Gideon’s Biography
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Scripture: Judges 6
Contributor: Jesse Barrett
There once was a man who absolutely hated his wife's cat and decided to get rid of him one day by driving him 20 blocks from his home and leaving him at the park.
As he was getting home, the cat was walking up the driveway.
The next day he decided to drive the cat 40 blocks away. He put the “beast” out and headed home.
Driving back up his driveway, there was the cat!
He kept taking the cat further and further and the cat would always beat him home.
At last he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then left, past the bridge, then right again and another right until he reached what he thought was a safe distance from his home and left the cat there.
Hours later the man calls home to his wife: "Jen, is the cat there?"
"Yes", the wife answers, "why do you ask?"
Frustrated, the man answered, "Put him on the phone, I'm lost and need directions!"
Unlike the cat man, my intent for us this morning is to make sure that I do not to lose you along the way, but rather to solidify the past few sermons in your mind by telling a story from the Old Testament.
I think one of the better stories to review, is the story of Gideon in Judges chapter 6.
Now while you are turning there, I thought I would just talk a little bit more about who I am, and some things that I'm interested in, because there are many of you that don't know me real well.
In fact, let’s make it a game, I’ll give you a statement and you decide if you think that is a truth about me or not.
I have been locked up in Jail.... T
I was kicked off the bus for being accused of trying to light a girl’s hair on fire… T
I took a missions trip to Peru… T
The family on my Father’s side believe that we are related to a Famous American Sailor, John Paul Jones… T
I am a lover of the American Revolutionary time period… T
I love reading about this time period almost as much as I enjoy reading the Bible. My favorite thing to read as a hobby, is biographies written about revolutionary people who used to live anywhere near the Revolutionary War.
A few of the biographies I have read were on the lives of John Paul Jones, Paul Revere, and Alexander Hamilton.
The reasons why I like it so much is because when you get into a biography, we really start to embrace the culture of the time. We really begin to start thinking about where these people lived, and how they lived.
You also begin to think about what kind of social structure they lived in, how they survived, and what was the environment like.
In Paul Revere’s biography, the book begins by talking about the scene of Boston and how the smoke from the chimneys are just rising in the air and we kind of have this shorelines scene of small cottages and ship sails and possibly the smell of fish and that type of stuff;
and you just kind of feel... what it would be like to wake up to a morning like that. And as you begin to feel at one with the story you are able to understand why they did what they did, and become sympathetic to their emotions.
That's what I want to do today with you. I want to look at the biography of Gideon and I really want to get into that story because, most of the things that we read in the Old Testament it is kind of like a biography of the nation of Israel.
We're learning about who they are, and what they believed in, and where they failed, and where they had success, and all too often we jump down their throats.
We say, “I can't believe Adam did that” shoot, I would never do that.
“I can't believe Cain killed his brother or I can't believe that this lying kept going on and on to the family with the founding fathers of the nation of Israel,”
but yet we don't really take into consideration their surroundings in their environment, and who they are, and why they struggled with what they struggled with.
And often that's the point that we really need to look at. We need to understand who these people were and what drove them to make those kind of decisions.
I'm not saying that we justify their actions. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that we make them exempt from all of their mistakes, but what I am saying is that more than just the facts on the page, more than just the letters in the words, or the spaces in between, when it comes to really understanding the Old Testament, and really taking it all in, and breathing it, and knowing what it all mean, it really takes somebody who has just a love for history, the love for people, who love understanding who they were and why they did what they did and why they struggled under such circumstances.
Really getting into the nitty-gritty of what made them who they are.
I have a very great grandfather who was a man who worked in Harvard University, he was in the library area of Harvard, and he would take the train, at the time, to work every day, and then back home again in that section of Massachusetts.
He had the privilege of researching all the men who graduated from Harvard back in the time when Harvard was just coming into its own, where people were graduating and living lives and using their education for the benefit of the society that surrounded them.
He had the privilege and the honor of writing about these men who lived in early eighteenth Century and he wrote these series of books and I really respect him for doing that.
I really think that it is important for us to think about our biography.
So… I decided to bring some biographies with me today...
The first one I have here is about a man named Jeremy Porter. He's got a lot of life left so his biography is fairly thin, but I am sure we would be really impressed with certain areas of his life.
You know, we would really be able to learn something good from Jeremy Porter's story don’t you think?
Here's another biography this one's fairly thicker this one is Keith Power’s biography, and this one, this one's a little bit heavier. I am sure that there are life lessons and stories that in this biography that would inspire you and enrich your life because… well he's older, he's been there, he's wiser, he's been down that road once before, and it's nice to have a biography like this to put our hands on.
Lastly, I have here, Dick Ross's biography. This one I can barely pick it up. This one is just stuffed with mistakes made by Mr. Ross. But I am sure it also stuffed with touching stories about how he’s impacted the world around him too.
I'm being silly right now but the point is... all of us are currently writing a biography. All of us are actively walking with the Lord, we are enjoying his Fellowship, we are enjoying being with him, and learning from him.
One day, when we get the opportunity to sit down with somebody and share our Hope with them and share our faith in God with them, I hope it is not just words on a page to you.
Sometimes we get all caught up with just random words on a page, that we are really just so ineffective with sharing even the main idea behind the actual salvation message.
Again don’t get me wrong, there is really only one truth that everyone in this world needs to hear, but how well do you tell the story.
What a lot of people really want most of all, is to sit down and be heard, and then to listen to your story, your life, your experiences. They want to know that you've experienced things like they've experienced things, and that you believe every word you say.
So perhaps you have experienced hardship, and know personally what it's like to be without, if that brought you into maturity in Christ, share it!
I remember when I was a young lad and I was leaving home, there was two memorable years where I did not have very much to live on. I had to live off of $40 worth of food a month. And I’m not that old so generally speaking the cost of food is still fairly the same amount.
I mean, I think I could buy tuna fish back then for like two or three cans for a dollar at the local dollar store. Now it's hard to find a can of tuna fish for anything less than $0.80 you just don't see that very often, but even still $40 of food a month was just a little bit more than a dollar a day.
It was a struggle, it was hard to practically think about how to live life on that much. But in those years, I began to value things I have never valued before. Perhaps you can relate.
I am sure that in the biographies of these three men, they can tell you things that you never experienced before. What a blessing that we can go to these men, we can look at their lives and we can fellowship with them, and glean from their experiences and what not to do, am I right?
More importantly, as we understand them, we can understand how they came into being the kind of great men that they are, and what it took for them to get to that point.
And so again the biography here in Judges chapter 6... I don't want you to just look at the words on the page I really want you to read the story and really think about where this story takes place, and how society affected this man Gideon. What kind of things made him into the kind of man he was, and why was He the man for the job.
So turn with me to Judges 6 beginning in verse 1, Let’s read 1-10
Let’s stop right here and catch our breath,
As you are studying God’s word, ask yourself a couple of questions:
First - What are we looking at?
We are looking at God’s people.
They appear to be shaking in their boots, because they are living in the clefts of the rocks instead of standing up for themselves - while a much larger people who fill their land and destroy their livelihood.
They are, according to verse 6, impoverished.
Secondly, ask yourself - Can I relate to that? (Remember, you will find that learning God’s word will make more sense, or that you will receive more growth from it, as you slow down and begin to implant yourself in the scripture)
Ask-
Am I part of God’s family?
Can I relate to a story about hard workers being taken advantage of?
Or perhaps just the constant money pit your life has become? Always working, never enough money?
Can I relate to the hiding, or to the realization that I am not where I am suppose to be, or should be. I should be living a very different kind of life. A life that is full of blessings, a life that enjoys being exactly where I find myself.
Well -
Here in just a few verses, we see a description of how God gets the attention of sinful people. He crushes them through the medium of business.
These people, earn a living off of the land. Raising sheep, they raise cattle and Ox to turn the ground. They raise crops to eat, but also to trade for income. Therefore, in order to bring them to repentance, God takes it away.
God gets their attention by making their jobs hard. They are unfruitful in their work.
Thirdly, why is this scripture in the Bible? What is the lesson God is trying to teach me?
The reason why God has allowed this people to be impoverished, is because they have allowed the presence of evil in their midst. Read verse 10
They have invited this evil into their lives through the worship of false gods. God says, You have not listened to me!
The false god worship that this scripture is mentioning here, is the worship of Baal, and we’ll see that later in verse 25.
But, I wanted to share a blog with you written by: The National Center for Family-Integrated Churches (NCFIC).
They entitled the blog: Modern Baal Worship in Theaters, Stadiums and Living Rooms.
Normally, I would not give this much time to the study of Satan and his fallen angels but, I wanted to share this with you because as you read through the OT, you will see Baal arrive on the scene over and over again.
Israel has a hard time with this god, like an addict they relapse over and over again.
In fact the word Baal is in your KJV of the Bible 63 times and is in 51 different verses.
In addition, many sections of scripture in the NT carries the kind of descriptions mentioned in Baal worship - forward in way that describes how we are not to live.
So, forgive the rabbit trail, but Baal is a false belief, a false god, that needs to be understood and flushed down the drain. The spirit of Baal is still alive in the world today and this article shows us very clearly how he is still operating..
The article begins: “What was Baal worship and why was it so popular? It is a mistake to think of Baal worship as some kind of other - worldly practice that never happens today. On the contrary, it happens all the time in the form of cultural variations of the same general patterns that we see in 2 Kings 21:1-9 and 2 Kings 17:7-23.
We know that there were usually lots of people gathered, often on a high hill (like a theatre or stadium) to observe in public “what was meant for the bedroom” (public sex), just like we see in movies and television and on the internet (Numbers 22:41, I Kings 12:25-33). We think that our watching these things is different than the idolatry of old, but this is not so.
The whole community came out and all of the best pagan ideas for success in crops and fertility were promoted, just like a business seminar that promotes unbiblical ideas that justify the worldliness of its origin.
The wicked personalities (promoters and performers) were respected and given the platform (like rock stars and Hollywood’s “People’.) Some of them were great dancers (like Brittany Spears and Madonna) while others were great musicians (like Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney) (I Kings 15:12-14). In our day, people who go to our churches celebrate celebrities, when they should be doing the opposite.
Psalm 101:1, 3 says “I will walk in my house… I will set no wicked thing before my eyes…”
People danced around the Asherah pole, which was nothing more than a phallic symbol. It is quite possible that these poles functioned somewhat like the poles in what are called, “gentlemen’s clubs.” The people also acted out lustful, licentious, bawdy scenes for the enjoyment of all who came (Isaiah 57:5-8; Deuteronomy 23:17).
They had all the different kinds of “intimate” (sexual) experiences on display including men with women, men with men and all of the combinations that are popular today in sit-coms, movies and news reports. On top of that, they invited the crowd to participate (I Kings 14:24).
The children were the real losers, though, as some of them were actually sacrificed on the altar of the sex and the success (2 Kings 16:3-4). To participate, you had to reject your children. Does this remind anyone of the 48 million babies in the US who have been aborted on the altar of convenience and immorality?
Baal worship in reality corresponds exactly to activities that most people freely participate in today. They do so without really understanding the nature of idolatry, for idolatry is simply enjoyment of things raised up against Christ.
The people were involved because they liked the excitement and the liberty and the business it facilitated. Plus, the music was great and the entertainment was exciting.
Believers in God were conflicted. They did not agree with everything that was happening at the parties, but had a really hard time giving them up because they really liked the social aspect and did not want to be thought to be weird by their neighbors (2 Kings 23:7-20).
Furthermore, personal success and networking was dependent on attendance. If you quit going to the parties, you would not be able to do business like before. Your network would dry up. The guilds which promoted the high places demanded “support.” Therefore, to support the high places was to support the guild.
Support was both based on participation and financial contribution. It was all tied up with the rules of doing business (like the modern HR policies regarding “diversity”).
Anyone who questioned the activity ended up on the wrong side of public opinion.” End quote.
We will see later that Gideon experienced being on the wrong side of public opinion in verse 30-32.
Now, there are three things I want you to remember about Baal.
-Baal worship was a stimulating experience.
-It was done on the highest hills where everyone could see what was happening.
-It was a public display of all the unrighteous acts that God condemns.
So, Where do we see this today?
TV? Movie theaters? Concerts?
You may say, well… the platforms look the same but….
Let me stop you right there. When was the last time you saw a movie and said, I really like her or him as an actress?
By chance did the movie allude to, or was there actually pre-marital sex happening in the movie? And did we still walk away saying, I really like that person as an actor?
That is what Baal worship was “like.” Public displays of what God condemns in front of a people... who thought it was just another day.
If I were to stand up here and say, movies and TV is the work of the devil! You would think I was radical and I might lose your interest. You might think I have gone too far, I would be out of favor with what society calls normal.
That... is where Israel... was.
It is not that Baal was being worshipped in someone’s basement… but rather that it was public, flagrant, obvious, and Israel would walk right by it and not blink an eye to it.
You might say, well, idol worship is not in America. I mean sure, the platforms of where evil can be observed is there, but the literal idols are not in public life of America.
I do not want to spend a lot of time on this subject, but IF you have seen the Washington Monument, you have seen an Egyptian Asherah pole. That is what it looks like.
You may even think, well it was not meant to be an idol, and I would lastly comment that the base of the monument measures exactly, in inches 666, and the height is exactly 6,666 inches.
Now that may be coincidence, but you can see how easily pictures and idols infiltrate our minds without thinking about it.
In fact, Washington D.C. is named after a false goddess. The area is called the district of Columbia, right? When you get home type into google “goddess Columbia.”
The point is not whether or not we are worshipping idols, but rather - the realization that if Jesse goes out and knocks over, or desecrates, the carved image of the goddess, “Columbia” - that sits on top of the house of congress, do you think I would end up in jail…
And why would I? Because it goes against public opinion.
That is where these people were.
Now these people in our text, were actually worshipping these idols, so these people had left God’s commands, completely. It is not as if they were naive to their existence, no they knew exactly what they were doing.
So here is ultimately what I want you to see….
#1 - God’s people were not in the center of God’s will, due to their idol worship. I want you to hold your place here but flip over with me to 1 Peter 4.
1 Peter 4 New International Version (NIV)
4 “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.
3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.
At the heart of Baal worship is the fulfillment of self.
If you want to be drunk… just do it.
If you want to be in a relationship with someone and live with them without being married and share the bed of intimacy… just do it.
If you want to use your body for films so that other people can watch you perform what is meant only for the eyes of one person in marriage… just do it, the world may even give you an Oscar for it.
1 Peter, and everywhere else in the Bible that describes what God’s will is for your life is saying “No!” -
Do not live like the pagans! Do not look like or act like the world. Do not live your earthly life for the satisfaction of your flesh! We are called to be different, to be Holy!
God’s will… is not some lifelong trek to enlightenment, but rather the Bible comes right out and says… it can be known! It is the exact opposite of living in debauchery, which is excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures.
His will is that we do not burn in lust, that we are not drunkards, or living promiscuous lives, or emulating (trying to be like) or rewarding celebrities with our affections who don’t measure up to God’s standards.
And definitely not allowing idol worship into our lives.
Now I am not saying, go home and throw your TV out. That’s not what I am saying.
But… if that TV causes you to sin… GET RID OF IT!
You may think, that is gross God would not want me to gouge out my eyes…. Long pause…. How seriously do you think God takes sin? He would rather you gouge out your eyes than to see you in hell. That’s how much.
If that TV causes you to sin...throw it out. Better to live life life without TV, than to enter into Hell.
What I am saying is examine your heart, what is getting the attention of your heart? What do you value as the most important thing in your life?
Money can be an idol and yet we would not burn our money on the altar of God, but the LOVE of money… that is the root problem. If you are never satisifed in your life until you have what you think you need as far as money goes, it has become an idol.
Rockefeller was at one point the world's richest man and first ever American billionaire. Considering he was a billionaire in the early 1900's he is still considered as the richest person in modern history. When a reporter asked him, “How much money is enough?” He responded, “Just a little bit more.”
So then… what it comes to is, What do you value? Do you love God and wish to honor Him by following His commandments, or do you value pleasures more?
Do you love God so much that you could live without TV, without Money, without Status, without pleasures or health, you fill in the blanks but take the time to examine your heart! What do I value most of all.
I asked you to listen to your heart for the past few weeks, and write down what you value about this church. I wanted to be sure I knew what the heartbeat of this church sounds like.
Here are the words I have:
A Love for Interlaken
Welcoming and Open
Peaceful
Edify
God’s Word Preached
Outreach
Discipleship
Commandment
Christian Fellowship in love with another
friendship
truth to Freedom
Fear to wisdom
in the world not of the world
children's ministry
we stuck together
A forgiving spirit
truth and fellowship
Unity
relationships
Christ and him crucified
Now, what I did for the past two weeks, is I found a section of scripture where all of your values tied in nicely.
Now, don’t kick me out for doing that. I am not permanently adding anything to the text, I am just adding our values next to the text without changing or compromising its meaning.
Pass these out.
What I did was I added our values into the text using Bold lettering, and I personalized some of the words by changing the word “you” into “we” and so forth.
So let me read this to you...
1 Peter 4
4 We value Christ and Him Crucified, therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, We will value His commandments and arm ourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, We do not live the rest of Our earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For we value our life in this world and yet we are not of this world.
3 For We have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that We do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and even if they heap abuse on Us, We will continue to love Interlaken.
5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason We value outreach and the Preaching of God’s Word, for the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit in Truth, and freedom in Jesus Christ.
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore We value and fear God, which brings wisdom, and so we commit to being alert and of sober mind so that We may pray.
8 Above all, We value sticking it out together by obeying God’s command to love each other deeply, therefore We value relationships and friendships. We also place value on a peaceful Christian fellowship through a forgiving spirit, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
9 We will strive therefore to offer hospitality, to be welcoming and open, and love one another without grumbling.
10 We value our Unity, so each of Us will use whatever gift We have received to edify and serve others, as faithful stewards and disciples, of God’s grace in its various forms.
11 If anyone speaks, We should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. We value Children and our responsibility to minister to them, so if anyone serves, We should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
What do you think? Does this accurately reflect our values? I think so. What I like about seeing our values in scripture is that the scripture becomes alive to us personally.
Like a life verse, does anyone have a life verse picked out that summarizes you in relation to your values, or purpose, or relationship with God?
The purpose of my personal ministry is to be like: "a father to his children, exhorting, encouraging, and charging others to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls us into his Kingdom." 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12
I am asking for us as a Church, to take all of this information and apply it to our lives.
I want to use the Nehemiah model that I preached about as our guide in order to fully commit ourselves to our purpose statement in 2017.
I have placed the model on the back of the paper as well so that you have it.
Step one is to ask yourself, what is my heart being stirred up about? Has God given me a deep-seated concern, or a deep compassion or empathy for something or someone? Has He given motivation for a specific job - or people - or purpose?
Folks the values that you wrote down are awesome! But they will only remain words on paper unless, you begin to take action.
If we truly believe in these values, than our biography had better reflect it!
The second step of the Nehemiah model is to begin to pray and repair your relationship with God. This cannot be overlooked. Many of us think we know what God wants us to do but we never seek Him to confirm the plan. In our pride, we just assume that because it is a good or moral thing, then God will be OK with it. Church it is not that God goes with us, but that we go with Him.
This week, I am asking you to pray through this value statement, to see if it lines up with your heart. As your Intern Pastor, this section of scripture will be my road map in 2017.
Again, this is not an official document of the church, I will probably hang it next to my desk as a reminder of you… but if you do not value what is written here, please tell me.
I am also asking that you repair your relationship with God and other people at the same time. We will never be in the center of His will if we are harboring sin in our lives.
I’ve given you the example of Gideon, and I have shown you what idol worship looks like.
The question we need to ask ourselves is, am I looking right past evil in my life?
Am I sold out to Christ so that no oppression is affecting my life other than the suffering that God says I will have because I am walking by faith?
And here is my last point as we conclude our time together -
We see from our text that because these people were not in the center of his will,
-they were dealing with the consequences associated with their unrighteousness. They were again, like unto - who they were in Egypt, oppressed,( that is the word described by the prophet in verse 9). Oppressed by a large group of people who took what they wanted when they wanted.
Now, here is a thought, scripture uses the word Oppress in verse 9. The words Oppress and depress, both having the literal meaning to press down upon or to cause to sink.
To oppress is usually to subject (a people) to burdens, to undue exercise of authority, and the like. Its chief application, therefore, is to a social or political situation, like a tyrant oppressing his subjects. And that is what we see here in our text.
Depress suggests mainly the psychological effect, upon the individual, of unpleasant conditions, situations, etc., that sadden and discourage: “depressed by the news.”
When oppress is sometimes used in this sense, it suggests a psychological attitude of more complete hopelessness.
So… Think about this text, these people were living in a hopeless situation, they were a depressed people in their thinking. And finally, in verse 6, they are crying. Crying out to the Lord for help.
Let me show you a more specific example of depression in the following verses.
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.
12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
There it is. Gideon shares his hopelessness, his depressed attitude.
Let me make a quick application as we close. Because God has designed the world with natural consequences, may it be, that many unsaved people are feeling this exact same way as some saved people? Oppressed by life circumstances and depressed in their thinking?
Someday, it may be you sitting under the community oak tree, like this prophet was, or on the bus, on a park bench, or in a hospital, wherever….. will you be offering hope to those who need it?
1 Peter 3:15 says “But in your hearts revere Christ as “Lord.” (Lord of my life, Lord of my Values, Lord over my will) Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
You see, nothing cures depression….. like hope!
When you offer someone something tangible that could change their future, you are lifting their spirits to see what is coming down the road. They are projecting a positive image of what might happen in the future.
Immediately, as they stop focusing on the “drama” in their current life circumstances and begin to see what will happen to them in the future - you are then providing hope.
No wonder Lotto is so big. “All you need is a dollar and a dream!” What are they selling? HOPE!
Christians we need to be better than the world at selling hope, because only we know what REAL HOPE looks like - AMEN?
Than let’s fill our lives with it, so when other people write our biography, they will see true Christianity!