Judges: My own worst enemy
Notes
Transcript
Worship
Worship
Song: Nothing is Impossible
Song: All Creatures of our God and King
Song: The Wonderful Cross
Song: Multiplied
Welcome
Welcome
Announcements
Announcements
Background
Background
Judges 6:1-10
Midian - Son of Abraham but people had gotten far from God were idolators. The land of Midian is where went in exile and married Jethro’s daughter. Jethro was the priest of Midian
Again we see the cycle of the Israelite people. I don’t want to gloss over this. We too sometimes don’t see what is right in front of us.
For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.
For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.
6:
Midianites and the Amalekites raided crops of Israelites and forced them into hiding
When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites,
the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 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.”
Judge
I want us to focus on verse 10 because it sets up verse 11 and our introduction to Gideon.
the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 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.” Now 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.
Judges 6:8
terebinth - oak
terebinth - oak
vs 8 a prophet was sent to give them a message
Introduction of Gideon
Introduction of Gideon
Now 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 valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, 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.”
Judges 6:11-13
in the winepress - The winepress or purah was often carved into a graded area of bedrock by excavating a slightly sloping pit for the treading of grapes, connected to a deeper storage pt through a graded hole to collect with juices.
in the winepress - The winepress or purah was often carved into a graded area of bedrock by excavating a slightly sloping pit for the treading of grapes, connected to a deeper storage pt through a graded hole to collect with juices.
Gideon was beating out the wheat in the winepress. the process
Notice what is going on here. The angel of the Lord came to Gideon who is hiding because he is scared and calls him Man of valor.
Without God we allow God to determine our image
Gideon is scared of the Midionites and Amelekites and is hiding.
God see him as a man of valor - Valor means courage in the face of danger
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. We are called in spite of our fear! (Fear alters our image)
We are called in spite of our fear!
And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
2. We are called in spite of our weakness! (Our weakness makes us insecure)
And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.
3. We are called in spite of our doubt! (Our doubt reduces our ability to trust)
So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
Judges 6:
We see the testing of God
Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”
Light bulb moment - Gideon realizes whom he was interacting with.
We grow up hearing about man of valor but we don’t hear about his insecurities, fears, doubt and faithlessness.
So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.
He took 10 servants and did it at tight so n one would see him
Judges 6:27
When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.
Gideon destroys the alter
But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”
Will you contend for Baal? Let him fight for himself. How many times do we stand up for things of this world more than we stand up for God
4. We are called to destroy alters and oppression oppression around us
Becomes known as God Killer
vs 33-35 God is arranging and preparing for battle
This morning I ask. What if God said I will be with you and how would you finish the sentence what would you do knowing God is with you.
Response
Response
Song: Give Thanks
Song: King of Kings