GIDEON: God Uses the Ordinary For Extraordinary

Artwork by Drew Pocza

Introduction       

           Any person who has read the Bible and especially believers know that our God is unique in so many ways.  One unique quality I love most about God is the people He calls throughout the Bible to do His work here on earth.  For example, he makes a promise and a covenant with an ordinary gentile man from a place called Ur to become the chosen Father of a great nation.  He empowers a murdering adopted Egyptian Prince to free the Hebrews from a miserable and hard life of slavery.  He uses a prostitute living in the walls of Jericho to assist Israelite spies to overthrow the city. He commissions a shepherd boy to become one of the greatest kings in Israel’s history. He sends a defiant and rebellious racist man (with the assistance of a whale) to bring an evil city to repentance.  He uses a donkey to spare the life of an unfaithful prophet.  He sends his only son as a baby with no earthly father to be the savior of the world.  He grabs hold of a murdering Pharisee to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles and who ultimately writes 2/3’s of the New Testament. 

          Honestly I cannot think of a single affluent or “qualified” individual that God used or called to accomplish his will on earth.  This has always been encouraging for me since I often feel overwhelmed and unqualified to do the work God has called me to.  It is humbling to know God chooses you and me to do great things for his glory.  We may at times feel insignificant or less than worthy and we may feel like the Psalmist who writes, “What is man that you are mindful of him…”  Maybe you are like me and may often ask this question, “Why God did you choose me to be your child and how are you planning on using me for your greater purpose and plan?”

          With all of this said I am excited to share the story of today’s O.T. Hero as he is often overlooked by many as a great man of faith and is just an average ordinary guy who is called by an extraordinary God to do impossible things for His glory.  In fact his name is probably better known in association with hotel Bibles than for the almost unbelievable work God did through him.  What’s funny about our hero today is that his story has nothing to do with hotels, Christian business men and Bibles.  Gideon was an average ordinary man whom God chose to do some extraordinary things through.  His story is tucked away about a 1/3 of the way into the book of Judges. 

 

A Short Background of Judges

          Judges is a fascinating book that details Israel’s history from the death of Joshua to right before they called for a King to rule over them.  The book is named after a group of individuals who served as leaders to the nation of Israel who were commissioned by God to bring the rebellious nation of Israel back to Him.  It was during this time God was the ruler of the nation and it was a time of national decline because of Israel’s rebellion towards God and affinity for worshiping false Gods.  The book follows a continuous and distinct pattern (or a spiral effect) that goes like this….

a)     The people rebelled against the Lord or as the books states often, “The people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

b)     God punishes them by sending other nations to oppress them.

c)      The nation cries out to God for help.

d)     God sends a judge to deliver them.

e)     Once the Judge dies the cycle starts all over again.

          In Judges 2:17 the writer states that God was with the Judge he raises up and saves them from their enemies all of the days of the Judge.  So as long as the Judge who God has called to bring the nation back to Israel was alive the nation was in good standing with God.  In the book there are 12 judges mentioned (see handout for the names of all twelve) and out of these two are probably more familiar… Gideon and Samson.

Gideon – An ordinary man called by God

          The story of Gideon begins in Judges 6 and we see the nation of Israel did what was evil in the sight of God and He gave them over to the hand of the Midianites to oppress them.  The Midianites and Amalekites were kind of like school yard bullies to Israel.  The Israelites were afraid of them so they would build their homes in the mountains and grow crops but when harvest time came the Midianites and Amalekites would come and take their lunch money so to speak by overpowering them and taking all their crops.  The people of God cried out to the Lord for help and the Lord sends a prophet to tell them it is because of their unfaithfulness to him is why all this is happening. 

          The response to their oppression was pretty typical.  Many people are like this today; they spend their lives ignoring God and his ways and doing what is evil in his sight, but then when something bad happens they cry out to God for help.  However in his response we see God’s patience and mercy because he continually sends aid throughout Judges, the Bible and even today.  He is faithful to hear us when we cry out to him even when we have not been faithful to him.

          Soon thereafter an Angel of the Lord comes and commissions a man named Gideon to save Israel from the hands of the Midianites.  Gideon’s response to his call is much like that of Moses when he says, “I can’t do this, I am of the weakest tribe (Manasseh) and I am the least of my father’s family…surely you must have the wrong guy.”  To which the angel of the Lord says, “No, I have the right guy because God is going to be with you and quit calling me Shirley.”  This is usually the response of a humble servant of God.  He/she knows that they are not qualified to do the task without God being with them.  The angel of the Lord tells him that God will be with him in this task he has called him to do and the typical response is reluctant obedience. 

          Gideon responds, “If this is true then please show me a sign that this will be as you say” to which the angel complies and performs a miracle to show that God will be with him.  That very evening Gideon was commanded by God to destroy his father’s altar’s that were built to Baal.  At this point God is calling Gideon to take hold of his own faith and forsake the faith of his father.  Of course Gideon is afraid to do this because he does not want to anger or disrespect his father but he also knows God is calling him from this dead and empty religion of Baal worship to serving the living God.

          This may not seem like a big deal but when you look at what God is telling Gideon to do is in fact a huge thing.  I am sure the last thing he wanted to do was to disrespect his father or tear down the altar’s that his father built with his own hands.  However he knew and feared the one true God and he had to make a decision (so to speak) that evening… Is he going to ignore God’s call on his life because he doesn’t want to hurt his father’s feelings or is he going to be obedient and destroy this abomination before God?  We see he chose wisely but this part reminds me of the hundreds of people I meet who know that God is calling them to greater and better things but refuse to go forward because they are more faithful to their church, denomination or pastor than they are to God.  They are afraid of what people will say about them.  Gideon proclaims loudly who he serves just by his obedience to God.  Was he scared?  Most likely.  Did he think he was going to hurt his father’s feelings?  Maybe.   But we see obedience to God outweighed obedience to man.  The end result was his own father forsook Baal after he had seen what Gideon’s God was capable of.

Gideon and the Fleece

          Once again the Lord tells Gideon he will defeat the Midianites and he seeks God’s reassurance by laying out a fleece (twice) to make sure God was going to do what he promised.  Many look at these “tests” as Gideon not having faith in God.  According to D.A. Carson, “It was common practice in the ancient world to seek last-minute confirmation of divine support before a battle was joined (cf. 1 Ki. 22:6–28). ^[1]  It seems as though Gideon didn’t believe God so he sets up a fleece and asks God that if he is with him then in the evening when the dew comes have it settle on the fleece and the ground around it be dry and then he will know it is from God.  God did as he asked and Gideon still wanted to confirmation that God was with him so he asks God to do the opposite and he does.  When I read this I see such patience and mercy in God.  He already told Gideon he was going to be with him and accomplish great things but Gideon sought more proof.  It would have been easy for God to say, “Well forget it!  Obviously I have the wrong person for the job.”  But he doesn’t and shows great restraint and compassion by complying to Gideon’s request.

          I don’t know about you but there have been times in my life when I did almost the same exact thing as Gideon.  There are times when I am faced with really difficult decisions and I want to be in God’s will; so I “set out fleeces” or bargain with God to reassure me that I am doing the right thing.  How many of you have ever said, “Lord if you want me to do this then you need to do this to assure me I am doing the right thing”?  Some of us like to call it confirmation from God.  Is it wrong to set out fleeces?  I don’t really know.  Apparently God was ok with it since he did what was asked of him.  HOWEVER, I do think if we do choose to set out fleeces that we do so with extreme caution.  Because I do not believe God will always respond the way He did with Gideon and/or sometimes we put more faith in the fleece experience than we do in the God who has called us. 

Gideon’s Army  

          After Gideon received confirmation from the Lord he called together the men of Israel to form an army.  32,000 men showed up to fight.  The Lord says to Gideon, “There are too many men present.  If you go to battle and win then the men can take credit for the work I did.”  So the Lord instructed Gideon to tell all the men who were scared and trembling to go home… 20,000 men left the camp.  With 10,000 men remaining God said, “Still too many.”  He instructs Gideon to take them to the water and those who lap the water like a dog shall go home and those who drink by putting the water to their mouths were to stay.  9,700 men were sent home.  Three hundred men remained and God said, “Now that’s a number I can work with.” 

          Now comes the really odd part to the story.  God informs Gideon that the 300 men and he will defeat the Midianites without shedding any blood.  They were going to defeat them by trumpets and your voices and he does exactly as he promises.  I would encourage you to read the account in Judges 7:19 – 25 to see how Gideon and his three hundred soldiers defeat the Midianites. 

Conclusion

          The key points to Gideon’s life are simple and encouraging (and I want you to take them home with you today)… 

1)     When God makes a promise he keeps the promise no matter how much the odds are stacked against you.

2)     God may call us to do difficult tasks that may put you at odds with your family, friends and loved ones but we must remain faithful to God.

3)     God chooses some unique ways to win battles and he chooses some very ordinary men and women to accomplish extraordinary things. 

          There are a few more interesting accounts of Gideon in Judges 8 and would encourage you to read those as well.  Let us be reminded today that in the eyes of God we are all significant to the part we play in his plan.  No matter how large or small our roles may be in the course of our lives they are all important in the grand scheme of God’s glory.  So take courage and rejoice that God has a plan for all of us to do great things no matter what our qualifications for the task may be. 

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^[1] New Bible commentary: 21st century edition. 1994 (D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer & G. J. Wenham, Ed.) (4th ed.) (Jdg 6:36–40). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.