Gideon – Praying Pint

88. Due to their hardness of heart.

Judges 8:22 The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)

They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Exodus 23:33     They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Psalms 106:39    Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.

Hosea 4:12-14     My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.  They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.  I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.

Isaiah 56:11     The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

John 8:43     Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

Romans 3:11     no one understands; no one seeks for God.

Ephesians 4:18     They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

What is it in your life that is a snare to you and possibly your family? What occupies your thoughts and time? What sacrifices do you make so that you have time for whatever it is that occupies your thoughts and actions? The list of what can snare us is limitless for we are very good at seeking our own interests and wants. We are very good at giving our time and energy to that which pleases our eyes, heart, and mind.

We have been given free will to choose whom we will honor and serve. Unfortunately many times the choice is made for self and self-interest and self-satisfaction. The snare for each of us is different but it is rooted in the same self-interest choices that leave no place for honoring, serving, following, and obeying Jesus Christ.

Leave no room for a snare in your heart and mind. Set your heart to humbly serve Him. Intentionally seek to understand and know Him more and more. Make decisions for eternity in line with that which honors and glorifies Jesus Christ.

86. “You have too many men.”

Judges 7:1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out 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.”

So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.

Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”

Can you imagine the thoughts going through Gideon’s mind? He has an army of around 32,000 to go up against an army to numerous to count and God says “you have too many men.” So 22,000 are allowed to leave. God says “still too many.” In the end, God uses 300 men so that Israel will not boast in their own strength but in the sovereign power, might, and awesome strength of God alone.

How many times do we face that which is overwhelming to us in our own strength and wisdom rather than seeking Jesus and laying our burden at His feet and trusting Him in total reliance? Far too many times I am sure. It is never too late to confess we were trusting in our selves. It is never too late to repent from thinking we can do it on our own. It is never too late to give it fully into the hands of Jesus.

85. Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?

Judges 6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Hosea 6:3-4     Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Isaiah 43:19-20     Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 50:2    Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?

I read this article in Share Faith Magazine and thought it had a very interesting view on Gideon’s fleece.

Gideon did not put out the fleece to figure out God’s will. He already knew God’s will. That was plain within the first thirty seconds of his meeting with the angel. He put out the fleece even though he already knew what he was supposed to do.

Gideon put out the fleece because he was faithless and unbelieving. Gideon had already seen miracles. Why did he need a wet fleece and dry ground? He laid out the fleece because He did not trust God to fulfill His promises. He knew God’s will but refused to go and do it.

Do you sometimes try to lay out the fleece before God?

Think about what you’re doing. Whether it’s figuring out if you should take the job offer, move to another area of the country, have children, buy the car, take the vacation, or start the new ministry, you don’t need fleece. You simply need faith.

God still performs miracles. God still shows His power. God still provides direction, but He doesn’t need your fleece to do it. When you think that maybe you should lay out the fleece, instead surrender in faith. God does not reveal His will by having us devise little tricks and tests to see what He will do. He is gracious and kind, but He doesn’t do stunts on demand. He guides in His own ways, on His own terms, in His own timing. That’s what sovereignty is. That’s why we can submit to God’s gracious and loving sovereignty.

Discerning God’s will isn’t voodoo or divination. We don’t need fleece, or any other techniques to figure it out. It is a matter of simple obedience and submitting to His leading, step-by-step. God is big enough to carry through without fleece, tests, or other tricks. Your “fleece” may simply be confusing you or getting in the way.

Instead of laying out the fleece or trying other techniques to figure out God’s will, merely trust and obey.

84. We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself

Judges 2:22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace.

Genesis 22:14    So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

Deuteronomy 32:36     For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free.

Exodus 17:15    And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner,

Jeremiah 23:6     In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

John 1:14    And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Psalms 22:4-5     In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.  To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

2 Corinthians 1:8-10    For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

I am not sure who wrote this but there is truth in it; “God, in the greatest difficulties, when all human assistance is vain, will make a suitable provision for the deliverance of those who trust in Him.”

Many times we need to be at the end of ourselves before we turn it over to Jesus – before we fully trust in His sovereign power and control. I wonder if we are just wired to go in our own strength fighting the burden and clawing trying to get over the hurdle until we realize it is futile and not within our strength, power, or wisdom to succeed. We try and try and try but until we get to the place (sooner is better) where we place it in the hands of Jesus with full reliance and trust in Him will we see a peaceful end to it.

Recognize early, what burden it is that you are fighting in and on your own power and turn it over to Jesus. Learn to wait on the Lord and in all things honor and glorify Him.

83. They cried out to the Lord for help.

Judges 6:1 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

The Israelites were told not to do something, specifically not to turn from God and become like the people in the land they were living in. God gave them promises of blessings and warnings. Blessings if they gave their whole heart to humbly serve, rely on, and obey Him. Warnings/curses if they did not. We can see what happens when God’s word is neglected and complacency is the norm. Drifting, sliding, and falling away from the truth of God’s word occurs when our heart and mind are filled with more and more of cultural norms than God’s word.

Why is it that we must fall away and find ourselves in trouble before we realize how far we have drifted from God. It is so easy to set aside His word and commitment to rely on Him and to obey Him. At first, His word is set aside for just one day and then one day becomes a week, and soon neglect is the norm. Reliance and obedience so easily fall in line with self-interests, wants and satisfaction. We find ourselves in a trial or troubling circumstance and wonder where God is, only to be reminded that we had left Him to go our own way.

Intentionally stay in His word. Covet it. Desire it, Learn from it. Cling to it. Seek to understand it. Learn to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.

What shall be the sign?

Genesis 15:8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

2 Kings 20:8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”

Luke 1:18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

Psalms 86:17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

Genesis 24:2-4 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

Genesis 24:13-14 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

Judges 6:36-40 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

1 Samuel 14:9-10 If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.”

Isaiah 7:11 “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

Matthew 12:38-40 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

There are certain aspects of our christian life that definitely do not need a sign from God for us to follow.

2 Peter 1:4. Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

One thing is clear, if we do not spend time cultivating a life with these foundations being hammered solid through reading and applying His word, how its it expected to see a sign from Him in whom there is not daily desire to honor, glorify, serve, follow and obey. Walking with God this side of eternity has questions which requires living active faith. Faith that is grown and cultivated through His word.

We can ask God to give us a sign but I have found many times that He confirms directions for us to follow without us needing to ask. We just need to have our heart and ears tuned in to listening for the quiet small whispers of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Do you want a sign?

Do you want to hear Him speak into your life through His word?

Do you want to see things unfold knowing God’s hand is active in plans and purposes in your life?

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. In our life of instant everything we seem have lost the ability to seek God with expectant faith anticipation.

What more shall I say

“And what more shall I say?”

Judges 13:24
And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtao

1 Samuel 2:21
And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

2:26
And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.

3:19
The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

Luke 1:80
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Hebrews 11:32
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

There are numerous accounts given where God interceded in bringing a person into the lives of the people of that time. Remember during this time of the old covenant God’s holy spirit was not continuously present with mankind. In fact there was greater than 400 year time when there were no prophets just before John the Baptist and Jesus birth. I wonder what expectations of God are on us who live with the presence of the Holy Spirit available. Do we allow ourselves to be filled, lead, instructed, convicted, supported, encouraged by the Holy Spirit? Are we listening for that quit still voice speaking into our lives? Are we willing to obey what we hear? Do we give reverence to God for any of this interceding? I ask myself this over and over again. Do I place God first? Am I listening for and to His guidance and instruction? Am I willing to obey His leading? Do I show reverence for Him? Do I see Him in the light that I want to only honor and serve Him? If I am honest there are days I can say yes to some of these and many more I do not? I have so much more room to grow in this understanding. When I catch a glimpse of His majesty I realize I am not even close to a microscopic drop on the tip of an iceberg. Oh God open my eyes, ears, mind and heart to know more of you