LET GOD RULE OVER YOU

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian."

But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you." And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)

They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants, and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years.

Jerub-Baal, son of Joash, went back home to live. He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. Gideon, son of Joash, died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them.

Judges 8:22-35

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we finish Judges 8, we see the final chapter in the life of Gideon, an Old Testament figure who is truly an enigma.

For we have seen him go from a humble man selected by God to lead Israel to victory over Midian, to a man obsessed with vengeance and exacting justice on anyone who would do him or his people wrong, to a man who turns Israel to God as their true leader, and finally to a man who fashions an ephod which his people ended up prostituting themselves by worshipping it in his town of Ophrah.

Truly, in Gideon we see a classic example of an inconsistent servant of the Lord…someone who we might be able to relate to. I know I can.

For I often wonder how God must feel about us as we go through life day-by-day…this very life that He blesses us with. How does He feel when one moment we are the faithful, obedient servant He wants us to be and then turn around in another moment and conduct ourselves in some sinful manner that has to disappoint Him greatly. Our inconsistency must frustrate Him as much as it should frustrate us as we seek to grow more and more in Him and His way.

Well, in our passage today, there lies one absolute remedy for inconsistency…one key to ensuring we always remain constantly righteous and holy in all our actions and attitudes.

What is that key?

It involves allowing the Lord, and Him alone to rule over our lives.

For after Gideon had gained such great success and victory over Midian, freeing all of Israel from their oppression, the people were ready to follow him anywhere. We read where they say:

“Rule over us — you, your son and your grandson — because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian."

Note here that it wasn’t just the current generation of Israelites who vowed submission to Gideon’s leadership but their descendents as well. But as we see, Gideon would have none of what Israel was proposing. Instead, he turned Israel’s attention to where it needed to be…on God, the One who had truly handed Midian over to His people. Here’s what he told them:

“I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you."

And indeed, He does rule…not just over the Israel of the Old Testament but over the world we live in today. Gideon attributed full surrender to His authority and we need to as well.

So truly friends, this is what’s needed in order to consistently live in the way that God expects us to live. It involves total deference to Him, a willingness to allow Him to have control over every aspect of who we are and what we do. For after all, He and He alone is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and there is no greater power above Him. Thankfully, He is willing to lend us some of that power so we can have the strength and perseverance to become the steady, faithful, trustworthy servants He wants us to be…servants who model the life of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

And as Christians…isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, "Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they criticized him sharply.

But he answered them, "What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?" At this, their resentment against him subsided.

Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. He said to the men of Succoth, "Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."

But the officials of Succoth said, "Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?"

Then Gideon replied, "Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers."

From there, he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Succoth had. So he said to the men of Peniel, "When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower."

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and fell upon the unsuspecting army. Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.

Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. He caught a young man of Succoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Succoth, the elders of the town. Then Gideon came and said to the men of Succoth, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, 'Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?'" He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.

Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?"

"Men like you," they answered, "each one with the bearing of a prince."

Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you." Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, "Kill them!" But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid. Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, do it yourself. 'As is the man, so is his strength.'" So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels' necks.

Judges 8:1-21

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Judges, chapter 7 details how God helped the Israelite army of only 300 men gain victory over the much larger and formidable Midianite forces. You’ll recall how the Lord systematically reduced the size of Gideon’s force to where it would be very obvious that it was He who had given them the victory, not anything they did on their own.

Well, up to this point we have seen a Gideon who was completely submissive and obedient to God, ready to carry out His will without question. But as we see in the opening verses of chapter 8, we unfortunately see a major shift in Israel’s judge, one that finds him obsessed with power and darkly vengeful in his actions.

This all begins in the first few verses as Gideon is confronted by the Ephraimites who criticized him sharply, asking:

"Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?"

Through their words, it was obvious that the men of Ephraim did not take kindly to just finishing up what Gideon and his 300 men had started. They had wanted to be a part of the initial attacking force…the force who would be entitled to all the spoils of victory.

Of interest here, we should note how Ephraim didn’t consult God once about their concerns. If they had, the Lord would have surely explained that the 300 men of Gideon had been prescribed and ordered by Him to go and fight. Further, He probably would have told the Ephraimites that Gideon had not personally made the selections but rather had followed the directions He had given him. In other words, everything that had happened was just the way God wanted it to happen. All this could have been known by Ephraim before they went off the deep end but they ended up so caught up in their pride and greed that they never considered seeking the Lord’s counsel.

Unfortunately, we can too often act like the Ephraimites ourselves as we see others find success or have good things happen to them…and then sit around and covet what they have accomplished, wishing we were in their place and enjoying their spoils.

Indeed, the enemy definitely uses our pride and selfishness against us any chance he can get and so we need to recognize these sinful attitudes when they begin to take root within us and turn to the Lord for strength and guidance to ward them off. For if we do this, the Lord will always lead us to an attitude of satisfaction with what He has given us in life…an attitude of satisfaction that allows us to rejoice over the victories of others vice resenting them.

Back to our passage now where we find Gideon responding to Ephraim’s criticism saying:

"What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?"

In other words, Gideon was letting Ephraim know they were just as successful as he was. The Lord hadn’t just handed the Midianites over to Gideon but to all of Israel. Further, Gideon turned the attention of his critics to the fruits of their grape harvests, trying to get them to see how they too had been richly blessed by God. His words were effective for we read where they took root in the hearts of the Ephraimites, leading to “their resentment against him” subsiding.

Next, having resolved the conflict with Ephraim, “Gideon and his three hundred men”, who were “exhausted” and “yet keeping up the pursuit”, arrived at “the Jordan and crossed it” coming to the town of Succoth. There, Gideon appealed to the “men of Succoth” saying:

"Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."

Through his words, we see that Gideon was asking for and expecting hospitality but as we see, he didn’t quite get what he expected. For we read where the “officials of Succoth” replied:

"Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?"

Once again, we see Gideon facing conflict but his reaction to the officials of Succoth was far different than with Ephraim. For note how his tone shifted to one of anger and retribution as he said:

“Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers."

Of interest, the word “tear” in this verse can also be translated as “thresh” which connects better to the Gideon we were initially introduced to…the Gideon who the Lord found threshing wheat in a winepress under an oak tree (Judges 6:11). Through his tone, we see how Gideon paints a pretty gruesome scene…one of suffering and revenge.

Do we too often act like this, displaying the same sinful attitude that Gideon displays?

For how often do we react in vindictive, retaliatory fashion when someone disrespects or violates us in some way? We might not go as far as vowing to tear someone else’s flesh but any feelings of malice that rise up towards another is not of God but of Satan.

Friends, we need to keep in mind that Jesus clearly taught His followers to love their enemies (Matthew 5:43-44) not hate them. And He didn’t just tell them to do it, He did it Himself. For in Christ, we find the clearest model of what forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love looks like, even extended to those who shouted for Him to be crucified. You’ll remember that Jesus didn’t condemn them but rather asked His Father God to forgive them for they didn’t know what they were doing (Luke 23:34).

Indeed, Jesus perfectly practiced what He preached and He did it so we could follow His example.

Going back to Gideon, I’m pretty sure he would have been urged to show forgiveness and grace if he had only consulted God but he didn’t. Not in Succoth nor in Peniel where he went next, once again asking for bread for his 300 men. And after he was rebuffed again there, he responded with yet one more retributional threat, telling the “men of Peniel”:

“When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower."

With that, we read where Gideon leaves Peniel and attacked the “unsuspecting army of “Zebah and Zalmunna…a force of about fifteen thousand men” who were encamped at Karkor. Gideon and his men routed the army of Zebah and Zalmunna and when the two kings tried to flee, they were pursued and eventually captured. Gideon then took the captured kings with him as he returned to exact his promised judgment on Succoth and Peniel.

While on his way to Succoth, Gideon questioned a young man who “wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Succoth, the elders of the town”. Gideon then called the officials together and showed them the two captured Midianite kings saying:

“Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, 'Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?'"

Gideon then continued to show his dark side…a side that was torturous and unmerciful…a side that “took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers”…a side that not only “pulled down the tower of Peniel” but then “killed the men of the town”, far more damage than what had been promised at first. .

Through all this, we see a very troubling, evil side to Gideon which gets worse as this passage continues. For after exacting punishment on Succoth and Peniel, he turned his attention to the two captured kings asking them:

"What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?"

To which they replied:

"Men like you, each one with the bearing of a prince."

The two kings said this not knowing that they had actually murdered Gideon’s brothers at Mount Tabor, a wicked action that would now cost them their lives as we find Gideon angrily proclaim the following:

“Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you."

Unfortunately, the two kings didn’t spare the lives of Gideon’s brothers and so now Gideon would gain his revenge.

Again, we should note once more how the Lord isn’t consulted at all. Gideon isn’t interested in what God wanted done. Rather, we find him solely driven solely by blind rage…a rage that can easily come upon anyone who allows hatred to overcome love and forgiveness. The Lord could have helped Gideon through this difficult time but Gideon wasn’t interested in Him. Rather, he was centered on what he wanted…on what he saw as justice, even if it meant taking the lives of others.

What happened next must have come as a bit of a surprise to all, for instead of killing the kings himself, we find Gideon turn to “Jether, his oldest son”, commanding him to “Kill them!" But the scriptures tell us that Jether wouldn’t “draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid”.

Amazingly, we find the two captured kings essentially mocking Gideon. Encouraging him to just do the job himself because…“As is the man, so is his strength", Gideon takes them up on the offer, stepping forward and killing the Midianite kings, taking their “ornaments off their camels' necks” afterwards.

As we finish this passage, we’re reminded yet again how so many Old Testament figures, some very famous, were just as flawed as you and me. And although they were often hand-selected by God to carry out His purposes, they were still sinners and just as prone to failing and failing as anyone else. When they did, there was usually one common denominator. They decided to turn away from God so to do their own thing, getting so caught up in their own needs and desires that the Lord becomes secondary.

And it’s this that gets them into trouble.

My brothers and sisters, when it comes right down to it, we can opt to be as good or as bad as we want to be. Or putting it in spiritual terms, we can be as sinful or as holy as we want to be. In the end, it’s essentially about choice.

When we decide to follow God and always seek His guidance, then we willingly side with what is good and holy and righteous and just.

Conversely, when we willfully turn away from God and His counsel, then we can end up like Gideon…resentful, vengeful, hateful, and overall evil.

Ultimately, love becomes the key factor here between these two competing choices. A steadfast, committed, devoted love for the Lord will always lead us to relate and commune with Him. This is what leads us to a love attitude toward others, even those who do us wrong, because we’re not trying to love based on what we think but rather on what God wants.

This isn’t what Satan wants at all. For he would like nothing more than for us to go the Gideon way, choosing an eye-for-an-eye instead of showing grace and forgiveness. And it becomes easy for him when we decide to shut God out of our lives because it gives our enemy the chance to enter into our hearts and minds and souls so to lead us toward wronging others just as they have wronged us.

When it comes right down to it, the devil wants to pull us as far away from love as possible...far away from what the Lord wants when it comes to relating to one another properly. Frankly, we can’t afford to let that happen.

So what do we gain from all this today?

My hope is that we see the way clear to love everyone at all times…just as our Lord does and we can only reach that goal if we strive to be like our God in every way. To get to that point, we need to be totally committed to live for the Lord 24/7, 365 days of the year. To that end, let us all strive toward this goal, knowing we serve a Lord who is ever ready to guide us in the right and righteous ways…now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ALL GLORY TO GOD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many men for Me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against Me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.' " So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

But the Lord said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go."

So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

The Lord said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place." So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. During that night the Lord said to Gideon, "Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp."

So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed." His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon, son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands."

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands." Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

"Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the Lord and for Gideon.'"

Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah."

So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they took the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

Judges 7

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In Judges, chapter 6, we saw where God provided Gideon several signs to assure him that He was truly with him. This came after He told Gideon that he had been chosen to help deliver the Israelites from the oppression brought on by Midian.

As chapter 7 opens, Gideon is preparing to do just that.

For we read where the Midianites had assembled and were camped out in a valley “near the hill of Moreh” which was north of the Israelite camp “at the spring of Harod”. Gideon had formed a formidable group of men in his own right to take on the mighty enemy army but God had other plans as He says this to his chosen leader:

“You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands…Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.”

And with that offer, the scriptures tell us that “twenty-two thousand men” who were afraid left and went home.

So why did God do this?

Because He didn’t want the Israelites to feel like they had won victory over Midian on their own, boasting about their own strength and might. Instead, He wanted to make sure that He would gain the praise and glory from the coming victory.

The Lord’s concerns were definitely legitimate. For in biblical times through today, people too often have fallen into the trap of pride, arrogance, and self-centeredness. They seem to thrive on showing other people how good they are…how talented they are…how affluent they are…how attractive they are…and I could go on and on and on but you get the point. God expects that we give Him credit for everything good that we have accomplished or gained for any and all blessings we receive are from Him and Him alone (James 1:17).

As we go back into our passage for today, we see that Gideon is now down to ten thousand men but this is still too many for God who orders another elimination phase to reduce the forces even further.

This time, we find God commanding Gideon to take his men down to the water to observe how they would drink, saying:

"Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.”

So how did that turn out?

Well, all but three hundred got down on their knees to drink and so God assured Gideon that He would give the Midianites into his hands with the “three hundred men that lapped”. And so, “Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents” while the remaining three hundred “took over the provisions and trumpets of the others”.

So the stage was set. Gideon and his three hundred men would go up against the powerful Midianite forces and if one was putting odds based on the mere number of fighting men on each side, it would have been viewed as a tremendous mismatch with Israel set up to be slaughtered. But as we know, the Israelites had one important additional team member that more than made up for their small army. That important team member was none other than the Lord God Almighty.

Back to the scriptures for as Gideon looked down upon the massive Midianite camp, we find God coming to him in the night and saying:

“Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp."

And so Gideon and his servant, Purah, went down to the “outposts of the camp” and arrived just as a man was telling a friend about a dream he had. In that dream, the man said “a round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp”, striking the tent “with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed." This led the friend to reply with the following:

“This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon, son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands."

These words were all Gideon needed to hear, proving that God was making good on what He had promised. We read where this feeling of reassurance immediately led Gideon into a spirit of worship.

You know, we should follow Gideon’s lead on this. We need to instantly stop and give God praise and worship for what He does for us in the moment when He provides His blessings while putting His goodness and provision on full display.

Well, the scriptures tell us that Gideon “returned to the camp of Israel” after worshipping and rallied his three hundred men together saying:

“Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands."

He then divided “the three hundred men into three companies” and “placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them with torches inside” before giving them the following orders:

"Watch me…Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the Lord and for Gideon.' "

And so Gideon and a hundred of his men “reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard” and “blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands”. The three companies followed suit, blowing their trumpets and smashing their jars” before “grasping their torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow”. Then, the men shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" and we read that “while each (Israelite) man held his position around the camp…all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled”.

So we know this great battle began with Midian running for their lives and “when the three hundred trumpets sounded”, “the Lord caused the (Midianite) men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords”. Further, the Midian army “fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath” and were pursued by the “Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh”. Additionally, “Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim and called on its men to “seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of (the Midianites) as far as Beth Barah” which they did. This led to the capture of “two…Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb” who were put to death with their heads severed and taken to “Gideon, who was by the Jordan”.

In this amazing story, we see where God once again proved He could make the improbable probable…the impossible possible…the remarkable seem commonplace. This is who He was, who He has been, and who He is today. Indeed, He had delivered His people from the oppression of Midian, by His power and no theirs, all the while developing a very obedient, respected Israelite leader in Gideon through the process.

Through this story, we are reminded that we serve an almighty, powerful, amazing, awesome God who can and will do all things in accordance with His will. Truly, there is nothing beyond the works of His hands to include doing extraordinary things through ordinary people like you and me. For this and so much more, let’s give Him all the honor, glory, and praise He deserves, now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE SIGNS OF GOD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in Your eyes, give me a sign that it is really You talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before You."

And the Lord said, "I will wait until you return."

Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to Him under the oak.

The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in His hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"

But the Lord said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

That same night the Lord said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime. In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it." The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it."

But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar.

Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as You have promised - look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew."

That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Judges 6:17-40

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Judges, chapter 6 opened, we saw in yesterday’s message how the nation of Israel had done evil before God and found themselves under the oppressive rule of the Midianites for seven years as punishment for their actions. This brought on deep poverty, so much so that the Israelites did what they had done in the past after getting themselves in trouble…they cried out to the Lord. And as in the past, God did what he had done before…selected a deliverer to free His people and this time that deliverer was a man named Gideon.

Now, you’ll recall that Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress under an oak tree when an angel of the Lord came and told him he was to go and free Israel from Midian. You’ll recall that this was received with great surprise as Gideon couldn’t believe he was the one being chosen due to the low status of his clan and his low estate within his own family. Speaking into these concerns, the Lord assured Gideon that He would be with him throughout the conquest of Midian.

Well, as we look at the reminder of this chapter today, we see where Gideon has difficulty believing he is actually talking to the Lord and so he asks God to give him a sign to validate He was really there. Gracefully, the Lord obliges Gideon.

First, we read where Gideon went and “prepared a young goat” and “bread without yeast”, putting the “meat in a basket and its broth in a pot” before offering it to the Lord under the oak. And after Gideon placed the meat and bread on a rock and poured the broth out on the ground as commanded, the scriptures tell us that the angel of the Lord touched the “tip of the staff…in His hand” to the “the meat and the unleavened bread” and immediately “fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread”.

And with that, we read where the “angel of the Lord disappeared”.

At that moment, Gideon “realized that it was the angel of the Lord” that he had been talking to and this led him to exclaim:

"Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"

And being it was common knowledge that anyone who looked in the face of God would die, Gideon was naturally afraid for his life but note how the Lord put him at ease saying:

“Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

With that blessed assurance, “Gideon built an altar to the Lord at the place where the meat and bread were consumed by fire and called it The Lord is Peace”.

This was God’s first sign to Gideon.

Next, we find God giving Gideon a task…one that involved his own family. For we read where Gideon’s father, Joash, had constructed an “altar to Baal” with an “Asherah pole beside it” and so the Lord commanded Gideon to tear down the altar and cut down the pole. He was then to “build a proper kind of altar to the Lord”, using the “wood of the Asherah pole” to use “the second bull from (his) father's herd, the one seven years old” as a burnt offering. And so “Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him”, carrying out the Lord’s orders at night “because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town”.

Well, what a surprise the town woke up to in the morning for “when the men of the town got up”, they saw “Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!” Needless to say, they weren’t happy about it and wondered amongst themselves who would have done such a thing.

And so an investigation was launched and the men of the town discovered that it was Gideon who had carried out the act, leading to the “men of the town” giving this demand to Joash:

“Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

Now, you might think that Joash would have done as they asked. After all, it was his altar that had been destroyed and he could have viewed it as a blatant act of disrespect. But as we see, Joash actually comes to the defense of Gideon telling the hostile crowd:

“Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar."

Joash’s points were valid. For indeed, why did the men have to defend Baal? After all, if Baal was truly a powerful god, couldn’t he defend himself?

Well, as we see, nothing did happen to Gideon. Not one thing.

No lightning strike from the heavens to take his life.

No terrible affliction struck and killed him.

In fact, there was no indication that Baal existed anywhere beyond the minds of those who worshipped him and we know this is because Baal didn’t exist at all and this was God’s second sign to Gideon.

While all this was transpiring, the Midianites began to grow even stronger, joining forces with the “Amalekites and other eastern peoples” before crossing over the Jordan and camping in the Valley of Jezreel. And while the Midianites and their partner forces were gathering, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him”. He also “sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them”.

A battle was brewing between the Midianites and Israelites but going back to our passage for today, we find that Gideon had one more request for God…a request for just one more sign.

For we read where Gideon says to the Lord:

"If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised - look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said."

Now, in my opinion, God shows incredible patience with Gideon. For He could have very well chastised him for asking for yet another sign. I mean…how many signs does God have to show His people before they will know He is alive and well and able to do anything needed to protect and save them? Was not fire from a rock to consume the meat and bread enough?

Indeed, the Lord could have rebuked and challenged Gideon with questions like these but He didn’t. Instead, He accepted Gideon’s request and did as he asked, placing dew on the fleece and leaving the ground dry. And when “Gideon rose early the next day”, he squeezed the fleece wet with dew and ended up with a bowlful of water.

That was enough then, right?

Not exactly, for we find Gideon then say this to God:

“Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew."

And the scriptures tell us that “God did so” that night as “only the fleece was dry” while “all the ground was covered with dew”.

The miracles around the fleece and dew became God’s third and fourth signs to Gideon.

Friends, the Lord who was with Gideon is the same Lord with us today and despite all He has done and continues to do, working miracles every single day, we still overlook His signs that are all around us. Like Gideon, we continue to ask God to reveal Himself when He has already done so over and over and over again.

It’s time for everyone to come to the reality that God never stops His work. He never stops showing us signs to remind us of this. There is never a time when He isn’t moving in the lives of His people…24/7…365 days a year. And so it’s high time that we just come to the place where we trust Him with a sure faith, giving thanks that He is ever present while praying for His will to be done in our lives and then patiently waiting for that will to be carried out as we seek to serve Him obediently each and every day.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.