Judges 6 7 Common People Mighty God Do

Judges 6 & 7

Common People Mighty God!

Do you recognize some of these common people?

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Today we’ll be taking a closer look at…

Judges 6 & 7

Let’s open our Bibles today to Judges 6 & 7.

Are we holding a fire and making a sound that causes the enemies of God to scatter in fear?

God is up to something good.

He wants us to realize that when we are weak, He can show up strong.

Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11: 32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,

Hebrews 11: 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,

Hebrews 11: 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Or how about Paul’s example?

2 Corinthians 12: 9 -10

2 Corinthians 12: 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. ” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about

2 Corinthians 12: 9 my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

2 Corinthians 12: 10 Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s

2 Corinthians 12: 10 sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Who or what can make us strong?

Who or what can make us a mighty warrior for the Lord?

God can!

He can take what is weak and make it strong.

The combination of the Holy Spirit and obedience is a very powerful thing.

He can take what is arrogant and make it humble.

He can take what is angry and make it peaceful.

He can take what is sick and make it healthy.

But do we really what to be made strong?

Are we holding a fire and making a sound that causes the enemies of God to scatter in fear?

God met Gideon right where he was.

Does anybody remember where that was?

Gideon was threshing wheat!

But where was he threshing it?

He was threshing wheat in a wine press!

Is that where you should be when you’re threshing wheat?

Gideon starts to ask a very interesting question, “Why are things the way they are? ”

Dear Gideon, what rock have you been living under?

Moses had clearly shared with the children of Israel what would happen if they did life their way instead of God’s way.

Deuteronomy 28

Why are things the way they are?

Sin, Disobedience, Evil.

Judges 6: 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior. ”

Judges 6: 13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where all the miracles which our

Judges 6: 13 fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? ’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the

Judges 6: 13 hand of Midian. ”

Judges 6: 14 The Lord looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you? ”

Judges 6: 15 He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house. ”

Judges 6: 16 But the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man. ”

Now let’s start at the beginning and prepare you for battle.

Gideon, what does your name mean?

Gideon means to hew down or cut off.

Why don’t we start with that.

Let’s start by removing a few high places and declaring who’s really in charge here.

Destroy the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah Pole.

Baal means owner, lord or master, so who is really LORD?

Have we torn down the high places in our lives?

Do we consistently declare and demonstrate who our God is?

When Alexander the Great conquered the known world, several of his followers were concerned that he wouldn’t be able to govern it without a large army in every province.

But Alexander said he would not need a large military presence in every town or city.

He just needed control of four key areas.

If he maintained control of these four areas, then people would learn to love being Greek.

Does anybody remember what they were?

They can serve as a very good indicator of how we’re doing with our high places.

The four areas:

Sports

Entertainment

Education

Health Care

If government has control of these four areas, they won’t need to maintain control of the population with a large military force.

The people will learn to love being taken care of in this way.

They will learn to love being American, I mean Greek.

How are we doing with our high places?

Are we common people who lovingly trust, serve and obey our Mighty God?

Or do we find ourselves living however we want and wondering why things are the way they are?

Are we holding a fire and making a sound that causes the enemies of God to scatter in fear?

Gideon’s obedience and declaration made a strong impression on a man of influence.

That man was Gideon’s father Joash.

Do you know what his name means?

Joash means the fire of Yahweh.

I think it had been a while since he burned for God, but now his son’s obedience had his attention.

Joash stood up for his son and encouraged the people to rethink a few things.

Maybe we’re miserable, because of our own disobedience!

God started expanding Gideon’s sphere of influence and before too long this thing started to snowball.

But Gideon still wasn’t sure, so he asked God for another sign.

Judges 6: 36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken,

Judges 6: 37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You

Judges 6: 37 will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken. ”

Judges 6: 38 And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.

But that still wasn’t enough for Gideon.

He asked for even more certainty.

Maybe 32, 000 men would booster his confidence?

But God didn’t want Gideon’s confidence to be in men or numbers or swords.

He wanted the nation to remember Who really is LORD.

He wanted Gideon to trust Him and show the people how to do the very same thing.

Let’s do things a little differently.

Tell the ones who are afraid to go home.

“So 22, 000 people returned, but 10, 000 remained. ”

That’s still too many; take them down to the water and I’ll give them a test.

He narrowed them down to 300 men and said, “Okay, everything is ready. ”

Knowing that Gideon would still need a little more encouragement, God gave him a choice.

Judges 7: 9 Now the same night it came about that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands. ”

Judges 7: 10 “But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp,

Judges 7: 11 and you will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp. ”

So Gideon said…

After coming back from the camp, he woke the men up and shared the plan God had given him.

Follow my lead!

Are we common people who lovingly trust, serve and obey our Mighty God?

We are holding a fire that can cause the enemies of God to scatter in fear?

We are able to make a sound that can cause the enemies of God to scatter in fear?

Are you ready for battle?

Have you pulled down the high places?

Will you consistently declare and demonstrate who your God is?

Common People

Mighty God!

Amen!