Mighty Man of Valor
Judges 6:11-17
11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress 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, O mighty man of valor." 13 And Gideon said to him, "Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian." 14 And the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?" 15 And he said to him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." 16 And the Lord said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man."
ESV
Mighty Man of Valor
(Judges 6:11-16)
Intro:
A. The book of Exodus opens with the Hebrew people having gone from being honored guests in the days of Joseph to being in bondage some 400 years later. Their bondage was so great they saw themselves more as a slave than the people of Jehovah. But God saw them for who they were, his children, and raised up a deliverer by the name of Moses. Now, let’s be honest, when God spoke to Moses through the burning bush, Moses didn’t want the job of leading the people. He didn’t see himself as capable. But God saw Moses for who he would be, not how he saw himself.
B. When God used Joshua to lead the people into the promised land, God told the people not to follow the gods of the land in which they were going. Instead they were to drive out all the inhabitants and worship the LORD God only. Yet, they didn’t drive out all the people and many of the Israelites began to worship the gods of the land of Canaan.
C. After Joshua, cycles of the Israelites turning to idols, God allowing people like the Philistines to raid areas of Israel and put them back into bondage or cause such devastation that the people of Israel lived in fear. In the days of the Judges the Israelites would cry out to Jehovah for help and God would raise up a judge to lead them. But their devotion to God seemed to last only the life of that judge before they would again turn to sin and idolatry.
D. Judges 6 opens with these words (READ Judges 6:1-6). The Midianites and the Amalekites were nomadic people. They grew so powerful in the region that we know their army was at least 135,000 soldiers. For 7 years they had raided the land of Israel at the time of harvest and fear was so great the people would hide in caves. They were demoralized. They were like their ancestors in Egypt.
E. Normally when they cried out God would give them a judge but listen to what happens (READ Judges 6:7-10).
F. They had chosen to follow the gods of the Amorites. They no longer obeyed the voice of God; and the words of the prophet didn’t bring hope, but condemnation. But God’s mercy, grace, love and goodness did not leave the people alone, God would again step in, but this time, God was going to show his power in a way none of them could deny.
I. Mighty Man of Valor
A. This is where we begin our study of Gideon. Read vs 11-12. The context tells us Gideon didn’t realize it was an angel, instead, he seems to think it’s some good man of Israel.
B. Let’s put the picture together. The Midianites had been coming raiding the area for seven years stealing all the grains, yet grain was a staple of their life. So instead of being out on a threshing floor where the wheat and the chaff was normally separated, Gideon was working inside a winepress trying to salvage as much grain as possible.
C. While Gideon is working there is a person that appears to him. Gideon doesn’t seem to take much notice, but also doesn’t seem to have any fear. Gideon doesn’t think he feels under attack. Instead, he is greeted in a way that Gideon simply doesn’t believe. The person, whom we know is an angle of God, says to him “Jehovah is with you, mighty warrior.” But the Gideon challenges the first part of the statement that the “LORD is with him.”
D. Read vs 13. How typical it is for many people who live in difficulty to question why God doesn’t bring the help he did in the stories of old. Gideon had simply given up hope that God would help them.
E. Jehovah continues to challenge Gideon (vs 14). Let all this sink in. Gideon doesn’t understand who he is talking to. Gideon has been polite in his reference to this person, but ties to help this man understand that he is the last choice God would really use. Gideon sees himself as nothing (vs 15).
F. This is the problem for most of us. We don’t see ourselves mighty warriors because we know the truth that we are nothing in comparison to others around us. The problem Gideon and us have, is we forget the what makes us mighty.
G. What makes us mighty people of valor is the same reason David could strike down Goliath with a stone and why Peter could walk. God often uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. But until we are willing to become the vessel for God’s plan, we will hide in our winepresses threshing wheat to try and save ourselves. Listen to vs 16.
H. The reason I said Gideon didn’t understand who this person was who was talking to him is shown to us in the following verses (READ vs 21-22).
I. I want you to understand who you are in the eyes of God. Forget defining yourself by your intelligence, your occupation, your gender, or anything else. Understand that Matthew was a tax-collector, but Jesus made him an Apostle. Joseph had become a slave, but God used him to save his family. Esther was a simply Jewish girl, but God made her into a queen who saved all the Jews. My point is God is the one who empowers you, who molds you, who uses you. You are a mighty warrior because God makes you mighty.
II. Living The Warrior Life
A. The question is not who are you, but will you live out who God has made you to be? Gideon reluctantly and after testing God several times, accepted the mission of delivering his people from the hand of the raiding Midianites.
B. We know the number of enemies was at least 135,000 soldiers. But Gideon was only able to assemble a group of 32,000 men to fight them. The odds were 4 to 1 that Gideon would lose this battle. But at least Gideon could give a strong showing of unity against raiders. God didn’t like the odds so God made them worse. Yes, you heard me correctly.
C. God told Gideon to let any man leave that was afraid to go into battle. Gideon’s army went from 32,000 to 10,000. This wasn’t looking good for Gideon who was supposed to be the mighty warrior. But God wasn’t done yet. God would decrease Gideon’s army again. God sent the 10,000 to drink from the spring. God then let Gideon have 300 men to fight 135,000 enemy raiders. This number was just right for God to make Gideon a mighty warrior.
D. That night, God let Gideon hear a dream of one of the Midianites. In that dream a soldier saw a cake of barley tumbled into their camp and turned their tent upside down. Another soldier responded that it could only mean the sword of Gideon was coming and their God had given the whole camp of the Midianites into his hands. To say that Gideon finally felt empowered would be an understatement.
E. With the 300 men surrounding the camp they blew on trumpets, smashed empty clay jars and held up torches. Jehovah caused the men in the camp to turn on one another with their swords and 120,000 men died that night and 15,000 more fled.
Conclusion:
A. Here’s the take-a-away. Gideon didn’t defeat 135,000 with 300 – God did. God wanted Gideon to see himself as empowered to do God’s will. Gideon was reluctant but God graciously and patiently encouraged Gideon.
B. You and I are called and chosen by God. We are given a mission to turn the world around us upside down with the good news of Jesus. Yet sometimes we act as if that is too big of a job or we are not capable of sharing Jesus. You are God’s mighty warrior, be who you have been chosen to be.
C. It’s time to quit complaining about hardships and become God’s conduit of good to others. It’s time to stop telling God why I can’t be holy and start living and being led by the Spirit, so that I can produce the fruit of the Spirit. Who am I? I am mighty man of valor. I am chosen by God, wrapped in his love, forgiven of my sin and given the job of letting my light shine so that God is glorified. Go and be the mighty warrior God created you to be in Christ Jesus.
Because of Jesus,
Jeffrey Dillinger, minister