Judges 7 Bible Study / Podcast

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The story of Gideon and his valiant 300 -Recorded live on radio 97.3FM WLPV out of Greenfield Massachusetts

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So this morning we're going to continue our study of Judges chapter 7 We've been going through the book of Judges now for several weeks
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Judges chapter 7. This is the story of Gideon and his valiant 300.
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I would Think I don't know if I've heard this. I don't want to take credit for it.
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But Gideon is sort of like the the George Washington of Israel if you will, what does that mean?
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Well, he was a man known for his great integrity Gideon in his of course, he's a general
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But Gideon has probably the greatest underdog victory in warfare history and They wanted after this they wanted to make him
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King just like they wanted to make George Washington King But Gideon refused so at least for those reasons there's come from behind victory or an underdog
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Victory, he's a general man of great integrity and Israel wanted to make him
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King, but he said no he refused So here in Judges chapter 7 we began our study last week of Gideon Other than maybe
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Samuel Gideon, I would say is Israel's greatest judge But yeah, this is the story of Gideon's valiant 300
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So what's happening here? Israel is being oppressed by the Midianites as we saw last time and the
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Lord calls this man Gideon to be a Judge or to lead the
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Israelite army to defeat their enemy in the most unusual of ways So instead of tens of thousands of men storming the
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Midianite camp, I think Gideon started out with 32 ,000 men but instead of tens of thousands of men storming the the enemy
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Storming the camp instead the Lord orchestrates it so that the victory is won with only 300 men
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That way doing it against all odds This ensured that the Lord would receive all the glory
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So as we began reading in Judges chapter 7 remember Gideon is also called
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Jeroboam This name was given to him by his father after Gideon tore down the altar to the false deity
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Baal And he erected an altar to the Lord on top of it. So by this act
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Gideon showed that he had the courage to lead Israel and the people got behind him
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And let's begin reading in Judges chapter 7 starting in verse 1 Then Jeroboam that is
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Gideon and all the people who were with him rose early and In camp beside the well of Herod so that the camp of the
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Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Morin in the valley and the
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Lord said to Gideon The people who are with you Are too many for me to give the
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Midianites into their hands Lest Israel claim glory for itself against me saying my own hand has saved me now therefore
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Proclaim in the hearing of the people saying Whoever is fearful and afraid let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead and 22 ,000 of the people returned and 10 ,000 remain
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But the Lord said to Gideon The people are still too many
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Bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there Then it will be that of whom
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I say to you this one shall go with you The same shall go with you and of whomever
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I say to you this one shall not go with you The same shall not go
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So he brought the people down to the water and the Lord said to Gideon Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue as a dog laps you shall set apart by himself likewise
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Everyone who gets down on his knees to drink and the number of those who lapped
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Putting their hand to their mouth was 300 men But all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water
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Then the Lord said to Gideon By the 300 men who lapped I will save you
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And deliver the Midianites into your hand Let all the other people go every man to his place
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So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands and he sent away all the rest of Israel every man to his tent and retained those 300 men
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Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley It happened on the same night that the
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Lord said to him Arise Go down against the camp for I have delivered it into your hand
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Okay, so we see how things are shaping up the Lord is going to give Israel the victory but lest Israel claim glory for itself the
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Lord whittles the number of soldiers down to 300 Of course, this is the whole problem
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Israel as a nation chosen by God their purpose was to bring God glory But you know how people are people tend to left to their own devices.
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They tend to glorify themselves, so the purpose of God and choosing
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Israel as a nation was to bring Glory to the
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Lord and in doing that they would be a light unto all the nations Israel was supposed to be a testimony a shining example of what happens when a people walk in the
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Commandments of God and the other nations were then to see how the
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Lord was near to them and how he blessed them and That would be its own form of evangelism
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The people of the world would see that and it would cause the faith and the knowledge of God to spread all over the earth
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I mean that was the plan but Israel didn't obey And as the result of breaking the covenant that God has made with them
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The Lord had to discipline them and this time around he disciplines them using the
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Midianites So when Israel finally cries out to God being oppressed by the
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Midianites we covered this last week the Lord hears their cries and raises up a judge and of course that is
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Gideon and The Lord knows that even if this spirit filled leader because Gideon is now
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Empowered by the Spirit of God the Spirit of God came upon him Gideon is going to save the nation, but the
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Lord knows that if they are able to The people are going to try to claim the glory for themselves
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They're not want to they're not going to want to give God the credit, so let's that's a little problem
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That's why God whittles it down to 300 men So let's go through these verses more closely verse 1 says then
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Jeroboam that is Gideon and all the people who are with him rose early
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Okay, so Gideon is also called Jeroboam Gideon is yet another biblical character that has more than one name
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So far we've seen what? Abram became Abraham Jacob is also known as Israel Jethro the father -in -law of Moses was also called rule and of course in the
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New Testament you see this with Peter, right? Simon is given the name Peter Saul becomes
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Paul so this type of thing is very common in the Bible where characters will have two names or they will have one name and either
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God changes their name or Someone gives them a new name so Gideon is now
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Jeroboam and he's given that name again by his father after He picked a fight with Baal by tearing down his altar, and that's what the name
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Jeroboam means it means Baal contends So Gideon picked a fight with Baal Jeroboam okay, so Israel is making preparations for battle the
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Midianites are camped to the north and In verse 2 the Lord speaks to Gideon telling him that he has too many soldiers so imagine that a
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General is being told hey listen you have too many troops This might be the first time in history that a general has heard those words
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Two points about this number one We get the sense that God is speaking directly to Gideon No detail is given how the
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Lord is communicating with him, so we're not really sure But the second thing is
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How can you have too many? troops Well, we'll get back to that, but this idea that the
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Lord is speaking directly to Gideon Is this a voice that he hears like a still small voice?
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We he was already visited by the angel of the Lord. We don't see that that happens again, so there is a possibility
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Because I don't know if this interests you as you study the Bible as you read the Bible You really should be asking questions
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In your mind and say well How does that work and where was this taking place or why did this happen you know ask questions?
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And when we get those answers, that's how we learn So how is the Lord talking to Gideon? I was thinking about this
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It's possible that the Lord is speaking to Gideon through the high priest Remember and here's why
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I say that remember how Moses had a unique relationship with God Moses spoke to God as It were face to face
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But from that point on the Lord did not speak to men face to face
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From that point on After the death of Moses It says that the Lord would give words or give direction through the high priest who had the breastplate containing the
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Urim and the Thummim and That's not explained. We don't know how that works
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But basically the high priest was a mediator the Lord Communicated through the mediation of the high priest.
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So is that what's happening here? We're not told but perhaps and just along those lines it's good to get a refresher because I think the last time
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I talked about this was in our study and either numbers or Exodus, but The priest was a mediator
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The prophets were mediators and Last week the angel of the
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Lord was when he spoke to Gideon the angel of the Lord was a mediator We've all heard what does that mean a mediator we've all heard of psychic mediums, right?
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These are people who supposedly are able to contact spirits Of course
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God's law strictly forbids that practice it refers to it as sorcery and witchcraft
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But the Lord because Why did God forbid that well one reason God wants his people to seek him out
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This is why if a Christian seeks out, you know If a Christian is praying to Mary or the
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Saints or seeking out, you know a psychic medium God God wants people to Go directly to him
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But the point is a medium is one who stands supposedly in between two parties and the communication is channeled through them so that's what a medium is and You can hear the similarity in the words medium and mediator so the high priest as a mediator acted as like a go -between where God would speak and Give messages to the high priest and then the high priest would then give the message to the people
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So is that what's happening here with Gideon? perhaps Or it's possible that God is speaking directly to Gideon without a mediator
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We're not exactly sure Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 and 2
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Says God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets
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Has in these last days spoken to us by his son So if the
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Lord is giving direct revelation to Gideon This is something that happened in Old Testament times based on what we just read in Hebrews 1
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However, this is not something that I believe is occurring today I've heard many people say, you know,
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God spoke to me and God told me this and God told me that and I realized That's kind of Christian ease for you know, people kind of felt like God told this
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Try not to be too hard on people that's you know, that's not theologically correct that God, you know
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God isn't actually giving you direct revelation, but there are people who do claim that God is speaking to them audibly
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In this age or giving them specific revelations I think based on Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 and 2
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Yes, God did that in the past but in these last days in this age God has spoken to us by his son
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So I don't believe that God is giving people direct revelation today. Why be because we have the
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Bible We have the and what's the Bible? What's the New Testament? We have the complete
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New Testament revelation of Jesus Christ. So is God still speaking today?
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Well, he is still speaking to us through his word So that's all what
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I think is helpful information to have when you come across these statements Like in verse 2 where it says in the
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Lord said to Gideon Because I know there are people today who read the
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Bible and they will see things happening in Scripture and they just Make the assumption.
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Well if it happened back then it's still happening today or if it happened to Gideon Why isn't it happening to me?
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And that's really not It's really not a logical Conclusion to draw that just because God did something 3 ,000 years ago or 2 ,000 years ago that he's going to do the same thing today in Greenfield, right?
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That's it's not really the way it works. But anyways, that's what's happening here.
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Somehow some way God is directly communicating To this man
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Gideon and this has to be from the Lord I mean this statement, we know it's from God because Gideon would not have listened
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To this advice if it came from anyone else If you think about God is saying to Gideon you have way too many soldiers
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I want you to go into battle with 300 people I mean this on the surface seems to be the worst advice ever given
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You know, if it wasn't from God, this would have to be like the worst military advice ever And yet Gideon obeys what does that tell you
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Gideon knew this was a message from God This isn't just a feeling that that's what
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I'm getting at. This isn't just a feeling Gideon has Sometimes people today will have a feeling and they think well, this is the leading of God But you know your feelings can deceive you you don't always know
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So Gideon isn't just going off a hunch and he's saying that well it's from God Well, I have this feeling from God.
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I think no Gideon knows. This is a word directly from God So the Lord tells
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Gideon anyone who is afraid Send them home so 20 ,000 men 20 ,000 soldiers are sent home and now there's only 10 ,000 that remain and What's God's response?
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Well, that's still too much So now the Lord sets up this test bring them all down to the water and depending on how they drink
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This is an odd way of determining it. But you know, the Lord works in mysterious ways.
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So depending on how they drink The water whether they get down on their knees or whether they you know cup their hands and drink out of their hands
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That will determine who you keep and who is sent away long story short the number gets down to 300 men and God says
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Okay That's perfect Now we already saw or we already read why
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God is doing this The Lord is doing it this way with only 300 men so that he will receive all
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The glory here's the principle for you in your life Whatever you do do it to the glory of God whatever happens in your life any good thing.
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Give God the credit any Amazing wonderful thing that happens to you.
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Thank God for it. God must receive all the glory So with this test
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Gideon really has to trust the Lord Especially going into battle with so few people
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Gideon really has to trust God because on any normal day this doesn't make any sense at all
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But this is often the way that God works Think about it. The Lord led the
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Israelites to the Red Sea And he did that intentionally so that they would be trapped in between the sea and the
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Egyptian army and when the people saw it they They panicked What was
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God doing? He was testing them to see if they would trust him The Lord did that why and he's doing that here why so that in their weakness in Gideon's weakness
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The Lord could show his strength. What does the scripture say when we are weak?
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Then he is strong. See if we think we're strong. We think we can handle it ourselves
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I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to I can do it. You know, the
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Lord will be like, okay Do it yourself then you don't have my help and then it will come to nothing
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But God is able to work best with his people when we realize our weakness
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That way we can depend on his strength 32 ,000 soldiers can accomplish a lot on their own 300 cannot
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But 300 men with a living God on their side they are unstoppable look at verse 8 so the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands and he sent away all the rest of Israel every man to his tent and Retained those 300 men now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley
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And it happened on the same night that the Lord said to him arise go down against the camp for I have delivered it into your
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Hand, but if you are afraid to go down go down to the camp with pura your servant and you shall hear what they say and Afterwards your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp then
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Gideon went down with Pura his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp now the
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Midianites and Amalekites and all the people of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts you couldn't count the number and their camels were without number as the sand by the seashore in multitude and When Gideon had come there was a man telling a dream to his companion.
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So Gideon is You know sort of acting as a spy. He's trying to get some Information and he overhears this conversation
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So the man said I have a dream into my surprise a loaf of barley bread
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Tumbled into the camp of Midian this is a Midianite telling the story and it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned and the tent collapsed
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Then his companion answered and said this is nothing else
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But the sword of Gideon the son of Joash the man of Israel into his hand
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God has delivered Midian and the whole camp think about this
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God obviously gave this man a dream and arranged it so that Gideon heard him telling the dream and even though their
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Military is massive. You couldn't even number the people. They're all terrified because they already believe they've lost
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Because why God the Living God is with the man of Israel This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon verse 15 and so was when
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Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation that he worshipped and he returned to the camp of Israel and said
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Arise for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand
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So now he has this encouraging word for his 300 Soldiers so as far as a single battle goes because they are victorious
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This may be the most incredible battle in history
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There was a movie that came out a couple years ago titled 300 and No, it's not based on Gideon and his 300
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It's based on the story of the 300 Spartans who against all odds
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Well, you probably know the story and if you saw the movie, I didn't see it
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But I'm more interested in Gideon in his 300. It's just interesting how it works
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The story of Gideon came first and nobody can accuse, you know, the Bible of copying this ancient story or legend
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But one Bible commentator puts it this way as far as the 300
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He said this let it be Born in mind that the courage required by Gideon and his men
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Was in many respects far beyond that of the much more celebrated 300 at Thermopylae because they were
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To attack not to defend that is Gideon was to attack not defend and because they were to attack on the plane and Not to hold a narrow valley and because they did not have a large number of allies in attendance
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With them as the 300 smart Spartans had so in other words Gideon's victory was much much greater the story of Gideon in Judges chapter 7
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Happened something like five six hundred years earlier So the story with Gideon has been called by some you know
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When you think of that movie the 300 Or that just hold that whole story of the 300 Spartans Some people have called the story with Gideon the real 300 and to that I say
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Amen, all God's people said amen. So Gideon divides his men verse 16 into the 300
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The earth he divides the 300 into three companies and where does he give them well
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He puts a trumpet into every man's hand Not a sword in a shield but he puts a trumpet into every man's hand with an empty pitcher and a torch inside the pitcher
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Verse 17 and he said to them look at me and do likewise Watch and when
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I come to the edge of the camp, you shall do as I do When I blow the trumpet
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I and all who are with me then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp and say shouted out the sword of the
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Lord and of Gideon maybe you're familiar with the
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Newspaper or the news publication the Christian publication the sword of the Lord. Well, where do they get that?
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They got it from the story the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. So he's gonna smash the clay pot
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They're gonna have this torch There's gonna be trumpets They're all gonna be shouting and then once Gideon does it then the this company over here is gonna do it
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And then that group over there is gonna do it and even though there's only 300 it's gonna give the appearance that they had many many more people so in some ways, this is a
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Psychological trick but it's it's more than that. The Lord really works a miracle here this battle cry
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The sword of the Lord and of Gideon the battle cry can literally be rendered for Jehovah and for Gideon And notice
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Gideon is careful to put the name of the Lord first. Remember God is to receive the glory
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So, how are they going to accomplish this victory? Well, it's simple the battle belongs to the
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Lord You know if people try to do something in their own strength
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If the people labor, but the Lord is not in it It's gonna come to nothing
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If you try to Accomplish something that's against the will of God it cannot succeed
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But this battle they are victorious because the battle belongs to the
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Lord they do it by faith This will be wrought by the power of God All that they have each man a trumpet torch covered by a pitcher
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What about the sword well in the New Testament just for a moment Think about it in the
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New Testament. What's what's the sword? In the New Testament, it's the sword of the
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Spirit right the Word of God but as Christians we think of a sword we think of the Word of God the sword of the
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Spirit and then Revelation Jesus is depicted with a sword that proceeds from his mouth
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So when we think of the sword we think of God's Word and we think of the proclamation of God's Word but the sword of the
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Lord here and What God decrees to happen is? How the
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Lord once Gideon? Breaks the picture blows the trumpet and they shout
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The sword of the Lord is that the Lord sets every Midianite soldiers sword against each other
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God just has to speak the word and this is what they do. They kill each other So it didn't just happen to take place like this clearly the
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Lord caused it and God even warned some of the Midianites of this through a dream
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So Gideon really with this battle, they don't even have to slay anyone the Midianites.
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They all turn on each other Verse 19 Gideon and the hundred men who are with him
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Came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch Just as they had posted the watch and they blew the trumpet and broke the pictures that were in their hands then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pictures and they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for Blowing and they cried the sword of the
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Lord and of Gideon and every man stood his place all around the camp and the whole army ran and cried out and fled and when the 300 blew the trumpets the
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Lord set every man's sword against his Companion through the whole camp of the
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Midianites and the army they fled they ran away So Gideon and the men of Israel now pursue them they get reinforced
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Reinforcements in verse 23 from at Naphtali Asher in all Manasseh verse 24 then
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Gideon Send messengers throughout the mountains of Ephraim saying come down Against the
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Midianites and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the
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Jordan Then two of the Midianite princes are killed. So these would have been their chief rulers
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Or their top generals, so Israel now clearly has the upper hand this one victory
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Turns the tide and then the story will continue with the twist in chapter 8
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Chapter 8 begins with some of God's people being upset that Gideon you didn't call us to battle that they weren't able to Take part in this and then
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Gideon has this response What does the scripture say a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
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So Gideon Compliments them and kind of sets them at ease and now they're now they're happy and and then in chapter 8
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Which we'll look at next time but chapter 8 the people want to make Gideon King So Gideon could have been the first king of Israel instead of Saul, but he didn't want it.
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Why because Gideon Was a man of integrity Gideon was a man of God who above all
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Wanted to do what God wanted not what he wanted So Gideon as a judge, he delivered
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Israel and while there are not any direct statements that would identify him as a type of Christ he's still often seen that way and many
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Old Testament men of God are Commentator Matthew Henry writes this about the possible symbolism of this story
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He says this method of defeating the Midianites may be alluded to as exemplifying the destruction of the devil's kingdom in the world by the preaching of the everlasting gospel the
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Sounding of that trumpet and the holding forth that light out of earth and vessels
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For such are the ministers of the gospel The gospel is a sword not in the hand
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But in the mouth the sword of the Lord and of Gideon of God and Jesus Christ The wicked are often led to avenge the cause of Christ upon each other
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Under the power of their delusions in the fury of their passions See also how
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God often makes the enemies of the church instruments to destroy one another
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The Israelites fought warfare with physical weapons the sword of the
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Lord and of Gideon today, we as Christians continue to wage warfare of the spiritual nature fighting with the sword of the
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Spirit The gospel is the only weapon that we have the Word of God The gospel is the only weapon we have but it is the weapon so to speak that can and will