A Sermon on the Life of Gideon

Text: Judges 6 & 7

While sports fishing off the Florida coast, a tourist capsized his boat. He could swim, but his fear of alligators kept him clinging to the overturned craft. Spotting an old beachcomber standing on the shore, the tourist shouted, “Are there any gators around here?”
“Naw,” the man hollered back, “they ain’t been around for years!”

“Feeling safe, the tourist started swimming leisurely toward the shore. About halfway there he asked the guy, “How did you get rid of the gators?”
“We didn’t do nothin’,” the beachcomber said. “The sharks got ’em.”

I would like to try something new this morning… for part of my sermon I would like to take on the role of Gideon,
Therefore … I will be speaking in first person as if I am Gideon…the son of Joash, of the family of the Abiezites, the tribe of Manasseh and the nation of Israel. There are those who say that I am a great warrior. And it is true that i have always fought against the enemies of Israel. But there was a time that I was little more than a flea on the back of a dog.

Let’s imagine the dust of the threshing floor clinging to our sandals, the faint whisper of fear in the air, and a simple farmer—Gideon—hiding his grain from raiders. In that moment, God breaks in and calls me “mighty warrior.” How often does God see more in us than we see in ourselves?

• My family was poor, afraid, even worshipping idols.
• Yet in (Judges 6:12), while Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
• NOTE: God’s vision for us isn’t limited by our history or mistakes. He invites us into who we can become.

I find it interesting that God called me …Gideon “MIGHTY WARRIOR” while I was hiding from the enemy! 😊

Ask yourself: What label is God giving you today?
How different is how God sees you from how you see yourself?

The Midianites had been raiding our land for several years now. They took what they WANTED and killed who they would. My one consolation was that I was able to pay them back AT LEAST in part… for the pain they had caused our nation.

But they were a powerful and malicious people and many of our people fled to hide in the mountains and the hills and even holes in the ground. When the angel of the Lord found me, I was ALSO hiding.

I was in my father winepress threshing wheat, hoping that the Midianites would not find me and take away what little food I could supply for my family.

It was there that the angel of the Lord found me. And he said to me: “The Lord is with you Gideon. You have been chosen by God to deliver Israel from their enemies. God will be with you and together you will crush the might of Midian in a single night.”

Have you ever seen an angel?

Neither had I. I had no idea who this man was. But what he said, and the way in which he said it spoke to my heart.

God still cared for us even though He had turned His face from us. He had lifted His hand of protection FROM over us and delivered us into the hands of our enemies because of the sinfulness of my people. We had worshipped other gods and offered sacrifices and prayers in their names. And God was furious.

It’s not that we intended to anger God. We still offered prayers and sacrifices to Him. But we figured – if one God is good (shrug) THEN many are better. And so, all across the land there were altars and idols and there were prayers and sacrifices made in the names of pagan gods. And God was not pleased.

NOTE:WE SHOULD NOT TRY TO CHANGE GOD’s LAWS into what WE WANT oR THINK they SHOULD BE!

Deut. 4:2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.

Rev. 22:18-19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Even in my father’s field there was an altar that the villagers frequently offered their sacrifices at. An altar to Baal. And around the altar there were Asherah poles, placed there in honor of the goddess of fertility.

And God said to me “TEAR DOWN THAT ALTAR AND BUILD FOR ME A PROPER ALTAR IN IT’S PLACE! Go into your father’s herd and take the 2nd bull and slaughter and offer it as a sacrifice on my altar. Then cut down the Asherah poles and use them for wood to burn the sacrifice.”

And that just what I did… at night… while everyone in the village was asleep. I didn't want anyone to know that I had destroyed the altar and cut down the Asherah poles, because I knew they would seek to kill me if they did.

It wasn't long after that that the Midianites returned to our land to ravage our crops and steal from our homes. They came with their allies the Amalekites, and with people from other eastern tribes, and settled in the Valley of Jezreel.

Those who dared to look down into their camp said that the Midianite forces were as numerous as a hoard of locusts and that their camels were as could no more be counted than you could count the sand on the seashore. Those who tried to count their number seemed to agree that there were at least 120,000 armed men in their camp.

It was then God said to me: “Gideon, the time has come to raise an army to drive out the enemies of Israel.” And so I went to the city square and found the horn that we used to call people to war.

People came running in from the fields and out of their houses.

And when they came into the village square I told them what God had said to me. That it was time for us to rise and throw off the shackles of the Midianites and go to war.

We sent out messengers to the far reaches of the tribe of Manasseh, and also the tribes of Asher, Naphtali and Zebulun. And within a few short days men began to arrive at our village.

Ultimately 32,000 men encamped around my home.

Thirty-two thousand men had come to be led into battle with me as their leader.

Thirty-two thousand men!!!

How many men did the Midianites have again? 120,000?

And we had 32,000?

120,000… against 32,000?

And I looked up to God and I said:

“We need to talk.

If You truly want to send me into battle with our enemies outnumbering us about 4 to 1, I need a sign to prove that it is truly your will.”

And I had decided on just the test that could prove it was indeed His will. When I was younger I noticed that when I entered in my father’s winepress in the morning, the floor glistened with the dew of the night.

• in (Judges 6:36–40) Gideon tests God with a fleece

And so I said to God, please do not be angry, but if it your will to send us into battle with this size of a force, allow me to put a fleece from the flocks of my father on the floor of his winepress. If it is Your will, make it so that the floor is dry, and the fleece is wet.

And so I placed the fleece on the floor, and went to bed.

When I got up the next morning, what do you think I found?

That’s right.

The floor was completely dry, but the fleece was completely soaked.

God had spoken.

He was calling me to go to war.

But still… I only had 32,000 men.

That’s hardly an army that would overwhelm the Midianites.

What if I misunderstood God in this test?

And so I said to God, please don’t be angry, but just to make sure I haven’t misunderstood Your will, allow me to do just one more test. Allow me to place the fleece on the floor of the winepress one more time. And in the morning, if the fleece is dry and the floor is wet THEN I’ll know it was your will.

And that is what I did. And then I went to bed.

The next morning I got up, and guess what I saw?

That’s right, the fleece was dry, and the floor glistened with the dew of the night.

And then I knew this was God’s will.

And 32,000 men – with such an awesome God at our back – it could be done.

It was a respectable force in the hands of a mighty God.

Yes! I could do this. I could lead these men to victory over the Midianites. They only outnumbered us 4 to 1! It could be done! We were men of Israel. We were bold and courageous and able to stand against the pagans and defeat them.

But then God said (pause)“Gideon… you have too many men.”

WAIT! WHAT? SERIOUSLY? We only have 32,000!

But God said, tell the men that whoever is afraid may go home to their tribes.

Well, that’s not so bad. These were brave men of the nation of Israel. These were men of courage and strength and their anger with Midian would overcome any supposed fear. I would hardly miss the ones who would leave.

And so I mockingly addressed the men. If any of them were afraid, they were welcome to leave and return to their homes.

And 22,000 men folded their tents and left!

I only had 10,000 soldiers remaining.

But still, it was more men than I’d ever led into a battle before.

It could still be done.

I might yet be victorious in a battle against our nation’s enemies even with just 10,000 men.

But then God spoke to me again.

“Gideon, you still have TOO MANY men. If you were to win with such a force, Israel might be tempted to believe they had won against Midian by the force of their own arms, rather than by the power of My arm.” And he told me take the army down to the banks of the river and observe them as they drank from its streams.

• God whittles Gideon’s army from 32,000 down to 300 (Judges 7:2–7). And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.

7And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”

• The point: the victory is God’s, not ours. When we rely on OUR strength, we take the credit. When we rely on GOD and HIS STRENGTH, HE gets the glory.

OUR Takeaway should be:

When life’s battles feel overwhelming, remember:
God doesn’t need our vast resources—
He needs our available heart.

Now, according to Judges 7:16 – 23

I divided our men into 3 companies and gave each man a trumpet and empty jar to cover their torches. Then I explained to them where they should position their men around the camp of our enemies and sent them to their places. When it seemed that our men were properly positioned I blew my horn, and – as one man – our army broke their jars to reveal their torches and blew their trumpets.

The night was lit up with the blaze of our torches and our trumpets spoke with the judgment of God upon the camp of Midian. And all of our men shouted “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon.” It was such an overwhelming sight and such a thunderous sound that the camp of the Midianites erupted in fear as each man ran from their tents and grabbed for their swords. In their confusion, they believed that we were in the midst of their camp and they began to turning their swords on one another.

And the slaughter that night… was terrible.

Those who survived cried as they fled from the valley and we chased them all the way out of our land.

And the Midianites never returned to bother us again.

• Note: A few faithful, obedient hearts can turn the tide of an entire nation.

Challenge: Who is in your “300”?
Whose faithfulness encourages you to step out in obedience?

That night changed me.
It was on that night that I realized all that God had meant to teach me.
I had learned that I was being called by a God who wanted my total allegiance. He was a God who would not tolerate any other god, or any other treasure to stand between myself and Him. If I was to be used by God, I needed to destroy and remove from my life anything that would compete for my affections.

Matthew 22:36 – 37 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

AND, Revelation 3:16 – 17 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

I also learned that the God I came to serve was a powerful God. He was a God who could protect me from the anger of my neighbors. A God who could speak to me by my own personal fleeces and by the dreams of my enemies. And He was a God who could destroy a mighty army with a force of only 300 men.

THAT is the God that I serve!

A God who would stand beside me and protect me in times of trouble.

A God who could bring strength to my life and peace to my heart.

Conclusion & Invitation

Gideon’s life reminds us that God:
Sees our potential … far beyond our self-image.

Gideon’s life reminds us that God:
Wins His greatest victories through our humble surrender.

Gideon’s life reminds us that God:
Uses small bands of faithful hearts to accomplish His purposes.

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Calls us to keep Him at the center, lest victory turn to vanity.

What fears do we need to lay before GOD this morning?
Let’s step out, trusting that the same Spirit who empowered Gideon is at work in us.
God’s not finished with you yet—your “mighty warrior” identity awaits.

Do you know the power of God in your life that can give you courage and strength?
Do you have the kind of peace that only God can give?
If you don’t, we offer a time of invitation for you to make that decision for Him this morning.