For sermons and additional resources, visit STBARTS.COM.AU

JUDGES: AMAZING GRACE(TALK 3/6: GIDEON)

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS CONNECT: How have you sung God’s praises in the last week?

WARM-UP Questions 1. Who is your favourite character from the Old Testament, and why? 2. How do the ‘heroes’ of the Old Testament compare with Jesus?

Read Judges 6:1-10 3. The Israelites now cry out to God for help because of the Midianites. God sent them a prophet. What

was his message? 4. What is the result of forgetting the significance of our great rescue through the Lord Jesus? 5. When the Lord (or an angel of the Lord) appears to call Gideon into his service, what is Gideon’s

response? (see verses 11-16). Do you think his doubts are genuine or is he just looking for a way out? 6. What are some of our typical excuses when we don’t think we’re up for whatever it is God is calling us

to do? 7. How did Gideon express his repentance in action? How did that free Gideon to serve the Lord’s

purposes?

Read Judges 7:1-8 8. Why did the Lord want to limit the number of men to fight against Midian? 9. Why do you think Gideon is still nervous about the impending battle? 10. What does the account of the battle against the Midianites reinforce (see verses 10-22)? 11. Read Romans 5:8 and 6:23. Why is God so committed to us? What part do we play in our rescue?

Read Judges 8:22-27 12. What do Gideon’s actions after the victory tell us about his response to God’s actions, and Gideon’s

relationship with God? What are the results of his actions (for his family and the nation)? 13. In what ways do we pour contempt on our great rescue? 14. How does the Gideon account point us forward to the Lord Jesus?

APPLY (to this week): How can we show our trust in our salvation this week and point others to Christ?

PRAY: Almighty and ever living God, we thank and praise you for your grace which has been poured out to all people. Help us to rely on the Scriptures and follow your way. Help us to truly thankful for our great rescue, and help us respond in true worship each and every day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

For sermons and additional resources, visit STBARTS.COM.AU

JUDGES: AMAZING GRACE(TALK 3/6: GIDEON)

GOING DEEPER RESOURCES & SUGGESTIONS

Potential Next Steps

NEXT STEP IN PRAYER: Give over your fears every day this week as you pray.

NEXT STEP IN GROWTH: Read one Chapter from the book of Judges every day for the next 21 days.

Talks & Audio • ‘Background to a Saviour’ by Andrew Reid

http://www.holytrinitydoncaster.org.au/resources/sermons/?sermon_id=1293• ‘God’s gift of Salvation’ by Andrew Reid

http://www.holytrinitydoncaster.org.au/resources/sermons/?sermon_id=1295• ‘The fearful deliverer’ by Charlie Skrine

http://sthelens.audiop.org.uk/search/quicksearch?search=Judges+6&onlyrecommended=n&searchtype=talk&submitbutton=Search

• ‘Gideon – Seeing God’s Strength’ by Alistair Begghttps://resources.thegospelcoalition.org/library/gideon-seeing-god-s-strength

• ‘Judges – Amazing Grace – Gideon’ by Chris Gilberthttp://anglicanchurchnoosa.org/multimedia-archive/judges-amazing-grace-gideon/

Video • ‘The Story of Gideon (SFX)’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za8SG8_bWsM• ‘Midianites Defeated’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jafsnzfpXc

Helpful Articles • “Lumina Bible – Gideon” – Helpful background and commentary

https://lumina.bible.org/bible/Judges+6

Talk 3/6 (Judges: God’s Unfolding Grace): 6 May 2018 “Gideon”

by the Rev’d Dr Daniel Rouhead Bible Passage: Judges 6-9

INTRODUCTION We continue our series this morning on the book of Judges. For a book with a fairly dull title, the action is relentless and the violence quite extreme. At the end of chapter 9, we read of the untimely end of one character, Abimelech, whose skull was broken by a large millstone dropped from a high tower by a woman. He commands his servant to finish the job with his sword so as to avoid the humiliation of being killed by a woman in battle. We certainly have to be careful about how we apply this ancient text to our modern lives…as a general rule, violence is not the solution to the problems and challenges we face. Last week David concentrated on one particular judge, Deborah. A prophet and Judge, Deborah was raised up to point people back to God and defeat their enemies, the Canaanites. As the story unfolds, it is absolutely clear that God is responsible for the victory, resulting in 40 years of peace. Today, we focus on another type of character, a hero…a hero found in the most unlikely of circumstances, Gideon. Human beings seem to be continually looking for the next hero. Human history, and in particular the Book of Judges, seems to be full of examples of people, even God’s own people, in need of rescuing and looking to a charismatic figure to save the day. At the moment, the cinemas seem to be showing superhero movie after superhero movie. The latest Marvel film, Avengers: Infinity War, is overflowing with superheroes: ranging from Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine, Doctor Strange, Spiderman, and Black Panther to name just a few. If one superhero can save the day, imagine what ten or more could do. We love watching superheroes because they have super-powers or some special gift or ability. But, and there is a but, superheroes are not perfect – they all have a weakness or some physical flaw or character flaw. Gideon, the somewhat reluctant heroic warrior, is no different. He quickly forgets who called him, who equipped him and who empowered him to defeat his enemies. Our connection with superheroes says something about the human condition – that we do need rescuing, but not from just another bad guy. We need rescuing from sin and death…we need to be restored to relationship with God…and we need to experience his love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. It is tempting to elevate Gideon to superhero status and want to be like him. But, the story of Gideon shows us that true repentance is made possible only by God’s grace. We are reminded that the true victory is won by God who alone rescues sinners. And, we are shown that God is the true peacemaker.

1. TRUE REPENTANCE BY GOD’S GRACE ALONE \\ JUDGES 6 In Chapter 6, we read that Israel’s cycle of disobedience has started once more. From verse 1, “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord…” Once again they failed to keep the covenant God had made with them. Because of their sin, “God gave them into the hands of the Midianites for seven years. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds” (Judges 6:1-2). God’s judgment meant that the Israelites suffered at the hands of the people they were meant to defeat when they entered the Promised Land. Eventually, after seven years, they cried out to God. “Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help” (Judges 6:6). God’s first act of grace was to send them a prophet, a messenger. “When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet” (Judges 6:7-8). The prophet reminded the Israelites why they should have been faithful to God, and proclaimed the reason for their suffering so as to remove any doubt they may have had. “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” (Judges 6:8-10). The people cried out to God, but they did not repent. So, God’s second act of grace was to appear to a single person. The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, the son of Joash, who was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. The angel addressed Gideon with these famous words: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). How does Gideon respond? Not surprisingly, he questions why God allowed the Midianites to oppress the Israelites for so long, and, after being sent to defeat the Midianites, Gideon asks for a sign to confirm that he is indeed speaking to the angel of the Lord. In an act of worship, Gideon offers a young goat and unleavened bread to the Lord. “Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread (Judges 6:21). At this moment, Gideon realises that God has revealed himself to him, and Gideon truly worships God and builds an altar to the Lord. This leads him to an act of repentance. With new obedience to the God of Israel he dares to reform the worship of the village. Along with ten servants, and despite his fear, Gideon “tears down his father’s altar to Baal and cuts down the Asherah pole beside it”, “using the wood of the Asherah pole” to “offer [a] second bull as a burnt offering” (Judges 6:25-26). When the Spirit helps us to see God’s majesty…God’s greatness, and his desire to bless us, we can be emboldened to reject cultural idols which hide God from us. Our desire for good things and not so good things can control our lives and hurt us badly. When we put these things before God, we reject God, and lose his intended blessing. Repentance involves us admitting our sin and allowing God to help us place our desires in the right order so that can enjoy God’s presence. Repentance is what we see Gideon do here in the presence of God, and it frees him to fulfil God’s commission.

2. GOD ALONE SAVES SINNERS \\ JUDGES 7 In Chapter 7, we come to the battle with the Midianites. As the story unfolds, it is absolutely clear that God is responsible for the victory and that God alone saves sinners. Gideon started with 32 thousand men, but God tells Gideon that there are too many men. So, through a two-step process, that number is reduced to just 300. Before they attack, Gideon spies on the camp because he is still afraid. He hears one soldier saying, “I had a dream. 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” (Judges 7 13-14). This gives much needed confidence to Gideon who leads his small army to attack the camp, blowing trumpets as they approach. “When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords” (Judges 7:22). This military campaign doesn’t really follow the typical formula. God calls Gideon a mighty Warrior. But, in his society, Gideon was a nobody. His family was the weakest in his tribe, while he was the least in his family. Gideon asks, as we might, why God would choose him? Gideon was found threshing wheat in a winepress. Even though threshing wheat in a winepress would have taken a great deal of effort, Gideon was afraid, afriad of having his food stolen, afraid of the Midianites coming and killing him, and afraid of losing everything. He is not your typical military leader. Then, when it comes to the battle, God cuts the number of troops to just 300. First, those who were afraid were allowed to leave, then the number were reduced even further according to how they drank water. Not your usual military selection criteria. Then, as the soldiers approach the camp and blow their trumpets, it is God who “caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords”. We are left in no doubt that the victory belongs to God, and not Gideon or his 300 soldiers. The story also shows us that God saves sinners. God didn’t wait for the Israelites to repent and turn back to God. Instead, God defeated the Midianites as an act of grace. We see that in the response to Gideon’s destruction of Joash’s altar to Baal back in chapter 6. “The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it” (Judges 6:30). It’s amazing to think that despite appearing to be more devoted to Baal, God does save them from their enemies. God’s amazing grace is also demonstrated in Christ’s death and resurrection. This is what Paul wrote about our God who saves sinners through Christ: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). This is the good news – God has done everything necessary for our salvation.

3. GOD ALONE BRINGS LASTING PEACE \\ JUDGES 8-9

Finally, the conclusion of the story is a powerful warning that true and lasting peace comes from God alone. The story of Deborah and Barak finishes with an extended song of praise to God. Then, there was peace for forty years. The chaos and mayhem that occurs after the victory is a direct result of Gideon’s failure to put God first. There are some hints along the way that Gideon’s heart may not be in the right place. It was totally acceptable to ask God for a sign. But then he asks for another sign in the form of a fleece. And, even when God faithfully provides the sign, Gideon asks for the sign to be repeated in a slightly different form. Despite these signs, Gideon was still fearful when the battle drew near. It shouldn’t be surprising that the story doesn’t end well for Gideon. After God’s victory, unlike Deborah, Gideon made the peace all about himself. He killed the two Kings of Midian not in obedience to God’s just anger, but from his own personal vengeance over news of the death of his brothers. He violently punishes elders of a town and destroys another town entirely because they refused to honour him when he asked for their help before the battle. Gideon was treated graciously by God, yet he turns on fellow Israelites with mean spirited vengeance. When asked to be King, he seems to honour God, their true King, by refusing. Again, Gideon seems to be doing the right thing, but his next acts tells us where his heart really is. Gideon then acts like a king by taxing Israel, living like a king with many wives & producing seventy sons. He even names his son of a concubine, Abimelech - “My Father is King.” How quickly compromised this peace had become! Gideon went even further. To secure his power in Israel, he creates an alternative sanctuary for worship in his hometown, even making a gold copy of the high priestly vestment - called an ephod - as if it had the power to make him High Priest. Raised from death victorious, Jesus is the promised King who reigns forever. Death was put to death! The peace he established is permanent. How might we experience true peace after we repent and accept Christ’s victory on the cross? The answer is to give God all the praise and glory, and to avoid striving either for our own salvation or for recognition for ourselves. When we do those things we forfeit the peace God has offered us. We should follow the advice we find in Hebrews: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).

CONCLUSION In many ways, Gideon is like every other superhero. He saves the day (with God’s help) but never seems to really acknowledge God’s presence or power in his life. And like every superhero story, the world gets messed up again fairly quickly. Gideon doesn’t fully recognise that God’s grace leads to repentance, that God saves sinners and that God is the only source of lasting peace. May we be reminded of the magnitude of God’s grace – that he leads us to repentance, he saves us and he offers us true and lasting peace. May we respond with grace and humility to God’s grace! Let us pray…