Hebrews 11:33-34 — Don McClure

Israel’s Oppression Under Midian

The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them under the hand of the Midian seven years and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. And Because of the Midianites the children of Israel made Them the dens which are in the mountains and the caves and then strongholds.

And so it was when Israel Sown that the Midianites came up and the Amalekites and the children of the east even they came up against them and they encamped against them and they destroyed the increase of the earth till thou come to Gaza and left no other sustenance for Israel neither sheep or oxen or ass.

For they came up with their cattle in their tents and they came as grasshoppers for multitude for both they and their camels were without number and they entered into the land to destroy it and Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites and the children of Israel Cried unto the Lord.

And it came to pass when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites that the Lord Sent a prophet unto the children of Israel. Which said unto them thus saith the Lord God of Israel I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of The all that oppressed you and I draved them out from before you and I gave you their land.

And I said unto you I am the Lord your God fear not the God fear not the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell but you have not obeyed my voice. And There came an angel of the Lord and he sat Under an oak which was by Oprah Winfrey's house that pertained unto Joash.

I always just like to see if people are listening at all. But to Abizai and his son Gideon Threshed wheat by the winepress and hid it from the Midianites and the angel the Lord appeared unto him and he said unto him The Lord is with thee thou mighty man of valor.

Gideon’s Call to Deliver Israel

And Gideon said unto him oh my lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us. And Where be all of his miracles which our fathers told us of saying that did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt but now the Lord has forsaken us and Delivered us under the hand of the Midianites and the Lord looked upon him and he said go in this Thy might that thou mightest save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.

Have I not sent thee and he said in him a home my lord Where was shall I save Israel behold? My family is poor in Manasseh and I am the least of my father's house and the Lord said unto him surely I will be with thee and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Prayer and the Cycles of Israel’s History

Father we thank you for your word and we thank you for your desire to take it and to strengthen our faith and Lord as we look at the children of Israel and times their lives greatly impoverished and they Absolutely lost so much Looking so much for some hope some peace and joy some stability.

Going through these cycles of life learning to depend upon you afresh each generation Lord. We pray that you would Teach us from Gideon as we look at this story this morning That our faith may grow and we may understand our own processes of faith and how we can see you work within it.

For father, we ask it in Jesus name Amen, you may be seated. Well as you are probably aware, of course the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt is here Gideon mentioned to the Lord. He says we heard all these wonderful miracles when we were brought out of Egypt and these great things that you did.

But we don't see him anymore. And now we're greatly impoverished. We're going through terrible trials and God Where are you and you tell us you want to do wonderful things. I don't see it and Here is he's kind of complaining.

Israel’s Repeated Idolatry in the Book of Judges

You know to the Lord about this when the Lord came and he said I wanted to live. I'm going to use you to deliver the the children of Israel out of this time of judgment that they're in yet again themselves and Of course the children of Israel after Moses did bring them out of Egypt Joshua then finally brought them into the land as one group as one nation.

But then at the end of Joshua's life in ministry He instructed the children of Israel the twelve tribes that they were now to essentially divide and conquer the rest of the land. They were in they'd taken some great battles had some wonderful strongholds, but then he said, okay now.

You're all going to disperse throughout the land and each one of your tribes. Here's the land that is being given unto you and we need to have you take it and go destroy the enemies that are in It well, so they attempted to go out and do that and the book of Judges is a 450 year period of the struggles that they continued to have and in their their own ability.

You might say to divide and conquer. For what happened so many times with the children of Israel is that when they actually got in and here was these enemies that were So terrible and oppressed them so much and so wicked and so corrupt.

But when they actually got into the land and then they began to look around and they saw their gods their goddesses. They saw their images their idols and saw a lot of the things that they were all about.

They were very enticing. They were very attractive. They were very desirable. They're very sensual of course to the gods and goddesses of the Canaanites were that they worshipped and. And here essentially it was just all pornography in many ways.

But here as they went in instead of just destroying all of these things he kind of said well, hey, I mean, yeah. They're really bad people and they do bad things. But boy, these are some interesting and seemingly rather desirable things and then instead of destroying all of these things.

They found themselves actually being drawn into them. And then when they would be drawn into them The next thing you know is God would step back from them and essentially lead them. You know to the enemies to come back and oppress them.

All right, if you want them you don't want to destroy their gods and their goddesses and their images. We'll let them come back and overrun you. If you don't want to turn to your God and you want to let their gods remain you're going to have trouble and so they did.

And they went through cycle after cycle for 450 years where generation after generation. Dealt with these sorts of battles. Well when we get here to the life of in the ministry of Gideon some 47 years earlier Deborah the prophetess it provided some great inspiration to Barak.

And the leadership to bring Israel to end it, you know. Wonderfully such an oppression that they'd had before. Some 47 years earlier, but here only after 47 years there. They're completely oppressed once again.

Terribly, they've backslidden done full circle again in such a short period of time and now for some seven years the Midianites Year after year would come into their land and would just leave them terribly impoverished they'd let them so their fields grow their harvest and you know try to get their flocks back up and going and their oxen their donkeys and their cattle and their sheep and things and As they would begin to multiply and grow then the Midianites would just sit over there in the edge and them and the Amalekites here's there they're bringing in their harvest beginning to harvest their crop and Then they just rip them off come in and take everything, you know just like a bunch of pirates and Every year they'd go through these cycles and it was just terrible and this was perhaps this particular time when Gideon came along of all of the cycles of struggle that they had through the book of Judges, this was probably the worst of all of the oppressions that they that they went through.

They're very overwhelmed. They're literally hiding in caves and in dens that they just dug into Mountainsides either try to hide and protect themselves from the Midianites when they would come the people had basically they'd lost everything.

They're so terribly impoverished and their lives were a mess. And then they finally realized perhaps that this was actually allowed by God's hand. It was something there that is the Lord had allowed this to occur.

It was just to want to get them to a place to where they turned and they'd cry out to the Lord as they did Here once again, finally, they began to cry out for God. They missed him. They missed his power in his life and his joy and his hope and his stability and all the things that God so wonderfully loves.

To bring the light and so there as they began to cry out the Lord raised up a judge Gideon in this case and there it as it actually happens. It tells us an angel of the Lord comes sits under a tree waits for Gideon as he watched Gideon.

There is he's bringing in the harvest trying to hide from the Midianites not having anybody see what he's doing there. So he can get what bread he can to care for his family. Before the Midianites figure out what's going on and he's they're grinding it out there by the winepress.

All of a sudden he hears a voice and here's this angel says it said into him. He said the Lord be with thee thou mighty man of valor and what an interesting sort of a thing there I imagine it's clear that Gideon certainly didn't think that and I'm sure nobody thought that at all the Lord's with you you mighty man of valor and In fact Gideon's response it says in verse 13 He says oh my lord if the Lord is with us why then is all this befalling us?

Where's all of his miracles which our fathers told us of saying did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt and. But and then in verse 15 he said unto him he says oh my lord wherewith all shall I save Israel.

Behold he said my family is poor in Manasseh and I am the least of my father's house. He looks there and he's here he's so intrigued that the mighty man of valor the Lord is with thee. I mean, he's stunned.

I imagine he was shaking in his boots. He was probably thinking he was alone hiding, you know, bringing in the crop and the harvest and all of a sudden. Here's a voice, you know, you know mighty man of valor the Lord's with thee and he probably I don't think so I'm a chicken.

I'm a coward. I'm hiding. What do you? What do you think you're saying? I'm sure it didn't register at all. And then when he spoke again to him then no, I do want to use you I want to use your life to set you free and bring blessing back into your home and those around you in the nation and Gideon is so stunned by it.

He just looked as if to say to the angel I don't know what wine press you were sent to but you went to the wrong one fella. I mean he comes back and he says there's no way this could be he says I'm the least of my father's house and my Father's house is the least of the tribes and in and then Manasseh was the least of the tribes of Israel in Israel.

There was this whole pecking order of the tribes and the powerful drive. The the the tribes that were the military tribes and the strong tribes in this there they were the least of the Manasseh was and Then here his father's house was the least of the tribe and he's of his father least of his father's house.

Is it to say I'm the most unlikely candidate ever that you would come and just say I want to bless you and I want to use your life and he is absolutely stunned that such a thing could be and yet the wonderful thing is is that When we realize the keys to blessing that every one of us has.

There's not a one of us that doesn't want a rich life rich in in God's peace and his joy and his blessing and his care for us a life and a heart in a in our Relationships that are just overflowing essentially with a harvest of those things.

It's just wonderful. We all want it who of course doesn't were made for it. But here is Gideon is being set aside he's such a wonderful picture for us and how you get it because one of the first things is You find that the people that God does is and pours out his greatest blessings upon first of all.

There's always a humility about it. There's always a realization. I don't deserve this. I don't know why there's so many other people that ought to have God's blessing it ought to have the fullness of his life that are much more deserving and than I and Here it's always the you know through the scripture.

You know God always to use the things that are not the Bible says to bring to not the things that are His strength the Bible says is made perfect in human weakness and and here he just comes to this man.

He's honestly struck you. Do you really want to bless my life? Do you really want to use me? I can't believe this and he's even explains to the angel why I can't see why. That you would want to do such a thing but God did and here the first thing that God wants if you would love it, you know in a sense to have a life like there's so Blessed and so rich in the things of the kingdom of God.

It starts first of all with a humility and then that humility though God wants it to be enough of a humility that it'll also produce an obedience. So many times I mean God wants to come to say I've got a blessing for you.

I've got wonderful things for your life that you can't even imagine them, but you've got to trust me. You've got to obey me. I'm going to tell you to do something. And so often we may say I'll tell you if God would ever speak to me and he'd tell me to do something and he wants To bless me.

I'd do it would we? Well here the interesting thing. Look at what the Lord told Gideon that he wanted him to do it. Verse 22 it says and when Gideon perceived that he was an angel the Lord Gideon said the alas Oh Lord because I have seen an angel the Lord face to face and the Lord said in peace be unto thee fear not Thou shalt not die then Gideon built an altar there under the Lord and he called it Jehovah Shalom, which To this day is yet in Oprah the Abizrites and it came to pass that night here He built an altar for the Lord so often if we really want God's blessing the first thing he built an altar but then The Lord the it comes to him and in verse 25 it came to pass that night that the Lord said unto him thy father's Young Bullocks even the second Bullock of seven years throw down the altar.

Take this Bullock and then I want you to throw down the altar of Baal. That thy father hath built and cut down the grove that is by it and build up an altar under the Lord Thy God upon the top of this mountain In the ordered place and take the second Bullock and offer a burnt sacrifice with wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.

Tearing Down Idols and Building an Altar

Here is something. We're now essentially the Lord told Gideon. I want you to go and you in your father's house. Your father's built this altar to Baal and then he's got these groves and the groves were as you may know These very sensual the Canaanite gods and goddesses many breasted.

They're just the their form of pornography in the age. It was something very sensual men and women and all sorts of sensual Positions and things going on and it was very, you know sexual by design and here was something the children of Israel they got into the land and they saw all this stuff and says Wow, I've never seen stuff.

Listen something. This is Interesting it was exciting and they actually took them in here. They were to drive they were to destroy all these things, but now they actually had them in their own homes. They actually had him around their own lives and here the Lord told I want to bless you Gideon.

And I want to bless you amazingly wonderfully, but now I want you to go home and I want you to tear this stuff down. I want you to get rid of it. I wanted out of the house and then I want you to build an altar to me.

Well Gideon the interesting thing says in verse 27. Then Gideon took men after his servants and he did as the Lord said unto him. And so it was because he feared his father's household that the men and the men of the city.

That he could not do it by day. But he did by night here was something where he said, okay Lord, I'll do it. But then he thought about it. He says I'm afraid to do it by day. I'm afraid to do it in Wide open, you know when I'm seen.

Some will happen he is fearful of the thing, but he so he does it by night. And but I personally I suppose I understand that a little in a sense. This isn't quite as bold as Jesus going into the temple and just turning over the money changers and throwing them out face-to-face.

Gideon goes in at nighttime and he tears all this stuff out. And but if you could imagine if the Lord came to you and you're a young man. And he says I want you to go home to your father's house. And I want you to tear out all the pornography all the literature.

I want you to get rid of the adult, you know cable TV stuff. I want you to get rid of all the other liquor cabinet and I want you to get dumped all this stuff and go do it. Well here Gideon now all of a sudden.

I mean he wants God's blessing. He really wants it God. I want your power. I want your fullness. I want everything that that you can give me. I really do and I even goes he build an altar and he worships God and he's excited.

They're the thought that this is God really is looking at him say you're right in the threshold of blessing. But now he says now you want me to go do this. You want me to clean out my house? And he says that's not gonna go well.

But the amazing thing is he did it. He was willing to do it. He did it. He was chicken. He was a coward. He did it by night, but he did it. And when somebody there looks at their life and they realize if there is something going on in their life.

That shouldn't be it's interesting even Gideon's father when they realized what had happened getting was afraid of it. But look at his father's response in verse 28. It says when the men of the city rose early in the morning.

Behold the altar of Baal was cast down and the grove was cut down that was by it and the second bullock was offered upon. The altar that was built and they said to one another who has done this thing.

You know who tore out our cable, you know. And when they inquired and asked they said Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. Then the men of the city they send in a Joash bring out thy son that he may die because he has cast down the altar Of Baal and because he has cast down the grove that was by it and Joash said unto all that stood against him.

Will you plead for Baal? Will you save him he that will plead for him? Let him be put to death while she are while she had mourning if he is a god. Here, you know Gideon's father who had allowed these things in his life and in this home.

It was there. But you know, he fully agreed when finally it was dealt with he realizes, you know this why have we done this? How did this happen to us and he and he always had a conscience. He always knew it wasn't right.

It is always an awareness of it, but but he just allowed it to happen. I wonder how many things that we look at that can be in our homes in our lives that we know aren't right. We know full-on if the Lord came in, you know.

And in and here sit down look at through our literature here look through our TV programs. Look through our DVDs and videos and see that they look at the things that entertain us. Look at the altars that we can so easily build up.

I Wonder how many of us the moment he'd walk in we'd find ourselves saying Lord tear it out. I know it doesn't belong here. I'm sorry it is here. I know it hurts. But there the Lord would look says, you know.

He says no you tear it out if you want my blessing you want me to flood the place you want me to fill the house. You want a fresh work then you tear it out. And so often, you know, we just these little things they have this amazing way of creeping in and then they're just there.

I Remember sometimes I have to do three sons at one time when one of them was quite young. You know early teens maybe. Walked into his bedroom one day and here's a picture of one of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and a great big, you know poster on the wall and I'm looking at this thing and they you know.

She was she was not there because my son was a great football fan at the time so much I don't think and wanted to be reminded of the cow Dallas Cowboys as I looked at that and realized well I can see why that came here, but I took the picture and I went down and I decided I hung it in the living room and And later on my you know, when my son comes home and here's this in the living room.

What's what's she doing there? I just thought oh, she's such a beautiful girl. I think we should all enjoy her. Don't you? And it's amazing on how so often, you know There are things that we just have in one place that if we put them in another place We'd realize this has really no place at all.

You know, so, you know, they're so often. Well, that's my room and I had to clarify I beg your pardon I don't know where you ever got that idea. That is not your room. That's my room. I pay for it everything in that painted I put in the carpet.

I pay the utilities on it's my room and you're my child I brought you into the world. I can take you out. You can't have the picture. But it is something there where it when we look there in our homes in our lives where we realize if there is something that shouldn't be.

Then it shouldn't be and we just determined whether there's vocabulary that we use. There's language. There's behavior. That we would realize God these things can they actually obstruct blessing then can they obstruct our joy?

Do they get the way in the way of our happiness and our peace? Have we allowed things to creep in that they should not be here and here is Gideon wonderfully. You know, though he struggled with it and was fearful about it.

He did it though. He did it by night. He did it and I think to me that when we begin to look in our lives. And if there's anything in our own is insignificant as it may seem but anything in our own home our own lives our own.

You know Experiences that we would look at and say it I wonder if that could be blocking and getting in the way and Stealing something of my heart and my affection of where it ought to be in quenching the joy.

What a wonderful thing that can begin to happen. But the though Gideon struggled the point is he did it he did it. He also struggled in his faith in other ways as well. There's Gideon, of course is the character in the Bible that the famous fleece and people say well You should just you want to know God's will you me just you should you know?

Just have a fleece over the matter. You need to put a fleece before God is the phrase so oftentimes used and it was used because in chapter 6 in verse 36 It says here Gideon when he's trying to determine if God's really speaking to him.

He says Gideon said unto the Lord if thou wilt save Israel by my hand as thou has said God if you really are if you really want to bless and you really want this to happen. I'm sorry I'm just struggling terribly with it, but he says if this is so he says behold I will put a fleece of wool On the floor and if the dew be on the fleece only And it be dry on the earth beside then I shall know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand.

And so he decided I'm just gonna take this piece of wool, you know, they're their Skin there and I'm gonna put it out on and then what I want you to do is just have it be Full of dew and know everything all around it dry tomorrow morning.

He wakes up the next morning. He picks it up and he wrings it out in a whole bowl full of water comes out of the fleece the land Earth all around it completely dry exactly what it was. He asked God for.

Then it goes on verse 39 and Gideon said to the Lord let not thine anger be hot against me and I will speak but this once. But let me prove I pray thee. But this once with the fleece let it now be dry only upon the fleece and upon the ground let it be due and The God did so that night for it was dry in the fleece only and there was dew on the ground.

So here he has this fleece. He gets exactly what it was. He asked for it's wet all dry and now he reverses it. So, all right, let's try this again. I'm still not sure. I mean who knows how this happened I don't know how it happened.

But now this time let's let the fleece be dry and the ground if it's really you I don't want to get shot. I don't get you angry. But I just can't believe that you really want to bless me this way it's I'm struggling it's hard with it.

And so he says, okay wakes up the next morning. It's all wet all around it. The fleece is dry, you know, it's interesting. Oftentimes I hear it people say well, you don't know what to do. Ask God for a fleece, but you know.

The interesting thing is the guy that did it didn't work for him in the first place and yet we still oftentimes do it. I've done it and I'll tell you basically every time I've ever really done it my mind I always also seem to figure odds okay, I mean if I did this fleece because I kind of want this to happen or I don't want this to happen whatever it may be and then you kind of Pick something the way it might happen that you think it would probably happen naturally if you want it or the way it would be miraculous if you didn't and It's like one time.

I literally was teaching Bible study and a couple pulled up the house. She was late. It was at their home and she drives up in this brand-new beautiful. I mean brand-new Mercedes or Chevrolet for people who live in Newport Beach.

But anyway, she pulls up in this brand-new beautiful Mercedes and she gets out her husband. I said, that's a beautiful car and he says my it is and I realized he'd never seen it before either. It was new to him and I said gee and she here's her story.

She said she I know. She says I've been going to work every day. And as I've been going to the office I drive by and I just saw this. It's been sitting there in the floor at showroom floor the dealership every day.

And so when I went by this morning, I just prayed I said Lord if you want me to have it. Have it be there on my way home. So I left early and There it was. Is that the Lord or what now me? I'm one that I just get it and repent later.

I don't try to bring God into it. But so often we have this nature that Lord if you really want this then do this, you know. You know, it's kind of like my my you know in Jean, you know, she prays and said The other day said Don can we pray that the Lord takes one of us home so I can go visit my brother and It was very sad, but anyway, we're still alive.

That's a joke. I was supposed to you're supposed to laugh. Go visit one of us die so I can visit my brother think about it. I mean other words You die, but anyway the just kidding my father-in-law used to always say the kid my mother-in-law about that.

Yeah, she's praying. She said let's pray that one of us died so she can go visit her sister in Minneapolis. But anyway the so often we want something and We have ways in our mind of playing these games when we just are so often really struggling with the love of God.

Struggling with his desire to work and to bless and to do wonderful things for our lives. And here Gideon is he struggling with God? Do you really want to use me? But as he went through it his faith was struggling.

That's the point to me. So often I'm so grateful that here Gideon this wonderful man of faith that the Bible looks at struggled. Just like we do and the struggle didn't end here over in chapter 7 verse 9 He's still going on still struggling with this has came to pass the same night that the Lord said in him arise get thee down To the host for I have delivered it under thy hand.

But here the Lord speaking to Gideon if thou fear to go down and he says go thou with pearl thy servant down to the host. And thou shall hear what they say and afterwards shall thy hands be strengthened to go down under the host.

Then he went down with per her servant under the outside of the armed men that were in the host here. The Lord says all right look. Get in if you're still afraid if you still don't believe if you still have such trial trusting me.

Go down to the enemy's camp tonight. Just sneak into it. You take her on just mosey on into the camp 120 ,000 and you don't done down there and he says and just listen to them verse 12 it says in the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east lay along the valley like Grasshoppers for a multitude and their camels were without number in the sand the sea in multitude and when Gideon was come behold There was a man that told a dream unto his fellow and he said behold I've dreamed a dream and lo a cake of barley bread.

Tumbled into the host of Midian and came unto a tent and he smote it that it fell and Overturned it that the tent lay along in his fellow answered. He says this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Josh the man of Israel for his hand.

Faith That Trusts God Despite Fear

Hath God delivered the Midianite and all the host. Here and then it's verse 15. It says and it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the Interpretation of their he worshiped and he returned to the host of Israel and he said arise the Lord has delivered unto your hand the Host of Midian now think about this here.

You've got a guy He's struggling over and over with God with his voice. Did you say this and he'd do it? He'd prove it again and again. And then he still struggles no matter what and then finally the Lord says listen Gideon.

If you're having a tough time believing me and you're still afraid go down and listen to the enemy. And listen to what he has to say and the next thing he goes right down which tells you what he was afraid.

And he gets down there and he sneaks into camp and he comes over by a campfire. At least the one guy says I can't believe I had this dream. It's terrible dream. Oh, really? What's the dream? There was this cake of barley.

It just came down on the hills hit the tent destroyed everything, you know. And we were wiped out this whole thing and the guy looks at me says, oh, no. This is nothing other than the hand of Gideon. God's hands upon him.

Gideon listens to that he runs back up to the men and he says guess what? The Lord just delivered unto us the hand of the Midianites now. Think if you were the Lord, I mean you're God. You've done everything you can possibly do to tell this guy There that your power and your love and your goodness and what you're gonna do and then he's still afraid.

He says hey, if you don't believe me, why don't you go down and listen to the enemy? He goes down believes the enemy. I Was gonna just be shaking. I cannot figure you out. If I was gone, I'd need therapy, you know or something I'd be in you know, it's sessions.

They're wondering why it is it's so often, you know God we pick up his word day by day. It says these powerful things these eternal things these wonderful things these unbelievable commitments. And we can be so down or so depressed or so frustrated and yet, you know.

And no matter what we read I can't find there's nothing in here. I read from one end of the other the other God just not speaking to me and somebody else can come along and the slightest little thing.

And we rely on humans. Human beings you'd sometimes even the you know. We have to see something out there of a hopelessness somewhere else before hope from God can sometimes come in. Instead of just relying totally upon his word.

But when we but Gideon though the wonderful thing is though he struggled with all these things. That's what I love about it. Because isn't that me? Isn't that you as well? Isn't that the story of our own lives of our own growth of our own processes of learning faith?

Let humility there though that he did finally have and you realize God I can't believe you want to bless me and then when finally his faith began to grow and you find him actually Resting and being obedient.

God says go destroy it Gideon. You will know a blessing. You will know a peace and a power clean it up. Make a place for me in your heart and in your home. And then a secondary to me that is so important there and the key to blessing is not just simply to look at God's tool in a sense of Gideon there but to tell you of the that he wants to work into where he just says humility and Obedience do it.

God’s Consecrated Army and the Reduction to Three Hundred

But he wants to bring together a consecrated army. He wants to really bring together an army that is consecrated of one heart or one mind to get the job done back in chapter 6 verse 33 It says that all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the East were gathered together and they went over and they pitched in the valley of Jezreel.