Gideon and the Midianites

The key to an impossible task is whether the Lord is with you or not. Dr. Tony Evans says when God's ready to move, nothing can stand in his way. It can be frustrating waiting on God, but you just need to know when he decides to move, he can shift the landscape overnight. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr.

Tony Evans.

Sometimes God's call comes when life feels impossible. But today, Dr. Evans shows how God equips ordinary people to do extraordinary things, even when the task seems overwhelming. Let's join him in the book of Judges as he uncovers how faith and obedience in the small things prepares for the big battles. There has been a major departure since Joshua.

The faith has not been transferred to the next generation, and so apostasy has set in with a cycle. And this cycle is The people leaving God. God judging them for their departure. The people crying out in repentance and for help. God raising up a judge, a human being who would lead in delivering them.

because of their crying out to him.

So we have this cycle in Judges. that becomes a circle of life. for the people of God, and we're extracting principles for our lives. From the book of Judges, because the Bible says that the Old Testament was written for our example.

So, we're not in the same situation of the Old Testament as a nation with conquering lands and all of that, but there are spiritual principles that are. Embedded throughout the Old Testament that apply to us in New Testament days. Verse 1 of chapter 6: The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. This is after. being undisturbed at the end of chapter five for forty years.

So for 40 gears, things are undisturbed. They are living a relatively peaceful existence. But then they depart from the Lord. And the Lord gives them over to the hands of the Midians for seven years. Again, they depart from the Lord, so the Lord gives them over.

an evil empire. The Midianites. When they were brought low, verse 6, they do what they did. They cried to the Lord. We explained a cry to the Lord was a call for deliverance.

from circumstances. This is not now I lay me down to sleep Lord, bless this food to my body. This is a desperate appeal for divine intervention.

So, when they make this desperate appeal and cry to the Lord, God sends them a prophet, a word from God. To the sons of Israel, he said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. It was I who brought you. Look at what God said. I brought you out from the land of Egypt.

I brought you out from the house of slavery. I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of your oppressors and dispossessed them before you. And I said to you, I am the Lord your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live, but you have not obeyed me.

Okay, so follow the argument of God. I did this, I did that, I did the other. It was me, it was me, it was me.

So, why are you hanging out with their gods? I brought you all through this. And now you're going to leave me for those idols.

So before he delivers them, because they've cried out for deliverance. He wants. to get at this thing straight. I am your deliverer, so I am your leader. You going to folk who didn't deliver you.

to belief systems that can't help you. forgetting you only here because I got you here. The angel of the Lord, Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.

So the Lord took him and said, Go in and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian, have I not set you? He said, Oh Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? You've got to be kidding. What are you talking about? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh.

We're nobodies. And I am the youngest in my father's house. I don't get this. Why would you be talking to me about that, given the scope of my family and my youth? But the Lord said to him, Surely, verse 16, I'll be with you.

and you shall defeat Midian as one man.

So the key, and here is our key. to an impossible task. is whether the Lord is with you or not. Whether he is guiding you. and whether he is with you.

So Gideon says to him, verse 17: If I have found favor in your sight, Then show me a sign. I need to see something. I hear you talking, but I need to see something. That it is you, the Lord, who's talking to me. I need something for real.

So you don't go anywhere. Until I come back. And he said, okay, I'll remain till you come back.

So Gideon goes to verse 19, prepares a young goat and an unleavened bread from an evo of flour. He put the meat in a basket, put the broth in the pot. And brought them to him under the oak and presented them.

Okay, here you go. And the angel of the Lord said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock and pour out the broth. And he did so. And the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread.

Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. That's too much for one day. That's just too much for one day. What he was doing was creating an altar of a sacrifice. an offering.

Would the offering be consumed by the Lord? If he's the Lord. And of course. Fire is coming out the rock, consuming the thing. The angel disappears.

Woo! Yep, I guess that was you, God. When Gideon saw verse 22, it was the angel of the Lord. Alas, O Lord God, for now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. Mm-hmm.

So the Lord said to him, Peace to you. Do not fear. You shall not die.

Now, why would he say that? Because the Bible says you cannot look on the face of God and live.

So he did not see the full expression of God, like Moses didn't see the full expression of God.

So he says, don't worry, you're not going to die.

So Gideon built an altar there, and here's one of the names of God: the Lord is peace. Because God gave him Confirmation. about his calling. of Gideon as he shared this In a sense, a communion meal. He's communing with the Lord through the sacrifice.

which is what we do with communion. To be able to see the Lord in a spiritual way face to face. On the same night, the Lord said to him, Take your father's bull. Verse twenty five And a second bull, seven years old, pull down the altar of BAAL, which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it.

Now what does that tell you? Idolatry was in his house.

So he calls him to do this big thing out here. But before I take you out there Show me you're going to follow me in here.

So He tears down the image. He fixes his own house first.

So the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die. That shows you how bad idolatry had gotten.

So idolatry had permeated. the environment. Joe Ash. His father? said to the men, verse 231, Will you contend for Baal?

Bail needs your help? Or will you deliver him? Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by mourning? If he is God, let him contend for himself. Because someone has torn down the altar.

Now, if you mess with his altar. Can you handle it? If he's real. And if he's as powerful, that it's going to make you want to kill my son. Therefore on that day, verse 32, He named him.

Jeru Bale. That is to say Let Baal contend against him. because he has torn down the altar. Let me put it in everyday English. Gideon has now been nicknamed the Bale Fighter.

So then. The stage has been set. In verse So the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon. And he blew a trumpet. He sent messages throughout Manasseh.

And they were called together to follow.

So now the word is out about the bail fighter. The word is out. This Gideon. God used something he did it at home to create notoriety now in the community.

So we got a the youngest child. In a sense, in 24 hours, has become the leader in the community. For God. Why am I bringing that out? Simple, because when God's ready to move, he can move quickly.

Subtly is the word used throughout the Bible. And that's why. When God is not seeming to work. In your circumstance? And you are wanting to be what he wants you to be.

It can be frustrating waiting on God, but you just need to know. that when he decides to move. He can shift the landscape overnight. And I've seen him do it. I've seen him do it for me.

I've seen him do it for others in various scenarios to turn something inside out. on a dime. When he's ready to move. And so now he's known as the bail fighter. He gets a nickname.

But now it's time to fight. Dr. Evans will show us what happens next when he returns with more of today's lesson in just a moment. First, though, I want to take a moment to let you know about a special resource package we are making available to our listeners. At the heart of this package is Tony's powerful book, Kingdom Authority.

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So We come to chapter seven. Jerubel That is Gideon, the balefighter, and all the people with him, they get up early in the morning. Yeah. And it's time to go fight. The Lord said to Gideon, verse 2: The people who are with you are too many.

So we're going to do this battle my way so I get the glory.

Now therefore come proclaim in the hearing of the people saying, Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart. To Mount Gilead.

So 22,000 people. Returned.

Okay, so he didn't gather them together. They all think they get ready to fight.

So he's now down to 10,000. Then the Lord said to Gideon, The people are still too many. Say what? Bring them down. to the water and I will test them for you there.

Therefore, it shall be that he of whom I say to you, the one shall go with you, he shall go with you, but every one of whom I say to you, this one shall not go with you, he shall not go.

So I'm going to let you know who's your posse and who's not.

So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps. as well as everyone who kneels to drink.

Now, the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men. But all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. The Lord said to Gideon, I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped. And will give the Midianites into your hands.

So let all the other people go, each man to his house. It says 300 men. Lap like a dog laps. The other ones knelt down to drink. If you're kneeling down to drink.

You don't see what's going on. If you're pulling up to drink. You are alert. You are watchful. The ones who stood to drink.

They were standing so they could also be alert to what was happening around them as opposed to the ones who were kneeling. And that's the kind of soldier he wanted. This was a holy war. And they would be standing alert. They would be fully committed in spite of the fact that they needed to eat and drink.

And all the other things. would be fully committed.

So we down to 300. You know, they had a couple of movies called the 300. These valiant warriors, okay?

So the 300 men. took the people's provision and the trumpets into their hands. And Gideon sent all the other men back. You can imagine how Gideon is feeling. He's had Thirty two thousand people.

Down to 300.

Now, God, I heard what you said. But you know, sometimes God's just not practical. Right, I could point to it. What you talking about? Jesus.

This is not practical. Gideon is is going to have to be um Encouraged. We can also. Verse 9.

Now the same night it came about that the Lord said to him, Arise, go down to the camp, for I have given it into your hands. But if you are afraid to go down. Go with Pura, your servant, down to the camp.

Well, a lot of good that does, you know. I'm afraid to go down. You tell me, take one person with me, all right? And you will hear what they say, and afterwards, your hands will be strengthened.

So, I'm going to give you something to help you out because I know you're shaky right now. That you may go down against the camp.

So he goes down with his servant. Behold, verse 13, when Gideon came, behold, a man was relaying a dream to his friend.

So he's overhearing a conversation about a dream. And he said, behold, I had a dream. A loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent, and struck it, so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so the tent lay flat.

So he's just talking about a dream of a loaf of bread. Rolling down into the Midian camp. Destroying the camp. He's like Luckily hearing a dream. Being spoken to a friend.

His friend replied. This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon. The son of Joash, a man of Israel, God has given Midian all the camp into his hand. When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise!

Okay. For the Lord has given the camp of Midian into the Midianites. My boy didn't found his stuff now. He didn't found his strut now. Because God uses a conversation about a dream.

A barley loaf was poor man's food. That's what poor people eat. A loaf of barley is rolling down the hill into the middle of the camp, and a loaf of barley destroys the whole camp. In other words, something insignificant and little. brings about destruction.

And he just. Happen to hear a conversation. Pay attention to God. Because he can use the most. Inconsequential events.

to be making a serious statement. particularly when you're needing confirmation. due to hesitancies. about doing a certain thing that God wants you to do.

So he divides his army up. And he's ready to go. He says, when I, verse 18, and all who are with me blow the trumpet. You shall also blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, For the Lord. And for Gideon.

Because everybody knew his name is the Baal fighter.

So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him, because they divided up into three different groups, came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch.

So they come in, like when everybody's sound asleep. When they had just posted the watch, and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitches that were in their hands.

So they make a lot of noise. When the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitches, They held the torches in their left hands. and the trumpets in their right hand for blowing. and cried, A sword for the Lord and for Gideon. Each stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran because they started out of their sleep.

They think they're being just overrun. crying out as they fled. When they blew the three hundred trumpets, The Lord set the sword of one against another, even throughout the whole army. And the army fled as far as Beth Sheetah. toward zero As far as the edge of Abel Methili and Tibet.

The men of Israel were summoned from Nephthah and Asher and Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.

So God creates such confusion. in the dark that the Midianites are fighting each other. God says to Gideon, here's our principle. Two. You do what I say do, even though it doesn't make sense.

If you will do what I say do, even though it doesn't make sense. Then I'm gonna do What I'm going to do that I'm not going to tell you. Before you see me do it. That's waiting on God. our earlier question.

You do what I say do. I know it doesn't make sense, but I've given you confirmation. And you watch. What I do. as a response to your obedience and faith.

Dr. Evans will return to conclude today's lesson in just a moment.

Now, if you'd like to have a copy of this message to review on your own or to pass along to a friend, just contact us for details on the title Gideon and the Midianites. better yet, get this message as a part of Tony's current two volume teaching series, simply titled Judges. Remember, right now for a limited time, you can get all twelve lessons in this collection as our gift. Along with Tony's powerful book, Kingdom Authority, Just visit tonyevans.org to get the details and make the arrangements. or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222.

where team members are ready to help you 24-7. And don't forget to ask how to upgrade your offer to include the Kingdom Authority Leaders Kit. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222. It doesn't take an earthquake to shake a foundation. A slow, steady shift over time will do it.

Tomorrow, Dr. Evans reveals how spiritual compromise can spread if we're not vigilant in letting God rule our decisions. Right now, though, he's back to wrap up today's lesson. Brothers and sisters, when God is ready to move. I don't care how big your enemy is.

How big your opposition is. A world is shattered by the trump of God. By the people of God. In the midst of a pagan situation, okay? Like the church of God in the midst of a pagan America.

Because we living in Midian. We are outnumbered as Christians. The secular world has abandoned God. is oppressing the church. I'm talking about a cultural reality.

And we are outnumbered. But let's do what God says do and let God take care of God.