The Calling of Gideon

Judges 6:11-40

The week before last Joshua Died

Last week Deborah Judges 4:1-23

What was Deborah?

What is a prophetess?

So why do you think God would need to send someone to tell the children of Israel what to do?

LESSON TIME!

The Calling of Gideon Judges 6:11-40

In today’s lesson, we will learn of God’s plan to give His people

victory over the Midianites.

The Midianites were Bedouin tribes who made a practice of conquering and stealing from other peoples.

The Israelites were afraid of them and would hide in caves and try to work without being discovered.

God chose to use an unlikely man by the name of Gideon to lead His people to victory.

The reason is the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord.

7 When they cried out to the LORD because of Midian, 8 the LORD sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt. 9 I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you, their land. 10 I told you, ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

Judges 6: New Living Translation (NLT)

11 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!”

Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress (not on the threshing floor as was the normal practice) in order to hide from the Midianites.

He was surprised by a visitor, not a Midinite, but “an

Angel of the Lord.”

The angel greets Gideon with the words, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.”

Do you think that a “mighty man of valor” would be hiding his work out of fear?

No, probably not, yet God, in His great grace and love, sees much more in His children than we do.

God promised to be with Gideon.

We, to have this promise--

Hebrews 13:5b: “I will never leave you or forsake you.

13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The LORD brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

Does Gideon reply with joyous faith? No, he answered doubtingly,

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

And where are all His miracles?

Gideon felt like the Lord had forgotten His people; yet, God “will

never leave us or forsake us.”

In those times that seem like we are all alone and we “feel” forgotten, we must remember God’s promise—

He is always with us, and He knows all about our situation.

Note, “…the LORD turned to him…” He is not referred to as the “Angel of the Lord,” but as “the Lord; At the end of verse 14, He says, “Have not I sent you?”

With God’s promise, “The Lord is with you,” the Lord encourages

Gideon to “go in this might….”

In the Lord, we are mighty.

In Psalm 60:12 we read, “Through God, we shall do valiantly: for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.”

15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”

16 The LORD said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”

17 Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the LORD speaking to me. 18 Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.” He answered, “I will stay here until you return.”

19 Gideon hurried home. He cooked a young goat, and with a basket of flour, he baked some bread without yeast. Then, carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out and presented them to the angel, who was under the great tree.

20 The angel of God said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.” And Gideon did as he was told. 21 Then the angel of the LORD touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the LORD disappeared.

22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he cried out, “Oh, Sovereign LORD, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

Gideon now realizes that he was not speaking with a mere man;

He replies, “O my Lord.” Knowing his personal weakness, it is hard for Gideon to believe God could use him in such a way.

God patiently reminds Gideon, “…I will be with you.”

Through the mighty God,

he would “smite the Midianites as one man.”

Gideon asked the Angel of the Lord to assure him, by a sign, that He was indeed God.

Gideon brought the Lord a sacrificial gift of food.

After Gideon put the meat in a basket, put the broth in a pot, and

made the unleavened cakes, he brought them before the Lord.

The Lord commanded him to lay the flesh and the cakes upon a rock close by and to pour the broth upon it, making it an offering to the Lord.

When he had done this, the Lord touched the food with the

end of His staff, fire came out of the rock and consumed the food,

and the Lord vanished from Gideon's sight.

Gideon received the sign he wanted. Now, he knew that the person who had come to him was indeed the Lord;

This realization filled him with fear.

He cries out, “‘O Lord God,’ for I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.”

How do we know that Gideon was afraid? Let's read the next verse.

23 “It is all right,” the LORD replied. “Do not be afraid. You will not die.” 24 And Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the LORD is peace”). The altar remains in Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer to this day.

The Lord wants to shape our lives to do something really neat with them. All we need to do is to let Him do the shaping.

Gideon was afraid and God told him not to worry, he then built an altar to God and called it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the LORD is peace”) or Jehovah Shalom.

25 That night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. 26 Then build an altar to the LORD your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town. 28 Early the next morning, as the people of the town began to stir, someone discovered that the altar of Baal had been broken down and that the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down. In their place, a new altar had been built, and on it were the remains of the bull that had been sacrificed. 29 The people said to each other, “Who did this?” And after asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, the son of Joash. 30 “Bring out your son,” the men of the town demanded of Joash. “He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting down the Asherah pole.”

31 But Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him, “Why are you defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal truly is a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar!” 32 From then on Gideon was called Jerub-Baal, which means “Let Baal defend himself,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.

Now, before Gideon was to carry out the work entrusted to him, it was necessary that he first purify his father's house from idolatry and sanctify his own life and work to the Lord.

God commanded him to destroy his father's altar to Baal and to build an altar to Jehovah in which he could sacrifice a burnt offering.

God will not tolerate idolatry.

It was necessary that the altar of Baal be destroyed before the altar of Jehovah could be built.

Gideon would destroy the altar of Baal; however, this “mighty man of valor” would not do it in the light of day, but at the night, hidden from his father and the townspeople.

When the people discovered that Gideon was the one who had

destroyed their altar, they demanded that he be put to death.

Gideon's father, Joash, had a wise answer—perhaps, he was

inspired by the faith of his son.

He stood by Gideon’s decision with favor and asserted that Baal should decide the matter since it was his altar and image that were torn down.

If Baal were really God, he might be expected to avenge the crime that had been committed against his altar.

When the people saw that Baal did not (could not) hurt Gideon, Gideon received the name, “Jerubbaal” (let Baal fight or decide).

Just as Gideon sought to sanctify (set apart) himself to the Lord by destroying the idol worship that existed in his family,

so, God desires that we tear down anything in our hearts that would keep us from completely focusing on the Lord.

An idol is anything that assumes priority over our relationship with the Lord.

We cannot serve the idols of this world and hope to also serve God. God wants our whole heart.

33 Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel. 34 Then the Spirit of the LORD took possession of Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him. 35 He also sent messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, summoning their warriors, and all of them responded.

The enemy gathered together again and went over the Jordan, encamping in the valley of Jezreel.

Next, we see, “the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon.” This means that the Spirit of God clothed or descended upon him, surrounding him like armor.

Gideon became invincible in the might of the Holy Spirit.

Gideon then blew the trumpet to call Israel to battle against the foe.

He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they all came up to meet them.

They came to support the one who challenged the false god and won.

When we take a stand for the Lord, it may surprise us to see others become willing to support us and encourage themselves to stand for the Lord.

Let us take a stand for the Lord, without wavering.

36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, 37 prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.” 38 And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.” 40 So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.

Here we see Gideon asking for a sign from God. Gideon sought confirmation and assurance of God’s presence as he determined to go into battle against the Midianites.

God granted his request.

The "fleece," or sign which Gideon asked for, was that God would cause the dew to fall only on a fleece which he would spread the previous night upon some open ground and that the ground all

around might not be wet from the dew.

After this sign, Gideon still asked God for His grace by granting another sign for Gideon—

This time, the fleece might remain dry, and the ground all around it is wet with dew.

God granted him this request also.

Gideon knew that his human strength was not sufficient for the defeat of the enemy.

Gideon wanted to make sure that God, as promised, would be with him in battle.

As Gideon experienced, there may be times our faith wavers or times we are unsure and need confirmation.

Has God spoken or is it the enemy or my own mind?

We need to be certain God has spoken.

Once we are certain God has spoken, God is pleased when we move forward in faith and obedience.

PRAYER

Lead the children in a prayer of commitment that their lives be set

apart for God’s will. Have the children thank the Lord that He

desires to do great things with their lives. If there are any children

who have not yet responded to the Gospel, give them an opportunity.