Timothy to “Endure hardship….like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2:3) and to, “fight the good fight of the faith.” (6:12) Well, how do Christians fight the good fight? How can we walk with Christ in such a way that we route the “enemy” as did Chamberlain and his brave troops? How can we live Godly lives so that we make the kind of difference in this “battle” that was made by great heros of the faith like, Abraham, Moses, Peter, & Paul? In short: how do we become truly valiant warriors in the kingdom of God? I think a great place to find the answers to these questions is by looking at the life of one of God’s most valiant soldiers…a man by the name of GIDEON. By the way, tonight we will hear even more about his life thanks to the help of our children’s choirs. I hope you plan on attending!
Gideon’s life story is recorded in chapters 6-8 of the book of Judges. We’ll be looking at portions of all three of these chapters this morning, so go ahead and open your Bibles to those pages and keep them open. Let’s begin by looking at the historical setting of Gideon’s life. You’ll remember from our study of the lives of Deborah and Hannah that the book of Judges chronicles a period in the history of Israel that was made up of seven repeated cycles in which the people of Israel rebelled against God, began to worship the pagan gods around them, suffered the painful consequences, cried out to God for help, and He responded by sending a judge who would deliver them. For a while the people would return to God but when the judge died they would rebel against God and the cycle would start all over again.
Gideon was the fourth of these judges and his ministry began with the same phrase that got all the other judges started. We find it in verse 1 of Judges 6, “[Once] again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” Well, this time the consequence of worshiping false gods came in the form of a group of people known as the Midianites. And THEIR mode of attacking the Israelites was different than the Canaanites that Deborah had to deal with. Instead of the iron chariots that served Jabin and Sisera, the Midianites had a unique military weapon in the form of CAMELS.
Now, in the twenty-first century with our sophisticated instruments of death: smart bombs, patriot missiles, and stealth bombers its hard for us to appreciate the military significance of CAMELS in the 12th century B.C. But in Gideon’s day, camels gave the Midianites an enormous military advantage. I mean, to begin they were UGLY enough to strike the Israelites with great fear but the MAIN benefit of the CAMEL was that it gave the Midianites a mobile, long-range, swift, attack-capability against the Hebrews, who were entirely dependent of foot soldiers. You see, a camel can travel for three or four days with a heavy load on its back, and cover about 300 miles without food or water. Well, with this powerful new weapon, the Midianites were able to develop a unique strategy in their war against Israel. Rather than invading and occupying the land, they simply waited until harvest time each fall. Then according to Chapter 6, verses 3-5, they would move in from the desert, cross the Jordan in huge numbers, like a plague of locusts, stripping it bare of grain, vegetables, fruit, and livestock. Finally, with their camels loaded down with spoil, they would cross back into the desert and live there until the next harvest time. They did this for seven years and left Israel in a desperate situation. People were reduced to hiding food in mountain dens and caves.
This was incredibly humiliating to Israel, not just physically but psychologically as well for they knew they were vulnerable. Since an attack could come at any moment they lived in constant fear. Verse 6 puts it this way, “They were brought very low because of Midian.” In verse 11 Gideon appears on the scene. His name means “hacker” or “hewer” which would seem to be a name for a man of great strength and courage. But, when we get our first look at Gideon, he’s cowering under a tree, threshing grain in a wine press. Normally a man would do so on a wooden threshing floor, in an exposed place so that the wind could carry away the chaff. He would use a threshing sledge pulled by oxen. But, Gideon was trying to separate the grain from the chaff by walking on it in his bare feet as you would on grapes to turn them into wine. And he was doing this hidden under a tree for fear of the marauding Midianites. Well, as Gideon was doing this a man approached, sat down under the tree, and watched.
Two things are significant about this person. FIRST, Gideon did not know that he was the Angel of the Lord so there must have been nothing supernatural about His appearance. He didn’t have wings, or wear a halo, or carry a harp. He didn’t glow with a heavenly light like those heavenly beings on Touched By An Angel. SECONDLY note that it was not AN angel of the Lord, but rather THE angel of the Lord. A careful study of the Old Testament shows us that whenever the phrase, “THE Angel of the Lord,” is used it refers to Jesus Himself, before His incarnation…taking the form of an angel and visiting the earth. Now, if I didn’t know the Lord better, I might think that He was mocking Gideon with the first words He spoke. In verse 12, He said, “The Lord is with you, Oh VALIANT warrior!” As I said, Gideon was anything but valiant at this point. He was more of a cowardly, beleaguered victim.
This reminds me of the old story of the man who came to his psychiatrist with a problem. He said, “Doctor, you must help me. Everything’s going wrong. I feel worthless. My friends tell me I have a terrible inferiority complex. Can you help me?” So the psychiatrist told him that he would give him some tests and evaluate him. A week later, the man came back and the psychiatrist said, “Friend, I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that we have proved you DO NOT have a complex. There is no doubt about that. The bad news is, you ARE inferior.”
Well, Gideon WAS inferior-at least in the judgement of his peers-and in verse 15 he pointed this out to God. He said that he was of the tribe of Manasseh, which was the lowest and weakest tribe in all Israel. Then, he said that his family was the lowest and weakest family in the tribe of Manasseh. Further, he was the lowest and weakest member of his family. So, he was the lowest and weakest member of the lowest and weakest family of the lowest and weakest tribe of all Israel! You cannot get much lower than that. But to this exposition of excuses of inferiority, God gave a single reply, “I will be with you….”which brings us to the first principle of how to be a valiant warrior for God. You see, when it comes to the battles of life you must remember:
1. ….It’s not a matter of who you are….but Who you are with.
God does not seek people who are the most outwardly capable, or the most naturally “strong.”
No, He intentionally works with the most unlikely material so that everyone can see the glory belongs to God and God alone. The apostle Paul marveled over this principle more than a thousand years later writing, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong…as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.'” (I Corinthians 1:26-27,31 ) Time and time again, as we read the Word of God, we see God cutting away a man’s self-confidence to bring him to the place where he admits that he is totally inadequate to do or to be what God desires. In fact I don’t think there is a single major figure in the Word of God whom God did not bring to realize a deep sense of his own INadequacy. And this is vital for truly valiant warriors because as, 2 Corinthians says, “We are NOT adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves…our adequacy is from God.” (II Corinthians 3:5 )
In verse 34 there is a wonderful statement. Look at it: “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon.” It literally says is, “The Spirit of the Lord CLOTHED HIMSELF with Gideon.” Isn’t that a delightful picture! The Spirit of God WORE Gideon the way a man puts on a suit of clothes, .indwelling him, empowering him to do battle. We must remember this principle if we are to be brave, effective soldiers in God’s army! Howard Hendricks writes that he begins every morning with this prayer, “Lord, here I am. I want to be Your suit of clothes today. I want You to take me and use me. Lord, just walk around in me today.” This a great philosophy for you and I to embrace, for our strength, our sufficiency for battle does not come from ourselves but from God.
Our key to victory is God’s indwelling presence and power. We are nothing without God, no matter how strong or talented we may be. In THIS army, it doesn’t matter who you are. It matters Who you are with or Who is with you! Hudson Taylor once said, “All of God’s great men have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.” Now, I wonder to what extent you have allowed the promise of God’s adequacy to minister to your life. God Himself has committed to be with you and to pour His strength into you. Is this a truth you are claiming? Remember your weakness does not hinder God. In fact, II Corinthians 12:9 says that, “His strength is made PERFECT in weakness.” Well, as we read on, we discover a second principle that will help us in our daily struggles to live Godly lives and here it is:
2. If you want to be a valiant soldier in God’s kingdom, you have do decide which “General” you are going to follow.
The FIRST assignment that God gave Gideon was not to attack the Midianites but to assault the idol worship of his people. You see, the reason the people of Israel were weaken and unable to defend themselves was that they had chosen to worship and put their faith in something other than the true God. They were following the wrong “general!” And many times we are weak soldiers of the faith because we make the same mistake. We feel overwhelmed because we worship other things than God. We have divided loyalties. This is what Jesus was warning us of when He said, “No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24 ) And this, Gideon’s first battle was probably his toughest because in his own backyard there was a vivid example of the reason God had allowed Midian to overwhelm and enslave Israel.
Joash, Gideon’s father, had apparently built an altar to Baal on his property and with it an Asherah, a wooden pillar representing the Canaanite goddess of fertility. And it was not just for the family’s private use. It obviously served as the village shrine with Joash acting as the supervisor of pagan worship in the area. God told Gideon to take a young bull AND a seven-year-old bull and use them to tear down the massive altar to Baal. Then he was to cut down the wooden Asherah and, using that wood, he was to build a fire on which to sacrifice the seven-year-old bull on a new altar which he was to build for the Lord. God gave Gideon this task so that he could learn that before Midian could go, Baal had to go.
God would tolerate no rivals. Truly great soldiers in His army only follow One commander.
Henry Blackaby says, “How we live is a testimony about what we believe about God.” And this is so true, for people around us watch and see Who or what we follow in life. They notice how committed we, who claim to be Christians, are to God. Gideon’s neighbors certainly noticed the results of his actions that night. In fact the next morning when they saw what he had done they demanded his death but his own father came to his defense and said in verse 31, “Hey….if baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar!” The neighbors agreed and they gave Gideon a new name, “Jerub-baal” which literally means “let baal contend-let him fight for himself.” From that moment on, every time the people of Israel looked at Gideon, they had visible proof of the weakness of baal and the power of God. This valiant warrior helped them to see the importance of following only the one true God. There was a strikingly similar event in the life of John Knox, the great Scottish Reformer. In 1548, he was a prisoner on a French slave ship, chained to a rowing bench and whipped constantly by the guards.
He was there because of his preaching of the Word of God and his refusal to submit to Catholicism. One day the lieutenant brought aboard a wooden image of the virgin Mary and demanded that the slaves kiss it. Knox refused, and they pushed it violently against his face. He grabbed it and threw it overboard shouting, “Let our Lady now save herself: she is light enough; let her learn to swim.” When no divine judgement fell on Knox, two things happened.
Never again were believers required to engage in Catholic exercises against their wishes, and men began to look to Knox as their leader. This eventually led to the Scottish Reformation. You see, God can use our courage to follow Jesus to motivate others to follow Him as well. And then a third principle of battle that we see in Gideon’s life is this…
3. If you want to be a valiant soldier, you have to LEARN to follow orders….
And this WAS a learning process for Gideon. From the beginning he had a lot of trouble trusting the commands and promises of God. Even after he gathered his army he was afraid and you may remember he tested God. Now, understand, it wasn’t that Gideon was trying to discover God’s will. He already knew what God’s will was for his life. Prior to his fleece casting in verses 36-37 Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have said.” You see, God had made His will perfectly clear. In fact He had told Gideon this three times already: in verses 12, 14, & 16. Gideon didn’t lack INFORMATION about the will of God; He lacked CONFIDENCE to trust the Word of God. Gideon’s real struggle was one of FAITH, not information. This is an important lesson for all Christians to learn for as Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” As you read this section notice that God is gentle with Gideon. God graciously helps build Gideon’s FAITH. First Gideon put a sheep skin on the ground asked God to make only the fleece wet with dew and the ground dry and God did this. But that wasn’t enough to build Gideon’s confidence. You can almost see his mind at work. He thinks, “Maybe this isn’t as amazing as it seems…after all, it would be more likely for the water to be absorbed by the wool than the ground.
Maybe the fact that the wool is wet and the ground is dry would have happened anyway. It’s not really as sign of anything.” So, he makes a second request of God: “Will you reverse the process — and make the ground wet and the fleece dry?” Gideon’s response here points out how inadequate fleece-casting can be when used as a method for discovering God’s will. The results are difficult to interpret. Several years ago a Bible school announced that it was planning to buy a building. They said, “If we have $100,000 by this date, we will know it is God’s will. We will know that God wants us to do it.” But, on the appointed day, they had only $90,000 and now they had a problem. Should they buy the building or not? And if it was not God’s will, where had the $90,000 come from? Was it Satan’s money? Of course not. But the fallacy was that they had expected God to do His work in their way.
Do you see the weakness in this practice? It tends to limit God…it puts Him in a box. Litmus tests like this are always difficult to interpret. Fleece-setting is not the best way to find the will of God. We don’t need to cast fleeces to experience God’s guidance. He has given us His written Word to help us find His will…and His living presence to help us understand and do it. In Psalm 73:23-24 the psalmist rejoices in this truth saying to God, “You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory.” But notice the lesson we CAN learn from Gideon’s requesting God to do things with the dew to build his confidence for what lay ahead. In verse 40 it says, “And God did so that night.” You see, the amazing thing about this passage is not what it shows about Gideon’s fleece, but what is teaches us about God’s patience. Gideon was a special student in God’s “slow-learner class.” I mean, God had done so much in his life already but Gideon was still saying, “If You’re really going to do what You say…do this or that.” But God kept on loving and working with him. And, I thank God for that because I too am one of God’s slow learners. It takes me so long to learn such simple spiritual truths. Many times in my life I have had to pray, “I believe…but not enough…help my unbelief.
Over and over I have learned to be thankful that my God is, “Slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness; maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Exodus. 34:6-7. God is patient with us as we learn to trust His orders. And then one last principle Valiant Warriors need to understand is this…
4. …if you decide to follow God, get ready for GOD-SIZED battles….
Judges 8:10 tells us that the Midianites had a force of 135,000 men with them when they invaded Israel in this, the 8th harvest season. They camped in the Valley of Jezreel, the strategic north central highlands of Israel and they came fully expecting to carry out their usual policy of an uncontested stripping of the land and a triumphant return to their desert home. But this time there was a difference. God had raised up a man who was prepared to lead Israel against these camel-riding carpet baggers. Empowered by the Spirit of God, Gideon marched his army of 32,000 men to the hills of Mt. Gilboa.
Now, the Midianites were armed to the teeth but Gideon and his men had virtually no weapons. And I suppose both Gideon and his men were wondering how they could possibly win against such a superior force. So .imagine how Gideon felt when God said in chapter 7 verse 2 that he had TOO many troops and that all those who were afraid should return home-22,000 took this offer! After the 22,000 left, God said that was still too many so He instructed Gideon to watch his men drink and send everyone home who bent their faces down to drink water from the stream directly. Only 300 stood up alertly, ready for battle, the water cupped in their hands.
So in a short span of time God had taken an overwhelming situation and made it impossible. 32000 had no chance of winning against the hordes of the Midianites and their superior weaponry but for 300 it was laughable. God chose less than one percent of the group that Gideon began with to fight they were outnumbered 450 to 1. This was to help Gideon-and all valiant soldiers to understand that: God is not interested in simply giving His people victory. He is concerned with teaching us trust. OUR victories make us SELF-reliant, which is worse, far worse, in the long run, than losing! Now that night I don’t think Gideon slept too well. Would you? 300 against 135,000! That’s like a football team composed of junior high school girls going up against Super Bowl champions! And God of course knew how Gideon felt so He told him, “If you are afraid to go down against the Midianites, let Me help you.”
Our Gentle Shepherd knew the anguish Gideon was going through so He invited Gideon to go to the camp of the Midianites and he did accompanied by a young boy, named Purah. They snuck in close enough to hear Midianite sentries talking about the dream in which a barley loaf flattened a tent. The Midianites were nomadic so the tent clearly represented them. And barley was most often used as animal food, but it was all that the Israelites had left because of the better foodstuffs had been taken. So, the barley loaf clearly represented Israel. The Midianite said, “That barley bun is nothing less than the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash. God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand.” As he listened Gideon no doubt sensed that the dream had been repeated throughout the whole army of the Midianites. They had been terrorized inwardly by the mysterious working of God. So this huge army was already defeated. And at this point Gideon learned he greatest lesson of his life. He realized as he never had before, that it was not a battle between 300 Israelites and 135,000 Midianites. It was God Who was fighting Midian and the 300 men were just His channels.
So, right there, beside a Midianite camp, bowed in worship to God. You know, in a very real sense we are never prepared for the struggles of life big or small until we know God through experiencing Him in worship. That is why we read in Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God will display strength and take action.” And this is what Gideon did. He went back to his little band of men and said in verse 15, “Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hands.” He divided his army into three groups of 100 and as they departed they were given their weapons. Here is what the quartermaster issued them: a clay jar, a trumpet, and a torch. No shields, no spears, no swords. Gideon had them surround the camp and then waited until the middle watch had just been posted. That was about 10:30PM when some of the men had been asleep for three or four hours and were now in the deepest part of their sleep. The men who had just been relieved from guard duty would still be moving through the camp, and the men who had just gone on duty would still be rubbing their eyes. Suddenly there was a huge noise all around them. The rams’ horns were signaling an enemy attack! Then the clay pitchers smashed on the ground sounded like the armor of armies clashing into one another. The Midianites looked up and they were surrounded on three sides by lights and torches. Finally a great shout shattered the silence “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.” In all the confusion, the camels stampeded and in the chaos and tumult that resulted, the panicked Midianites began to slaughter one another. To the half-asleep men, everything that moved became an enemy. Every shadow was an Israelite. All this time, Gideon’s men did not move. They stood in their place blowing their trumpets, waving their torches and shouting their slogan, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.” By they way, they only had one “sword”-the sword of the Lord-and that is all they needed!
You know, God still calls His troops into battle against overwhelming odds but sadly enough many Christians aren’t valiant enough to follow. They only want to do things THEY can do, instead of things that require them to trust in God. God always asked us to do things we aren’t able to do because He wants to demonstrate His nature, His strength, His provision, and His kindness to His people and to a watching world. Perhaps Henry Blackaby is right when he says that our world is not attracted to the Christ we serve because they cannot see Him at work. They only see us at work. You know, over the years God has invited us to join Him in GOD-SIZED tasks here at Redland, tasks like buying the Fraley property next door, or starting churches in Germantown and Baker Heights, West Virginia, tasks like raising $500,000 in twelve months for much needed building renovations so that our current growth can continue, tasks like stepping out on faith to call a Children’s Minister this fall. And we have seen that with God’s help we can be victorious in these GOD-sized tasks.
We have learned the thrill of being, “…MORE than conquerors THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US.” (Romans 8:37 ) Let us never forget this truth. Let us never cease to join God in efforts that are beyond our means! Well, we ARE soldiers in the Lord’s army and if we are going to be GOOD soldiers then Gideon would remind us of some important principles:
- It’s not really important who we are…but Who we’re with.
- We have to decide which General we are going to follow. We can only follow 1!
- We have to LEARN to obey orders….our faith has to grow.
- And we have to be ready to fight God-sized battles.
You know, God didn’t really need Gideon’s might and valor to defeat the Midianites. He could have done that all on His own with just a thought. He used Gideon because He loved him and wanted a relationship with Him. And God still wants relationships with His people. If you are here this morning and don’t know God then I invite you to commit to follow Him today. Repent of your sin, accept His Son’s sacrifice on your behalf and ask Him to become the “Commanding General” of your life! Others of you who are already Christians may feel God inviting you to join Him in His work here in this church. Whatever decision you have to make, we invite you to do so by walking the aisle as we stand now and sing and coming forward to share that commitment with me or Steve.