Who are the end times men? The end times champions? How does God locate them? What does He talk to them about? The watchman is interested to know. He has been asked to read Gideon again. Indeed, the conversation brings great revelation for him and for his class.
God works with people of faith. In Gideon’s case, God has to start the faith journey and accommodates Gideon all the way to deliver the Israelites from their arch enemy, the Midianites.
Gideon is far from an ideal candidate to lead the people to win wars. He is hiding from the enemy and working on his meager supplies of food miserably and in shame and indignation. He is apparently disillusioned with the false gods (Baal and Asherah) his father worships as they cannot help the Israelites.
Gideon has right for his indignation for the Midianites are cruel and have often come in to kill, steal, and destroy. They stay until the land is stripped bare and the Israelites shiver in hiding and starvation. (Doesn’t this sound familiar to many Christians? The minute you repay all debts and put the broken pieces of your family together, I.e. start planting new crops, the enemy comes in as thick as locusts, with droves of camels too numerous to count, and wipe you clean! How can you trust God and hope in God?)
How God called Gideon
But God has plan for miracles. God sent an angel to Gideon, saying “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” It sounded like sarcasm instead of compliment to Gideon, so he complained, “ “Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” Gideon had heard about the Lord of his forefathers but he did not know this Lord God. He also had doubt that this Lord God could help them.
Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
The Lord did not answer him but continued to tell Gideon His plan for him. God saw something (hidden strength) that Gideon could not see. God saw him as someone who could hear God, fear God, look for miracles and believe in them, have faith in God, obey and carry out God’s mission full heartedly once convinced.
“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” Gideon’s response was real and honest.
The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” The Lord continued to assure Gideon of victory and the reason.
Gideon asked for sign
Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.” Gideon was cautious and knew how to test the angel’s statement so he would not be fooled by the wrong spirit.
The angel agreed and waited as his job was to convince Gideon the reality of the Lord God Almighty. After the test, when Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried out, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” Gideon indeed was a man who feared God. “It is all right,” the Lord replies. “Do not be afraid. You will not die.” And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the Lord is peace”).
The Lord’s turn to test Gideon’s faith
That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, ..Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. Then build an altar to the Lord your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.”This was the Lord’s turn to test Gideon’s faith. Gideon obeyed fully.
Gideon’s turn to ask for more signs
Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel.. Then the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms.. and the people responded. Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way.. He again asked God for signs. God answered him twice.
The Lord’s turn to further test Gideon
Twice the Lord spoke to Gideon about his army (initially of 32,000 men) having too many warriors. So Gideon let 22,000 (all those afraid) go home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight. They were further screened and only 300 was left. The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites.“ Gideon obeyed fully and kept only the 300 men with him (to fight 135,000). He certainly has passed the test of faith!
God gave Gideon a dream confirmation
That night the Lord said, “Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them! But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will be eager to attack.” God knew Gideon still had fear, and therefore arranged for Gideon to hear from the enemy’s mouth the prophecy of his victory!
Final test of Gideon’s faith
After Gideon heard the prophecy -enemy’s interpretation of enemy’s dream-in his favor, he believed full heartedly. So he led his 300 men to war with one hand holding a torch inside a jar, and another hand holding a ram horn. They broke the jar, revealing the blazing torches, blew the ram horn and shouted, ““A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape. When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords.
The war was thus won and the enemy never recovered -throughout the rest of Gideon’s lifetime, about forty years, the land was at peace.
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Gideon though seemingly an underdog in the eyes of men, was a mighty hero in the eyes of God. God saw in this humble man his spiritual strength. He has a heart for the true God, fears God more than men (risking his life to break the popular false god‘s altar and in its place build an altar and offered sacrifice for the true God), cares enough for his country to lead the fight (risking his life), has faith with action (to the point of being ‘ridiculous’ in the size of his ‘army’ and their ‘weapons’) -300 defeating 135,000 warriors of the enemy. No wonder he was listed in the hall of faith in the Book of Hebrews.
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