Sermon Tone Analysis

“The angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valour.’

And Gideon said to him, ‘Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?

And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?”

But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.’

And the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?’” [1]

God is a God of might and power.

We are taught that His saints “shall speak of the glory of [God’s] kingdom and tell of [His] power” [PSALM 145:11].

Have you witnessed His power?

The Psalmist asserts that “One generation shall commend [God’s] works to another, and shall declare [His] might acts” [PSALM 145:4].

Can you tell your children of the might of the Lord our God?

When you speak of God, do you speak from experience, or is His might and power merely a rumour so far as you are concerned?

Are you able to speak authoritatively of God’s power?

Or is it the case that God’s power is a historical event never to be repeated in this day?

Gideon was a man who had heard of God’s power and majesty, but he had never witnessed that glorious might.

It was an ordinary day, not unlike any other day during the harvest.

The people of the nation were hiding in caves and secreted in strongholds throughout the Judean hills; they were trying to preserve what little grain they had managed to garner.

The Midianites and the Amalekites were ranging throughout the land, stealing whatever they found and terrorising the populace.

At that time, the people of God began to cry out to God, confessing their sin and seeking His deliverance.

God is so gracious.

He heard their petitions and their confessions, and He sent a prophet.

The people wanted deliverance, and God sent a prophet.

The ministry of the prophet has never been appreciated—it isn’t appreciated in this day.

This man of God, when he came, spoke pointedly to the sin of the people.

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage.

And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.

And I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.”

But you have not obeyed my voice” [JUDGES 6:8b-10].

That doesn’t seem like much, does it?

The people were ravished by the enemies of God.

They recognised their sin and acknowledged their wickedness.

Yet, when God finally heard them, He sent a prophet to say, “I told you so.”

We want relief; God wants holiness.

We want deliverance; God wants purity.

Don’t ever discount the ministry of the prophet.

Though he will stand before the people of God, look them in the eye and say, “I warned you,” his stern message is the beginning of divine deliverance.

Until the people of God recognise the horror of their sin, God will never demonstrate His might and majesty—He will not expend His power to deliver those who ignore Him and who live as though He was of no importance.

Until the people of God realise that their wickedness is utterly offensive, God will never reveal His power to renew His work.

How awful are the words of the Wise Man:

“Because I have called and you refused to listen,

have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

because you have ignored all my counsel

and would have none of my reproof,

I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when terror strikes you,

when terror strikes you like a storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

Because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

would have none of my counsel

and despised all my reproof,

therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,

and have their fill of their own devices.”

[PROVERBS 1:24-31]

The account in the text for this day corresponds to the condition existing among the churches of this day and in our nation.

The people of God in that day when God called Gideon are analogous to the people of God in this day.

Modern-day Amalekites and Midianites have ravaged the landscape.

They repudiate righteousness, ridicule the Faith and resist the Spirit of God.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is not the enemy of Christians; but decisions rendered by that court reflect a disturbing trend within American society.

The Congress and the Senate of the United States is not opposed to the Christian Faith; but past legislation has ensured that the Faith is increasingly relegated to a sort of religious ghetto.

The State of California is not determined to extirpate the Christian Faith, but Christians have permitted themselves to be restrained.

What is true of our neighbours to the south is equally true for us in the Dominion of Canada.

The Christians of this nation have permitted themselves to be reduced to an increasingly ineffective minority within society; and this despite the deafening silence of those of the Faith.

Whether one should speak of the Supreme Court of British Columbia or the Supreme Court of Canada, the bent of the justice system is to stifle the Faith.

It is not intentional; but it is done nevertheless.

Whether we speak of the various provincial legislatures or the Parliament, legislation tends toward restricting the Faith in favour of the new morality.

Christians have responded to the demands of an agnostic minority with either an attitude which is best described as blasé or they are attempting to respond through an unconscious effort to unite church and state.

Do not assume that I am suggesting that the Christian should not participate in the political process—Christians should invest themselves in the direction of their country.

I certainly am not suggesting that the child of God should not vote for those who share our common moral view.

Neither am I suggesting that the Christian should be unaware of the positions advocated by those who are sent to drink the waters of the Ottawa River.

Christians should not be a silent people, refusing to tell our various civic representatives about our views and the moral/ethical positions that are vital to us.

I do say that we should not expect political power to bring in the Millennium or to usher in a day of peace.

The movement in the past several decades have promoted—deliberately or by default—the idea that we will transform our world through political processes.

Political processes are contaminated by our own sinful nature; we dare not rely upon political solutions.

I do, however, say that the people of this day must pray.

Oppression brings repentance.

When oppressed, the people of God cry out to the Lord God of Heaven.

I am not quite certain that the Canadian people have reached the nadir of oppression.

The Christians of this day are still crying out to the Baals of political leadership; they are still worshipping at the high places of political organisation.

Soon, however, I pray that a few, perhaps a few in this place, will begin to cry out to Holy God.

Confessing our sin of depending upon the vote and confessing our sin of depending upon the power of Parliament, confessing our sin of surrendering to despair and turning to Holy God we will discover His power and learn that He alone is able to deliver His people.

I do find hope in this passage—hope based, not upon a man, however gifted that individual might be but hope founded on the True and Living God.

No mere mortal came to Gideon; the angel of the LORD came to him.

Throughout the pages of the Old Covenant, this shadowy figure appears from time-to-time.

What is fascinating is that this individual appropriates to Himself divine attributes.

Many theologians have concluded that this is a theophany, an appearance of the Christ before His incarnation.

[2]

When He appeared to Gideon, this individual first stated that the LORD was with Gideon.

Gideon expressed his doubt as to the veracity of that statement with this curt question.

“If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?”

The implication of his first question is that God would not have permitted such distress to come upon His people.

Readers of this Book will recall that it was precisely because God was God that these distressing times had come upon the people.

This same angel of the LORD had appeared to the people and delivered a message which is recorded in JUDGES 2:1-3.

Listen to that message.

“I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers.

I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’

But you have not obeyed my voice.

What is this you have done?