the text I want to direct you
to this evening is found at the beginning of that portion that
we read in Judges chapter 6 in Judges chapter 6 verses 33 and
particularly 34 Judges 6 33 and 34 then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east
were gathered together and went over and pitched in the valley
of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet and Abba Isa was gathered after
him." I've reminded you as we commenced
our reading at that particular 33rd verse how In the morning
hour we had read the former parts of the chapter. Let me just remind
you what we have recorded in the opening 32 verses. We see three things principally. The apostasy of Israel, which
is spoken of in the first 10 verses. Then the call of Gideon,
and all that that call entailed from verse 11 to verse 24 and
then we see something of the faith of Gideon in verses 25
to 32. Now with regards to the apostasy
how the chapter begins with a declaration of that sad truth the children
of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. 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 how, by his dealings with
them, God causes them to cry out. In verse 6 we read how Israel was greatly impoverished
because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried
unto the Lord. And then as they cry unto the
Lord because of the Midianites, verse 7 following, we see that
God answers their prayer and sends a prophet to them. And the prophet declares unto
them how God had dealt so graciously with them as a nation, as a people
in the great deliverance he had granted from the cruel bondage
that was Egypt, the remarkable way in which he had brought them
out from under that dreadful oppression, and how they'd been
commanded as they were brought into the land of promise that
they were not to fear the gods, of the Amorites and those other
nations that dwelt in the land. But then those solemn words at
the end of verse 10, but says, God through the prophets, ye
have not obeyed my voice. What is the consequence of disobedience? It will surely result in the
judgment of God. God does not wink. at the sins
of his people. It was a terrible apostasy that
they were guilty of. And yet, we see how God is ever
a gracious God. Because then, from verse 11 following,
we have the call of Gideon. As I said this morning, the theme
that seems to run right through the book of Judges is that of
the sins of the people and the salvation of God. time and again
we read of God raising up these judges, men and women to be judges
in Israel, to be saviours after their awful apostasy. And so we have the call of this
man Gideon. But what a fearful character
Gideon was. We read, and we threshed wheat
by the wine press to hide it from the Midianites. One would
normally do that threshing of the wheat out in the open. They would probably use some
sort of instrument, a fan, a great spade, to toss the wheat after
it had been threshed so that the wind might blow the chaff
away. It would be something done normally,
not in a concealed place, but Here is a man, you see, who is
afraid. He's afraid of these Midianites. He's a fearful character. And yet the Lord comes to this
man. We spoke this morning of his
faith. It was a weak faith. It was a
faith that was full of ifs. How he was so unsure and uncertain,
he felt himself to be such an insignificant figure that the
Lord should call such a man. What does he say with regards
to his own family? Wherewith shall I save Israel?
He asks at verse 15. Behold, my family is poor in
Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And yet it is to such a character
as this that the Lord comes. And we said how this angel, verse
11, there came an angel of the Lord and sat under an oak which
was in Ofra that pertained unto Joas, the Abiezrite, and his
son Gideon. For the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him. But this angel of the Lord, as
we said this morning, is none other than the Lord Himself.
Verse 14, the Lord looked upon him. Verse 16, the Lord said
unto him. This is an appearance, as we
said this morning, of the Lord Jesus. It's a sort of anticipation,
we might say, of that that would come in the fullness of the time
when God, the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father, would be
manifest in the flesh. But here, to Gideon, He appears. And not only to Gideon, later,
as we said this morning, he appears also to Manoah and to his wife,
the parents of Samson, who was to be also raised up as a judge. And now, as the angel appears
and calls this man, Gideon recognizes that it was the Lord and his
fear increases. Verse 22, when Gideon perceived
that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God,
for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. And
the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee, fear not, thou
shalt not die. Oh, he had seen God. He had seen
God in human flesh. That's why the angel had come
as a man. anticipating, as I said, that
that would come in God's appointed time, when God gave his son,
made of a woman. And here, our Gideon is assured,
this is God's call, this is the grace of God to the children
of Israel. And then we see also in the previous
part of this chapter, the faith, of Gideon, for the faith of this
man. Verse 25, the same night that
the Lord said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even
the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar
of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is
by it, and build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top
of this rock in the ordered place, and take the second bullock,
and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou
shalt cut down. And he did, it says. Verse 27, he did as the Lord
had said unto him. He reestablishes the right, the
proper worship of God himself. And when the men of the city
come and demand of his father to deliver Gideon to them that
they might kill him because he had cast down Baal's altar. Oh, his father is now emboldened. Oh yes, it was the altar that
belonged to his father that he had destroyed. But what does
the Father say? Will ye plead for Baal? Will
ye save him? He that will plead for him, let
him be put to death, whilst it is yet morning. If he be a God,
let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
And that very day his Father calls him not Gideon, but Jerald
Baal. Let Baal plead, or the very name
now. He's declaring something to these
idolatrous people. God calls this man in all his
weakness. And we considered something this
morning of from whence it was that the strength of this man
proceeded. We looked at those words in verse
14, how 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 them? What was
his might? It was nothing of himself. He had to be shown that there
was to be no creature strength. Even his army is reduced from
32,000 to 10,000 then to 300. Oh, it's not by might nor by
power. It's all together by the Spirit
of the Lords. And so we consider that the source
of his strength was nothing of himself. It wasn't his own faith.
As I said, his faith was a weak faith. A faith full of ifs and
buts and maybes. But that faith, though it be
weak, how it centres in the Lord is God. Verse 12, when the Lord
appeared unto him, he said, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty
man of valor. It was the presence of the Lord.
It was the fact that the Lord had sent him. Well now, turning
to what we have here in verses 33, and particularly 34, Then all the Midianites and the
Amalekites and the Chunar of the East were gathered together
and went over and preached in the valley of Jezreel. But the
Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet,
and Abiza was gathered after him." And the theme that I really
want to address is how the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, or
how the Spirit of the Lord Himself was clothed with Gideon. That's what it says at the beginning
of the 34th verse. Look at the margin. The Spirit
of the Lord clothed upon Gideon, it says. The Hebrew word rendered
came upon which all literally means to clothe. the Spirit of
the Lord clothed Gideon or in a sense he clothed himself with
Gideon. This was the man who was going
to be the great deliverer of the children of Israel. First of all let me say something
more with regards to the general context here where we see the
sovereignty of God in his dealings, in his providences with the children
of Israel. What we read of in verse 33 might
be said to be that annual invasion that came from these various
nations. After Gideon has received his
call, After we see some evidence of that faith that is now in
his soul, faith of the operation of God, we read, Then all the
Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the East
were gathered together and went over and pitched in the valley
of Jezreel. Now, remember what we have back
in verse 3. It was so. When Israel had sown,
that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children
of the East, even they came up against them. When Israel had
sown. And this verb, to come up, it's
the frequentive sense that is used. Literally, they came up
year after year, we read in the opening verse
how God delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years every
time the children of Israel had labored in their fields sown
their seed and watched over the harvest as they came to gather
in the harvest so these enemies, the Midianites and these various
other peoples would gather themselves together and impoverish Israel, take away
all their labours, all their labour had been in vain. But
this is all under the sovereign hand of the Lord. As we see in
the opening verse, it was the Lord who delivered them into
the hand of Midian for seven years. This was no accidental
thing. Remember how Nebuchadnezzar is
brought to acknowledge that there was one far greater than he,
though Nebuchadnezzar was one of the greatest emperors of the
ancient world. Remember how in Daniel 4 the
Lord God of Israel so humbles that haughty man and is brought
to acknowledge, to confess all the inhabitants of the earth
are as nothing to God. He doeth according to His will
among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest thou? In all of this we are to discern
God and God's sovereignty. It is a remarkable truth, is
it not, that that sovereignty of God is an absolute sovereignty.
That's what we profess to believe. All our times are in His hands.
all events at his command. But now, God is about to do something
different. God is going to deliver the Midianites
into Gideon's hands. He had delivered the children
of Israel into the hand of Midian for some seven years. But now,
the whole scene is to change. And that's what it says in the
text we were considering earlier. Verse 14, the Lord looked upon
him and said, Go in this day, my mate, and thou shalt save
Israel. Thou shalt save Israel from the
hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee? Oh friends, we need to be wise
and to observe these things. God's providences and the mystery
of God's providences. the strange ways in which the
Lord deals with his people. So often things seem to be against
us and yet in a moment the whole scene can be turned around. This
is a God that we believe in. This is a God that we profess
to believe in and yet so often of course our faith like Gideon's
is a weak faith. Remember those words at the end
of that remarkable 107th Psalm that speaks so so clearly, so evidently of God's
providences amongst all the various circumstances of life, those
who do business even in deep waters. Oh, it speaks of those
who go sailing in ships and they do their business in those
places. We know that there's a the spiritual
significance to those words in the 107th Psalm. When God brings
us in our souls into deep waters, and we have to do business in
those deep waters, and we scarce know where we are, we find God's
way to be in the sea, His footsteps are not known, we cannot trace
His ways, His dealings, and yet we're to observe these things.
who so is wise and will observe these things even they shall
understand the loving kindness of the Lord." Now the sovereignty
of God stands forth and how it stands forth here at the end
of chapter 6 not only in human affairs but God's sovereignty
is to be discerned in nature also. Why? We read there of the
Jew, this sign that God in his mercy grants to his servant, the matter of the fleece of wool. And now you know the passage,
we read it, it's a familiar incident. What is it? That Gideon wants
the Jew to be on the fleece only and dry upon all the earth beside
and it was so. He rises the next morning and
he picks up the fleece and he wrings out the bowl full of water
and all the ground is dry. But though God had done a notable
thing yet it wasn't enough. Let not thine anger be hot against
me, he says. I'll speak but this once. He
wants to prove God again. And this time he wants that the
fleece should be dry and all the ground covered with the dew
and God did so that night for it was dry upon the fleece only
and there was dew on all the ground but this is God and this
is the sovereignty of God look at the words that we find in
Micah in Micah chapter 5 and verse 7 we read of dew from the
Lord that tarry us not for man nor waiteth for the sons of men. Due from the Lord. It's not man
in the realm of nature. It is God who is sovereign. God
has ordained the natural course of things. God has given his
word, his promise, while the earth remaineth, seedtime and
harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall
not cease. And we take all these things
for granted. The day comes, the day passes, and night comes on.
The seasons come and go. None of these things come by
chance. This is God's ordinance. Are
we not to acknowledge that? Remember the words of the Lord
Jesus concerning the sparrows, Are not two sparrows sold for
a farthing? He says, And one of them shall
not fall to the ground without your heavenly Father. Now what
is that falling to the ground? We might think, ah, that's the
death of the sparrow. It's not. The word that is used
there in the Gospel, the sparrow falling to the ground, has regard
to how that bird comes to the ground to find its food. And
every time it comes to the ground to find food, it's under the
sovereign hand of God. Or the sparrow doesn't fall to
the ground without your heavenly Father. This is the God, you
see, that we see here, the God of Providence. And Paul says
we know that all things work together for good to them that
know God, them who are the called according to His purpose. We
trace in God's sovereign dealings here in this chapter, in fact,
throughout this book of Judges. We see the sovereign hand of
God and God's dealings with his ancient people, that typical
people, the children of Israel. But let us come in the second
place to consider the spiritual significance of what we have
in the chapter, and what we have in particular in this 34th verse. But the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and Abba Isa was gathered after
him. Oh, when we come to God's words,
we recognize that much of what we have in Holy Scripture is
historical, and it's real history. There are those wicked men who
suggest that the Bible is full of myths and fables. They reject
the Word of God. Well, we don't do that. I trust
that we recognize that this is that faithful record that God
has given concerning His dealings with this world. But when we
come to Scripture, is it not more than history to us? All these things happened unto
them for example. and they are written for our
admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come," says
the Apostle. All that we have written in the
Old Testament, God's dealings with Israel, these are in samples,
examples, types. There's lessons, spiritual lessons
that we can learn from these historic accounts. Whatever things
were written aforetime, Paul says, were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might
have hope. When we read these things, all
through patience or endurance and comfort of the Scriptures,
doesn't God's Word minister to us? Doesn't God's Word feed our
souls? That's what we should desire
when we come to God's Word, be it our own readings, We can study
the Word of God. That's good and commendable.
We can seek to rightly interpret the Word of God. We can examine
text and exegete verses and so forth. All that's good and necessary
because we have a high doctrine of scripture. But it's more than
an intellectual exercise. It's not just feeding our minds.
We want something for our souls good from the Word of God as
we come to it. And so the spiritual significance. Three things I want to mention.
First of all, to say something further with regards to the fleece,
the sign of the fleece, and then secondly, in our text tonight,
the blowing of the trumpet, and then finally the unction of the
Holy Spirit. Those three things. First of
all, let's look at the sign of the fleece. Remember, in the
New Testament, in the Gospel according to John, the word that's
repeatedly rendered miracle is literally the word psi. That is the case throughout John's
Gospel. He uses a particular word, it's
translated miracle in our authorized version, and that's not an improper
translation of course, We wouldn't sit in any sense in judgment
upon those men that God raised up to give us this excellent
version. But the word literally means a sign and we have to recognize
that, this beginning of signs. Did Jesus in Cana of Galilee
manifested forth his glory? and His disciples believed on
Him. As we've said on many previous
occasions, all the miracles are signs. They point to something.
And what do they point to? They point to the Lord Jesus. They point to the glorious truth
of His deity. That beginning of miracles, you
see, is a manifestation of His glory. All the disciples discern it
and they believe on Him. They see that this is that One,
this is the Christ, the Son of God. The miracle is in our signs.
And can we not say, here with regards to the fleece, that it
is a sign? It's a sign to Gideon. There's a representation there.
There's a representation of the presence, condition of Israel. And what is their condition?
If we think of Israel represented by the fleece, when he says at
verse 39, Let me prove I prayed thee but this once with the fleece,
let it now be dry upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there
be dew." Here is Israel so dry and so dead, so barren, so bereft
of God. Why? They had rebelled against
God and God had departed in a sense from them. God had given them
over into the hands of their enemies. Isn't this a representation
of the sad condition of Israel. But then also, and
this comes first, also there is a pledge that things will
not continue in this sad condition. There's a pledge for the future
in what we see in that first sign. Behold I will put a fleece
of wool in the floor And if the dew be on the fleece only, and
it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that
thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. Why,
Israel is that fleece of wool that is full of dew. And when Gideon comes in the
morning, he's able to wring a full bowl of water out of that place. Oh, it represents Israel. And God says it, you know. God
says just those things. Look at the language that we
have at the end of the book of Hosea. There in that 14th chapter,
the last chapter in the book of the prophet Hosea. What does
God say? Verse 5, I will be as the Jew
unto Israel. He shall grow as a lily and cast
forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread and
his beauty shall be as the olive tree and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow
shall return. They shall revive. as the corn,
and grow as the vine. The scent thereof shall be as
the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have
I to do any more with idols? I have heard him and observed
him. I am like a green fir tree. From
me is thy fruit found, who is wise." Oh, it's the same sort
of language as we have at the end of the 107th Psalm, who is
wise. And he shall understand these things prudent, and he
shall know them, for the ways of the Lord are right. And the
just shall walk in them, but the transgressors shall fall
therein. Oh, the Lord, you see, He is
due to His wrath. There is a lesson, there's a
sign here in this place. And friends, what a precious
figure it is when we think of the Jew. Think of the song of
Moses, there in Deuteronomy 32, when he says, My doctrine shall
drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small
rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. And what is that doctrine? I will declare the name of the
Lord, he says. That's the doctrine. Oh, it's the doctrine of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Why we were considering that
doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ only this afternoon at Hagen's,
those remarkable words in the second epistle of John and verse
9, where twice we have the doctrine of Christ. Whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Two sentences in
the text. One a negative, the other a positive,
but the same truth. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, he hath not God. Ah,
but He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father
and the Son. Or what is that doctrine of Christ? Why, it's the revelation of God.
I will proclaim the name of the Lord. That's the doctrine that
drops as the Jew. Or there is a sign here, you
see, that Israel are not going to continue in this sad, forlorn
condition. They're not going to be bereft
of God's presence. They're not going to be forever
under the heel of the Midianites. Or they have sinned. But God
is a great Savior of sinners. Isn't that our comfort tonight?
There is a Savior of sinners. Even the Lord God Himself. And so we come to the text and
the blowing of the trumpet. The Spirit of the Lord came upon
Gideon, it says, and he blew a trumpet. He blew a trumpet. Now, remember the significance
of the trumpets in Israel, be it the horn or
be it the silver trumpets. There was the great jubilee trumpet
that was to be blown. spoken of there in Leviticus
25 verse 9, the year of Jubilee. And when was that trumpet to
be blown? Well, we're told it was to be
on the tenth day of the seventh month. It was on the great day
of atonement. What is the blowing of the trumpet
there? It speaks of the gospel, it speaks of that atonement that
the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished. You see there's a greater Savior
than Gideon in this chapter. Or there is that one who is the
only Savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. And now the Prophet
speaks of the blowing of that great gospel trumpet. Isaiah 27, 13, It shall come
to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown
that they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of
Assyria and the outcast in the land of Egypt and shall worship
the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. All the blowing of
the gospel trumpet why we we read of it just now and it was
by the blowing of those silver trumpets in Israel that the tribes
were gathered together. That was the command that was
given to the man Moses. In Numbers chapter 10, the Lord
spake unto Moses saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver,
and a whole piece shalt thou make them, that thou mayest use
them for the calling of the assembly. and for the journeying of the
camps. And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall
assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation." Where are they summoned at the blowing
of the trumpets that to come to the door of the tabernacle?
And the tabernacle, it's Christ, it's a type of Christ. He is
that one you see on two Whom the gathering of the people shall
bury. Shiloh! Shiloh! And so the blowing
of the trumpet, it reminds us of the Gospel. Here is Gideon as he is about
to go into conflict against these Midianites, the enemies of God
and the people of God. He blew a trumpet. And Abieza
was gathered after him. Ah, but it's not just the blowing
of the trumpet. It's that blessed unction of
the Spirit. And how vital, friends, this is a truly vital thing in
the text. The Spirit of the Lord, it says,
came upon Gideon. The Spirit of the
Lord clothed Gideon, or clothed himself with with Gideon. Oh, how vital! What is all preaching? What is all the proclamation
of the Gospel without God the Holy Spirit? Oh, we see it even
in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. Remarkable, is it not, when we
think of that one who is the fulfilment of the prophetic office?
the prince of all the preachers, the Lord Jesus Christ. Why was
he such a remarkable minister of the Word of God? Because he
had that blessed unction of the Spirit, even the Lord Jesus.
He whom God hath sent speaketh the Word of God, for God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him, it says. That's why the
Lord Jesus had such a ministry, a remarkable ministry. the common
people hearing in Gladwell, those officers going back to the Pharisees
and saying, never man spake like this man. Oh you're speaking
the word of God and he that speaketh the words of God is the one that
God has given his spirit to. There was such an anointing upon
the Lord Jesus and how vital that anointing is. Remember what
we're told concerning David, I think this month's gospel standard
has the sermon that was preached by Mr. Buss at the annual meetings
on those words in 1st Samuel 16, 12. Arise, anoint him for
this is the vital necessity of the anointing of the Lord. Arise,
anoint him for this is he and what's the significance we see
it in the next verse, verse 14 the Spirit came upon him when
David was anointed the Spirit came upon him and David the type
of the Lord Jesus pointing us to David's greater son and don't
we need friends to know that gracious ministry that anointing
of the Spirit of God or we have the same gospel that our fathers
had If we know anything of the history of our favoured nation,
if we know anything of what God has done in these islands, we
know that there was a faithful ministry of the Word, but there
was such an unction upon that Word, what effects it had. We
read of these things if we read just a little of church history. We have the same Gospel. Oh,
we have exactly the same Gospel. But at last there seems to be
a solemn withholding of the Spirit of God and that's what we need.
This is what made Gideon the man that he was. The Spirit of
the Lord came upon Gideon. Now we need the Spirit of the
Lord to come upon us and to come upon the ministry of His Word. And when He comes, what does
He do? Well you know how the Lord speaks of that coming of
the Spirit there in John 16 and those two principal aspects of
the Spirit's ministry there at verse 8 following He speaks of
Him who comes to reprove, to reprove the world of sin, of
righteousness, of judgment says the Lord. There's that negative
ministry. He comes to convince the sinner
of his sins But then he goes on later at verses 13 and 14
of that same chapter to speak of that other aspect. He comes
to reveal Christ. Or he comes to reprove of sin.
But he comes also to reveal the Lord Jesus. He's the Spirit of
Christ. He shall take of mine, says the Saviour. and shall show
it unto you." Oh, that gracious ministry, that self-effacing
ministry. Why, He is God. He is God the
Holy Spirit. And yet, so self-effacing. Oh, He comes to direct us to Christ. He is
the Spirit of the Lord Jesus and it's that Spirit that we
so need if there is to be that gathering. Abiezer was gathered
after him, or that the Lord Jesus Christ might come and gather
a people to Himself. Or that the Lord might come and
gather us. Poor souls that we are, but gather
us, draw us unto Himself. The Spirit of the Lord came upon
Gideon, clothed Gideon, clothed himself with Gideon. Why Gideon
is so bound up with the Spirit. And he blew a trumpet. And Abiezer
was gathered after him. For the Lord be pleased to bless
his work. Amen.