THE WORSHIPPING WARRIOR
Text: Judges 6:17-32
17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
21 Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.
22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.
23 And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:
26 And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.
31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
1. Worshipping God Precedes Warring With The Enemy (vv. 17-22)
1) The
2) The sacrifice of worship (vv. 19-20)
3) The
2. The Peace Of God Is Preparation For Conflict (vv. 23-24)
- God gave Gideon a message of
Warren Wiersbe: Unless we’re at peace with God, we can’t face the enemy with confidence.”
- 170 times the word shalom is translated as “peace.” It carries with it the idea of wholeness, completeness, or well-being.
Shalom means harmony and balance. It is more than a mere good feeling in any one particular moment of time. Peace has to do with well-being regardless of circumstances.
The time of the Judges is characterized by a time of chaotic restlessness. Israel was in the Promised Land. It was supposed to be peaceful. It was not. The people had turned away from God. They no longer had His presence and as a result they no longer had His peace.
Our worship brings us into God’s presence. His peace inwardly prepares us for conflict outwardly.
3. The Public Battle Is Preceded By Personal Victory (vv. 25-32)
- Before Gideon was going to have some great victory on the public battlefield, he needed to have a personal victory in his own life, home life (family, village, etc).
Before Gideon could lead Israel to throw off the enemies
God was not going to bring deliverance from Midian until there was an ousting of Baal.
- God will not help us out of obvious trouble brought on by our own doing when we continue to do the very thing(s) that brought the trouble on in the first place.
Tim Keller: Gideon is being told to make God the Lord of every area of his life.
Lessons on faithfulness:
1) God proved
2) God proved