365 Reflections

We are going to see Gideon's success starts to unravel him even more as the narrative continues. His defeat of Midian presented him with a unique challenge. His status among the people has skyrocketed from hiding in a cave to being asked to rule. Judges 8:22 (ESV) Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” The unintended consequence of working for the Lord in a successful manner is the challenge of staying firm in who you are and not letting it change you. Gideon is faced with an elevated status among the people and they are very willing to abandon God's kingship for a man they can see and perhaps manipulate through popular opinion. Concerning the people, we must remember that THIS is our human condition. We don't want God in charge, we'd rather serve a created thing (see Romans 1). To Gideon's credit, he knows the Word of God enough to understand God is kin...

Have you ever seen success go straight to someone's head? It happens to Gideon very tragically right after his greatest victory. Judges 8:15–17  (ESV) And he (Gideon) came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’ ” 16 And he took the elders of the city, and he (Gideon!) took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. 17 And he (Gideon!) broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.  The story of Gideon's defeat of Mideon ranks as one of the great triumphs of faith for the people of God. It is listed in the hall of fame chapter in Hebrews 11. He is preached about to this day as a man who did far more than he could have ever believed. Yet the middle and end of Gideon's life are stories we do not often discuss. Tragically, Gideon's succ...

So much of Christianity is often widdled down to platitudes. "Trust in the Lord," we say, without regard for action or steps to follow that mindset of trust. "Have faith" when we never consider that faith without works is dead according to scripture. "Believe God" is another one. We tell people to believe for God to do better things in our future. But sometimes, God is waiting for His people to act on what they've already received from Him. Gideon was called a "mighty warrior" while hiding in a cave with a winepress. Now we see that mighty warrior come out of him as he begins a plan of attack with an army far outnumbered. Judges 7:16–18 (ESV)   And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who ar...

Judges 7:1 (ESV) Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. Gideon and his army are READY for battle. 32,000 men get up early to go fight for the Lord. And you would think this is how God will save Israel. It makes sense. But it is not how God works. God will not have Israel boast that they have saved themselves. Judges 7:2–3 (ESV) The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ ” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. Note the phrase, "lest Israel boast over me." God is not about to let Israel believe they are their own savio...

Judges 6:33–34 (ESV)   Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. This moment is interestingly placed just after the townspeople of Gideon's town want him brought out and killed and his father stands up for him. When the enemy comes in with great threat the "Spirit of the Lord clothes Gideon" so that his call to action was headed. Gideon will summon a large army (30,000).  Yet just after this, Gideon has a sense of doubt. He then enacts one of the great memorable moments of the Bible. We call it "Gideon's Fleece." Judges 6:36–40 (ESV) Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and ...

Judges 6:25–27 (ESV)   That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. Gideon has seen the face of God and not died. He has heard God call him to save Israel out of the hand of Midian. He has thrown up the common excuses we all make when it comes to doing something great for God, and now the Lord tells him to take down the altar of Baal his father set up and build an altar to the Lord.  Why is this important? Because...

Judges 6:13 (ESV) And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” Gideon is a case study of how humans typically react to tragedy because of their inability to hear God. The Lord sent a prophet in Judges 6:1-11 to tell Israel that they had forgotten and forsaken Him. Their troubles were now the result of their own apostasy. They did not get the message because when God comes to Gideon as the angel of the Lord Gideon wants to know why all these bad things have happened.  Here is the human problem. Instead of seeing anything wrong with us we tend to see what's wrong with the world around us and question God. The human heart is so infected with a distorted perspective through sin it cannot even perceive the problem on the me...