Judges 4

Chapter 4. Gideon, or the Strength of WeaknessGod chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.“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?“The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.” (Judges 6:12, Judges 6:14; Judges 7:2)The strength of weakness leaning upon God, and the weakness of human strength—this is the paradox; this is the spiritual truth that Gideon’s life illustrates. We see this principle illustrated in Gideon’s call. While Gideon was hiding behind his winepress and seeking by stealth to thresh a little wheat for his family without being discovered by the Midianites, the angel of the Lord suddenly appeared before him with the startling greeting, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). Gideon felt anything but a mighty warrior. He must have looked it, too, since he immediately began to apologize and explain to the angel the helplessness and distress of his people. But the answer came as the Lord looked on him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (Judges 6:14). Gideon questioned God, saying his clan was the weakest in Israel and that he was the least in his family. Again the Lord told Gideon that He would be with him. And Gideon finally understood that it was not his strength that would save his country but God’s. It was the strength of faith that is always the strength of weakness, because it is the strength of God. A Paradox to the Natural Mind This is the story of grace and the secret of supernatural power. It is a paradox to the natural mind. “When I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10) is the proper inscription of every victorious saint. God comes to the sinner and by a word of sovereign grace pronounces him forgiven, and that word makes him what it declares. He comes to the sinful person and says, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (John 15:3), and that word creates the fact of his sanctification. He comes to the struggling Jacob and by a word transforms him into conquering Israel. He comes to the stormy Boanerges, and he is henceforth the gentle John rising above all human probabilities and natural causes. Grace speaks and it is done, and faith counts the things that are not as though they were. And because of this we see Gideon, the trembling fugitive from his foes, stand panoplied the next hour in the strength of God, the mighty victor. We see this principle in the test of Gideons faith as he is transformed from the natural man to the man of faith. But how weak his faith is, and how slowly it develops into maturity and confidence. First, Gideon asks for a sign from his supernatural visitor that he may know for a certainty that it is the Lord. So Gideon prepares an offering and brings it to the angel. As Gideon presents the kid and unleavened cakes, the staff in the angel’s hand touches the offering and immediately fire flares from the rock and consumes the meat and bread. No sooner had Gideon’s test been granted than he breaks down with a cry of fear “Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” (Judges 6:22). Gideon is reassured by the comforting message of the Lord: “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die” (Judges 6:23). So he builds an altar to God and goes forth to take his first step of faith and obedience. This begins at his own home, his father’s house, for there altars to Baal and an Asherah pole (a symbol of the goddess) are erected and the worship of the false gods of the Canaanites is carried on beneath his own roof. God commanded Gideon to tear down the altar and cut down the pole and use the wood to build a proper altar to Him, offering up his father’s second bullock. Still we see the timid man and the trembling faith even in his obedience. He takes 10 of his servants and, waiting until night, did as God told him. In the morning his neighbors look with astonishment and anger upon the wreck of their shrine and the evidences of Gideon’s bold rebellion. They soon find out who the guilty party is, and their cries are loud and unanimous that he should die. But Joash, Gideon’s shrewd father, tactfully turns aside the anger of the people by suggesting that if Baal was a true god he would deal with Gideon himself. “If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar” (Judges 6:31). The father’s brave attitude turns the tide, and God sustains His obedient child, as He always will for those who trust in Him. No sooner has Gideon begun his task than the devil also begins to stir up his forces and resources. The Amalekites and Midianites assemble a mighty army of 135,000 men and pitch their camp in the valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of God comes upon Gideon, and he blows a mighty trumpet call to summon the people of his city, and his clan gathers around his standard. From Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali volunteers pour in, until Gideon stands at the head of an army of 30,000 men. A Reassuring Sign Again we see that Gideon’s faith began to falter, and once more he came to Jehovah for a reassuring sign. God was gentle with his trembling servant; He saw the true purpose of obedience, and He gave him time to be sure. He always does. When God commands us to take any important step, He always will grant us all the certainty and all the strength we need. Gideon suggested that he would place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If the next morning the fleece was wet with dew and the floor around it was dry, then he would know that God was going to save Israel by his hand. The next morning Gideon went to the barn. He picked up the fleece and wrung a bowlful of water out of it. The ground all around was completely dry. Still Gideon shrank from going forward. Once more he asked God to give him a sign—that the token of the previous night be reversed. The fleece should be dry and the ground wet with dew. Again God delivered the asked-for sign. There was one good thing about Gideon’s second request. He was willing to have his sign turned upside down. Sometimes when we are asking for guidance, we want it all one way, and this is usually the reason why we are so often misguided. We are biased in our preference. We want the dew always in our fleece, and we are not willing for it to be dry. But Gideon’s will was so fully surrendered to God that he was ready to take His answer either way. As a result, God could teach him. We Have the Bible and the Holy Spirit It is different for us today. God does not direct His children by this type of sign. He has given us His holy Word and His Holy Spirit to show us the way we ought to go. We should be careful in resorting to deciding things by chance, or by opening our Bibles at random. We should shy away from a presumptuous and superstitious dependence upon omens and portents that have led so many astray. In the Bible we have a standard of right and wrong upon which we can always depend for general principles to direct our actions. In the voice of the Holy Spirit, we have the special guidance that we need in particular circumstances. But there are certain conditions that we must always observe: “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way” (Psalms 25:9). The yielded and willing heart will find His way. The selfish will, the heart that chooses its way and then comes to God to have Him endorse it, will be very likely to go astray. We know from reading the New Testament that the apostles, when there was an important decision to be made, gathered and prayed and waited for the Lord’s direction. So the wise man today will always bring to every question not only the general principles of the holy Scriptures and the special whisperings of the Holy Spirit, but also a sanctified judgment and a calm, deliberate consideration of all the circumstances and providences concerned. He will then hold these humbly before the Lord in prayer, suspending all action until impressions become absolute convictions. At that time, he can go forth with certainty and rest to follow the path that has been indicated and leave the results with God. Listen and Obey Along the Way Next, we see the principle of our text illustrated in the selection of Gideon’s men. It was a good thing for Gideon that he was weak and timid enough to wait at every point for God’s next word. It is quite possible for us to receive a command from the Lord and then to go forward blindly to obey it and really find ourselves at last out of step with God’s order. Even though we were seeking to obey Him, we were failing because we did not stop and listen along the way for His further orders. God guides us step by step and day by day. And it is necessary for us at every moment to listen and obey. Had Gideon gone out with his 32,000 men and all the trappings of a large army—floating banners, blaring trumpets and patriotic enthusiasm—he would surely have been defeated, and all God’s promises would have failed. But he wisely waited for his Leader to point every step of the way. We do have a manual of instructions in the Bible, but we also have a living Lord, a Leader to help us carry out our instructions. Let us walk closely with Him. For while with one breath He says, “Obey everything I have commanded you,” in the other He says, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). This is the mistake the Church has often made: it has taken a set of doctrines and rules and bound them up in a volume of instructions, principles, rules, creeds, confessions and doctrinal principles, and then gone forth to carry them out itself. We have no hesitation in saying that even the Bible without the Holy Spirit is not sufficient for the true Christian. Sifting Out As Gideon waited on God, another message came: “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands” (Judges 7:2). So God began to sift them, and as Gideon watched, his splendid army melted away until two out of three had gone back at the bidding of their fears. Similarly, God tests us and lets us retire from the tasks for which He knows we are inadequate. God lets us abandon them because He sees that we are afraid and would fail. But had we dared more, we might have had more. But even the 10,000 men that were left were still too many for Gideon to accomplish his task. So there was a second test, and God thinned the group even further. How solemn it is to know that in every step we take, we are weighing our own lives, writing our own record and fixing our own place of service and reward! Gideon brought his men to a brook and simply watched while they drank. Most of them, intent only upon drinking, knelt down and drank as a dog would, lapping the water with their tongues. They never gave a second’s thought that the enemy might be waiting to attack them. These men would not do for God’s work, so He put them aside. But there were a few, 300, who drank in a different fashion. With eyes alert, they brought handfuls of water up to their mouths. They satisfied their thirst, but they also remained alert against a surprise attack. These are God’s men, and Gideon set them aside while the others went home with the timid ones. How solemn, how true this is for you and for me! God is always bringing us to the valley of decision, to the test place of life. He gives us some blessing, some water from the fountain of love and prosperity, and He watches to see how we will drink. Often, we become so absorbed in the blessing that we forget everything else. By doing that, we show where our hearts really are, and God cannot trust us in His enterprises. Perhaps He gives you money, and immediately you become absorbed in business or pleasure. Then when He calls with a sudden emergency, you are not ready. Perhaps He gives you a friend, and that friend becomes more to you than Christ or the call to duty. Perhaps it is some special service that is the test. He lets you disciple a new Christian or gives you a special position, but you become so absorbed in the task that you cannot hear His voice or watch His hand or be adjustable to His will. As a result of your failure, He has to set you aside, not from heaven, perhaps, but from His highest will. He says, “Go home, drink all you want to. Sleep on now, and take your rest, the opportunity is passed.” Weighed in the Balance Oh, how the days are telling! Oh, how God is testing! Oh, how unconsciously to ourselves, each of us is being weighed in the balance! God help us to “be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). God does not give us notice of these tests before they come. This is an examination where the questions are not submitted to the candidates beforehand. We understand it all afterward, and how we wish that we had watched. The testing is not only for rewards of glory, but it is for the sake of higher service here. “If a man cleanses himself from the latter [from ignoble purposes], he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (2 Timothy 2:21). I heard a phrase that well illustrates Gideon’s story. It was the expression, “out and out.” God wants us to be “out and out.” Gideon’s men were “out and out.” First, they were picked out from the 32,000. Then they were picked out from the 10,000. So today God is picking out a people from even His professed followers. And from these—yes, even from the consecrated ones—He is picking those who have not only received the Holy Spirit, but have followed Him through all the tests and all the deaths, all the way, so that He can say of them, as we read of the followers of the Lamb in the day of His appearing, “and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers” (Revelation 17:14).