And our message this morning
is Christ, our Gideon. Christ, our Gideon. With many
Old Testament characters, the providential guidance of
God in their lives makes it clear that God's mind is on his son. I have often said that what Old
Testament history is, is God painting pictures of his son.
We find it so many cases. No one Old Testament character
says it all about Christ. All the Old Testament characters
together don't say it all, but many of them give us a picture
of Christ our Lord and his work in our redemption. So that's
our message today. Christ our Gideon. Gideon's story covers three chapters
here in the book of Judges, chapter six, chapter seven, and chapter
eight. The occasion of Gideon's coming
on the scene We learn from chapter six in verse one, the children
of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered
them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the verses that
follow, we find that every year for seven years, when the Israelites
would plant their crops and work their fields, And just about
time to harvest their crops, the Midianites would invade and
drive the Israelites into the mountains to dwell in dens and
caves while the Midianites would steal their crops and leaving
them to barely survive and almost starve to death for another year. Verse six says, And Israel was
greatly impoverished because of the Midianites. It was a very
dark hour in Israel when Gideon is introduced. And it was a dark
hour in this world when Christ our Lord came into it. Verse 7 says, 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 all that
oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave
you their land. And I said unto you, I am the
Lord your God, Fear not the gods of the Amorites in whose land
you dwell, but ye have not obeyed my voice. The Lord sends a prophet
to tell the people why they're in the shape they're in. It's
not Israel's weakness. That's not the problem. It's
not Midian's strength. That's not the problem. God says
it's simply that you have ignored me. That's the problem. That is the last thing that proud
sinful flesh wants to hear. But it was so in Gideon's day.
And it's so in our day. It's so at East Hendersonville.
It's so at my house. It's so at your house. Ignoring
the Lord and his word is serious business for his children. Now in this story, we see that
the Lord does not intervene apart from being cried to and petitioned
by the people. Now we believe and we preach.
as strongly as anybody I know and as strongly as I can, the
absolute sovereignty of Almighty God that He does as He wills,
when He wills, with whom He wills, wherever He wills, how He wills,
anytime He wills. He's God. But we see here that
He did not intervene apart from being cried to and petitioned
by the people. And so we see the initiative
of God even in this. He lets the people get desperate,
I mean really desperate, and they begin to cry to Him. We're all the time asking for
the blessings of the Lord. Well, I want to tell you something.
Desperation is a blessing of the Lord if it brings us to cry to the
Lord. So they cry to Him. We could cry to Him before things
get so desperate. But because of proud, sinful
nature, we do not and will not. Instead, we say, well, I'm making
it pretty good. I'm making it pretty good. But
we do note in verse 7 that when the children of Israel cried,
the Lord does two things. In verse 8, he sends a prophet
to tell them why they're in the shape they're in. And then in
verse 11, the story begins about Gideon and what the Lord's going
to do about the situation. So let me begin reading again
in verse 11 of chapter 6. And there came an angel of the
Lord, and sat under an oak, which was in Ophrah, that pertained
unto Joash, the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon threshed wheat
by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of
the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, The Lord is with
thee, thou mighty man of valor. Gideon said unto him, O my Lord,
if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And
where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying,
Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord
hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the Lord looked upon him,
and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from
the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee? And he
said unto him, O my Lord, Wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold,
my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's
house. And the Lord said unto him, Surely
I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as
one man. Note those last two words in
that last verse we just read, verse 16. One man. thou shalt smite the Midianites
as one man." The one man represented by the Midianites is that old
serpent, the devil, whose duty it is and whose delight it is
to rob and to steal from God's children, just like the Midianites
were doing from the Israelites. and to persecute God's children.
That's the devil's business. Who is it that will smite the
wicked one, the devil? Well, it is Christ Jesus the
Lord, represented here in the character Gideon. Here in verse
16, the Lord, speaking to Gideon, says, Surely I will be with thee,
and thou shalt smite the Midianites. You will get the job done, is
what he's telling you. Gideon is a crawfishing, whining,
declaring all the way, not me. Surely I will be with thee, and
thou shalt smite the Midianites. You will get the job done. I
want to consider four things for a few moments about Gideon
which are, in a greater sense, true of Christ our Lord or Christ
our Gideon. First of all, Gideon's election,
the choice of God for this man. Now, according to the passage
here in chapter 6, the Lord has made his choice of Gideon long
before Gideon knew anything about it. While all the other men of
Israel are hid out in the caves and the mountains, this man and
this man only, we read, that he had been given the courage
to be down here by the wine press threshing wheat. He does not know, as verse 11
says, that sitting under an oak tree watching him is the angel
of the Lord. In verse 12, the angel of the
Lord makes his presence known and speaks to Gideon and says
this, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. Well, Gideon never felt the Lord
was with him. And he never felt like a mighty
man of valor. He felt, as did all Israel, forsaken
of God. Matter of fact, he said that
in one of these verses. Very weak, hopeless. I can imagine when Gideon heard
these words, the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. He turned around to see if anybody
was standing behind him. He turns back and says, Are you
talking to me? I don't feel like a mighty man
of valor. Gideon said to the Lord, Oh,
my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befalling
us? Why are we in the mess that we're
in if you are with us? And that's what the world is
saying in this hour. If God is real, why are we in
the mess we're in? Why has he let all the stuff
go on in this country that's going on? Now, I know a lot of folks say,
oh, he's trying to get he's trying to turn this thing around. He's
trying to bring this country back to God. He's trying to sweep
a whole lot more people into his kingdom. No, he's going to
save his people. That's all he ever came to save. I'm convinced what's going on
is that the Lord, to get the attention of his people, of his
people. So now here, the Lord looked
upon him and said, go in this thy might. Gideon's thinking,
I don't have any might. And thou shalt save Israel from
the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee? And that
makes the difference. The Lord sent him. The Lord sent
him. Now in verse 15, Gideon tries
the same thing Moses tried. The same thing most of us have
tried. And he says, Lord, you've got
the wrong man. Behold, my family is poor in
Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. He reminds
the Lord that he is from the tribe of Manasseh, as if the
Lord didn't know. Manasseh was one of the less
desirable tribes in Israel. Don't read a whole lot of good
about them. Manasseh, remember, was the eldest
son of Joseph. And though he was the eldest,
he lost the birthright. You remember, Jacob crossed his
hands and blessed Manasseh's brother Ephraim above Manasseh. Not only that, Manasseh, you
remember, was the tribe that did not stay together. at the
crossing of the Jordan. Half settled on the wilderness
side of Jordan, half settled on the Canaan side. Not that
there was any bad feelings, the ones that stayed on the wilderness
side did go across and help fight and settle the land, but then
they moved back across the river. The half that did settle in Canaan
disobeyed the Lord and did not destroy and drive out the Canaanites
like the Lord told them to do but the Bible says they put them
to tribute they thought they would just make slaves out of
them and eventually the Canaanites waxed strong and gave Manasseh
a whole lot of trouble and a whole lot of grief so you see the people
of Manasseh were not a people with a desired name in Israel,
not one of the greatest tribes. They probably were the least
respected, the least thought of, and the least expected that
God would ever work through or bring a leader or a deliverer
from. Gideon says in the 15th verse,
not only am I from Manasseh, but I'm from a poor family in
Manasseh. And not only that, I am the least
in my father's house. I'm about as insignificant, unqualified
as they come. So in choosing Gideon, it appears
that the Lord has deliberately passed by all the seeming good
potential candidates for a leader. Oh my, you remember the words
of Nathanael, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? I don't fall out with Nathanael
over that statement. Nothing good ever had come out
of Nazareth. He is thinking, would not the
Messiah come out of Jerusalem? Would he not be the son of somebody
important? The son of a ruler or an elder
or a Pharisee? Surely not Nazareth. But yes,
like Gideon, God's choice was that his son be the child of
a poor peasant girl named Mary from Nazareth. So it's not what
the people think about Gideon. It's not what the people think
about Christ. It's not what the people think
about you. It's what God has decreed. I'll tell you how it is. It's
how God says it is in all cases. The world looked at the lowly
Nazarene and saw nothing promising. But God said, Behold, I lay in
Zion a chief cornerstone. Elect. He's my choice. Precious. Whosoever believeth
on him shall not be confounded. Isaiah, behold, my servant. whom
I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth." God talking
about his son 700 years before he was born through the prophet
Isaiah. My son in whom my soul delighteth,
mine elect, I have put my spirit upon him. I shall bring forth
judgment. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. The bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail, nor
be discouraged. I want to tell you, you ought
to mark those words in Isaiah 42. He shall not fail, nor be
discouraged. Oh, we're in a religious society
today that pretty much believes We're trying to worship a Jesus
who was pretty much a failure. But oh, the word of God says
he shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in
the earth and the owls shall wait for his law. Against all
odds of being God's choice, he is God's choice. And so with
Gideon, the most unlikely, He's God's choice. The second thing
would be Gideon's education. Gideon's education, not only
his election, but his education. To put it bluntly and concisely,
the biggest thing the Lord taught Gideon was, I don't need your
opinion. I don't need your ideas. I don't
need your strength. I need your obedience. I've got
it all laid out, what I'm going to do, and I'll do it with you. You see, most of Gideon's education in builder's terms, most of his
education was demolition rather than construction. God had to
tear down Gideon's mindset. and thinking bring him to look
away from his own know-how, which he didn't claim to have any,
look away from his own ability, which he didn't claim to have
any, Gideon must be made weak before he can be made strong.
And that's the biggest problem in our day and time. That's the
biggest problem with all of us. It's not that the Lord's not
big enough to do for us. It's that we're not convinced
in our minds and hearts that we need him that bad. I love this story in chapter
seven about Gideon's recruiting abilities. He's gathered an army. of 32,000
to go against the Midianites. Not
nearly enough, he feels, compared to the Midianite army. And I
can imagine he talks to the Lord about how to recruit more men. And the Lord tells him in chapter
7, verse 2, Gideon, you don't need more, you need less. You've got way too many now. If you had enough men and strength
to think that you could do the job, what a mess you'd be in. What you need, Gideon, is less
of you and more of me. Now this was news to Gideon.
This was education to Gideon. And the Lord says to him, Gideon,
address your army, all 32,000 of them, and tell them, anyone
who is the least bit afraid, go on back home. We can't use you. Well, I can imagine the devil
whispers in Gideon's ear like he does mine and yours. Gideon, you don't want to tell
him that. Look at the TV preachers with
thousands in their congregation. You want to preach something
that will encourage folks to stay. not leave. But the Lord gave him a message
and said, here's how to get rid of them. Here's how to get rid
of the dead weight. Gideon obeyed the Lord and told
him, if you're afraid in your hearts, not in this, then hit
the road. You're dismissed. No preacher wants to preach to
empty pews. And I think the Lord, we don't
have as many as we have had. No preacher wants to preach to
empty pews. I don't either. But in keeping with this lesson
and this message, if your heart's not in this, what's the point? I'm not mad at daddies and mamas. who I know ought to be sitting
here this morning with their children. I'm not mad at them. I grieve for them. And I want your children to know
I love you and I care about you. And I pray for your mamas and
daddies. I call their names in prayer. And there's many of you
sitting here that your parents are not here. Sometimes it's hard, it's discouraging,
but I want to say the Lord is strong. In his time, in his way,
he does his work. And I really appreciate all you
young folks being here. It thrills my heart to see you
come. It grieves my heart to see you go. Gideon saw, according
to verse three here in chapter seven, Of his 32,000, he saw
22,000 walk away. He has 10,000 left. I could imagine he goes to the
Lord and says, now, look what's happened. Oh, Lord, how are we going to
get them back? And God says, we're not, I don't
want them back. Matter of fact, Gideon, we got
to get rid of a lot more. 10,000 is still way too many. The Lord instructs Gideon to
proceed with One more elimination round. Chapter seven, verse five, he
says, bring the 10,000, bring them down to the water to get
a drink. And everyone that laps water
out of his hand, like a dog to where he can still be looking
around and see the enemy, the ones that's got some common sense.
He said, you set them aside. They're the ones you want. You know what? There wasn't but
300 of them. The Lord said, but everyone that
gets down on all fours and crams his face down into
the water to drink, puts himself in a position where
he can see no one but himself. Uh-oh. A lot of people love that
position. Like a mirror. Them that gets
down there to drink like a hog, where they can see no one but
themselves. Gideon, you don't need them.
Send them home. And so Gideon had to discharge
9,700 that day. And he's left with an army of
300 men. The devil whispers in his ear
again, boy, you're some leader. You and your big army of 300. Oh, Gideon, I'm sure the Midianites
are terrified over you and your 300. Ha ha. Everything looks wrong. The only thing right is that
Gideon continues to obey God. He don't understand it, but he
obeys God. He says, Lord, I'm sorry, we're
down to 300. I should have done better. And
the Lord says, Gideon, That's exactly the number I was
waiting on, 300. Less than 1% of what you started
with from 32,000 to 300. Zechariah chapter four in verse
six, it's not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith
the Lord of hosts. Christ our Lord, we learn from
the Psalms, speaking in his humanity, felt this weakness, this rejection,
this fear, this inability, this hopelessness, not in his deity,
but in his humanity. He was touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. He said, I am a worm and no man,
but he did his Gideon. He continued on in obedience. And he said in John 8, 29, I
do always those things that my father tells me to do. Obedience, education. Number three, Gideon's equipment.
and our time slipping away. Gideon's equipment. In chapter
7 verse 16, the Lord told Gideon, take your 300, divide them into
three companies of 100 men each, and give each man three things. First, put a trumpet in every
man's hand. Now usually in a military unit,
there'd be one trumpet, one man to blow the trumpet for the whole
unit. But here, every man, all 300, was to have a trumpet. Secondly, the Lord said, give
every man a pitcher, a clay pitcher, pottery. Not for water, but empty,
it says. And thirdly, in every pitcher,
a lamp or a light, like a candle or a torch. And while the Lord's given this
instruction, I can imagine Gideon says, excuse me, Lord, I don't
mean to bud in. Shouldn't we be sharpening our
swords and spears? Getting ready to do what we know
to do. Sit together and all this other stuff you're talking about.
And the Lord says, don't worry about your weapons. You just
hear me, Gideon. You just make sure 300 trumpets,
300 pitchers, 300 lights in those pitchers. What is the equipment that Christ,
our Gideon, was equipped with to conquer Satan? He was equipped
with his own righteousness. his sinless flesh, his pure and
precious blood. He was nailed to a cross. And
what seemed to this world to be his defeat was his victory. We were delivered. We were reconciled
to God by the death of His Son. He suffered, 1 Peter 3.18, the
just for the unjust. Why? That he might bring us to
God, and bring us to God he did. Oh, the equipment, the equipment. And the fourth thing, Gideon's
exaltation. Did it pay off? Was it wise to
obey God? Well, in chapter 7, verse 17,
Gideon, he relates the strategy to the 300. The three groups
of 100 each were situated in front and on either side of the
enemy camp, round about the mountain sides. And Gideon said, when
I blow the trumpet, all 300 of you blow your trumpets. And say, the sword of the Lord
and Gideon. Now, he said when we do that, the Midianites will think that
instead of 300 men, we've got 300 units of men with
one trumpet in each unit. They're hearing 300 trumpets. They're thinking we're not 300
men, but we're 30,000 men. Then break your pictures and let your light shine. And
the Midianites will look, they'll be alarmed, they'll be stricken
with fear, and they'll flee for their lives. Then you can slay
them with a great slaughter, and the remainder of chapter
7 tells us that it happened just that way. Christ our Gideon is not only
our captain, he's our equipment. The trumpet is the gospel trumpet,
sounding forth the message of Christ crucified. to His people, the message of
the cross, His blotting out the handwriting and ordinances that
was against us, nailing it to His cross. The broken pictures
are His broken body. As He said of the bread that
night in the upper room, He took it and He broke it. So He says
of this picture, this is my body broken. for you. And because of his broken body,
the light of the gospel shines forth. Throughout the enemy camp,
throughout the world, Christ delivers his own. And that's how the story always
ends and always will. He delivers His own, sometimes
from death, sometimes in death. We ought not speak too meanly
about death. We think it our enemy. But no, Christ removed its sting
for His people. Our old pastor said, He kicked
both ends out of that grave. We're just going through it. Death is God's servant. It's our ride out of here. It's
our vehicle home. Gideon's exaltation. Let me read
another line or two and we'll go. Chapter eight. Verse 22, Then the men of Israel said unto
Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy son's
son also, for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. Talking about Gideon's exaltation.
They said, Gideon, we're committing to at least three generations. We want you to rule over us.
Then we want your son to rule over us. Then we want your son's
son to rule over us. Why? For thou hast delivered
us from the hand of Midian. They wished to honor Gideon. Now listen to Gideon's reply. Chapter 8, verse 23. And Gideon
said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son
rule over you. The Lord shall rule over you. So Gideon's exaltation I'm talking
about is not that they wanted him to rule over them. But Gideon's exaltation is that
he had the wisdom to refuse their offer. He's better fixed than
that. He knows in his heart that all
rule, all victory, all salvation belongs to the Lord. So he said, I will not rule over
you. Neither will my son rule over you. The Lord shall rule
over you. First Corinthians 15, 24, then
come at the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the father. when he shall have put down all
rule and all authority and power." This is one of the mysteries
of the Trinity, and yet the blessed unity of it. The Son gives all
to the Father, and the Father gives all to the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, one with the Father and the Son, both gives and receives
what a glorious Trinity. The same Holy Ghost who brooded
over the face of the waters in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2. He
breathes in the recording of Judges 6 through 8. The story of Gideon. Painting a picture of one to
come centuries later. who will deliver his own people
from the bondage of sin and Satan. Thank God for him, Christ our
Gideon. So that's the story of Gideon,
not exhaustively, of course, I hadn't told you anything close
to all that's in these three chapters, but just a few highlights
in which we see presented Christ our Gideon. Thanks be unto God,
1 Corinthians 15, 57. Thanks be unto God, which always
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Stand with me.