Lessons from Gideon Part 2

Crystal continues her study of Gideon this week from Judges chapter six. Gideon was called. He was chosen for the specific purpose to deliver Israel from the hands of the Midianites, but first he had to take care of some things at home. 

In order to accomplish what God called him to do, Gideon had to believe God could use him–not because of who he was but because of Who God was! 

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hi there! Welcome to Wisdom for Wednesday, your midweek pause for truth, encouragement, and practical faith. I'm your host, Crystal Ratcliffe, author, speaker, and fellow traveler on this journey of growing in God's Word. Each week we'll dive into Scripture together and have the opportunity to be encouraged in the truth that never changes. If you're able, grab your Bible, a cup of coffee, and let's seek God's wisdom together. Okay, welcome back to the podcast. We're gonna jump in here. If you did not catch last week's episode, you will want to go do that because this is actually a continuation. We started looking at Judges chapter six and seeing what we could learn from Gideon last week. So if you haven't caught that one, go ahead and stop this one. Go out and find that previous episode and listen to that one first. And then we're gonna pick it up here. Last week we talked about how God knew Gideon's potential and he called him a mighty man of valor. And God knows us, he knows what we're capable of. He wants us to be available, willing, and obedient in while we wait. And so God knew Gideon's potential, he called him a mighty man of valor, and then Gideon again showing that he did not truly know God. In verse 13 of Judges chapter 6, he says, And Gideon said unto him, O my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of? Saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. So he's saying, Why has this happened? Where are the miracles? You've forsaken us. Of course, we know that chastening is not forsaking, and it's evidence of his love for us, the Lord's love for us. And we know that they're being chastened because we talked about that last week in verse 10. It says, But ye have not obeyed my voice. And so the Lord gave them over to their oppressors, he delivered them into their hands. And so to chasten, that word means to correct or to punish for the purpose of reclaiming an offender. There's a purpose you're trying to bring about bring about restoration there. The Lord was trying to bring them back to himself, and in fact, he will do that to us as well. If we find us ourselves in a place of sin, in a place where we're not walking right with the Lord, he is going to chasten us. And we see that in Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12 says for verse 6, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence, shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily, speaking of our earthly fathers, for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our prophet, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. So sometimes we are in a mess of our own making. That's what was going on with the children of Israel here. Our disobedience leads to the chastening of the Lord. And if that's you today, he cares for you. That's why he will chasten you. Just as parents chasten their children and try to correct and teach and train their children. The Lord does that with us. Charles Spurgeon said this the Lord does not permit his children to sin successfully. He will pursue us. And what do we need to do? We need to turn and we need to repent if we find ourselves in that situation. We see God charged Gideon here in chapter 6, verse 14. Go ahead and look at it with me if you have your Bibles today. And the Lord looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, O my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. So Gideon's response was basically, How can I do this? I'm just a nobody, which by the way, that is the correct response. It was humility. No, he felt inadequate. And so the Lord reassured him. He said, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man, which means as if you were fighting only one man. And then we see here that Gideon asks for the first sign in verse 17. He says, And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee and bring forth my present and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. And then if we kept reading, we find that fire from the rock consumes the kid and the unleavened cakes, the present that Gideon brings. And Gideon realizes that he is indeed in the presence of the angel of the Lord and seeing the angel of the Lord face to face. And of course, he is afraid. But God reassures him and says, Peace, fear not. And then Gideon builds an altar and he names it Jehovah Shalom, which means Jehovah is peace. Now I want you to notice the next part of the story because God essentially says, Before you fight the Midianites, you must take care of things here at home. So he is told, he is commanded that he has to tear down his father's altar to Baal and cut down the grove by it. And Gideon is fearful. He does this by night so that people won't see him do it. He's fearful of his father's household and the men of the city. Now, I want you just to recognize that God is not going to ask us to do big things for him when we aren't obedient in the small things, the things in our own personal lives. We talked about this last week toward the end of the episode. I mentioned how we need to be faithful in the basics, the fundamentals of the Christian life while we're waiting. We need to be reading and studying God's word. We need to be praying. We need to be in active and involved in our local churches. We need to be witnessing to others and investing in others, encouraging them in their walk with the Lord. Those are the basics, the fundamentals, the things we know that we are to be doing. So we can't be getting all emotional and we want to do all these big things when we won't even read our Bible consistently. I know that sounds harsh, but it's the truth. I can't tell you how many times I hear things like, I think God wants me to do this or that, but I don't really have time to read my Bible. Or I don't really like to read, so I don't read my Bible. I don't have time to pray. I'm too shy to witness excuse after excuse for the lack of obedience in the fundamental areas of our Christian life. And I will say this there's a danger there because God speaks to us through His Word. If we don't know God's word, we are just going by our feelings and what seems right. And that is a very scary place to be because our feelings change. Our feelings change from day to day. Our feelings change based on what time of the month it is. Feelings change, but God's word does not change. And we need to make sure that that is where we are finding our instruction, our truth, and that is where we will find God's voice as he speaks to us through his word. Now, notice Gideon didn't want to do the job. He didn't want the task. He wasn't out looking to be used by God. Remember, he was hiding in that wine press. And I want you to think about many in the Bible who started out very humble in the same way. We could say Moses, David, Joseph, and Mary, even King Saul started out very humble. And we will get into humility in probably the next episode and pride, the danger of pride. But we can see that right now, Gideon is very humble in his response to being asked to do this for the Lord. So many in our day want to do more, they want to be seen more, they want a bigger role, a more important role. If we're not careful, that's our pride seeking that. And that's why there's still right now this big controversy over what women can do in church. Women don't like the God-given roles outlined in the Bible, so they ignore parts of it or they attempt to twist it and they explain that they feel called. So the scripture must not mean what it says, it must be misinterpreted because this is what I feel. Remember, we cannot go by our feelings. When our feelings trump scripture, we're in big trouble. So Gideon was called, he was chosen for this specific purpose, and he needed to obey by faith. Gideon had to believe that God could use him, not because of who he was, but because of who God was. So remember, when we know God, we can trust him. The first task, the tearing down of the altar, should have given Gideon confidence because he obeyed despite his fear and the Lord protected him. But then we see him putting out the fleece at the end of chapter six. Now, this demand for more signs showed Gideon's lack of faith. So I want you to listen to this quote from Warren Wearsby about putting out the fleece. Putting out the fleece is not a biblical method for determining the will of God. Rather, it's an approach used by people like Gideon who lack the faith to trust God to do what he said he would do. Putting out the fleece is not only an evidence of our unbelief, but it's also an evidence of our pride. God has to do what I tell him to do before I'll do what he tells me to do. And I say, Lord help us if that is our attitude about putting out a fleece. Now, I believe there are two lessons we can learn here from this. One, we should not put conditions on our obedience. We're not seeking signs from the Lord before we're willing to obey. So we have the completed word of God, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and so we're not seeking signs in this day and age. We are taking God's word and the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we are being obedient to what he tells us. Now, I'm not saying that God won't give you confirmation of something that he's already showing you in his word because he's a good God and he's a patient God. But I believe that we should have the faith to obey God when he gives us clear direction. Now, the second thing there is that God is a gracious God and he is long-suffering and patient and so kind. He patiently reassured Gideon that he would be with him. When our faith is wavering, he is willing to help us. He reminds us of who he is and all he has done for us in the past. Just like he did at the beginning of all of this, when the Midianites had oppressed them for seven years and they were starving, and they cry out to the Lord there in chapter 6, verse 8 and 9. God reminds them, I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. I am the one who delivered you. The Lord is willing to do that. And as I thought back over the last year, I I've needed that. It's been a very difficult year for me when I think about all the things that have happened. Leaving my full-time job meant leaving financial comfort and security. And of course, many of you know we lost our little baby grandson last October. My dad was in and out of the hospital from December until he passed away on April 7th. And you know what? I needed that patient reassurance. I wasn't asking for signs, but I was thankful to be able to look back and see how God has been faithful over the years and how he has continued to be faithful even in the midst of what was a difficult year. And that only happens when you get to know the Lord. You're only going to have that quiet reassurance, that help in the times when your faith is shaky and you're doubting and you're questioning, just like Gideon. Gideon was questioning if the Lord cared for them. He questioned if God even knew what was going on or what he did, God even know what he was doing with the people of Israel. And he questioned whether God was going to take care of them and keep his word. And I can tell you that over the course of this chapter, we see that Gideon got to know the Lord more. And he began to understand, yes, the Lord does care for us. And yes, the Lord does know what he's doing, and he will take care of us and he will keep his promises. And if we take the time to get to know God through his word and through prayer, we are going to have that reassurance when our faith is shaky. It won't be about demanding signs from the Lord, but it will be about that quiet peace that he gives us when we know him and we know he has complete control over our lives. We can trust him. And so I think I'm going to leave it there this week. I actually had intended to go on, but I have a lot more to say about the next part. So we will just jump in next week and continue our study. I hope that it is an encouragement to you. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll see you back here next week.