Gideon: God’s Choice (Part 1 of 2)

When we read the story of Gideon in the book of Judges, it's easy to get caught up in the details that might distract us from the lessons God is really teaching us.

So today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg helps us gain a fresh perspective on what is a familiar story and shows us why the obvious choice isn't always God's choice. If the preoccupation in Judges chapter 6 is with the fleece, then the preoccupation of most people in Judges chapter 7 is about the way the people drank the water. And if we are guilty of ignoring the context in chapter 6 and squeezing the fleece, then many of us have also preached somewhat dreadful sermons on why it was that people lapped rather than knelt down to drink. It's really possible for us, as we said yesterday, that in coming to passages of Scripture with which we are familiar, our very familiarity with the text prevents us from doing justice to the text. And one of the things that I'm trying to teach myself the longer I go in pastoral ministry is the necessity of coming to the text with a spirit of agnosticism—that is, not with a spirit of unbelief but with a spirit of I don't know what this means. When we always come to the text believing we know what it means, we tend, then, not to look at it with the eyes of faith, nor to look at it with the eyes of expectancy, but simply to look for the usual familiar themes which many of us have known from our infancy.

And as a result, what we do is reiterate again the same kind of emphasis that we've heard before. And so, can I encourage you, as I seek to encourage myself, to open our gaze to Judges chapter 7 with a spirit of expectancy rather than with the spirit which says, Oh, I know Judges 7, I've known it for a very long time. Of all that the story of Gideon teaches, as we said yesterday, it certainly is a vivid illustration to us of the fact, in 2 Corinthians 4, that God says of us that our treasure, the treasure of the gospel and of his grace, has been put in old clay jars so that the transcendent power might be seen to belong to God and not to us. The story of Gideon is a reminder to us that the people that God chooses to use are some of the most unlikely people at the most unlikely times, ordinary people chosen for extraordinary tasks. And the story contained in Judges 7 is certainly illustrative of the biblical principle where God speaking says, Your thoughts are not my thoughts, and neither are your ways my ways. And in the unfolding of the text, we encounter something of the reality of the sovereign purpose of God in the unfolding of his dealings with his people, and at the same time the absolute necessity of the submission of those who would serve him to his revealed purpose. Now the events in chapter 7 had been prepared for in the life of Gideon in the context that we noted yesterday, and particularly in the conversation which had ensued between the angel, the manifestation of God himself, and Gideon. For example, in the encounter in verse 15, where Gideon says to him, How can I save Israel?

My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. A reminder to us that Gideon was not the most obvious choice, but he was God's choice. And it is not important that we are the most obvious choice, that we were voted the individual most likely to succeed, that we were regarded by a jury of our peers as the one with the most potential for influence or the greatest significance. I can remember, for example, as a student at Theological College in London, sitting amongst a group of people, many of whom had already done undergraduate degrees and were doing the theology degree which I was participating in as an undergraduate, they were doing it as a postgraduate.

It has to do with the British system of education. Some of them had done engineering at Cambridge, others of them had done history in various places, and I was something of a junior in the event. And I can remember vividly—and I won't mention the individual's name, lest by some strange happenstance somebody would know him—but I remember as, on one occasion, we went around the table discussing what we felt that God had in preparation for us, I remember saying that I felt that God would have me serve as a pastor. And I remember the laugh that came from the other side of the table. And the gentleman said, "'Ha ha ha! You a pastor?

It's an impossibility.'" And it was supposed to be funny, and we all laughed. My hair was down to my shoulders, I wore platform-soled shoes, I used to buy trousers that had a 35-inch inside leg, now I buy them at 31½. Marriage has shrunk me in some senses.

But also, I no longer wear the platform-soled shoes. But I can remember thinking, yes, I am a very unlikely prospect, and maybe this guy is right. And some of us are tempted to believe those comments. Some of us arrive at a conference like this, surrounded by notebooks and smiling faces and hopes and dreams and schemes, and we say to ourselves, you know, I am not the most obvious choice for this.

That's not the issue, brother. It is whether you're God's choice. And if you're God's choice, then hell can't stand against you. Now, as a leader of the people, given this immense challenge, Gideon, presumably in light of the challenge that was before him, was reviewing his organization in light of what they were called to do. Verse 12 of chapter 7 describes the extent of the host against them.

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. He has been encountered in the phrase, God is with you, you mighty warrior. We've had the dialogue that ensues from that, and now as he recognizes the military challenge that is before him, he sets out to review his troops and to consider whether he is able to secure victory with the group that is gathered before him.

He has, we're told, some 32,000 people. And in verse 2 and following, here of chapter 7, God gives to him direction. The Lord said to Gideon, you have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. And then he explains, in order that Israel may not boast against me, become self-reliant, boast that our own strength has saved her. God is well aware of the pride that exists in the hearts of men and women, whereby we would seek to take glory to ourselves and deny the glory to God. And so God is concerned to remove the majority of the troops in order to make it unmistakably clear that the power belongs to God and not to men. God wasn't concerned to avoid defeat, but he was concerned to ensure that they knew the source of their victory. And he recognized that if they proceeded on the basis in which they found themselves, then the great temptation for them would be to become self-reliant and to say, well, it really makes sense, and we did a wonderful job. We should notice in passing that God does not give the honor of service to those who will not give to God the honor of success. Now, it may appear that we're very successful, but God has a payday coming. And on that day when we stand before him, it will become apparent whether what we were building with had to do with gold and silver and precious stones, or whether it was actually wood, hay, and stubble.

And he is the one with the register, and he is the one who will call us to an account. Therefore, it is strangely possible for us to be apparently influential and successful, and yet on that day of reckoning to discover that all of our proud boasts and all of our affirmations and all of our numbers and all of our significance and apparent success amounted to just trash from the economy of heaven. Very vulnerable place in which to find ourselves. That's why more gain is made in our lives through disappointment, through failure, through difficulty, and through tears than is made through success and through laughter. And that in seeking to shun trials, we miss blessings. And in seeking to gather around us the rudiments that would regard us as aptly ready to face the challenges, we miss the ability to be useful in the challenge. As he determines, that is, God to radically prune the numbers, showing that when he employs men and women, people in his service, he's not indebted to us for our service, but we are indebted to him for ever giving us the opportunity to serve him.

We got ourselves in a bad position when we have that little party for ourselves on our own, the self-pity party, the sort of Elijah under the broom tree deal going, I am the only one left, I am the only one who cares about anything, I am the most significant thing around here, and everyone else is a bag of whatever it is. And God says, no, I'll tell you what's the amazing thing. The amazing thing is not that you're serving me.

The amazing thing is that I would use a clown like you in my service. After all, who do you think you are? Are you strong? No. Are you mighty? No. Are you really bright? No.

So why would I use you? It's a mystery. That's right.

Now you're starting to think. Now much of contemporary evangelicalism begins with man, and the Bible always begins with God and his glory, and then man and his need, and man and his significance. Now the reduction, which is before us, takes place in two stages. First of all, we're told in verse 3 that he is to announce to the people, anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead. Now this should be no surprise. If you know your Bible, in Deuteronomy and chapter 20, the people of God were given directions as to going out to war. You may remember that. The officers were to say to the people in the army, for example, has anybody around here built a new house and not dedicated it? If you put your hand up, you've got to go home in case you died in battle and someone else dedicated your house for you. And also, the officers asked the group, has anyone got engaged recently?

Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? If you guys put up their hands, he said, okay, go home because you might die in the battle and someone else will marry her, and you don't want that to happen, do you? The guy says, you bet your life I don't. I'm out of here.

And they were gone. And then the officers shall add, this is Deuteronomy 20 verse 8, then the officers shall add, this is an interesting one. You can kind of understand that you've got to close on your house, therefore you better go back and do it, or you've got to go and finish things off with this girl that you've been hoping to marry. But then it says, is any man afraid or faint-hearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened to. There's tremendous wisdom in that, isn't there?

You know, you get in your elders' meetings or your deacons' meetings, you have to go through this. I mean, I think we should do this stuff. Anybody got something to deal with with your house, why don't you just go home?

You're preoccupied, and your girlfriend, go home. And is anybody chicken? Yeah, why don't you go home as well? Now we're starting to resonate. Okay, fine.

You just come from some of those meetings. Oh, I don't think so. Oh, we've never done it that way before.

Oh, I heard of somebody over there, and they tried it, and it was a disaster, and it just saps the jolly life out of you. Twelve men went to spy in Canaan, ten came back, had the same experience, went the same place, saw the same fruit, saw the same giants, and ten of them were faint-hearted and said, it can't be done. Two guys, Joshua and Caleb, stood up and said, let's do it. You've got to get rid of the ten and move forward with the two. It's not because the two are special, it's just because the two are trusting. They may be the most unlikely two. The ten may be the guys with wisdom. They may be the guys with acumen. They may be the guys with business background.

They may be the guys with strategic planning experience. And the only two you're left with is some old guy who's been around for 110 years, and some novice who isn't even wet behind his ears, and the two of them are saying, I think we can definitely do it. And so you've immediately got a choice. Do I go with the ten and shut the thing down, or do I go with the two?

Go with the two every time. Send the other ten home. Send them home. You say, if I send them home, they may send me home. Fine, we'll all go home. And then we'll get up in the morning, and we'll figure out what we're going to do from there.

But we're not going to have the fearful shut the thing down. It's amazing. You read the minute books of church leaderships, and Mr. Rodney Fortegeau Smythe wanted to minute his disapproval and his extreme concern over the outlandish gesture of the old blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Goodbye, Fortegeau Smythe.

Thank you. Why were they to go home? They were to go home because they would have a detrimental effect on the battle.

Get these guys out of here. We don't meet people in the battle going, I don't think we can do this. Now, that's interesting to me. I think you've picked up on the fact that I think is interesting, and that's why here, this isn't outlandish.

This is in accord with the principles that had previously been laid down. So, Gideon, here we're going to reduce the numbers. Can you imagine, of course, how that goes? He's looking at the 32,000 saying, I wonder if I've got enough here in light of all these camels. We can't even count the camels, let alone the people.

We can't count the humps, let alone the number of people that have been riding on the back of these things. And the Lord says, this is what we're going to do. Ask the folks, say to them, you know, if anybody's fearful or trembling with fear, they can turn back and leave Mount Gilead. Now, the matter-of-fact response here in verse 3b in this sentence is incredible. So, 22,000 men left.

Can you imagine? First of all, well, I'm not sure 32,000 is enough. The Lord says, let's just give anybody that wants to leave the chance to leave. So, we've got the guy who's told, you're the mighty man.

You know, you are God's man. We're going to tear this place apart. Okay, I'm not sure we've got enough. God says, don't worry about enough, let's try and pare it down. Just ask anybody who wants to go home to go home. So he stands up, and I don't know how he was feeling—we'll find out in heaven—but he says, you know, the word of the Lord is, if any of you are afraid of the prospect, then you should just leave.

And he stands, and he watches. And two-thirds of the army splits. You might have expected a few of the guys that didn't like him to leave, but this is a mass exodus. I don't want to spiritualize this or anything, but I was talking to a young man yesterday, and he said, you know, I've been there 12 months, and I've blown out half the congregation.

I said, well, you may have to blow out the other half before you can even get started. It's not unusual in Scotland to have to preach your church empty before you can preach it full. Because you'll never preach it full with these people in there. So they either get on or they get out, but you don't want them halfway. It's either cheerio or welcome, but it's not, we don't know.

We want absolute clarity. You stay in, stay in, you go and get as far away from here as possible. We don't want you all standing around on the outside going, I don't think you should have waited.

Just take off, get your stuff, and leave. And so he's got 10,000 left. That's a dramatic reduction. I went down to 10,000, and then the Lord said to Gideon, can you imagine what he's like, whoa, what's coming now?

He couldn't have imagined it. There's still too many. Now remember, this is not some kind of anti-church-growth sermon.

Although I do want you to go on record that I am well capable of such a sermon. If the first stage of the reduction is related to the morale of the army, which it clearly appears to be, then what of the second stage of the reduction? What is this about, when we get it down by another 9,700? Now, you see, it's at this point that we get into difficulties. And it's at this point that we start to get, you know, clever with our conjecture, and we get into the lappers versus the kneelers.

And this is where we impress the people with all the thing about kneeling down, and lapping, and the guy was looking while he was lapping, or kneeling while he was not looking, and all this kind of stuff. And frankly, we don't have a clue what we're talking about. We haven't got the foggiest idea in the world what we're on about, because it doesn't say.

You see? And most of the sermons that you hear preached on this have to do with somehow or another that this was a test, looking for only the alert, and all the dreamy and the careless were to go. So we would just keep the alert ones. And the alert ones were not those who were kneeling down, we tell the people, because if you were kneeling down, you couldn't be looking. How we know that is because there's a number of ways you can kneel down, but usually that's it. But if you were lapping like this, then you could be looking, and so that's it.

Oh, come on. One of the ways, have you ever thought about the fact that they might have been lapping? They might have been lying completely horizontal. In other words, these guys are clueless. I mean, if you're looking for 300 you don't want, here they are. But the way we preach the passage, we can't have that, because these have got to be the ones who are looking, because God wouldn't want ones that aren't looking, would He?

Yes, He might. Because if He wanted to make it absolutely clear that the reason for the victory was because of Him, then the most unlikely 300 would join with the most unlikely individual in order that God may be glorified, in order that the people around might say, How in the world could this ever take place? It's God. Now, I just want to say this to you in passing, and when we find ourselves asking why lapping was the sign of a better soldier, we're on the wrong track. I think we're missing the whole point. And since, you know, Grandfather George, he always told us about the lappers—see what I mean? We're not agnostic enough in coming to the passage. We just assume that, so we preach it. Now, you're a sensible man, and you have every right to disagree with me.

But think this out. Surely the object was to reduce Gideon's army to a force not of a particular kind, but a force of a particular number. The issue was not the kind of people that were left.

The issue was the number of people that were left. It wasn't that Gideon was trying to put together a small commando unit, 300 of the best and the brightest. God is not in need of 300 crack troops.

You see, He's not in need of the special and the strong and the lappers rather than the kneelers and the alert rather than the unalert. Goodness gracious, just look at your congregation. Look at your choir. If you ever doubt that God is a sense of humor, just look at the choir.

Look at these people. Now, people that are in the choir, they always send me letters. All I'm saying is the average choir is a sort of microcosm of the congregation. You look at those people, you've got a sort of small cross-section of the bigger group, and you say, are we really going to turn the world upside down with this?

And the answer is it's highly unlikely. And God says, I like it when it's that way. We will learn more about Gideon's story tomorrow in part two of this message. This is Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. If you listen regularly to our program, you know we carefully select and recommend books to supplement the daily teaching. Our current selection is geared for preschoolers and early elementary age children. It's a brand new book titled The God Contest. This is a beautiful hardcover book that tells the exciting story of Elijah's challenge to the prophets of Baal to see who is the real God, Baal or Yahweh. The author presents the storyline as a jumping-off point for you to be able to talk with your children about the importance of trusting in the one true God. The book The God Contest ends with a question prompting your children to consider what they believe by asking, what will you decide? Don't miss the opportunities that this book The God Contest provides for you to be able to talk with young children about God and to share the gospel with them. Request your copy today when you give through our mobile app or at truthforlife.org slash donate or call 888-588-7884.

I'm Bob Lapine, thanks for joining us. You've heard it said there's strength in numbers. Tomorrow we'll hear how Gideon showed us that reliance on God defies human logic for military success. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.