Gideon’s Army Lessons and Battles

The late deacon Richard Close was working on a sermon for the CCOG based to one given by the former WCG minister Jim Rector who died in 2006.

Anyway, I have worked on it and added some scriptures and certain insights. Although many changes were made, much of it is directly from Jim Rector, including when I do not say I am quoting him.

That said, the title of this sermon is Gideon’s Army: Lessons for Philadelphian Believers! This is intended to be the first part of a two part series related to this sermon.

It used to be that the story of Gideon and his army of 300 men was familiar to most Christians, Protestants, and Greco-Roman Catholics. Though that is no longer the case.

Furthermore for many Bible critics, its simplicity and ancient origin have caused it to be relegated to the level of a children's Bible tale. Nothing, however, could possibly be further from the truth! This story contains some of the most powerful teaching in all the Scriptures, and its lessons are especially applicable to believers today!

One of the amazing things about the Bible is how God is able to subtly incorporate into the simplest Biblical stories some of the most profound spiritual teaching. Surely, we are all aware of this fact, but sometimes it is easy to overlook some of the significance.

Last week, I covered the Book of Jonah and by the time I put that together, I was surprised how many different situations it applied to, and undoubtedly there were more than I covered.

The ancient story of Gideon and his army of 300 men can be seen to fall into this category. There certainly can be no doubt that it contains a number of powerful symbols and patterns that speak directly to God’s people today.

It never ceases to amaze how God is able to subtly incorporate into the simplest Biblical stories some of the most profound spiritual teaching. Surely, we are all aware of this fact, but sometimes it is easy to overlook some of the significance. The ancient story of Gideon and his army of 300 men might be seen to fall into this category. There certainly can be no doubt that it contains a number of powerful symbols and patterns that speak directly to God’s people today.

WHO WAS GIDEON?

Although many of the important lessons of this story do not necessarily involve Gideon himself.

The operative passage of Scripture dealing with this man and the many intriguing aspects of this ancient episode in the history of Israel is found in Judges 6-8.

The time setting is when Israel was ruled and led by judges, rather than an outright king, which came later.

The context of the Biblical passage with respect to Gideon reveals that Israel was at war with her enemies, the Midianites and Amalekites. In fact, it is said that the opposing armies were arrayed throughout the Jezreel Valley like grasshoppers for number. The enemy forces were well in excess of 100,000.

Let’s go to the 6^th chapter of the Book of Judges:

1 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years …

7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites, 8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; 9 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 Also I said to you, "I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell." But you have not obeyed My voice.'" (Judges 6:1, 7-10).

So, we see why Israel was having problems—disobedience.

But that did not mean God had given up on them:

¹¹ Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:11-12).

God saw something in this man Gideon that He could use to the advantage of His own purposes with respect to Israel. Even though there is no previous biblical record of Gideon being a mighty warrior, God had already perceived the nature of this man and how He could use Him. In other words, God, unlike man, is able to see beyond the past or the present. What things we call impossible, He already views as a done deal. And so it was in the case of Gideon.

It does not appear that God called Gideon because he had some long history of great achievements or many credentials to his name. He didn’t choose Gideon because he belonged to the most powerful tribe of Israel, or knew the right people, or was spiritually perfect. No, He called him because He knew that Gideon would do the work God wanted done.

You know God really hasn’t changed in all the intervening time between then and now. He still reaches out and so often chooses the least likely candidates. Remember Paul’s striking words to the Corinthians:

²⁶ For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— ³¹ that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” (I Cor. 1:26- 31).

When the angel first presented himself, Gideon responded in a fashion that has likely struck a responsive chord in many a believer’s life. Notice what he said:

¹³ Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” (Judges 6:13).

Probably many, if not all, of God’s people throughout the ages have come to difficult points in their lives where they felt the same as Gideon. He articulated a reaction with which almost all of us are familiar.

Today, especially, we look and compare the situations of first-century believers which had such dramatic public miracles with those of our own time and era and often come to the same conclusion as Gideon. Where are the power and presence of the God who worked so mightily and so demonstrably in the lives of so many saints of the past? Sometimes we too may feel as though God has abandoned us, as though He somehow works differently with human beings today than in the past --and yet it is this very past of which He has seen fit to record for us in the Scriptures.

God promises that He does not change. He is the same as He has always been -- PERFECT! This is precisely what He confirmed with Gideon in a series of very interesting questions and challenges posed to Him by this insignificant human being.

When Gideon raised this issue with the angel, he received an immediate and powerful answer. He was told:

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (Judges 6:14).

In essence, God told Gideon not to bemoan the lamentable condition of Israel, not to be distracted or overwhelmed by the circumstances, not to doubt or fear, but rather to get up and GO!

You know, God has always been like that. He has continually been seeking to move His people to get up and move on in His great power. While many have received such a call, sadly very few have ever really taken God up on His promise to be with them and truly grant them victory against overwhelming odds.

When Moses was challenged by God, what was His reaction? The situation is so similar to Gideon’s that it bears closer scrutiny. God said to him:

⁹ Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰ Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:9-10).

You probably remember Moses’ response:

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11).

Moses’ reaction was really no different than Gideon’s.

Does such a reaction sound or feel familiar to you? What I mean is have you ever felt that God might indeed be leading you in a particularly challenging direction, and instead of moving forward and embracing it, you drew back inside your protective shell rather than take the seeming risk that comes with a leap of faith?

Chances are we all have experienced just such a situation in our own lives.

In my own case, the late minister Gaylyn Bonjour –the one who anointed me and prayed that I would receive a double-portion of God’s Spirit, told me on June 29, 2012, that he appreciated that I was exercising proper caution related to it.

Furthermore, he said to ignore what happened would seem to be against the will, and possibly plan, of God.  Gaylyn Bonjour also stated that it is God, and not men, who “appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets” (1 Corinthians 12:28).

When the angel told him to go forth, that God was with him, here’s how Gideon responded:

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (Judges 6:14).

Now there is no question that both Moses and Gideon were humble men, so it is understandable that they would immediately not think themselves worthy of such a divine visitation, and certainly such a divine task. But let’s face it--In all probability they were just a little afraid, just a little uncertain that this was all really happening. After all, they simply couldn’t picture themselves doing what God had just told them they were to go and do.

Frankly, in both cases, the initial tendency was one of hesitancy, one of wanting to withdraw, one of fear and apprehension, one of disbelief, and especially one of self-centeredness. Instead of focusing upon the fact that the God of the universe was speaking directly to them and personally choosing them to serve Him, they immediately thought of themselves -- their weaknesses, their inabilities (Moses even going so far as to claim he couldn’t speak well enough for the job!), their fears, etc.

Isn’t this a powerful lesson for us as believers today? When God puts a calling on your life, don’t run away or fear or disbelieve. He has clearly shown us in the Scriptures that He never asks any of His children to do anything in which He Himself is not personally and powerfully involved. When the call of God comes upon any of us, we should be anticipating it, ready for it, able to say, “Lord, if you say it and You are with me, then here I go!”

These two episodes bring to mind the time when Christ was about to feed the 5000. It was late in the day, and the disciples urged the Savior to send the people away so that they could buy something to eat. Jesus’ immediate response wasn’t exactly what the apostles were expecting, and had we been in their place, I am quite certain that we would have been as challenged as they were.

Christ decided to test His followers, so when they suggested that the people were hungry, He made the following statement to them:

³⁷ “YOU give them something to eat.” (Mark 6:37)

Let’s analyze this incident carefully. First, the disciples had seen the Messiah perform many miracles. They were convinced that He was obviously someone very special. Secondly, they observe a real need, because the people were hungry and had no food.

Based upon what they already knew about Jesus, they should have not even been worried about the situation in the first place, but they were. And since they were, they should have known that Jesus would handle everything perfectly.

Then, when they urged Christ to send the people away, He challenged them to go and feed the people. Here’s how they reacted:

“And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” (Mark 6:37).

The disciples were baffled. So, likely were the soldiers God did not select to fight with Gideon.

The point in all of these examples is that when God tells us to do something, His desire is that we hear Him, recognize Him, understand Him, believe Him, have the faith to trust Him, and go forward with Him in fulfilling whatever the task may be. He doesn’t ask things of us and then deny us the empowerment to achieve the goal. No, the power is already there for the taking and using.

This was true with Moses, for when he complained and made excuses, God simply asked:

² So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2).

Moses must have felt a little foolish, having to have God ask such a question, when clearly he was holding a staff in his hand. This was God’s way of telling him that he didn’t need to worry about all those reasons why he might fail or not be able to carry out the task in front of him.

God was saying, “Look, Because of who I am, you don’t need anything else. You don’t need more learning; you don’t need more credentials; you don’t need more experience; you don’t need more physical strength or wisdom or knowledge; you don’t need someone else to go with you and hold your hand. YOU HAVE ME!!!!”

When Gideon reacted in virtually the same manner as Moses, God told Him:

¹⁶ “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:16).

The certainty of God’s presence and power is all that any believer ought to need. If God, after all, could create the universe, why should we doubt and draw back when He promises to be with us in an infinitely more minute matter?

Remember that when God gives you a calling, He will always supply the wherewithal required for the task.

The Apostle Paul told the Philippians:

3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; (Philippians 1:3-7)

If God has called you to be part of His family and support His work, you will not fail if you do not give up.

Period.

We all have to grow up and mature to the point that we know Him and understand Him and believe Him and rest in Him and move forward in Him. This is precisely why the great characters of the Bible seem so different to us, so lofty and venerable, causing us to pale into seeming insignificance! Such an inferior feeling is not right or good for God’s people. It is self-defeating and plays directly into the hands of the devil.

The Scriptures clearly show that God is fully able to transform, revolutionize, and empower His children. The sooner we are able to believe that the sooner we will be able to receive it. Not only should we come to intellectual terms with this in our own minds, but we really have to step out before we can ever have a true perspective of what God is doing and where He is leading us. In other words, I believe that we must grow to the point that we begin to live and act as though we were personally empowered, even if, for whatever reason, we don’t necessarily feel it. It is incumbent upon us to arrive at that place where we say to ourselves,

“I am going to start living like a BELIEVER!”

Until that happens, our lives will almost surely continue on in a routine, mediocre manner, while we talk and muse about what it would be like to really walk powerfully with God. This is the lesson that all of the great spiritual giants of the past had to learn, often the hard way!

SIFTING OUT THE ARMY!

This portion of the story is probably the most familiar, yet its signification and applicability are almost surely the most important of all the aspects. Remember that the battle is set in array against the armies of Israel. They are outnumbered by at least 3 to 1, bad odds for human beings.

Our enemies are also gathered to make war against us and the precious truth with which we have been entrusted. We are easily outmanned in this conflict, and the very battle itself is not even physical, but in the far more difficult realm of the Spirit. Paul tells us that:

¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12).

It was tough enough that Israel was facing overwhelming odds. In fact, on their own they stood virtually no chance of defeating the Amalekites and Midianites. It got even worse when God commanded Gideon to lead Israel into battle against such an enemy force and into the certain jaws of death. But enough and even more than enough for humans is not enough for God. He had other plans in mind:

1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

2 And the Lord said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.' 3 Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.'" And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. (Judges 7:1-3)

In spite of the difficult strait in which the people found themselves--oppressed on every side, their crops being stolen, their homes being taken from them, their very lives being threatened, God not only wanted them to fight an enemy that outnumbered them 10 to 1, He proceeded to tell Gideon that there were too many men in the army. If he wanted victory, he was going to have to follow a diametrically opposite course than he would naturally choose. He was going to have to lose some of his trained soldiers.

God wanted them to trust Him and He would direct their paths—that is also in Proverbs 3:5-6. And He wanted them to walk by faith not by sight, which is something that the Apostle Paul later wrote (2 Corinthians 5:7).

When God begins to act in your life or mine, do not be surprised or thrown for a loop if He leads you into a situation that, to all appearances, looks hopeless.

Remember Gideon! Don’t be further shaken if, under such trying circumstances, He tells you to take a course that seems absolutely contrary to all that is logical. Remember Gideon! Do not be unduly shocked if, at your time of testing, God should say, in essence, to you, “You have too many talents, too much money, too much power, too much charisma, too many gifts, too much leisure time, too much self-assurance, too many ways out, too many connections!! Remember Gideon!

It was not just that God decided to decrease the size of Israel’s army, God essentially put Israel to a profound test. In order to achieve the precise status that He desired, God told all the soldiers that were afraid to go home. Did He know something here? Did God sense that the element of fear was probably the most overwhelming condition in the minds of these Israelites? It goes without even saying that He did.

Are you afraid? Do you know that most people on the face of this earth are? Whether it be the fear of death, the fear of pain, the fear of sickness, the fear of failure, the fear of embarrassment, the fear of rejection, the fear of loneliness, the fear of challenge, the fear of stepping out in faith, the fear of being different, the fear of making a mistake--whatever the case may be, fear directly afflicts every person in the world--and this emphatically holds true for God’s own people, both anciently and today!

God spent a lot of time telling ancient Israel not to fear. The admonition to FEAR NOT is to be found throughout the Scriptures. The presence of fear is an indicator that faith is not present, or at least not active. It was, in fact, fear that caused the Israelites to reject God’s promise to lead them into the Promised Land. It was fear that compelled the apostle Peter to deny the Messiah three times before His death. It was fear that caused Elijah to run in terror from Jezebel and ask God to even take his life.

Jesus warned:

25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it — 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:25-33)

People fear loss of family, friends, money, jobs, social connections, etc. And that prevents many from following God when the opportunity arises.

Jesus also told a parable:

4 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold." When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"

10 And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that

'Seeing they may not see,

And hearing they may not understand.'

11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:4-15)

Fear and wrong priorities overly affect those who do not respond properly to God’s calling. Yet, those who do, bear fruit.

When God puts His people to the test, He intends to determine if it is things like fear or faith that are driving them. In the case of Gideon, He commanded that all who were afraid were to return to their homes--and 22,000 soldiers turned tail and ran. The ratio of fearful to fearless ran about 2/3. Two thirds of the army was declared unfit by God to serve in this most strategic military campaign.

Consider that in the case of the old Worldwide Church of God, 2/3rds fell away, consistent with the prophecy in Zechariah 13:7-9.

Even now, less than that are Philadelphian Christians.

Go back over the previous list of fears and see how many of them are present in your life. You may, in fact, come up with several more that aren’t even mentioned. How ready, willing, and able are we to meet the challenges of God, to step out on faith, to enter in at the straight and narrow gate, to go where perhaps even angels fear to tread, to actually follow in the footsteps of Christ? How many of us have overcome fear and walk as champions and victors with God every day in our lives? An honest and deeply personal assessment must be made in this matter by every one of us. It is absolutely crucial to what lies ahead for you and me. The story of Gideon is so very appropriate and up-to-date for us today. I urge you to take it into your most serious consideration.

This choosing process with respect to Israel’s army did not stop with this first test. True, this initial trial did weed out a huge segment of troops, but God wasn’t through yet. Next He proposed another challenge to the remaining 10,000 soldiers. Here’s what He said:

“There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will SIFT {test per NKJV} THEM for you there. If I say, This one shall go with you, he shall go; but if I say, This one shall not go with you, he shall not go” (Judges 7:4 Berean Standard Bible).

Notice the language God used. He said, “I will SIFT/test them for you.” What a statement! This whole process of choosing Gideon’s army was one of God’s sifting/testing. When you sift something it usually means that you pass the product through finer and finer sieves, so that what you end up with is the finest and most pure ingredient possible. Well, this is precisely what God was doing to the army of Israel.

In various ways God does the same thing with His spiritual people. He is almost surely doing this very thing among believers today!

What does the idea of God actually sifting His people mean in terms of simple physical sifting? Using the common example of flour, it is clear that if one wished to produce the finest product, it would be necessary to cause the grain to pass through several sieves, each one smaller than the one before. In order for the particles to continue passing through the sieves, what would be required? They would, in essence, have to become smaller and smaller. They would have to let go of themselves, so to speak, and become less and less and have more faith.

Isn’t this exactly what God wants for His people?

Yes.

And that is one reason that true Philadelphian Christians are in the minority.

Do not the Scriptures teach that human beings become great only by first becoming small? Isn’t this precisely what is said of our Savior? Here’s how Paul put it:

⁵ ”Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11).

It is this great man that we must be committed to follow. The sifting process is not pleasant. It is not what you or I would naturally choose for ourselves. We would much prefer the easier way, and, quite frankly, many of God’s people choose this way.

Remember that Peter could have thought about, prayed about, studied about, and thoroughly sought every form of advice on the subject of walking on water, but as long as he stayed in the boat, he would have only achieved an increase in relatively worthless knowledge. We all have to learn the difficult lesson that we will never know what God is really like, or fully grasp what He is doing, until we move from being a spectator to being a genuine participant--a status that is so often achieved only by defying the seeming odds, only by stepping out into the unknown, secured in the faith that God is real, God is present, and God is precisely whom He claims to be. In this regard it might be well to remember the old adage that says, when a person of true faith comes to the edge of the chasm and peers out into the darkness, he is persuaded that one of two things will happen: either he will step out onto solid ground, or he will be taught how to fly!!

In choosing Gideon, God shows us conclusively that His choice is not based upon perceived or real human greatness. He has always used ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things, and HE NEVER CHANGES! He is doing the same thing today and will continue to do so in the future.

Few Christians are among the great, powerful, wise, and noble of the world. Even among our peers in this human realm, many, if not most, of us have no real status or clout. We are, in fact, just like Gideon—who considered himself the least of the least! But remember that God looked upon this insignificant little person and called him a mighty man of valor! He sees His children, not for what they are in the flesh, but for what they are or will be in the Spirit! He looks at things that are not as though they were, because He Himself personally intends to change, give meaning to, and empower them.

Who was this Gideon? He was you and He was me--small, powerless, easily intimidated, frightened, without great human status or standing, the least of the least. In other words, he was the perfect man for the job God intended to perform through him. SO ALSO, BRETHREN, ARE WE!!

GIDEON CHALLENGES GOD

One of the most interesting and most telling things about the nature of God is His willingness to permit His people to speak openly and even boldly to Him. We see this fact demonstrated over and over again in Scripture.

In the case of Abraham, we are all familiar with his literally bargaining with God on behalf of his nephew, with respect to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Even though God had already decreed something, Abraham still knew Him well enough that He dared to be outspoken against the decision. Of course, the great thing about this episode is that God didn’t react the way we might have guessed. He wasn't put off by Abraham’s seeming effrontery. He didn’t lock Himself away in His heavenly penthouse office and deny Abraham access. No, He was open to the feelings and words of this mere man. He was easy to be entreated. He listened and interacted with Abraham. He even went so far as to encourage him to keep pushing the envelope, as it were.

This amazing exchange ought to be so very instructive to we believers today. Our God is the same God with whom Abraham dared to bargain. We need to stop and contemplate this situation for a moment. How could Abraham have had the confidence to approach the God of the universe and even broach the subject with Him in the first place? Think about it. How could he dare to do such a thing? It would seem that he would have been like most of us--just accepting whatever God decreed and never even remotely moved to bargain with Him. But such was not the case, and it not only tells us a lot about Abraham and God, but also about ourselves as children of God today.

So often, believers are led to believe, that they are not good enough to deal with God on the same terms as Abraham. Very few of us feel we could approach God as did Abraham, because we simply wouldn’t deem it proper or right or perhaps even possible!

Another striking example in this regard is Moses. You undoubtedly will recall that when God told Moses to leave Him alone that He might destroy the disobedient Israelites, Moses refused and besought God to change His mind, which indeed He did!

A little later, when Moses saw the idolatry and depraved behavior of the people, He again pleaded with God. This was, however, no ordinary prayer. Notice how Moses dared to approach God:

³¹ Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! ³² Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” (Exodus 32:31-32).

There were other instances when Moses was so bold with God that it literally defies our ability to comprehend it, or easily relate to it. He even dared to request that he be given the unspeakable privilege of actually looking upon God Himself--a petition, by the way, that was, incredibly enough, granted! Given this insight into God’s nature and mindset with respect to His approachability, it should not surprise us greatly that Gideon also took the risk and step of faith to bargain with God. It was not enough that he had encountered the angel of the Lord. It wasn’t enough that he, of all the men in Israel, was chosen to lead the people to victory. It appears, in fact, that Gideon just couldn’t bring himself to fully grasp that this event was really happening to him. I imagine that most, if not all, of us would find ourselves in the same boat were we ever to be in Gideon’s shoes!

What Gideon proceeded to do was, in a manner of speaking, issue something of a challenge to God. He said, in essence, that he really wasn’t sure about what had suddenly befallen him, so he asked God for a sign.

¹⁷ Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. ¹⁸ Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” (Judges 6:17-18).

Notice here that Gideon says “If now I have found favor,” and “Please do not depart from here.” Clearly he is aware of the chance he is taking in pushing this subject with God, but he goes on anyway.

The significance of what happened next is really outside the scope of this article, but it is important enough that we should at least touch on it. Recall that Gideon desired to present an offering to God. When God promised to wait for him to do so, Gideon immediately began the preparations.

¹⁹ So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. (Judges 6:19).

It is very interesting that this particular offering consisted of a young kid of the goats and unleavened bread. It makes you wonder if this event did not occur around the time of Passover, since these elements figure so prominently in that Festival. It also provokes certain questions with respect to precisely what this whole episode really means.

The angel of the Lord instructed Gideon to put the meat and unleavened bread on a specific rock, and when the angel touched it with the tip of his staff, fire came out of the rock and consumed the sacrifice. All of this would seem to point to a Passover theme and perhaps may be viewed as prophetic in nature, both in terms of the sacrifice of Christ, as well as the victory that God intended to achieve through Gideon himself.

It may even have a possible end-time connection. Although we haven’t yet reached the point in the narrative where the actual battle occurred, suffice it to say that the locale was the valley of Jezreel. This was a very strategic place in the history of ancient Israel, and indeed, according to Bible prophecy, figures into the future as well, for it is the general location of the infamous Armageddon, spoken of in Revelation 16 as the gathering place for the final battle of mankind against the forces of the returning Christ Himself!

Is it possible that this encounter between Gideon and his seemingly out-manned army and the forces of evil represented by the Midianites and Amalekites might be seen as an ancient type of the final conflagration at the end of the age? Is the Passover season somehow connected in the timing of such an event? Indeed, we know the Jews have longed believed that many well-known episodes in their history with respect to Divine deliverance may well have occurred at or near the time of Passover. These incidents would include such things as the victory of Abraham over the kings who kidnapped his nephew Lot, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the miraculous deliverance from Assyria when 186,000 of the enemy were slain by angels during the night, among many others. As I stated earlier, this is a side issue with respect to the spiritual lessons to be learned from Gideon’s life, but indeed something that might prove to be of great interest and importance at some point in the future.

Getting back to the subject at hand, we were analyzing the boldness of Gideon in his approach to God. First, he asked from the angel a sign that it was the Lord Himself who was speaking to him, but he didn’t stop there. He dared to push the issue even farther, by making yet another bold request of God.

³⁶ So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— ³⁷ look, I shall 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 shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” ³⁸ And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. (Judges 6:36-38).

When God, instead of rebuffing him for his lack of faith, actually granted the miraculous wish, Gideon still wasn’t convinced. So what did he do? Brethren, he dared to push the envelope with the Creator of the universe! He dared to test the very nature and character of the Almighty, and incredibly asked for yet another miraculous signal from God! Notice the following:

³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground. (Judges 6:39-40).

Any of us watching such a spectacle would be shaking our heads about now, and perhaps cringing in the expectancy of God’s harsh rebuke. But it never came. In the light of God’s patience and grace and goodness up to this point, most of us would assume that Gideon must be totally off his rocker! Wasn’t he guilty of tempting God? I mean his behavior was taking everything to the limit! But God just watched and listened and very calmly agreed to yet another miracle to assure Gideon of His promise and commission.

What this ought to tell us is that God’s people have open access to their heavenly Father. He is not some remote, unapproachable chief executive locked away in the penthouse suite. His people don’t need to check things out with His secretary and get an appointment to see Him! In fact, the Scriptures teach us that not only is God accessible, but that He is willing to hear, bear with, calmly listen to, and seriously consider whatever subject His people dare to broach with Him! Paul put it this way:

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16).

This unspeakable truth ought to fill us all with such an awareness of our great God that we should be leaping for joy! It should be like a spark that starts a fire within us. It should compel us and propel us to seek God relentlessly, to go after Him with all of our heart, strength, and being! To realize that Abraham, Moses, and Gideon went as far as they did with God and were accepted by Him ought to be so much fuel for the fire in our lives and in our relationship with our Father!

Gideon wanted to be certain that God had appointed him to this leadership task. So did I. That is why I did not rush out and leave after LCG’s presiding evangelist Dr. Roderick C. Meredith told me that God may consider me to be a prophet in 2008. Or I was anointed by Gaylyn Bonjour in 2011. In my case, only after it was clear that LCG could no longer be it, that I decided I had to act.

Will you dare to challenge God? Can you believe to the extent that will empower you to confidently go with God where you heretofore have feared to tread? Are you willing to wake up and grasp the fact that there is no limit to how far you can go in your relationship with God? Will you throw off the old chains and step out into the uncharted territory, knowing that God is with you, that He welcomes you, that He is overjoyed to see you trying your wings of faith? Will you risk your pride, your standing and status with others, your comfortable secure life, your formulaic religion, your church affiliation, your self-respect, your reputation, and go all the way with God, no matter what it takes, where it leads, or what it entails?

These are the definitive questions of the hour, and we emphatically must start asking them of ourselves. These are the things that we must bring before God in our personal prayers. He is the same today as He was when Abraham, Moses, and Gideon dared to go all the way with Him. He hasn’t changed and He never will. Go to Him now, before you read any further, and ask Him to examine your life. Seek from Him the catalyst that will trigger new spiritual life within you, that will awaken the sleeper in your heart and mind, that will propel you into a higher spiritual realm than ever before. All of these realities are available. Every provision has already been made. It is therefore incumbent upon us to receive what God has given. Take hold of it today, in faith, knowing that He will hear you, He will receive you, and He will empower you!

A TIME OF DELIVERANCE

These events that transpired in the life of Gideon occurred during a time of great spiritual malaise in Israel. She had relapsed into Baal-worship, and when God instructed Gideon to tear down the altar to the pagan god, the people of the town named him Jerubbaal, meaning Let Baal contend or Baal is his Adversary. It later came to be understood as meaning that Gideon was the enemy of Baal. His true name meant great warrior and is derived from the Hebrew word for cutting down or felling a tree. And true to his name, he indeed demolished the altar of Baal.

Baal-worship was quite prevalent at times throughout the history of ancient Israel. It was especially strong during the period of the Judges, and later under certain kings, most prominently Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel. Baal-worship, although often revealing itself in various cultic forms, generally revolved around a veneration of the creation, particularly the sun. There are even elements of Baal-worship that can be seen in modern religions, such as the sanctification of Sunday worship, a practice that is nowhere commanded in the Scriptures, and that is readily admitted by the Roman Catholic Church to have been strictly introduced by them into ostensible Christianity.

Even a casual reading of the book of Judges reveals that Israel went through a cycle of spiritual ebb and flow, spending years in paganism and subsequent impoverishment and captivity, followed by a repentance and return to God, usually due to the outstanding leadership of certain individuals through whom God worked, including at times some of the most unlikely of characters. Gideon, in fact, could be viewed as one such example.

At the time when God decided to call Gideon, Israel was at the nadir of its spiritual life, having done evil in the sight of the Lord. For seven years, God had allowed them to be dominated and cruelly treated by the Midianites. The Scriptures tell us that the oppression was so great that the Israelites had to live in caves and clefts in the mountains. Whenever the people planted crops, the enemy would invade and spoil them. Indeed things finally got so bad that Israel began to cry out to God for mercy and deliverance. It was under these circumstances that Gideon came on the scene.

We know that Gideon was not a particularly outstanding individual among the people. His father, Joash, was a pagan, and by Gideon’s own admission, his family was insignificant in Israel. Not only is this indicative of Gideon’s own personal situation, but it is also telling in that Gideon was willing to admit such a thing. In this regard, his attitude is very much like that of Moses, David, and Isaiah, all of whom, when encountered by God, immediately confessed their own sinfulness and smallness. It would not be a mistake to deduce that Gideon was almost surely a humble man-- someone who was not great in his own eyes.

This condition of the heart is very important, in fact more meaningful than great things such as knowledge, faith, courage, strength, and accomplishment. Unless or until a human being is truly humble and broken, God cannot really use that individual as He would fully desire. In so many instances, we read that God had to specially prepare His servants before they could be used in His service, and often they were not even aware of this ongoing preparatory process.

A good example is Abraham, who was forced to wait nearly 25 years before God fulfilled His promise to give him a son, through whom the great blessings would come. Or Moses, who spent 40 years in Egypt and another 40 years tending sheep in the Midian desert before God decided to confront him at the burning bush. The same could be said for Joseph, for Job, for David, and so many others. This is just the way God works, and it is the only way He works.

He has not changed His approach through the centuries of time that have passed. He is the same today as He was then. He works the same way, and we, as His people, ought to understand and anticipate this fact. We all must be prepared for what He has in store for us, both in this life and the one to come. He must have total control and free rein in our lives. The process by which He works ultimately is designed to rid us completely of ourselves--our ego and pride and desire for recognition--indeed the complete removal of everything that gets in the way of God being God in our lives!

Gideon was a broken man among many broken people. Even though he was caught up in the oppressive circumstances afflicting Israel, even though his family engaged in Baal-worship, even though he was a nobody, he was precisely the man that God chose for a task so daunting that it threw Gideon for a loop! Do not, therefore, discount or doubt the fact that God still works the same today. Could He reach down and choose you to serve Him in ways that you never imagined or perhaps even thought possible? Absolutely! He has done such things many times.

It might well do us good to realize that the conditions faced by ancient Israel at the time of Gideon’s appearance on the scene were not that much different from other such crucial situations that have afflicted God’s people down through the ages. In fact, it is very conceivable that what believers today have encountered in their lives and are even currently experiencing with respect to the sin, backsliding, and general upheaval among the churches may well comprise a very similar set of circumstances as that faced by Israel of old.

Today, there has been a major departure from the truth on the part of so many who claim to be of God. Today, there is a morass of confusion and uncertainty among thousands and thousands of God’s people. Many don’t know where to turn. Others have sought shelter in one church group after another, with only a few finding any degree of lasting and meaningful satisfaction. The need for a real spiritual breakthrough, a genuine repentance, and a powerful return to God has perhaps never been any greater than it is at this very moment in time! This is why the story of Gideon is so crucial for believers today. Gideon and the events that transpired in his life came along at a time when the spiritual condition of God’s people was very much like it is today. It was a time when deliverance was desperately needed. It was, in fact, one of those strategic moments in God’s scheme of things when He decided to powerfully intervene and change the course of history!

Gideon’s army is a type representing the Church of God today. The sifting of that army is the process by which God is so choosing from among believers even now a people for His great name. Those soldiers who were fearful were not allowed to be a part of Gideon’s army. Neither will those who live in fear and unbelief be chosen for the latter- day army of God!

The test of fear, however, was not the end of the process. God told Gideon to bring the remaining 10,000 men down to the water where He would sift them for him.

⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” ⁶ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. ⁷ Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.” ⁸ So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. (Judges 7:5-8).

Those who looked up were being diligent about the enemy and functioning properly as a soldier of Israel. The other Israelite soldiers were there, but they had different priorities.

We could say that the 300 who looked up were Philadelphian and the rest were non-Philadelphians, like Laodiceans. Many discount and despise the Philadelphians, but Jesus said that they only had “a little strength” (Revelation 3:8) and not a lot of worldly power. Notice further that the Bible says:

6 "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:

'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,'

Says the Lord of hosts.

7 'Who are you, O great mountain?

Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!

And he shall bring forth the capstone

With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'"

8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

9 "The hands of Zerubbabel

Have laid the foundation of this temple;

His hands shall also finish it.

Then you will know

That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.

10 For who has despised the day of small things?

For these seven rejoice to see

The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

They are the eyes of the Lord,

Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth." (Zechariah 4:6-10)

One of the interesting points to note in this special instance of testing and sifting is the fact that the second reduction in the size of the army was accomplished by a method known only to Gideon. There is no indication whatsoever that the men who were being so tested were aware of it at all. In fact, it wouldn’t really have been the test it was had it been handled any differently.

Let us, therefore, take into consideration what happened in this event. Is it possible that you and I will be tried in ways without our even knowing it? Would God do such a thing? The answer is a resounding yes! And we had better be aware of this possibility.

Recall if you will the spiritual condition of Samson of whom, when Delilah betrayed him and cut off his hair, it is said:

So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. (Judges 16:20).

Samson, though a judge of Israel and a man whose name is included in the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11, was so far from God that he was unable to discern that God had actually departed from him. He was so caught up in the routine of life, that he took God’s presence for granted. When he awoke from his sleep, he reacted just as he always did, assuming that things would just fall into place. Samson did not comprehend at all that he was being severely tested. Let that be an indelible lesson for us all.

In the same way, King Hezekiah, the most righteous ruler since David, was tested by God. He had been blessed like no other monarch since the glorious reign of King Solomon. God had given him riches beyond wildest imagination. He had to build special structures just to house it all. He had healed him of a deadly disease, and even made the shadow of the sun go backward ten degrees on the sundial. Yet, at the height of his blessings, God decided to test Hezekiah.

Most of us look at a time of testing as being painful, but that is not necessarily the case. Sometimes our most significant tests come when we think that everything is going well for us.

Hezekiah was visited by ambassadors from Babylon, who came to pay tribute to him, for they had heard of the great things that God had accomplished on his behalf. Instead of honoring God before these men, he spent the time showing off all the treasures he had acquired. In one of the most chilling and telling verses in the Bible, we read the following statement concerning Hezekiah:

³¹ However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart. (2 Chronicles 32:31).

I hope that the impact of those words is great upon all true believers. Samson and Hezekiah were not even aware that they were experiencing their greatest test from God, any more than did the soldiers in the army of Israel. And neither may you or I. We must be aware of this possibility and be always ready for God to test and try us, no matter what the circumstances of our lives might happen to be at any given moment. Never take anything or anyone for granted. Do not hold on too dearly to the material world and never assume that things are always right between you and God. Examine yourself, as Paul so admonished. Ask God to shine His light into your heart, as did David. In this way, you can know with confidence that God is at work in your life, and that He is pleased.

Getting back to the narrative, of the 10,000 remaining soldiers, 9,700 got down on their knees and drank water like a dog or other animal might do. From this test, God made a choice. He would use only the mere 300 men who drank by putting their cupped hand into the water and bringing it to their mouths.

Why did God act as He did in this episode? What was it about the three hundred men that caused Him to choose them?

Firstly, they had already passed the test of faith and fear. That automatically put them into a different category than most of Israel’s army. But then they drank the water in a manner dissimilar to their fellow soldiers. What did God learn about these 300 men by testing them in this way?

In order to drink the water like an animal, the method followed by virtually all of the remaining soldiers, it was required that the men first lay down their shields and likely remove their helmets or head coverings. In other words, their desire for water (they must have been famished at the time) overwhelmed their training and good judgment. They lost their focus on what was most important, and in so doing, left themselves vulnerable.

In our day, others believe that the lack of a physically close congregation is a reason to not support the CCOG.

Plus that fact that the bulk of our membership is in Africa, with our other larger congregations in India and Brazil, gets people to think that the CCOG is not large enough for God to be using to lead the final phase of the work.

Of course, having some doubts is normal. As we saw Gideon and even Moses had them, yet they obeyed.

We need to have faith that God is reliable and will not give up on us if we trust Him. We, like the 300, need to walk by faith.

God’s spirit working through His people can accomplish much more than people tend to think.

Many do not see the Philadelphian lessons from the 300 of Gideon.

Hopefully you do.

Gideon’s Battle and Yours

In the previous sermon, we discussed that God put Gideon to the test by cutting the army down from 32,000 to 300.

God teaches us that we too are like soldiers. Remember that Paul told Timothy to

“endure hardship like a GOOD SOLDIER of Jesus Christ. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer” (2 Timothy 2:3-4 Christian Standard Bible).

The admonition of not getting involved in civilian affairs is simply another way of saying that a good soldier doesn’t permit anything or anyone around him to distract his attention or cause him to lose focus.

As Christians we battle pulls and pressures from Satan, society, and our own self.

We are instructed to put on the armor of God--not just one piece or two, but every piece, for it is absolutely vital for our spiritual survival and success. Paul wrote the Ephesians:

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18).

The emphasis here is on not only the armor itself, but on the command to put all of the armor on, to leave no piece of it off, and to remain spiritually alert and aware at all times. The actions of the soldiers who lapped water like a dog were those of men who were not alert but quickly let their guard down.

As far as fiery darts go, consider that in the context of various tests, trials, and other problems you may face daily and often. We need faith, the shield of faith to deal with them.

Jesus said:

8 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)

The fact that Jesus questioned whether He would really find faith on the earth when He returns suggests that there will not be a lot of it. Hopefully, as a Philadelphian Christian, you have that faith. Do not let the fiery darts of health, financial, societal, and other issues discourage you.

God only had 300 He was going to use for the battle. As we will later see, they were not discouraged, despite being vastly outnumbered to face an enemy who physically speaking, should have been able to wipe them out.

We must remember how significantly this test to cut down to 300 was factored in to God’s choosing process, not just for ancient Israel, but for His people today as well. Becoming spiritually alive, aware, alert, and therefore active, is one of the greatest needs among true believers at this time. We all claim we want to do a work of God or for God, but we cannot be inducted into an army like unto Gideon’s unless or until we pass the testing of God. In the case of Israel, the two tests were 1) fear and unbelief; and 2) spiritual awareness, discernment, readiness, and armament. We must keep these issues in mind when we pray, when we study, when we meditate, and allow them to move us more and more into the shaping hands of God.

THE STRANGEST BATTLE!

Gideon’s army had now shrunk from its original 32,000 (and even then they were greatly outnumbered by the enemy!), to 10,000, and finally to a meager, puny 300 soldiers. Those men were now going to be required to march into battle against the most impossible odds imaginable! Think for a moment about how those 300 Israelites must have felt upon learning that they had been selected to be hurled into what, for all practical purposes, were the jaws of death! How would you feel?

One of the obvious lessons in this regard is that the calling and choosing of Gideon’s army was for a great purpose. It was a special occasion when God not only intended to give Israel victory, but He specifically designed it in such a way that He would be utterly glorified in the eyes of all the people, both friend or foe. Let us, therefore, not be shocked to learn that God’s plan for some of us today and in the near future may well be for a very specific and significant objective--something that He has in mind that will involve us not only achieving victory, but also in particularly glorifying Him.

Gideon’s 300-man army could not possibly have grasped the full impact of what was really happening until the choosing process was almost over. In the beginning, there was no indication that they were somehow special or greater, neither did they have any desire to go into battle against such fatal odds. In fact, no one in his or her right natural mind would think otherwise.

Jim Rector asserted:

I would submit to you, brethren, that the very same thing may transpire in our own experience in this regard. It is virtually a certainty, in fact, that we have yet to be really hit or affected by the impact of where God is leading us and what He is preparing us to do. Just as Gideon’s men were not notable or special among the people, neither will the believers whom God chooses and uses today so be. And, in all likelihood, those modern-day believers who are chosen by God will almost surely not want to go where He intends to send them! Don’t forget these facts as you discern the times in which you live and the calling God may be putting upon your life now or in the near future.

Will we be hesitant to follow Christ into spiritual battle? The answer to that question is simplified by directly applying it to our lives right at this very moment. In other words, are you living your life moment by moment, day by day, in readiness, prepared for battle, and indeed engaged in such warfare? Can you say with certainty and honesty that you are ready for a challenge in the spiritual realm like what faced Gideon’s army in the natural sphere? Only you can answer such hard questions and answer them you must! It is not wise to approach this whole endeavor with a futuristic mindset. In other words, do not make the common mistake of learning the truth, only to misapply it and relegate it to the back burner. Do not draw the erroneous conclusion that such Scriptural parallels and analogies as Gideon’s army point only to some future fulfillment; that they are not for you or me today. This is the easy, natural way we have of allowing the things of God to slip away from us. As long as we can take the powerful truths of God and convince ourselves that they are only applicable to the past, or that they are for some other time, or are for some other group of believers, we will always have good reason to remain right where we are and miss our chance to move on with God. This has happened to believers all through the centuries of time. In fact, it is almost commonplace, so frequently has it occurred.

The people whom God is sifting today must become time soldiers in His personal army. It is no small endeavor. God knows the frailty of our human frame. He knows that we are no more ready or able to do what He demands than a mouse or a mole! But do such circumstances bother Him? Should such conditions be a barrier too great for Him to scale? Will our weakness and apprehension cause us to fail? The answer is an emphatic and unequivocal NO!!! Remember what God told a trembling Gideon when He first appeared to him:

¹⁴ “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” Gideon asks “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? … ¹⁶ The Lord answered, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:14-16).

Jim Rector also asserted:

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have heard sincere believers conclude that without a large corporate church organization, how can anything substantive be accomplished? Have you ever felt this way? The chances are you have, even if you no longer believe that to be true. The fact is that when anyone thinks or says such things, that person is looking at reality only in the fleshly, natural realm. They do not consider the indisputable, irrevocable, monumental fact that it is GOD, not MAN that counts! He is the One behind it all, above it all, beside it all, in front of it all.

He is the One who finishes what He starts, and fulfils what He has promised. He is the One who brings to pass the things that He alone has foreseen and prophesied. He is the One and the only One who sees, understands, and calls forth that which is not! He is the One who will be with His army. It is not a question of mere human strength or ability or resources. I am thoroughly convinced that God can take a handful of truly yielded believers and accomplish more genuine spiritual good than an entire corporate church that basically functions on its own head of steam! We underestimate God so much and so often.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)

With God on our side, we cannot lose the spiritual battles we face.

When God chose Gideon, he was, quite frankly and simply, afraid. He wanted to obey God: He believed in God; but he was still filled with uncertainties. God understood this and dealt with him in a manner that quieted his fears and stirred up his courage. Even after the signs that God mercifully gave Gideon, it was not enough. Notice what God said to him:

⁸ … Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. ⁹ It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, ¹¹ and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp. (Judges 7:8-11).

This portion of the story tells us something about our own relationship with God and how we can confidently expect Him to act toward us in our times of challenge and testing. Even though He had already given Gideon powerful signs and confirmations of His presence with him, God still sensed that Gideon was hesitant to actually go through with the attack. Rather than rebuke him, however, He offered him yet one final, convincing sign.

When Gideon and his servant Purah stealthily made their way in the Midianite stronghold, they overheard a man describing a dream he had experienced. No sooner had the words left his mouth than his friend to whom he was speaking immediately told him the interpretation. He blurted out:

¹⁴ …“This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” (Judges 7:14).

It is both interesting and instructive to note that in order for Gideon to receive this final sign, he was required to actually go into the enemy camp, a very daunting and dangerous assignment. Do not therefore be surprised to find out that, in order to receive the kind of strength and courage you will need for whatever challenge you face, God may require that you also go into the camp of your enemy! If this should happen, be forearmed and forewarned, for this will be a critical moment in time for you. If you shrink back from the sign God intends to give you, it will almost surely work to your destruction. Although Gideon needed much encouragement to go forward in the power of God, he always acted with the anticipation that God would give him the direction and the empowerment that he needed. He never withdrew and permitted the odds to turn him away from God and the course that had been charted for him. Neither can we allow such a thing to transpire in our spiritual lives.

As an aside to this portion of the saga, it is interesting that God instructed Gideon to take his servant Purah with him on the mission. What was the purpose of such a command? Was it to help Gideon were he to have gotten himself into a dangerous situation? Was it so that there would be a second witness to what transpired? Was it to comfort Gideon and give him encouragement? We could pose many such questions with respect to this little known servant who participated in this event. If indeed the answers to the above queries are all affirmative, then we could possibly make a case for the servant being a physical type of the Holy Spirit. Were that to be the case, it wouldn’t be the first time such an analogy was used in Scripture.

The more one contemplates this possibility, the more compelling the evidence becomes. After all, it is the Holy Spirit that should accompany us when we go into the enemy camp. Certainly it is the Holy Spirit that is our Comforter and Encourager.

And the Holy Spirit is unquestionably a witness and testifier to the things of God. In the answers to all three questions, the Holy Spirit, on a higher plane, can be seen as fulfilling the role of Gideon’s servant under the circumstances of the story.

We must never take the Holy Spirit for granted. We must never forget that it is the power of God in our lives for our good, for our service, for our defense and protection, for a testimony in our personal relationship with God through His Son. When we are challenged in life, we must always be mindful that we have the power of the universe at our immediate disposal. That is something that we simply find both hard to realize and difficult to remember; yet our very spiritual survival, as well as our true spiritual growth, depend almost exclusively upon the activity of the Spirit in our lives. If we do not recall its presence and power with us, the chances are virtually certain that we will not be able to call upon it and utilize its ability to face and fully follow through on whatever we may experience in this calling. It is, in fact, absolutely vital that when we go into the enemy camp we make sure that our servant is by our side!

ARISE TO BATTLE!

When Gideon was made privy to the dream’s interpretation, he immediately returned to Israel’s camp and shouted:

“Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.” (Judges 7:15).

Once Gideon had been effectively prepared by God, he became an unstoppable force in carrying out his assigned task. We all know the story of what transpired next, but it probably will do us good to briefly review it.

So, a dream helped persuade Gideon.

Yet, many did not accept him.

Gideon divided up the 300 men into companies of 100 each. Then he did something quite strange. In fact, viewed from the perspective of what this minuscule army faced, it was almost laughable! Instead of giving his men extra armaments, he handed each one a trumpet and a pitcher or clay jar inside of which was a lamp.

It is probably impossible for armchair observers like ourselves to imagine what these trained soldiers must have felt when Gideon passed out the trumpets and pitchers! This had to have been the strangest situation of their lives. Not only had the army been reduced to a mere 300, but now they were expected to actually go into battle armed with trumpets and pitchers! This was lunacy!

The lives of these 300 Israelites were probably not that unlike our own, in that they had families, they worked hard, they believed in God, they followed a pattern of life that was normal and reasonable for the times in which they lived -- until one day SOMETHING HAPPENED!! That day was different, unexpected, frightening, alarming. That day was like no other day for these 300 men. It came upon them suddenly, and with little or no warning they were faced with the most momentous challenge of their lives! They encountered the Living God and were suddenly drafted into a band of soldiers to be sent into battle against unprecedented odds, armed with a trumpet and a pitcher!

What is the point? What is the lesson? Is it that, while you and I become more and more used to the routine of our lives, that God may well have other ideas and plans in mind for us? Is it that God is subject to make a decision and a move that may totally startle and frighten and unsettle even the best of His people? Is it that God can and will, if He so chooses, compel whomsoever He desires to go and speak and do things that he or she never remotely imagined possible, and that even if possible would surely never apply to them personally?

It is all this and much more! It is that there was a need for 300 soldiers. It is that God had a method, a plan, a process, by which He would choose those 300. It is that He alone would dictate the terms and conditions of operations, even if it meant resorting to what would, by all human estimations, appear to be an utterly ludicrous plan that would surely lead to certain defeat!

Although God appointed Gideon and confirmed it with a dream of another. Many doubted him.

That is not a surprise:

44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. (John 4:44)

Even after Gideon was being successful, people who were supposed to be God’s people refused to support him:

4 When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. 5 Then he said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian."

6 And the leaders of Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"

7 So Gideon said, "For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!" 8 Then he went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, "When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower!" (Judges 8:4-9)

Gideon warned those who refused to support the work God wanted done, they would be punished.

We have continually warned that Jesus taught that those who would not accept Philadelphian governance and were lukewarm about supporting the proclamation work would have to go through the Great Tribulation. Let’s see Jesus words:

14 "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'" (Revelation 3:14-22)

Just like the people would not heed Gideon’s warnings, the Laodiceans do not want to change and properly support the end time work. They believe that they are fine as they are.

Jim Rector stated:

Now, let’s stop and think for a moment. God clearly challenges us with respect to His nature, His Word, His promises, His abilities, His power, and His purpose. How? By shouting from heaven for all the world to hear - I CHANGE NOT! (Malachi 3:6).

I cannot help but wonder if most of us don’t take that statement with a certain amount of skepticism. I mean, after all, haven’t you seriously wondered why God seems to have performed one way in Abraham’s, Moses’, and David’s day, and entirely some other way with us today? In fact, it is quite feasible that some have looked at the apparent disparity between what they read in the Bible and what they have personally experienced as believers and found the difference to be huge.

Such situations, coupled with false teaching from many sources, have led God’s people into a state of mind whereby they actually have difficulty in believing God’s own words. In fact, I have heard preachers and teachers attempt to relate to their audiences by telling them that they bring upon themselves unnecessary burdens by expecting God to act as He has in the past.

I will submit to you that this erroneous approach has been remarkably successful, and has achieved what outright pagan powers could never do with true believers - persuade them that God is not really true to His Word, that He cannot be relied upon to perform as He has in the past, and that we today must look to and rely primarily upon the church or the ministry for the kind of direct intervention, influence, teaching, and leadership that God provided His servants in the past!

Brethren, this is nothing short of blasphemy and plays squarely into the hands of Satan the devil. This very thing has done more to undermine the presence and power of Christ in the Church than any other single factor. It has wormed its way into and permeated every facet and aspect of our religious experience. And it emphatically must be visualized, understood, accepted, and firmly dealt with by all of God’s true children today! The Body of Christ is SICK, and until the individual members come to the realization of this fact, and the part that they each play in the problem, things will only wax worse and worse.

Brethren, just as an experiment, just for the sheer fun of it all, let’s pretend that when God said, I CHANGE NOT, that He literally meant it! Let’s say that we are genuinely impacted by the reality of those words, and that we suddenly are hit with the realization that, if those words be true indeed, then we can actually look into the Scriptures for ourselves and discern how God is acting now and how He will do so in the future! Now, we have a situation that is dangerous--a set of circumstances that are bound to create a veritable explosion--and, believe me, just such an explosion is precisely what we desperately need to occur RIGHT NOW!!

One of the most profound lessons to be derived from the moving story of Gideon is that God is sovereign, and that He can and will do what He can and will do! The issue is, therefore, are you and I going to choose and submit to being a part of what He is absolutely going to do?

In this classic episode, God allowed His people to get into trouble spiritually. He then permitted their enemies to become greater, larger, more numerous, and better armed than were the Israelites. Next, God did something outrageous, yet perfectly in keeping with His mysterious, often unfathomable nature--He reached down and seemingly out of nowhere decided to hand-pick the biggest NOBODY in the land to lead the people into battle and ultimate victory. But being the God that He is, He didn’t stop there. Of course not! He went further and did an even more shocking thing by dispensing with 99% of Israel’s army and sifting out a mere 300 soldiers to follow Gideon into the enemy camp, and was audacious enough to equip them with such imposing weapons as trumpets and earthen clay vessels!

Folks, the voice of God is like a trumpet blasting with regard to the profound lessons of Gideon’s saga. He is, in effect, shouting to us that just as Gideon was suddenly and unexpectedly drafted into His service, so might we! He is saying that just as Gideon’s smallness and insignificance proved to be no barrier, and perhaps even a benefit, so in our lives we need not anticipate that God will use only the great and mighty! Remember that He has already said:

²⁶ For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— ³¹ that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).

Now let’s get back to Gideon’s battle:

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East; for one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen. 11 Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah; and he attacked the army while the camp felt secure. 12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.

13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres. 14 And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. 15 Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you ridiculed me, saying, 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?'" 16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17 Then he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. (Judges 8:10-17)

Gideon’s story means that modern-day believers can look for and anticipate a powerful move of God’s Spirit as they too face their greatest enemy. It signifies that God is always on the move, and that it is He who fights our battles and achieves our victories.

Gideon and his army teach us that God almost certainly has a spiritual army. Indeed, the apostle Paul admonished Timothy by saying:

³ … endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴ No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier….⁷ Consider what I say, and ^[b]may the Lord give you understanding in all things. (2 Timothy 2:3-4, 7).

This same Paul spoke to the Ephesian believers with respect to their being clad with armor from head to toe--heavenly, Godly, spiritual armor. Why?

¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11).

In fact, if we back off and take an arm’s length look at the Scriptures, particularly the Old Testament, we see a long, often detailed, chronicle of wars being waged, battles being fought, of enemies seeking to destroy the people and purpose of God, of soldiers and captains and commanders, of swords and spears and chariots. We see many of the great men and women of faith engaging in literal warfare-- Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Deborah, Barak, David, Hezekiah, Josiah, and countless unnamed battle-hardened soldiers and fighters throughout the history of ancient Israel. Why such an emphasis on warfare, battles, armies? Some might say to demonstrate the futility of physical confrontation--to prove to man that he cannot solve his problems by resorting to violence. Yes, there may well be such a lesson to be derived from the historical record the Bible gives us, but there is surely more to it than that.

Remember that, in most instances, God was the one directing the wars and battles. He was the one giving the orders and commands to kings and generals and captains on the field. It was His will being accomplished.

James tells us:

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:7-10)

Yes, resisting Satan is one of our very important battles. And we tend to have to do this every day.

God wanted the Israelites to be humbled and not think they would win by their power, but because of Him.

Furthermore, consider that one the most unusual aspect of this story has to do with how God wanted Gideon’s 300 soldiers to be armed for this impending battle against the Midianites and Amalekites. We read the account in Judges 7:

¹⁶ Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. (Judges 7:16).

Trumpets and pitchers! This sounds like a bad joke! Outnumbered over 300 to 1, Gideon arms his puny little army with trumpets and pitchers with a candle or torch in them. Can we begin to imagine what kind of faith it took for these 300 soldiers to ride off into the darkness that night? Given the circumstances, it is altogether likely that these were the only soldiers in Israel’s entire army who had the capacity to do such a thing.

Trumpets and empty pitchers! No army ever was so armed! No army was ever so chosen! No army was ever given such incredible marching orders! The significance, of course, becomes more clear, both for the 300 men, as well as for us in spiritual terms. Notice the narrative:

¹⁷ “Look at me (Gideon) and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and shout, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ”

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” ²¹ And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. ²² When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp. (Judges 7:16-22).

What an amazing story! What a remarkable spectacle! Realizing the outcome, it almost makes one wish that he was there to experience such a stupendous event!

First of all, we have the trumpets and the clay vessels with which Gideon was instructed to arm his men. What do they signify? What is their meaning for us today? Is it possible to know how these special aspects of the story actually apply to our situation? The answers are YES!

The three main elements in this crucial portion of the story are the EMPTY VESSELS, the TORCHES within them, and the TRUMPETS. How are we to understand their significance?

Remember that the main premise in our discussion of Gideon’s army is with respect to it being a pattern or blueprint for believers today. In other words, it has deeper, spiritual meaning for us. The Scriptures speak about vessels in terms of them being representative of our human lives. The ancient vessels were made from the clay. In other words, they were earthen, even as carnal man is of the earth. For instance, God called the apostle Paul a chosen vessel (Acts 9:15).

The design and purpose of a vessel was primarily to hold or contain something. In order for it to hold anything, it had to first of all be empty. This principle follows through in spiritual terms as well. We are created a vessel and soon become filled with all sorts of garbage. God’s intent is that we become vessels of honor toward Him, filled with the Holy Spirit and the life of Christ. For this to transpire, we have to be emptied of the carnal self. Only when we are empty vessels can the true light of God be placed inside.

When Paul was inspired to write the Philippians, he spoke eloquently of Jesus Christ taking upon Himself the form of a man. Notice how he put it:

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it ^[b]robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but ^[c]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8).

When Paul states that Christ made Himself nothing, the Greek actually means EMPTIED HIMSELF!! In other words, the pathway to true greatness descends rather than ascends. In order to be exalted, we must be brought low. In order to be filled, we must first be emptied.

The empty vessels of Gideon’s army were typical of the condition required by God of all those who would follow Him into true spiritual battle. But what about the torches of light carried by each of the three hundred soldiers? They too have a meaning that is special and truly indispensable for all believers today who wish to move from concept to reality in their spiritual lives and service to God.

The Bible always identifies, defines, and explains its own symbols and patterns. It should be obvious that this is so with respect to the subject of light. The Messiah often referred to Himself as the light. The apostle John writes:

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. … ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5, 14).

The light is Christ Himself. It is the desire of the Father that His Son literally take up residence in the personal, individual lives of God’s children. Paul told the Colossians that their only hope of glory was CHRIST IN THEM (Colossians 1:27). When Jesus indwells a human being, the true light of God illuminates that person. The key to understanding the connection of this truth with the special symbols of Gideon’s army is perhaps best summed up by Paul when he said:

⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. ⁸ We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— ¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:5-11).

The torches of Gideon’s soldiers, which they carried inside their earthen vessels, symbolized not only that Christ was with them, but also IN THEM! This is precisely what must transpire in the life of anyone who aspires to be a part of God’s holy army today! And how does Christ enter into one’s personal life? That reality can only occur when there is a true humbling and a genuine emptying of the self. Then comes the next step.

Remember the instructions of God to the three hundred--how they were not only just to have the torches inside the earthen vessels, but that they also were to BREAK THEM when they went into battle? This part is so significant with respect to the spiritual lives of God’s people today.

The act of breaking the vessels typified and accentuated the importance of true brokenness in the life of a believer. It was not until the vessels were broken that the light of the torches was suddenly exposed. Remember that the ultimate light is Jesus Christ. It is not enough that He only indwell us--He must also be shown forth outwardly from within us. It is not enough that His light be in us only, it must also come shining out from the midst of us. If the earthen vessel had not been broken by the soldiers, the light would have been kept inside and the plan of God totally thwarted.

The very same thing is true of Christ’s life within the believer today. His light should not be hidden, but visible for all to see, understand, and appreciate. The only way the light gets out is for the vessel to be broken. No one likes this part of the process, but it is absolutely vital to the success of God’s work within us. We each must come to terms with this reality. Unless we permit God to break us in all the right places and in all the right ways that He alone is capable of doing, the precious light that could have and should have shone in the face of darkness will appear only a slight flickering, casting dim shadows, but illuminating nothing!

In this regard, it is well that we recall Paul’s poignant words in II Corinthians 12. He was plagued with something referred to only as a thorn in the flesh. All useless speculation aside, whatever it may have been, it was causing Paul distress. Like any of us, he didn’t like the situation, so he prayed that God would remove it. When it didn’t happen, he prayed again, and then again. After the third time, a powerful truth was revealed to the apostle. In our personal struggles in this life and calling, it is imperative that we take heed to his words:

⁸ …I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. ⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak (in the flesh), then I am strong (in the Spirit) (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

Many believers have yet to learn that the secret to real spiritual empowerment is not to be found in human strength, human ideas, human efforts, human organizations, or human works. It is not produced by comfortable circumstances and smooth sailing in one’s life. It comes only through the process of genuine brokenness in the life of a believer. No matter how long one may have been a part of this church or that group, no matter how much knowledge he or she may have acquired, no matter how great a human effort in which anyone may have been involved, it is not until the point of true personal brokenness is reached that real spiritual transformation can be fully accomplished. Indeed, the breaking of the earthen vessels by Gideon’s soldiers symbolizes the reality and .significance of this crucial step in God’s procreative process.

Finally, the trumpets were blown, resulting in complete disarray, discord, and disorder throughout the enemy camp. In fact, once the trumpets were sounded, the battle commenced, and victory was achieved.

The trumpet is a very important element in Scripture. God, in fact, gave specific instructions to Israel with respect to trumpets--their design, their functions, their significance. There are many Biblical passages that have to do with the blowing of trumpets. There is even an annual holyday which was commanded to be a day of trumpets. What does the trumpet picture, and how should we understand its meaning for us today?

The trumpet is known for its sound. In this regard, it is therefore likened in Scripture to a voice--in the ultimate sense, the voice of God. When God came down upon Mt. Sinai in the presence of Israel, notice what Moses wrote:

¹⁶ Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. (Exodus 19:16-17).

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John is confronted with a spectacular heavenly vision of the Living Christ. His chilling description of this incredible event helps us make a strong connection between the trumpet and God’s voice. In the 10^th verse of Revelation 1, we read:

¹⁰ I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,”… ¹⁷ “Do not be afraid…¹⁸ I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.”  (Revelation 1:10-11, 17-18).

Clearly, the voice of God is shown to be represented by the trumpet blast. In another place, the prophet Isaiah was inspired to write:

“Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.” (Isaiah 58:1).

The full meaning of the trumpet sound is that it is the voice of Almighty God, and it can come directly from Him, or it can be manifested through the voices of His people. In the prophecy of the watchman, Ezekiel is told by God:

² “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, ³ when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people…⁷ “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.” (Ezekiel 33:2-3,7).

In the case of John’s experience, he heard the actual voice of God sounding as a trumpet. In Ezekiel’s vision, the blowing of the trumpet signified the warning message of God being delivered to the people. In both instances, the trumpet source is God, and the trumpet message is the message of God.

It is very significant that Gideon’s 300 man army was given trumpets to blow. In fact, this entire episode has such intriguing potential implications. It reminds one of certain end-time prophecies, where trumpets are seen playing a vital role. Remember that in the book of Revelation, the latter-day prophetic scenario is replete with the blowing of trumpets. In I Corinthians 15, the first resurrection is described as occurring at the last trump. And in I Thessalonians 4, we are told:

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

It should be more than of passing interest that in the case of Gideon’s army, the soldiers were not only to blow their trumpets, but they also were to SHOUT,

“The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.”

Seen in the light of a possible end-time connection, even the breaking of the earthen vessels takes on additional potential significance. If the story of Gideon’s army has a relationship with the latter-days, it would automatically be associated with the time of the resurrection from the dead. This is that special future time when the earth will give up her dead, and they shall be raised incorruptible. In this context, the breaking of the earthen vessels, thus revealing the light inside, could well be symbolic of the breaking of the surly bonds of death, when those things bound in the earth emerge bright and shining and victorious in the light of the returning Christ! Even Daniel prophesied that those who rise in this first resurrection will shine as the brightness of the firmament and like the stars forever and ever!

In like manner, just as the camp of the Midianites was turned into disarray by the breaking of the vessels, the blowing of the trumpets, and the shouting of Gideon’s soldiers, so also is it predicted that when the Messiah returns and His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives, that

It shall come to pass in that day That a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor And raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand. (Zechariah 14:13).

Virtually the very same thing occurs at the time of the end as transpired in the time of Gideon and the three hundred.

Getting back to Gideon, notice the following:

32 Now Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. 34 Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; 35 nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel. (Judges 8:32-35)

Without the governance structure under Gideon, it looks like the bulk of the Israelites strayed.

We have seen some parallels to that in our time.

In the 20^th century, Herbert W. Armstrong emphasized hierarchical governance for the Philadelphian Christians.

I want to speak on the mission of the Philadelphia Era of the Church, this Church today in comparison to the first era of the Church, the Ephesus Era of the Church. It’s been seeming more and more to me, as the years go by, that the Bible was written primarily for the Philadelphia Era of the Church … Today’s mission of the Church you will find in Matthew 24:14. And this gospel of the kingdom … that is the same gospel that Jesus preached … shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come … Restoring what had been taken away, restoring what had been taken away. So now I ask you, what is Christ coming to restore that had been taken away? What had been taken away was the government of God, the government of God (Armstrong HW. Mission of the Philadelphia Church Era, Sermon. December 17, 1983).

The Church is organized under theocratic government, hierarchical in form (Mystery of the Ages, p. 246)

The Apostle Paul wrote:

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

Notice that the purposes of hierarchical governance include preventing doctrinal error as well as unity for the church to allow each member to grow personally as well as to be able to contribute in love.

In a sermon titled Rely on God, Herbert W. Armstrong said:

KEY ISSUE IS GOVERNMENT …

THE WHOLE THING WAS GOVERNMENT! THE THING THAT SATAN TOOK AWAY WAS GOVERNMENT. THE THING THAT CHRIST IS COMING TO RESTORE IS GOVERNMENT. AND WHAT HE RAISED ME UP FOR WAS TO RESTORE GOVERNMENT IN HIS CHURCH. And the whole test, the challenge in the first place …, was a point of government. (Armstrong HW. Rely on God. Sermon, April 6, 1985)

Notice that Herbert Armstrong said God raised him up to restore church government in His church. And he did, though most end time Christians do not accept that–at least not fully–which makes them lukewarm. Yet the vast majority of ministers and congregants who were once part of the old Worldwide Church of God have rejected the government structure that scripture supports and that Herbert W. Armstrong said was essential and restored to the Philadelphian portion of the Church of God. Jim Rector, sadly, was one of those, but that does not disprove most of his comments on Gideon’s army.

In his sermon titled Challenged on April 19, 1981, Herbert W. Armstrong plainly taught:

… the government of God has been established in the Philadelphia era of God’s church.

Do not let naysayers, grumblers, and accusers of the brethren convince you that you can reject and/or push aside proper hierarchical church governance and still be Philadelphian.

God created man to be subject to many things, many forces. Human warfare has always been a part of human existence and reality. God permits it, and even has gotten intimately involved in it, not nearly so much because His main interest is in physical armies and battles and weapons, but rather to emphasize, warn, teach, prepare, and arm His people for SPIRITUAL WARFARE!! I believe that this is the most significant reason for such a focus in the Scriptures. Just as there are physical enemies among men, so are there spiritual enemies among God’s people.

We generally have not been taught to think of ourselves as soldiers engaged in true spiritual warfare, thus, we have seldom ventured out onto the real battlefield. The story of Gideon tells us that God’s army is a fighting unit, and has confrontational engagements on its agenda. If we are to become a part of what God is doing, we need to start thinking and praying and talking and acting in terms of being good soldiers, trained soldiers, prepared soldiers, equipped soldiers, active and victorious soldiers!

Paul once again hammers at this theme of spiritual warfare by saying:

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Our mindset must become one of a soldier in the army of Almighty God. We must, by faith, consider and reckon ourselves to have this status. If we do not, we can neither resist nor defeat the enemy, yet we are strictly commanded to do both!

There was something about Gideon’s army--something that somehow set them apart. Not only were they courageous and highly trained and prepared and careful, there may have been something else as well. What makes a soldier cautious? Certainly his training comes into play, but in the course of human interaction, it is almost surely the result of his having been in the fray of battle before. The strong likelihood is that these men had experienced the painful results of dropping one's armor in the presence of the enemy. Maybe they were ones who had learned the hard lessons of being wary and always armed and ready, because they still bore in their bodies the very pain and scars of injury inflicted in battle. When a man has been wounded, he learns an indelible lesson that cannot be gained in the mere intellectual study of battle plans and warfare strategy.

Have you been wounded in your spiritual battles? Have you learned the hard way that you must be careful, armed, and ready at all times, because you know your enemy is REAL, and you know it because you have met him face-to- face? If so, you are very likely headed toward being drafted into a type of Gideon’s army!

Paul once told the Galatians,

¹⁷ From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. (Galatians 6:17)

This apostle was clearly battle-worthy. So must we be in our walk with God. It is not pleasant to have wounds inflicted upon oneself in the heat of battle. It is not comfortable being in the fray. It is agonizingly hot in the fiery furnace, but remember that it wasn’t until after Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were actually cast into the roaring fire that they saw God at their side! Sometimes, brethren, you have to move in faith to where God is before you can see Him! We like to wait and wait and wait -- until we are more certain, better prepared, higher qualified, more fully equipped--until we can gather enough things to bolster our confidence and dispel our fears. But warfare is NOW, and if we are to be good soldiers, it requires that we meet and overcome fear, uncertainty, hesitancy, and become BOLD in the face of danger, CONFIDENT in the presence of the enemy, and COURAGEOUS in the battle of faith! Gideon’s little 300-man army sums up these qualities of good soldierhood that need to be a part of God’s true spiritual army today. Let us take our cue from them, be forewarned, and seek from God the kind of real preparation we need to be on the front lines of the battle.

In many ways, the story of Gideon’s army is like no other in the Bible. It is filled with deeper spiritual meaning at every turn, building to a crescendo that has very possible end-time implications. Is God still in the business of choosing out an army in our day and time? Brethren, I fully believe that He is, and that some, if not much, of what many of us have begun experiencing in the last few months and years may well be the beginning stages of just such a process.

It is incumbent on God’s people, upon those with ears to hear, that they seriously consider the story and the lessons of Gideon and his seemingly small and insignificant army. It is really more than a mere ancient story. It is an epic with great spiritual meaning, implication, and application. It may well be, in fact, one of the most momentous events in all of history, especially as we begin to witness and indeed become a part of what the great God of the universe has in store for His saints in our own day and time. Do not, therefore, allow the lesson of Gideon’s army to be lost on any of you!