WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.480 By way of introduction, I'm just going to start by telling a story of something that 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:15.040 happened to me just over 10 years ago when I was travelling in Vietnam. 00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:16.039 I was in Hanoi. 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:18.640 One day I went for a long walk. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:24.760 I was out on my feet all day looking around, seeing what it had to offer. 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:27.120 I'd had a great day. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:33.079 And in the morning when I set off, I couldn't tell in the sunshine that our hotel, you 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:37.359 might say, wasn't in the nicest of districts. 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.880 But as I was walking home, as the sun was setting as it was going down, I realised that 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:46.920 the streets were deserted for a reason. 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:53.760 So I'm not far from the hotel and I'm walking up this long street, out of nowhere, a guy 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:59.879 on a moped, a scooter, he mounts the curb and he drives right at me. 00:00:59.879 --> 00:01:03.839 And as he gets closer to me, I don't know really what's going on. 00:01:03.839 --> 00:01:06.400 And he took a swing for me. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.200 And what he was aiming for, I was wearing a gold chain. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:10.200 I don't know how he saw it. 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:12.039 He must have had a great vision. 00:01:12.039 --> 00:01:16.400 But he saw my gold chain that I'd round my neck and he went to grab it, grab the gold 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:17.599 chain I was wearing. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:20.319 I still don't know how I managed it. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:26.199 But somehow I managed to grab it at the same time and it sort of broke and fell into my 00:01:26.199 --> 00:01:27.199 hands. 00:01:27.199 --> 00:01:34.879 At which point, I just pelted the rest of the way as quick as I could back to the hotel. 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:38.639 It's a pretty lucky escape, I think. 00:01:38.639 --> 00:01:40.519 But I've been thinking about that. 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:48.159 And I think actually, I was a bit of a fool that day because if I'd have asked around 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:54.479 or got a guide, somebody to lead me, they'd have probably told me not to walk around that 00:01:54.479 --> 00:01:59.599 part of the city, especially when it was getting dark. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:03.000 What I needed was somebody to guide me. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.439 I needed somebody to lead me. 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.120 But I thought I knew better. 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:10.359 I thought I had it sussed. 00:02:10.359 --> 00:02:11.479 I knew what I was doing. 00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:14.479 I could just fend for myself. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.919 Left myself, I led myself into danger. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:19.879 I led myself into danger. 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:24.280 A guide would have led me to safety. 00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:30.679 Now I'm telling that story because it's a picture of what goes on with us spiritually. 00:02:30.679 --> 00:02:33.039 We need to be led. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:38.839 We need to be guided with how to live. 00:02:38.839 --> 00:02:41.759 The church needs to be led. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:47.879 And praise God, we have the greatest leader, a king in fact, who we follow, the Lord Jesus 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:54.919 Christ, he's the head of the church, and he leads his church away from spiritual danger 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:59.479 to a place of spiritual safety. 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:05.479 Now Gideon, as we've met, and we're going to look more into it, Gideon is a man called 00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:07.800 to lead God's people. 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:13.359 And this evening we'll see the task that he's given is to, once he's called and once 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:19.880 he's acknowledged by God, the task that he's given is to lead his people, his family away 00:03:19.880 --> 00:03:25.280 from spiritual danger to spiritual safety. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:32.760 And in fact, that kind of sums up what God's mission in the world is today, isn't it? 00:03:32.760 --> 00:03:40.320 Both inside and outside the church is to lead people away from things that are spiritually 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:47.359 dangerous, to lead them away from that, to things that, to spiritual safety. 00:03:47.359 --> 00:03:49.879 That's what repentance is really. 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:57.519 It's what we're talking about is turning away from spiritual dangerous things that's idolatry 00:03:57.519 --> 00:04:02.000 towards things that, towards spiritual safety, towards the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:06.680 And we need people to lead us in turning, in doing that. 00:04:06.680 --> 00:04:09.039 And we lead each other in doing that. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:13.159 And we're going to look at that as we look at the life of Gideon, we're going to look 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:14.959 at that in three points. 00:04:14.959 --> 00:04:20.719 The Lord uses nobodies, we have peace with God and put your house in order. 00:04:20.719 --> 00:04:25.120 The Lord uses nobodies, we have peace with God and put your house in order. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:30.680 But before we get going with all that, I just want to set the stage a little bit in the book 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:34.959 of Judges as a whole and in this chapter. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:42.199 It's really a book that demonstrates two big things or themes, the sinfulness of man 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:45.599 and the amazing patience of God with His people. 00:04:45.599 --> 00:04:49.560 You could say that those two things carry on throughout the whole Old Testament as we 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:55.679 see the sinfulness of man, they get worse and just the patience that God had with His 00:04:55.679 --> 00:04:56.679 people. 00:04:56.679 --> 00:05:02.120 And we see that in Judges because the whole book really centers around a repeated cycle 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:03.159 of events. 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:08.960 In each event that occurs throughout the book of Judges, there's four big ideas that repeat 00:05:08.960 --> 00:05:10.920 each other in the cycle. 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:17.760 Firstly, Israel turns away from the Lord, they turn towards the idolatry and other things. 00:05:17.760 --> 00:05:19.600 So Israel turns away from the Lord. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:23.480 Secondly, the Lord sends a foreign nation to conquer them. 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:29.440 Thirdly, then the people cry out to God and then fourthly, God answers their cries by 00:05:29.440 --> 00:05:31.040 sending a deliverer. 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:37.480 And in each cycle, you're kind of hoping, expecting God's people to learn the lesson, 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:38.480 but they don't. 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:43.840 In fact, they just get worse at every cycle and it's like a spiral going down, down, down. 00:05:43.840 --> 00:05:47.759 Judges doesn't start in a great place and doesn't end in a great place. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.080 And there's this devastating line that finishes the book. 00:05:51.080 --> 00:05:55.000 It's a completely devastating indictment of where they're at. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.240 It says, in those days, there was no king in Israel. 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:02.319 Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.079 Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.319 That's a little bit like, think about me in the story that I told you. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.160 I kind of did what I thought was right in my own eyes. 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:14.879 If I'd have had somebody leading me, I'd have probably done something different. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:19.840 The whole point in the book of Judges is that Israel needs a leader, a king, and without 00:06:19.840 --> 00:06:22.600 one, they're a law unto themselves. 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:25.680 They're a law unto themselves. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:32.280 They're not staggering, despite their repeated sin, the Lord keeps rescuing them. 00:06:32.280 --> 00:06:34.120 He keeps delivering them. 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:40.600 And it just reminds us of how good and how sure His covenant promises are, how good and 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:41.600 how sure they are. 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:46.759 So that's a bit of an overview of Judges. 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:53.680 Our text today begins right in the middle of one of these cycles of those four events. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:57.639 Just look quickly with me at verses, we're going to look at verses, some of the verses 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:00.240 from 1 to 10 that just come before our passage. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.120 We get a little bit of background about what's going on. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:09.120 Verse one, the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:13.639 And the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years. 00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:18.600 Verse six, and Israel was brought very low because of Midian. 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:24.680 And the people of Israel cried out the help to the Lord. 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:26.879 See the cycle of what happens? 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:28.879 And we're in the middle of that cycle. 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:33.480 Like the cycle before, like the cycle after, the Lord sends them a delivery, this time 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:34.480 Gideon. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:36.520 Amazing patience and love. 00:07:36.520 --> 00:07:38.080 God has free people. 00:07:38.080 --> 00:07:42.640 And it's what leads us into the passage that we're looking at tonight. 00:07:42.640 --> 00:07:47.720 And so we're going to look at our first point, the Lord uses nobodies. 00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:49.880 The Lord uses nobodies. 00:07:49.880 --> 00:07:52.840 Gideons are nobody. 00:07:52.840 --> 00:07:57.760 The most unlikely person to rescue Israel. 00:07:57.760 --> 00:08:01.400 He doesn't have any of the attributes you'd expect. 00:08:01.400 --> 00:08:03.040 I mean, look at him. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:04.640 He's hiding. 00:08:04.640 --> 00:08:05.880 He's hiding. 00:08:05.880 --> 00:08:09.000 He's threshing the wheat in the wine press. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:13.560 Now normally, threshing the wheat, this would be done in the open where it was windy so 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:17.800 that when they threw up the wheat and the chaff together, the heavier wheat would fall to 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:22.199 the ground and the chaff would be the stuff that you didn't want to be blown away. 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:26.040 It's not windy in a wine press. 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:28.600 How do you, I don't know how he'd do his job in a wine press. 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:31.279 He's like a little mouse hiding what he's doing. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:33.120 Now there might be good reason for it. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:38.360 You read in verse four of chapter six that the Midianites have been devouring the produce 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:39.840 of the land. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:40.840 We read that. 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:46.200 I mean, it's hardly the image of a warrior, is it? 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:50.680 And all the time the angel of the Lord has been sat there watching him. 00:08:50.680 --> 00:08:57.960 We're not told how long before, but Gideon is unaware that he's there. 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:02.920 But when he does make himself known, the angel of the Lord, he says the strangest thing. 00:09:02.920 --> 00:09:08.920 It's the strangest thing to say, given that Gideon is doing, he's hiding, remember? 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:13.799 He said, he says, the Lord is with you. 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:15.360 And here's the strange bit. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:20.559 Oh, mighty man of Valor. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:23.199 Mighty man of Valor? 00:09:23.199 --> 00:09:24.199 Really? 00:09:24.199 --> 00:09:27.959 Are you serious? 00:09:27.959 --> 00:09:31.879 This bloke hiding, really? 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.519 And you know, the same thought goes through Gideon's head. 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:39.600 It's like, is he talking to me? 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:41.480 He mistakes him. 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:45.399 He thinks he must be talking not about him, but about the nation. 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:46.639 Look what he says back. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:55.159 He says, please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, plural, if the Lord is with us, why then 00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:57.039 has all this happened to us? 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:01.079 And where all his wonderful deeds that our Father recount to us saying did not the Lord 00:10:01.080 --> 00:10:05.560 bring us up from Egypt, but now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of 00:10:05.560 --> 00:10:06.560 Midian. 00:10:06.560 --> 00:10:12.960 But the Lord, the angel of the Lord, reasserts himself in the singular, going this might 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:25.560 of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian, did not I send you, you Gideon. 00:10:25.560 --> 00:10:30.360 The verse 15, he protests, please, Lord, how can I save Israel? 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:35.480 Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I'm the least in my Father's house. 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:38.560 He's trying to get out of it. 00:10:38.560 --> 00:10:41.800 And that's not quite right from Gideon. 00:10:41.800 --> 00:10:44.639 His clan is not the weakest in Manasseh by a long shot. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:50.919 His dad, Joash, is the organiser of Baal worship, and neither is he the least in his family. 00:10:50.919 --> 00:10:53.120 Later on, we read he gets 10 servants to help him. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.039 That doesn't sound like the least. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:11:00.759 And if your dad's the organiser of cult worship, he's not the weakest clan either. 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:03.719 So he's trying to pull the wool over his eyes. 00:11:03.719 --> 00:11:07.759 Nevertheless, his dad is the cult pagan leader. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:10.559 He's got an altar to Baal in his back garden. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:18.559 So the question comes again, is this really the right man to save Israel? 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.480 What we see is the writer, he's hinting at something else as well. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:25.600 His echoes of Moses' calling going on. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:26.600 You remember Moses? 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:28.519 Moses was an unlikely hero. 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:36.560 He grew up as an Egyptian, surrounded by Egyptian pagan idolatry, and he had very close contact 00:11:36.560 --> 00:11:40.279 to the chief of pagan worship, Pharaoh. 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:41.279 Moses was a murderer. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:44.000 Surely not the right character to deliver God's people. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.200 And he didn't want to do it either. 00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:49.680 The burning bush, what does Moses say? 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:53.239 Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? 00:11:53.239 --> 00:12:01.279 God's answer to Moses, his affirmation, it's almost identical to what he says to Gideon 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:03.279 verse 16. 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:09.199 But I will be with you. 00:12:09.199 --> 00:12:14.279 What's the point in both of those situations? 00:12:14.279 --> 00:12:19.399 God doesn't use impressive people. 00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:25.919 There's nothing really impressive, humanly speaking, about Moses or Gideon. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:33.039 And in fact, if you go through others that God uses, we see the same thing coming through. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:36.319 David, a young shepherd, really? 00:12:36.319 --> 00:12:39.319 He's going to kill a giant, are you sure? 00:12:39.319 --> 00:12:44.879 The disciples, a bunch of fishermen, really, this rabble. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:48.000 These are the last people that you would go to. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.679 In Jesus, we look at his family line, it's not pretty. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:55.039 He's born in a stable and he grows up in Nazareth. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.039 Remember what other people say? 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:01.039 What good has ever come from Nazareth? 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:06.399 God uses unimpressive people. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:12.279 And if you feel like that, this teaches and reminds us that if you're feeling genuinely 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:22.159 weak, if you don't have a great family history, if your own history is checkered with failings, 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:30.839 maybe things that you feel ashamed of, or perhaps even things that have gone on that 00:13:30.839 --> 00:13:35.919 you wouldn't want anyone else to know. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:42.919 If you feel like that, when you're part of God's people, like Gideon, like Moses, God 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:49.039 still has a plan for each of us to use us. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:53.599 You remember the Parable of the Sower? 00:13:53.599 --> 00:13:57.000 What happens to the good seed that lands on fertile soil? 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:02.399 It bears fruit 30, 60, or even 100 fold. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:10.360 So standing in society matters nothing in here. 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:14.720 What about the similar message, Parable of the Mustard Seed? 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:18.919 The Mustard Seed, the smallest seed. 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:22.639 You take, get a mustard seed and put it in your hand. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:24.360 It is pathetic. 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:29.519 If I had one and blew it, you'd never find it. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.399 If you see Jesus, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:37.360 Of all the seeds, surely, if I was choosing, I'd go for something much better. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:40.159 Wouldn't you just all go for a Brazil nut? 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:43.000 That's a miles better seed. 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:44.000 It's massive. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:47.600 No, a mustard seed. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:53.600 Looks like nothing, but goes on to be a tree where all the birds can shelter. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.199 That's what it grows. 00:14:56.200 --> 00:15:02.520 100 fold? 00:15:02.520 --> 00:15:03.520 One Corinthians. 00:15:03.520 --> 00:15:08.520 God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. 00:15:08.520 --> 00:15:11.240 God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:14.240 God chose what is low and despised in the world. 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:20.040 Even things that are not to bring to nothing, things that are, so that no human being might 00:15:20.040 --> 00:15:25.120 boast in the presence of God. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:33.120 Whatever you feel, God can use you and will use you for his glory. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:37.639 Let's move on to our second point. 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:42.480 We have peace with God. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:47.240 Now you might have noticed that at this point, Gideon still doesn't know who he's speaking 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:49.240 to. 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:50.240 He's got a vague idea. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:57.480 I think we can pick that up, but he's cautious and he wants a sign to know exactly who it 00:15:57.480 --> 00:15:58.480 is. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:03.759 This uncertainty in Gideon's life, this sort of almost a lack of faith is something that 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:07.240 comes up again and again in Gideon's life. 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:11.519 And again, it's very similar to Moses. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:15.879 Remember Moses, the burning bush, the Lord tells him, like he tells Gideon, I'm with 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:17.399 you. 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:20.360 What does Moses replace this? 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:23.199 People won't believe me when I go. 00:16:23.199 --> 00:16:24.199 Moses, what does he get? 00:16:24.199 --> 00:16:25.199 He gets a sign. 00:16:25.199 --> 00:16:27.399 Throw down your staff, says the Lord. 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:28.840 It turns into a snake. 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:31.000 Now put your hand out, says the Lord. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:34.240 Moses catches the servant by the tail and it turns back into a staff. 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:35.519 He wants a sign. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:37.519 It's just like Gideon. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:38.919 He wants to know. 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:44.519 Verse 17, if now I have found favour in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:46.079 speak with me. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:50.280 He's do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present or my offering 00:16:50.280 --> 00:16:52.240 and set it before you. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:57.360 And he said, that's the end of the Lord speaking, I will stay till you return. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:01.040 And so Gideon goes and prepares a gift, an offering. 00:17:01.040 --> 00:17:03.639 And it's a huge offering. 00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:04.640 Just look at what we have. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:09.880 We've got a young goat and this is the big, that staggers me, unleavened cakes but made 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:11.600 from an eapot of flour. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:17.839 Now just to give you an idea, an eapot of flour is about 22 litres of flour. 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:19.759 That is loads of flour. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:21.480 That's an incredible amount of food. 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:22.480 It's massive. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:25.399 It's just a ridiculous amount of food. 00:17:25.399 --> 00:17:31.159 Whoever this is, whatever sort of gift it is, he knows that he can't eat all that. 00:17:31.159 --> 00:17:32.159 And so there's a hint. 00:17:32.159 --> 00:17:35.199 Gideon knows he's talking to someone special. 00:17:35.199 --> 00:17:40.599 An offering that size is only reserved for a deity. 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:46.119 He places the offering on a rock following the angel's instruction and the angel uses 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:49.639 staff to touch the offering. 00:17:49.639 --> 00:17:53.119 Notice link again, Moses staff used in a sign, all pointers. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:58.000 And fire we read, springs up from the rock and consumes the offering. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.719 It's a miraculous sign. 00:18:01.719 --> 00:18:04.199 Let's just go over what happened. 00:18:04.199 --> 00:18:09.480 The logic of it, Gideon asks for a sign to confirm that he's found favour. 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:10.480 This way he asks for a sign. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:14.720 He wants to know that he's got favour with this, with this, whoever it is, because he's 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:16.200 not quite sure. 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.839 The angel, the Lord, accepts his offering and performs this miraculous sign. 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:25.680 Hence, Gideon should, shouldn't he, deduce that he's found favour. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:28.559 That's the obvious way that this works out for him. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:33.319 He says, I need a sign to know I've got favour. 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:35.240 Surely that's what he should think now. 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:36.240 He's had a sign. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:37.240 I've got favour. 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:43.559 It's not a sign he gets a sign, but the angel, the Lord, disappears and on disappearing 00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:50.120 and the sign, he realises who he's been speaking with, that it was the Lord. 00:18:50.120 --> 00:18:53.120 And his response, fear. 00:18:53.120 --> 00:19:00.359 Alas, O Lord God, for now I've seen the angel of the Lord face to face. 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:05.799 What's he afraid of? 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:08.680 The link back to Moses again. 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:11.039 What does the Lord say to Moses at the top of my sign? 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:14.039 I know one can see my face and live. 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:20.680 The angel of the Lord is a manifestation of the Lord himself, is what we realise. 00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:23.480 Gideon's thinking, oh, crumbs. 00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:25.519 How did it know it was the Lord I was speaking with? 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:27.519 I'm such an idiot. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:28.519 That's it for me now. 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:29.519 I've had it. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:34.799 Alas, O Lord God, for now I've seen the angel of the Lord face to face. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:39.799 The Lord's response. 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:50.200 Verse 23, peace be to you. 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:56.119 Do not fear, you shall not die. 00:19:56.119 --> 00:20:01.200 Because of course he has found favour. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:08.000 This encounter with the Lord himself is proof, the whole incident that he's accepted before 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.500 the Lord. 00:20:09.500 --> 00:20:13.920 His offering was accepted because he had peace with God. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:21.319 Gideon has peace with Almighty God. 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:26.440 Now what I'm going to say next, I don't want you to mishear me. 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:28.440 Gideon responds with fear. 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:32.000 And there is a right way to fear the Lord, and we should all have that. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:33.840 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:34.840 Proverbs 1 verse 7. 00:20:34.840 --> 00:20:39.559 There is a right way to fear the Lord that is captured by reverence and awe. 00:20:39.559 --> 00:20:44.039 You think of Isaiah before the Lord, woys me for I'm a man of unclean lips when we see 00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:45.759 Isaiah there. 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:49.480 There's genuine godly fear, reverence and awe. 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:54.519 God sees himself in light of God's holiness. 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:57.360 That's not what we see in Gideon. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:03.119 It's not genuine godly fear, reverence and awe, but human here because he wants to look, 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:04.919 he's worried about himself. 00:21:04.919 --> 00:21:09.679 It's human fear because he's scared for his own where he's going to go. 00:21:09.679 --> 00:21:16.000 And it highlights to us that he didn't really believe in the Word that came beforehand. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.479 He asked for a sign for favour. 00:21:18.479 --> 00:21:20.759 He gets a sign, but he doesn't believe he has it. 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:22.119 The sign wasn't enough. 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:24.799 He thinks he's going to die. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.399 Isaiah doesn't think like that when he encounters the Lord. 00:21:27.399 --> 00:21:38.720 He sees his sinfulness in light of God's holiness, but Gideon just fears for his life. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:43.559 We can all be a bit like Gideon. 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:47.839 We can all be a bit like Gideon. 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:52.359 How do you know you have peace with God today? 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:53.359 Do you know that? 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:54.359 Maybe you don't. 00:21:54.359 --> 00:22:00.199 You don't know how do we know we have peace with God? 00:22:00.199 --> 00:22:04.919 The answer is we look at Tukalvary. 00:22:04.919 --> 00:22:05.919 We look to the cross. 00:22:05.919 --> 00:22:06.919 That's how we know. 00:22:06.919 --> 00:22:12.919 Romans 5, 8, for God demonstrates, he demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still 00:22:12.919 --> 00:22:16.919 sinners Christ died for us. 00:22:16.919 --> 00:22:23.079 It is a sign, but it's more than a sign because it's the mechanism by which we have 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:24.679 favor with God. 00:22:24.679 --> 00:22:30.519 It's the reason we have favor and peace with the Almighty. 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:38.079 You will see the Lord face to face and live. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:45.119 For Christ died once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:48.199 If you want to look anyway to know if you've got the Lord's favor to know whether you're 00:22:48.199 --> 00:22:52.919 accepted by him, we don't need a sign. 00:22:52.920 --> 00:23:00.120 We look to a crucified Savior where all your failings and faults, sins and transgressions 00:23:00.120 --> 00:23:03.000 have been removed, placed on his head. 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:07.039 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us what? 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:13.039 Peace. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:18.160 So we thought about Gideon being called, that he has favor with the Lord, but what's the 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:20.039 purpose he's called for? 00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:25.480 Now, we're in the book of Judges and if we're listening earlier to that repeated cycle, 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:30.399 you're probably thinking he's going to deliver Israel from the Midianites. 00:23:30.399 --> 00:23:33.279 He's going to deliver Israel from the Midianites. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:36.839 But that is not Israel's biggest problem. 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:39.960 That is not Israel's biggest problem. 00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:43.759 As we look at our third point, put your house in order. 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:45.960 Put your house in order. 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:49.680 Before we jump into this point, let's just pause, remind ourselves of the situation we 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:51.360 gave you and his family. 00:23:51.360 --> 00:23:52.880 So Josh is his dad. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:57.360 I mentioned earlier, he's responsible for setting up the Baal altar in the clan in his 00:23:57.360 --> 00:23:58.360 family. 00:23:58.360 --> 00:24:04.840 So we know, if that's his dad, that it's more than probably likely that he's been raised 00:24:04.840 --> 00:24:06.440 on idol worship. 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:08.799 That would have been in his family. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:13.080 Gideon must cleanse his own house before embarking on God's mission. 00:24:13.080 --> 00:24:17.200 Before he goes to battle with the Midianites, you think the fundamental test of covenant 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:22.120 relationship with Yahweh is, you shall have no other gods before me. 00:24:22.120 --> 00:24:28.039 He can't serve the Lord in battle whilst the family worship Baal at home. 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:29.480 This is the crux of it all. 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:33.960 The real problem with Israel is not the Midianite oppression, but the spiritual layer of the 00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:36.519 land, the idolatry of Israel. 00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:37.720 And so what happens? 00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:39.920 Gideon follows the Lord's commands. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:43.559 He uses his dad's bull to tear down the Baal altar. 00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:46.240 And then the same bull that he uses to tear down the altar. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:51.400 He offers that bull, and then he uses, he cuts down the Asherah poles that are made of wood, 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:58.039 and he uses these wooden poles as fuel to burn the bull. 00:24:58.039 --> 00:24:59.359 He does it at night. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:04.079 He's still afraid because he knows that his clan will defend their idol before they defend 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:06.640 him. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:11.599 The next day comes, it all comes to light, what's going on, and they want to kill him. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:19.679 In those days, the head of the household was accountable, if you like, for the actions 00:25:19.679 --> 00:25:21.359 of family members. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:27.159 So it's Jewish that they go to, they order Jewish to hand over because they're going 00:25:27.159 --> 00:25:29.199 to execute him. 00:25:29.199 --> 00:25:36.399 The irony of it all is the sentence of death which the idolaters, the clan deserve, is 00:25:36.399 --> 00:25:41.039 what they pronounce over the one who's destroyed the idol. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:44.559 We can see how far Israel has gone. 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:47.599 It is completely pagan. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:54.200 Isn't it amazing that the Lord's still interested in delivering them? 00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:56.759 But Josh is dead, he stands up to the men. 00:25:56.759 --> 00:26:00.960 In the heat of the moment his son matters more. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:06.559 Baal has been totally humiliated, a God that can't save himself but needs to be saved by 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:08.559 the people. 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:14.440 Thus the Iwam, if Baal really is a God, let him defend himself. 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:16.000 The truth is he can't. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:19.000 Baal can't defend himself and he can't save. 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:20.559 He's all smashed. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.720 Gideon, what are we seeing then? 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:28.359 Gideon has led his clan, his family, away from idol worship. 00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:31.240 He's put his own house in order. 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:36.679 He's led them away from spiritual danger. 00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:43.920 He's led them away from spiritual danger to spiritual safety. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:49.640 As many of you know, we've just moved house to Winchborough and for those of you who've 00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:54.480 moved before, the first few weeks when you move is chaos, isn't it? 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:55.480 It's total chaos. 00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:58.759 Half your stuff's in boxes and bags. 00:26:58.759 --> 00:27:02.600 You've forgotten which stuff is in which box. 00:27:02.600 --> 00:27:04.320 So you can't really move on with your life. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:08.720 You end up just moving stuff in and out of rooms, deciding where it's going to go and 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:12.559 you can't really sort of get on with normal life until everything's sorted. 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:14.200 You need to get it in order. 00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:19.399 The only real people that can sort it out is me and Annabelle. 00:27:19.399 --> 00:27:21.960 We have to sort out our own house. 00:27:21.960 --> 00:27:25.039 We have that responsibility. 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:31.559 And so the only real people who can sort out Israel, we've got Gideon here, but the same 00:27:31.559 --> 00:27:34.359 comes when we think about the church. 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:39.559 Of course Jesus is the head of the church, but he's given it if you like. 00:27:39.559 --> 00:27:46.200 We as the church, we need, there's times when we need to put our own house in order. 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:50.240 We need to lead the church in making sure that we do that. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:56.679 Is that the job of someone in a formal leadership position, you know, the minister, the elders? 00:27:56.679 --> 00:27:58.039 Yeah. 00:27:58.039 --> 00:28:02.799 Of course God has made the church, he's set it up in such a way that we have people called 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:07.119 and set apart to do that and praise God for that. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:08.799 But it's not them only. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:16.200 We are all leaders in one way or another, whether your parents leading each other or 00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:21.440 husbands leading their wives, parents leading their children, whether they are older folk, 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.720 leading the younger folk, or whether you're dealing in Sunday school, or whether you're 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.319 just leading one another, helping one another. 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:36.039 We must lead one another and deal, what we learn from this is it is radical what Gideon 00:28:36.039 --> 00:28:43.799 does and we must be radical with our own idolatry within the church, in one another, when you 00:28:43.799 --> 00:28:48.279 see it in Sunday Al-Sum, when you see it in yourself. 00:28:48.279 --> 00:28:50.759 We must, what do they cut down the back? 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:53.160 They destroy the bowels and the asherah poles. 00:28:53.160 --> 00:28:57.279 We must do that and we need the church to help one another. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:05.040 The clan of Manasseh need Gideon to lead them. 00:29:05.040 --> 00:29:07.500 Doing that is not an easy thing. 00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:10.640 It might be met with hostility. 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:15.560 We're all proud in somewhere and we don't like being exposed or having our sins pointed 00:29:15.560 --> 00:29:18.640 out, we might even kick against it. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:22.120 There's only a little bit of lust. 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:23.119 Is it perfect? 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:25.919 Doesn't everyone look at women that way? 00:29:25.919 --> 00:29:27.119 You might get that response. 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:32.199 You might need to be a Gideon in someone else's life. 00:29:32.199 --> 00:29:37.959 You might need to bring a Gideon into your own life. 00:29:37.959 --> 00:29:45.159 Being led away from sin, leading others away from sin. 00:29:45.159 --> 00:29:46.879 We're a community of grace. 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:54.360 We're all flawed and a community that lives like that encourages one another in holy repentance, 00:29:54.360 --> 00:29:55.360 holy living. 00:29:55.360 --> 00:29:57.280 It's a gift from God. 00:29:57.280 --> 00:30:02.720 And as difficult as those times are, it is a gift. 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:08.360 And I think we should look to take advantage of the blessing that it is to live in a community 00:30:08.359 --> 00:30:19.719 that wants the best for one another in terms of how we live. 00:30:19.719 --> 00:30:25.479 After all, isn't that what Jesus came to do? 00:30:25.479 --> 00:30:32.279 He came to lead His people away from idols that kept them captive, to set them free with 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:36.919 good news. 00:30:36.920 --> 00:30:42.279 Let them free, to set us free from bowing not to the altar of Baal but to the altar 00:30:42.279 --> 00:30:49.680 of comfort or the altar of money or the altar of Netflix or the altar of people's opinions 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:55.000 or whatever it is. 00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:57.759 Real true life is offered. 00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:03.759 I am the life, the truth and the way, says Jesus. 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:10.960 All life is found in Him. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:16.799 And so as we come in for landing, we've looked at the early part of Gideon's life. 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:22.920 We've looked at his call, that he was a nobody. 00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:27.559 We've looked at his acceptance, that he has peace with God. 00:31:27.559 --> 00:31:32.680 And we looked at his mission to put his house in order. 00:31:32.680 --> 00:31:37.880 To bring people from spiritual danger to spiritual safety. 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:39.759 The Lord uses nobodies. 00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:42.680 Let's just remind ourselves of the three things we've looked at. 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:43.759 The Lord uses nobodies. 00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:48.240 If you feel like a nobody today that you don't have the right skills or family background 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:54.120 or there's too much sin in your life, God can use you. 00:31:54.120 --> 00:31:57.799 You know, as I said, neither did Jesus. 00:31:57.799 --> 00:32:05.319 His family line was filled with adulterers, murderers and even prostitutes. 00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:09.319 Secondly, the Lord accepts you. 00:32:09.319 --> 00:32:13.039 You have peace with God based on His finished work on the cross. 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:17.440 It's not only the sign that you're approved, but it's a whole mechanism by which you're 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:21.480 approved because by faith you have a righteous standing before the Lord. 00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:24.240 You have peace with God. 00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:31.799 And then finally, we need leaders and we are leaders to one another to get a house in order. 00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:35.720 Who are prepared sometimes to upset the apple cart. 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:42.359 Jesus led his people away from spiritual danger to spiritual safety. 00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:47.519 We need to lead people and lead one another in a community of grace, radically dealing 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:52.519 with those things that take us away from the living God. 00:32:52.519 --> 00:32:56.200 Gideon is a pointer to Jesus. 00:32:56.200 --> 00:33:01.319 Gideon is a pointer to Jesus, a deliverer sent to cleanse God's people. 00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:09.119 And if you remember, even Jesus was affirmed by the living God. 00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:13.680 Remember at his baptism, you are my son. 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:15.559 With you, I'm well pleased. 00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:20.039 He knew that the Lord was with him. 00:33:20.039 --> 00:33:24.000 He's the one who leads his church towards repentance. 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:26.680 That's the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 00:33:26.680 --> 00:33:32.200 His death makes a way that we can turn away from idols towards the living God. 00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:34.039 He is our peace. 00:33:34.039 --> 00:33:36.119 He is our peace. 00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:45.319 We can boldly approach the throne of grace without human fear because he is our peace. 00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:51.240 Let me pray. 00:33:51.240 --> 00:33:58.720 Almighty God, we thank you so much that you're the one who leads us. 00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:07.839 If we were left to ourselves, we'd be, we were once lost wandering around in darkness, 00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:11.559 not knowing which way to go. 00:34:11.559 --> 00:34:15.239 We'd be a law, we were a law unto ourselves. 00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:20.039 Just like these people in the times of the judges, they did what was right in their own 00:34:20.039 --> 00:34:22.159 eyes and we were once like that. 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:29.879 But we thank that you've led us away from that into the kingdom of your Son. 00:34:29.879 --> 00:34:33.679 We thank you that we know your great love for us. 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:40.239 And we pray that you would help us to allow ourselves to be led by you. 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:46.319 We listen to you and I thank you for the church, for the community that we're in and pray that 00:34:46.319 --> 00:34:49.519 you'd help us to lead one another. 00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:54.279 Help us to sometimes have those difficult conversations that we'd bring a Gideon into 00:34:54.279 --> 00:34:57.319 our lives or be a Gideon in someone else's life. 00:34:57.319 --> 00:35:04.279 And so we pray for this word today that you'd imprint it on our hearts and help us to live 00:35:04.279 --> 00:35:07.439 according to the message that we've heard. 00:35:07.439 --> 00:35:09.439 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:10.440 Amen.