I love to tour Civil War battlefields and I’ve been fortunate enough to tour to several of them.
- I’ve been to Antietam and Shiloh.
- I’ve toured the crater site in Petersburg where the Union attempted to literally blow a hole in the Confederate lines during the siege of Richmond.
- I’ve visited Ft. Delaware on Pea Patch Island out in the Delaware river where the Union army had a huge prisoner of war camp.
- I’ve also toured the ruins of Andersonville-the Confederacy’s prison camp about an hour south of Warner-Robbins, Georgia.
Well, because of my love of Civil War history I was thrilled a few months ago to be able to accept an invitation from our single adults and accompany them on their outing to Gettysburg. Our own Phil Lechak was to be their guide that day-and as many of you know he is literally an expert on the history surrounding that particular civil war battlefield. In fact he’s on the verge of receiving his certification to work for the National Park Service at Gettysburg. So, we were indeed privileged to have him lead us around and teach us that day. And it was a GREAT day! Phil organized our tour chronologically-according to the way the battle began and ended. So, we started northwest of that little town at the place where the confederates encountered Union cavalry on the first day of the battle. Then we moved on from there in sequential order to the places the battle was fought over the next three days. And Phil did a great job. If you ever get a chance you should go with him. I mean, I’ve toured Gettysburg many times and read all kinds of accounts of that crucial battle and he still shared tons of information I had never heard before.
Now I don’t want you to think that my love of battlefields is an indication that your pastor is a warmonger. Of course not. But I do love history and the lessons it can teach us-and I truly believe these historical struggles can teach us lessons that are hard to learn otherwise.
For example, a closer look at these battles gives us an opportunity to learn about the horrors of war-which motivates us to work all that much harder for lasting peace. Plus-a study of these struggles helps us to better understand honor, and courage, and sacrifice.
Last week we learned a great deal-at least I did-by studying the battle that was fought between David and Goliath and this morning I want us to study another battle in Jewish history to see what life lessons we pick up. I’m referring to the battle that God fought for a judge of Israel named Gideon.
Gideon’s life story-including the account of this battle-is recorded in chapters 6-8 of the Old Testament book of Judges. We don’t have time to read the entire text but we WILL be looking at portions of these three chapters this morning, so go ahead and open your Bibles to chapter 6 and keep them open as we move around in our study.
Let’s begin the same way that we did last week-by looking at the historical SETTING. You may remember from your own Bible study over the years that the book of Judges chronicles a very low period in the history of Israel-one that was made up of seven repeated cycles-cycles in which the people of Israel rebelled against God, began to worship the same pagan gods of the nations around them, suffered the painful consequences, cried out to God for help, and then 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. Look at Judges 6:1 and you’ll see the phrase I’m referring to. Read it out loud with me, “[Once] again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” Well, this time the CONSEQUENCE of their doing evil-their decision to worship false gods-came in the form of attacks from a group of vicious people known as the Midianites. And their MODE of attacking the Israelites was different from that of previous invaders. You see the Midianites had developed what was at the time 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, etc…well, with all these modern weapons at our disposal, it’s 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 cause the Israelites 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. And with these talented four-footed beasts at their disposal, the Midianites were able to develop a unique strategy in their war against Israel. Here’s how it worked. Instead of invading and occupying the land, they simply waited until harvest time each fall. Then as you can see in verses 3-6, they would swoop 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 to the brim with spoil, they would cross back into the desert out of range of the Hebrews and live there feasting on what they had taken until the next harvest.
They did this for seven years, and of course this left Israel in a desperate situation. People were reduced to hiding food in mountain dens and caves. Plus, this was incredibly humiliating to Israel-not just physically but psychologically as well because they knew they that because of these camels they were always vulnerable. I mean, 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.”
Okay-in verse 11 Gideon comes on the scene for the first time. His name literally 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 seems to be anything but that because he’s cowardly cowering under an oak tree, threshing grain down in a WINE PRESS. Now normally a man would do this on a wooden threshing floor, out in the open, in an exposed place so that the wind could carry away the chaff. He would use a threshing sledge pulled by oxen. But, as I said Gideon was using a winepress-and this in itself gives us an accurate picture of the mind set of the people at this stage of Jewish history. You see a winepress was carved out of stone and was built down into the ground. Normally to make wine they would carve two cisterns, with one slightly below the other. The upper area was used to tread out the grapes. The liquid would then drain into the lower cistern. Well, Gideon was probably down in this lower area.
He was afraid of the Midianites seeing what he was doing so he was trying to separate the grain from the chaff, down in this cistern below ground level, by walking on it in his bare feet-as you would on grapes to turn them into wine. Think of it as “stealth threshing.” I picture him pulling some branches from this oak tree around the winepress to further camouflage his position. But, let’s put it this way-the mighty Gideonater was a hero in hiding. When we first meet him, like his peers, he was defeated and discouraged. He was filled with doubts and fears.
Verse 11 says that as he was doing this, a man-the Angel of the Lord-approached and sat down under the oak tree that stood over the winepress where Gideon worked.
And 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. I mean, 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 used to on Touched By An Angel when they revealed themselves.
SECONDLY we must note that verse 11 does not say it was AN angel of the Lord, but rather THE angel of the Lord. And 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 because in verse 12, He said, “The Lord is with you, Oh VALIANT warrior!” And as I said, Gideon’s behavior was anything but valiant at this point. He was more of a cowardly, beleaguered victim. The truth is he felt more like a frightened farmer than a valiant warrior!
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 that’s the way he felt-and in verse 15 he said as much. 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. And to top it all off, he was the lowest and weakest member of his family. So, to put it all together, Gideon was the lowest and weakest member of the lowest and weakest family of the lowest and weakest tribe of all Israel! Back then you couldn’t get much lower than that. But in verse 16, to Gideon’s long list of excuses of inferiority, the Lord gave a single reply. He said, “I will be with you”…which brings us to the first lesson we can learn from this particular battlefield. You see, when it comes to winning the battles of life-we must remember….
(1)…It’s not who you ARE that matters but rather Who you’re WITH.
As we learned last week in our study of David’s battle with Goliath, God does not seek people who are the most outwardly capable, or the most naturally “strong.” 1 Samuel 16:7 says that unlike you and me, “God does not look at the outward appearance.” No, God intentionally works with the most UNLIKELY material-so that everyone can see the glory for winning the “battle”-whatever it may be-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.'” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27, 31)
Well, God loves to work this way. He loves to show His strength in our weakness-and because He does, time and time again, as we read the Bible, we see God cutting away at someone’s SELF-confidence in order to bring them to the place where they admit that they are totally inadequate on their own 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 IN-adequacy. And this is vital for all of us to understand because as, 2 Corinthians says,
“We are NOT adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves. Our adequacy is from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5)
In Judges 6:34 as Israel is called to arms there is a wonderful statement. Look at it with me. It says, “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon.” Now the Hebrew here literally says this, “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, or more accurately IN-powering him to do battle.
And, we must remember this principle if we are to succeed in our struggles. We must remember that it’s not us but “Christ IN US…the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) We must learn that we can do all things-not on our own strength, “…but THROUGH Christ Who strengthens us.” (Philippians 4:13) 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 because, as this Biblical battlefield shows us, 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. In fact we are nothing without God-no matter how strong or talented we may appear to be. Hudson Taylor once put it this way. He 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 applied this principle to your own life as you face the inevitable struggles that come from living in a fallen world? I mean-God Himself has committed to be with you and to pour His strength into you! Well, is this a truth you are claiming or are you hiding in a “winepress” afraid to do the task God has called you to? Remember, fellow soldier, your weakness does not hinder God. In fact, 2 Corinthians 12:9 says that, “His strength is made PERFECT in weakness” so, like Gideon we must learn that our weakness is no excuse.
Well, as we read more of this battlefield record, we discover a second principle that will help us to succeed in life-and here it is:
(2) In life we must each decide which GENERAL we’re going to follow.
You see, as I inferred earlier, Israel’s problems-their suffering at the hands of the marauding Midianites-was a direct consequence of their decision to stop following the commands of God. These foolish people had repeated the mistakes of past generations and had once again returned to idolatry-and because of this they faced the same inevitable consequences of their forebears. This gives us the answer to Gideon’s question in verse 13. Remember? The Angel of the Lord greets him by saying, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!” And Gideon sarcastically replied, “If God is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Well, all “this” had happened to them because of their refusal to obey God’s commands. I am reminded of that popular bumper sticker that says: “If you feel far from God, guess who moved?” I mean, it was not God Who had abandoned His people, but God’s people who had turned their backs on Him. That’s WHY all that BAD had happened to them.
You know, God didn’t give us His laws just because He likes the sound of His voice. He didn’t have them written down because He likes to see His name in print. NO-they are for our good-for our protection. God made us so He knows what is best for us. And He loves us so He has given us these laws that provide His best. But I’ve seen it over and over again. Foolish Christians turn their backs on God-Like these foolish Israelites they disobey the laws that our Creator and Designer gave us-and begin to live according to the trends of this fallen world. Then when they inevitably begin to suffer, they ask, “Why all this bad is happening to me? Why has God put me through this?” Well, God hasn’t put them through anything-they’ve put themselves through it! God’s laws-all of them-are for our good. We ignore them at our own peril. In fact, ask yourself this question: “Could it be that some of the hardships I’m enduring are related to the fact that I have not been obeying God?”
And please note-even the painful consequences that we face when we disobey God are evidence of not God’s ABSENCE but rather His loving PRESENCE-because as any wise parent knows-sometimes the only way to teach stubborn, rebellious children to obey is to let them suffer the consequences of their stubborn rebellion. And as we see in our study of the events leading up to this battle-it was the marauding Midianites that drove God’s Hebrew children back to Him. The cruel actions of these hateful people is the only thing that finally motivated the Israelites to return to the Lord and cry out for His help in verse 6.
And we are the same way. When things are good-when the bank account is full-when our bodies are healthy-we tend to forget God…and often the only thing that brings us back to Him is crisis. Pushed to the brink, back to the wall, right up to the wire, all escape routes closed-only then do many people go to God for His help-only then are they motivated to obey God. That reluctant Old Testament prophet, Jonah learned this lesson. Remember? It was from “the deep” -almost as deep as you can get-that he cried for help…choking on salt water in his distress.
King David learned this lesson as well. When he was up to his chin in the quicksand of crisis, he wrote in Psalm 40 that God had “…lifted him out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; and set his feet on a rock…” Psalm 119:67, 71 expresses this lesson that is often learned the hard way when it says, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray…but now I obey your word. It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees.” The fact is, because of our sinful nature there are lessons we can only learn in tough times…and this is why all this had happened to Gideon and his fellow Hebrews.
Well, The FIRST assignment that God gave Gideon was to begin to right this wrong-to lead the people back to obeying God…so God’s first order was not to attack the Midianites but rather to assault the idol worship of His people. 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 which was a wooden pillar representing the Canaanite goddess of fertility. And this stuff 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.
Well, 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 to teach him-and his fellow Hebrews that before Midian could go, Baal had to go. God would tolerate no rivals. This leads us to a third lesson our study of this particular battlefield can teach us.
(3) In the tough times of life you and I have to LEARN to follow orders.
We have to LEARN to trust God and obey Him. And this WAS a learning PROCESS for Gideon. Look at the text and you’ll see what I mean. Judges 6:34-35 tell us that Gideon issued a call to arms throughout Israel-and as we read on we see that they responded. 32,000 came to do battle with the Midianites. But at this point Gideon’s faith wavered. Perhaps he thought, “Gosh, this is really going to happen. And this is a lot different than pulling down a couple wooden statues. This is the real thing. Can I really trust God here? Should I obey Him. Perhaps it would be better to forget all this and climb back down in that winepress.”
Well, in his fear and disbelief he tested God and we must understand, it wasn’t that Gideon was trying to discover God’s WILL. No-He already knew what God’s will was for his life. Prior to his famous fleece-casting in verses 36-37 Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have said.” 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.”
Now-as you read this section please notice that God was gentle with Gideon. God graciously helped build Gideon’s FAITH. First Gideon asked God to make only the fleece wet and the ground dry and God did this. But that wasn’t enough to build Gideon’s confidence and 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, Gideon made a second request of God. He asked: “Will you reverse the process-and make the ground wet and the fleece dry?”
Now, Gideon’s response here points out how inadequate fleece-casting can be when used as a method for discovering God’s will because the results are so 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 $95,000 and now they had a problem. Should they buy the building or not? And if it was not God’s will, where had the $95,000 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. Plus-litmus tests like this are always difficult to interpret. So, fleece-setting is NOT the best way to find the will of God. Besides-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.” And God kept on loving and working with him.
Now, I don’t know about you but 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. Can you teach me ONE more time God?” And over and over again in these times 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.
So, Gideon’s struggle can teach us a great deal. Looking at this particular battlefield helps us to learn that when it comes to the struggles of life it doesn’t matter who we ARE but rather Who we are WITH. It helps us realize the importance of putting God first-the importance of obeying His laws. It helps us to understand how patient God really is with us. And then it teaches us one more thing.
(4) It teaches us that in life we must be prepared to face 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….followed by their annual triumphant camel ride 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 plus they were already outnumbered by more than 4 to 1, so I’m sure both Gideon and his men were wondering how they could possibly win.
Well, then can you 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-and 22,000 soldiers took this offer and left the field! And to top it off God went on to say 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 a mere 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. 32,000 had no chance of winning against the hordes of the Midianites and their superior weaponry but for 300 it was laughable. I mean, God chose less than one percent of the group that Gideon began with to fight. Now they were outnumbered not 4 to 1 – but 450 to 1.
Well, this impossible situation was designed to help Gideon-and you and me as well-to understand that God is not interested in simply giving His people VICTORY. No-God is concerned with teaching us TRUST. You see 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 in Judges 7:10 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 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-the lesson young David would learn about 150 years later. 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, Gideon 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 by 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. They didn’t get shields or spears or swords. They didn’t even get slingshots!
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 ram’s horns were signaling an enemy attack! At that moment the clay pitchers were smashed on the ground and they sounded like the armor of armies clashing into one another. The Midianites looked up and they were surrounded on three sides by the light of these 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 who still had this dream fresh in their minds, everything that moved became an enemy. Every shadow was an Israelite. Understand-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. Well, 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 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.
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 about ten years ago or like raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for needed renovations about 5 years ago.
- tasks like starting churches in Germantown and Baker Heights, West Virginia.
- tasks like sending mission trip teams literally all over the world.
And, as I said last week, to go forward we need good memories. As we face the God-sized battles-huge tasks of the future-like building a $3 million facility to use for outreach. Well, we must remember that we have learned the thrill of being, “…MORE than conquerors THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US.” (Romans 8:37) We need to remember that past experience has taught us as a church that with God’s help we can be victorious.
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! Christians present may need follow the example of Gideon and his fellow Hebrews here by confessing that they’ve disobeyed God’s laws…and committing to turn back to Him. 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.