Lessons from Gideon Part 3

Crystal continues her study of Gideon from Judges chapter seven this week. It was time for Gideon and the men of Israel to get in the battle, so God could fight for them and deliver them from the Midianites. Judges 7:9 says, "And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand."

Of course, you know how Crystal loves to find that command, "Arise," in the Bible. This week's episode demonstrates many of the lessons found in the Arise, Go. Bible study. If you haven't done that study yet--or even if you need a refresher--click the link in the description below. 

P.S. If you've done Arise, Go. and it was a blessing to you, have you left a review on Amazon yet? 

The NEW Book, Today's Thoughts... is available now! If you'd like to read the introduction, click here. 

Available Bible Studies and Bible Study Guides (affiliate links):

• Today's Thoughts...
• It's Time.
• Arise, Go.
• Pullin' Weeds, Plantin' Seeds
• There's a Fly in my Tea!
• Study Your Bible With Me Series

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Transcript

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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. Hi there and welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited. I am actually recording these episodes a little bit ahead. You all know that I like to be ahead when I can be, and so I am recording a little bit ahead. I'm excited to be in the month of July because that means it's my birthday month. And my husband teases me that I celebrate all month long, which is a bit of an exaggeration. Uh I do tend to, I am more willing to buy myself something in the month of July because I don't spend money, I don't like to shop, it's just not who I am. So in the month of July, I'm a little more like, hey, I would like to have that, and it's my birthday month. So on that note, I love when you get your little birthday coupons and you can plan a fun day out just to go and hit the coffee, the free coffee, or the half-price Kendra scott necklace, whatever the case may be. So I am in the midst of celebrating my birthday month. That's the point of this, I guess, which is not why you're here. You're not here to hear this. I hope you're here because you wanted to learn more about Gideon. So we have been going through Judges chapter six. We're gonna get into Judges chapter seven today and the story of Gideon. I know it's a familiar story. If you have not listened to the first two episodes on Gideon, I would encourage you to go and do that so that you can kind of know where we're getting started. We're getting ready to get into my favorite part, not that when God calls him a mighty man of valor while he is in hiding. I love that part, but this part we're about to see God fight for Gideon and the Israelites, and that makes me so excited. So we're gonna jump in here in chapter seven. As they prepare for battle, they have about 32,000 men, and the Midianites were like grasshoppers. There were so many of them. Some say there was approximately a hundred and thirty-five thousand. So I want to pick up reading in verse two of chapter seven. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people 20 and 000, and there remained 10,000. So you may remember I mentioned this part of the story was the whole reason I started thinking about the Gideon story because of my volleyball team. And I was explaining, we can't turn back. None of us can turn back. We don't have the numbers for that. Nobody can be quitting our volleyball team. But what we have to recognize is that our fear and our discouragement is catching. And so, what's also catching is encouraging others and having a positive attitude. But that's you know, that's a side note. So, anyway, this part of the story, God had said there was too many. He didn't want that many Israelites to go in because they would vaunt themselves up in pride rather than see God's deliverance. So he says that about if you're fearful and afraid, you must turn back. And in Deuteronomy 20, verse 8, God is giving instruction on preparing for battle to the priests, and he says, And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart. So that's where we can see that that is catching. That spirit of fear and being faint-hearted is catching. And so God wanted those people to turn back, and they're left with 10,000. So 22,000 people were fearful and afraid. 22,000 men. And so as I was reading this story and going through it, and we kind of talked about this last week, how I've had kind of a rough year and had some times of a shaky faith and just needing some reassurance from the Lord, which of course I explained that I got that because I knew him and I can look back and see his faithfulness in the past, and I can see how he's being faithful even in the midst of trials. And so that was in the last episode. But I had to ask myself, am I one of the 22,000? Am I weak in faith? Because after after all God had done to prove he was with them, they were still fearful and afraid. So after all God has done in my life over the years, and there is so much, if you start thinking about all that God has done for you, I would even encourage you to write it down. Just write down the blessings of the Lord. But after all God has done for me in my life over the years, am I still fearful and afraid? Am I worrying about how we will pay our bills? Am I fearful as we wait for our new little grandbaby who's due in September? Am I questioning God's goodness when we lose those that we love? I don't want to be one of the 22,000. I don't want to be weak in faith, fearful and afraid. So, what do I need to do when I start to doubt or to question when my faith begins to waver? I need to remember. I need to remember all that I know about God, his character, and what he has done for me in the past, because I can trust him and believe he is always good and working things for our good because I know him. And so I would just encourage you, if you are starting to doubt, you're starting to question, your faith is wavering, remember. Remember who God is and all he has done for you in the past. And then let me just remind you of that part about fear and discouragement being catching. We cannot turn back. You know, I mentioned my volleyball team and how we didn't have the numbers for people who were fearful and afraid to quit. And instead, I was trying to explain to them that, hey, just like being fearful and discouraged is catching, so is being positive, so is encouraging others. So in the Christian life, we need to be looking for those opportunities to edify and encourage one another in our faith because that is catching. That is how we can help one another in the battle. We can't turn back. If you are saved, if you have accepted Christ as your savior, you are in the midst of a very real spiritual battle. And so is your Christian sisters around you. And so we don't want to discourage others, we want to encourage them in the battle. Okay, so we get to this part of the story. There's 10,000 left. There's 10,000 men. In verse 4, it says, And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many. Bring them down unto the water, and I will try them or test them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water, and the Lord said unto Gideon, Everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise, everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men, but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go, every man unto his place. So the people took victuals, victuals in their hand and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men, and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley. Okay, so here we have this test. It seems like an ordinary, mundane task. Drink from the stream. And I will say this before I go any further with this. I found this quote by Orson Sweat Martin, and he said, Make every occasion a great occasion, for you can never tell when somebody may be taking your measure for a larger place. And I think that's just good life advice. Do everything for the glory of God. If you're doing everything for the glory of God, you're going to do it to the best of your ability. And I just think that's good because you never know who's watching or what they might be looking for. And as far as that goes, the Lord is watching, and he wants to see you doing everything for his glory and to the best of your ability. So no matter how everyday mundane task, do it for the Lord. Think about your laundry, scrubbing the shower. I did that this morning. Those things seem like everyday mundane tasks, but how we do them, the attitude we have while we're doing them, says a lot about our character. Anyway, so there's a lot of speculation about why God chose these 300 men who knelt down and brought the water to their lips. Were they more alert or on guard compared to those who got down on their knees to drink? And truly, who knows? Who knows why God chose them? Because it makes sense that he would want them to be on guard and alert, but at the same time, it doesn't seem to be about their fighting ability because he gave them a trumpet, a pitcher, and a lamp. That was going to be what they went into battle with. It wasn't about their ability to fight, it wasn't about being mighty warriors. So I don't know for sure why, other than God wanted less men, and this way he got 300 men. Okay. So now I want to read in chapter 7, verse 9. And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. Now notice that word arise, because if you have done the arise, go Bible study, you know I get excited every time I see that. Verse 10, but if thou fear to go down, go thou with Furah, thy servant, down to the host, and thou shalt hear what they say, and afterwards shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Furah, his servant, unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came into a tent, and smote it that it fell and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. For into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the host. Isn't that amazing? God was still patiently reassuring Gideon. Did he have to do that? Did he have to tell him, If you're fearful, go down and listen in on the camp? He didn't have to do that, but he is a kind and loving God, and he understands that we are weak and that sometimes our faith is weak and we need reassurance. And so we see Gideon and he goes down, he hears. And I just love that in verse 14 where it says, For into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the hosts. So then we see right away in verse 15, and it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof that he worshiped. Now I want to pause there on that word worshiped. Why do we worship? We worship because of who God is. We know God, the one true God. We know his character, and that causes us to worship him. We worship him for who he is and all he has done in our lives. And so Gideon worshiped before he did anything else. He took time to worship the Lord. But then listen to this: it says, and he returned into the host of Israel and said, Arise. There's that word again. For the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. So notice that he says, The Lord hath delivered. It's already been done. And it's time for them now to get into the battle. Now we know that if we kept reading, God ends up giving them the victory. The enemy literally turns on themselves and scatters because of the sudden noise and the light from the lamps, as Gideon and his 300 men broke their pitchers and blew their trumpets. God fought for them and he delivered them. And that should encourage us so much. God doesn't need large numbers or gifted leaders. He doesn't need mighty warriors. He just needs us to be willing, available, and obedient, like we've already discussed. That's all he asks of us. Now I want you to remember in the previous episodes, we talked about how we could be in three, really four different places spiritually. We are in Egypt where we are lost, we're on our way to hell, we're wandering in the wilderness. Remember, the wilderness journey was supposed to be temporary. It was supposed to be a time of learning. And when the children of Israel got to the point when they could have crossed over into the victorious Christian life, they did not believe that God would deliver them. They were fearful and afraid. And so, because of their unbelief, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. And I mentioned to you that I think that many Christians are still wandering in the wilderness. They're not experiencing the victory that God has for them in their life. They're not experiencing the abundant Christian life right here on this earth, which is the third place we could be. We could be in the promised land, walking in a victorious Christian life with the Lord right now. And then the fourth place was being uh backslidden in Babylon. So those are the places we can be. But in the Arise Go Bible study, what I tried to explain or allow you to study is that we are all in a battle. Satan is a very real enemy. And you know what? He's happy if you're not doing anything for the Lord. He's happy if you're wandering in the wilderness, if you are settling for being on the sidelines of this spiritual battle instead of advancing against the enemy for the cause of Christ. And so, what I love about this story right here is that God says, arise. It's time. It's time to get in the battle and let me fight for you. And God cannot fight for us if we are not even in the battle. I want to say that again. God can't fight for you if you're not even in the battle. So I would say, get armored up and get ready for battle and let the Lord fight for you. That's what He wants to do. He wants us to advance in our Christian life. He wants us to have a part in advancing the cause of Christ, whether that's by witnessing to others, serving in our local churches. And so I go back to Gideon, who was hiding in the wine press, and God said, Thou mighty man of valor, because he knew the potential that Gideon had. But Gideon wasn't in the battle. In the wine press, he was not in the battle. He was hiding. And then God says, Thou mighty man of valor, you're going to deliver Israel from the hand of the Midianites. And he takes them on, takes him on this whole spiritual growing process where first Gideon had to take care of the things at home. We talked about that. So for us, we've got to be faithful in the fundamentals of our Christian walk with the Lord by reading and studying our Bible, by praying, by being present and involved in our local churches, by witnessing to others and investing in others. We have to be doing all those things, the basic fundamentals of the Christian life, so that we are available. We're willing, we're obedient. When the Lord says, Arise, get in the battle. I want you to take this Sunday school class. I want you to join the choir. I want you to be willing to go out and visit. I want you to do whatever you fill in the blank, as long as it's biblical. Okay. When the Lord says arise, get in the battle, he's looking to find you faithful and ready. And then I just want to give one caution because as soon as you start trying to do something for the Lord, to really just take a step forward in your Christian life, the enemy is coming for you. He's happy if you're in the wine press. Okay. He's happy if you're sitting on the sidelines, not doing anything for the Lord. But as soon as you start trying to do something for the Lord, expect the enemy to attack, which is why you have to be armored up and ready for the battle. And I just I just want to share that with you. If you have not done the study Arise Go, oh, it is just my heart that you would learn the truths that come from that Bible study. It just really takes you through the book of Joshua and I know it will be a blessing to you if you haven't done it yet. Um, I have heard even in this last week at the QRP meeting, I just gave you a hint of when I was recording this, um, I heard so many of you who said a rise go was your absolute favorite study. And so it is still, I go back to all of them. They're all my favorites. It's so hard for me to pick one, but the truths that are found in a rise go will help you live a victorious Christian life. Okay, we're gonna stop there with Gideon, but we're not done yet. Unfortunately, Gideon's story does continue, and maybe he doesn't finish quite as well as we would want him to, which again is why when you do something for the Lord, you have to be prepared for the enemy to attack. But we will take a look at that part of Gideon's story next week.