Gooding, David: 15 - Contending for the Faith

From the derailment that assailed us at the beginning of this course of seminars, we're nearly back on track. It might even be that in this session I shall be able to stop at the advertised time and thus behave with the correctness that hitherto has been totally absent. I haven't all that much more to say about Gideon, but we've come to a critical point, haven't we? When he, in obedience to the Lord, positively built an altar to the Lord and offered his sacrifice of worship thereon, which involved destroying the false altar, brought upon him the attack of his fellow townsmen, which then his father answered admirably. At that very point, Midian gathered her forces to attack once more. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and Abiezer was gathered together after him, and he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they also were gathered together after him, and he sent messengers unto Asher and unto Zebulun and to Naphtali, and they came up to meet them. And even now Gideon pauses before he commits the troops to battle with the Midianites. Pauses to make sure, finally sure, that he has God's guidance in this thing. This is what the Lord would have him do. Or whether it is of his own ambition, or the naughtiness of his own heart, or pride, or something that is leading him to commit Israel to this tremendous battle. So he proposes a test and puts out his fleece doubly, as we all know, the famous instance of the fleece. Checking both ways on. On the first occasion, let it be due on the fleece only and dry upon the ground, and then on the second occasion, uh, let, uh, the, uh, fleece be dry and dew on all the ground aro- around. A sign, therefore, that God was pleased to answer, to confirm the faith of his servant, who was in this responsible position as about to begin battle and commit the troops of Israel to battle with the hordes of the Midianites. In passing, I must say I admire his sort of sense of taste. Perhaps that was because he was a farmer, and therefore the test that occurred to him was, uh, the question of the dew. Townspeople, perhaps it isn't so important, but any farmer will know the importance of the dew, particularly in hot countries. The reason why in hot countries sometimes crops can survive and grow and not be parched to death is because of the amazing phenomenon of the dew, settling quietly, noiselessly in the night with its delightful refreshment of the land and causing the crops to grow. He was a farmer anyway, and at heart was this whole matter of crops and the feeding of the people. And if he was going to commit the people to a battle with all its devastating results, his test was that he, by his prayers, could control the dew. You'll have to forgive this old man his fancifulness. But I would like to think that it would become possible for me one day, in answer to my prayers, to control the dew. It was a curse that Israel would pronounce on certain places, let no dew fall on you forever. That spelt ruin. Be able, on the other hand, in answer by your prayers to God, to bring the dew of God's refreshment on his people. I couldn't imagine a lovelier ministry, could you? God give it to you, gentlemen. To be a person by whose prayer and teaching and life, when he comes into your company, into your church, it brings a sense of peace and quietness and dew and refreshment of spirit. But Gideon had summoned the troops. By this time, he had quite a large number of troops to face the swarms of the Midianites. But now what follows, and I don't propose to go elaborately into the details, what follows now is the story how God decimated his troops before he allowed them to go into battle. God told him to, um, send a lot of them home. Go proclaim in the ears of the people, whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. Some people who have no stomach for fights, for whatever cause, well, they better go home. When it comes to standing for God's truth, if they're too cowardly to stand, let them go home. And then God further thinned down his army. You'll see. And, uh, from ten thousand reduced them to three hundred. Isn't that taking big risks? When it comes to a dispute, isn't it the man with the, the most troops on his side that wins? Isn't it numbers that count? Not in the battles of the Lord, gentlemen. Sometimes numbers can be useful, as they were, as you heard with, uh, Barak, he had ten thousand troops. When it comes to disputes over such things as Gideon was disputing, then it isn't numbers that are going to count. Not numbers that decide whether a thing is right or wrong, is it? But the truth itself. So God sent them out. Gideon was left with only three hundred men. To encourage him in what must have looked to him like a desperate situation, God sent him down to the camp of the Midianites and let him overhear the conversation that we originally talked of, so that Gideon might perceive even before the battle was joined that victory was his. But look now at the interesting tactic that Gideon employed. Unique, of course, in all the book of Judges. The book of Judges is exceedingly colorful with all the different kinds of tactics that these warriors use. This unique to Gideon. He'd only got three hundred men to stand them around the perimeter of the Midianite camp. The space between them would be large, the line of troops very thin, wouldn't it? Three hundred men wouldn't go very far, and they were standing around the camp. What tactic would be appropriate? He told them to take torches in these vessels, and at the appropriate moment to smash the earthen vessel, and the light blared out, flared out. And in that moment they were to cry, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And as the Midianite troops in the nighttime woke up startled and rubbed their eyes and heard this shout and knew the enemy was upon them, and they looked out, all they'd see was a ring of light. Now, you know very well, gentlemen, if you're walking down a quiet country lane and two mighty great headlights come in your direction, you can't see whether it is a mini miner or a Mercedes-Benz that's coming towards you. Can't see whether it's a dwarf driving it or a mighty great giant. All you can see is the light. Ha! It was good tactic, wasn't it, for three hundred chaps to employ. As they flared out their torches in the inky darkness of the night, and the troops looking towards them couldn't see who was behind it, whether there was one row or, or, or ten thousand rows. Good. And so the battle was won. And the enemy, in their confusion, turned their swords upon themselves. And Gideon, in the end, took their two princes and slew them, chopping block method, on the rock of Oreb. And there we could leave it, except that the very language of this literal history will evoke all kinds of memories in anybody who's read the New Testament seriously. For in the second epistle to the Corinthians, Paul talks of himself as a vessel, a mere earthen vessel. And he says, you know, my outward man is being destroyed day by day. The privations of his work, the persecutions, the stonings, the imprisonments, the fastings, the prays, they were taking a toll upon him physically. The old earthen vessel was beginning to crack and break and break. One day it would dissolve completely. What matters is Paul, because as the earthen vessel is, uh, de- uh, destroys and decays, the inner man is renewed. For it is God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness that has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Only we have this treasure in earthen vessels. In dealing with that strife-torn church, that miserable church, that poverty-stricken church at Corinth, with all their arguments, Paul isn't presenting his great personality and seeking to get victory by presenting himself as an enormous personality. He's aware that as far as he himself is concerned, his bodily presence is weak, body beginning to fall to bits. That's how it should be, he says, that the excellency of the power might be of God and not of man. Let the light then shine out of the old earthen vessel, hiding the earthen vessel and dazzling the eyes of the enemy with the light of God's glory. So may it ever be in our ministry. The work of the Lord, the work of the Lord is a battle. Sooner or later, it will take its toll on you physically. The Lord does not require suicide, gentlemen. It's a soldier's job to keep al- alive as long as he can. But the Lord will expect sacrifice. And in the end, it's not a question of drawing the attention either, either of the enemy of the Lord's people to ourselves, is it? Let the earthen vessel crack. So be it only that the treasure that God has seen fit to put in the earthen vessel shines out. Through that means, men catch sight of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So was the battle won. And it would have been a very happy thing if the history of Gideon had ended there. But alas, it didn't. And as we saw from studying the structure of the book the other day, we are now at this point at the watershed, structurally speaking, of the book of Josh, uh, Judges. Now things began to go, begin to go downhill. And he who had valiantly fought against the Midianites on the behalf of his brethren, now begins to destroy his own people. You could understand it, I suppose, for the men of Ephraim, says chapter eight, said unto him, why hast thou served us thus, that thou callest not us when thou wentest to fight with Midian? And they did chide with him sharply. How unreasonable folks can be, can't they? Doing nothing themselves. You go and do something. Oh, they'll be on your track. Why didn't you consult us? And who are you to think you can win battles? And you didn't ask us to come and do it. How assemblies have been plagued by such people. And now, when they should have been rejoicing that Gideon had wrought a great victory for the people of God, they'll turn the very victory into a cause of dispute. They're not interested in the fact that a victory has been won. They're interested in the fact that somebody bypassed them. They're prepared to stir up strife because they weren't concerned and consulted and asked to come along to join in this thing so that they could get the credit for it. No wonder Gideon had the patience with him he did. How diplomatic he was. Gentlemen, he said, what have I done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? He came from Abiezer, you see. He said, gentlemen, why are you getting upset, you, you're marvelous. I mean, just the little leftover gleanings in, in Ephraim are far more important than the whole grape harvest is in Abi Esrah. Oh, no need to get upset, gentlemen. Everybody recognizes how superior you are. It was diplomacy, wasn't it? God hath delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb, and Zeab, and what was I able to do in comparison of you? And silly chumps. Then their anger was abated. Well, I hope Gideon was sincere, but it was diplomacy, and if they hadn't got the wit to see... what the real situation was, and that they had done nothing. And that God had delivered the enemy into their hands, well, he delivered them through Gideon anyway. But never mind, if it pacified the folks instead of stirring up strife, let them get all the credit. God will know how to sort it out at the judgment seat, my brother, if somebody runs off with the credit with what you've done. And then there were more serious things. Gideon came to Jordan and passed over, he and his three hundred men that were with him, faint yet pursuing. For now we have a flashback to when Gideon was pursuing the fleeing enemy, wanting to mop them up, and he came to Jordan, and they were already very tired, faint, yet pursuing. And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me, for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thine army. Ah. They weren't prepared to join in. The outcome of the battle wasn't yet certain, and these delightful gentlemen were not prepared to join in until they saw which way the battle was going, thank you very much. They preferred to sit on that uncomfortable position, which is on the fence, so that they could hop whichever side won. They weren't prepared to even to help Gideon's men with loaves to feed them. Gideon said, therefore, when the Lord has delivered Zabor and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars. And he went up thence to Penuel and spake unto them in like manner, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. And so it happened. Sorry story, isn't it? The Midianites had devastated Israel enough, I should have thought. But now, in his exasperation, when Gideon returned from the victory with his own hands and the hands of his men, he bashed down the tower of Penuel and left the Lord's people more defenseless than they'd been before. And savagely took the thorns, the big ugly thorns, briars of the wilderness, and tore the men's flesh with it till they, their flesh hung in ribbons. Sad activity for a man who had once looked upon the face of God and known God as Jehovah Shalom, the God of Peace. peace. Then we're human, aren't we, after all? And in the moments of weakness after a victory, when our strength, emotional and spiritual, is exhausted, we do have to watch it, lest the old man rear his ugly head again. And in what we think at the moment, because of our exasperation, is justified indignation, we give vent to the savagery of our old carnal tempers. One final thing of his decline. When it was all over, Israel came to Gideon, verse twenty two: then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, rule thou over us, both thou and thy son and thy son's son also, for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, the Lord shall rule over you. And in my book, he gets ten out of ten for that. For the nation, by God's intention at this stage, was still a direct theocracy. And though the Lord had raised him up as a deliverer, it was not the Lord's intention to create a royal dynasty out of the family of Gideon. And that what was, that was what Israel was proposing, that now he should adopt that position, and that he should rule, and his sons after him, in some kind of dynastic succession. Gideon says, I'll do no such thing, gentlemen. God has used me to deliver you, but the Lord is your king, and let him still be king. Marvelous man. But then you'll say, verse thirty goes and tells us that Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten, for he had many wives. And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, and he called his name, my father is king. Is it he called? Somebody made a mistake, and it should be she called, some lightheaded little thing who got rather proud because her husband, if that's what his name was, um, was Gideon, or was this Gideon? The man who said, I will not be your king, the Lord is your king, but went and named his son, my father is king. Flattery is a very diff- difficult thing to resist, isn't it? When, as we learn, we'll see, uh, from the kings of Midian, eh, when eh eh they eventually caught up with him, with them, look at verse seven eighteen. And he said unto Zebah and Zalmunna, these princes of Midian, what manner of men were they whom you slew at Tabor? And they answered, as thou art, so were they. Each one resembled the children of a king. Of course, the two princes were pleading for their lives, weren't they, and thought it, uh, a good bit of policy to butter the old boys much as liberally as they could. Uh, flatter him. What kind of men were they? Oh, they look very much like you. Every one of them look like a son of a king. Flattery is a dangerous thing, gentlemen. Who knows but what the barb entered in and rested there. And although publicly Gideon later said, I will not rule over you, the Lord your God is king, whether the old barb of flattery had sunk in and in the end led him to name one of his sons, my father is king. You could get out of that difficult interpretation if you said the name Avimelek was a reference to God himself, my God, my father is king. Let's hope it was that way round. Uh, the boy in question grew up and determined to be king. The other sad story of decline is this, that while Gideon wouldn't be king, you see, he answer verse twenty five— verse twenty four, Gideon said, I would desire a request of you that you would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. You see, they were Ishmaelites and wore golden earrings. And they answered, we will willingly give them. They spread a garment and did cast therein every man the earrings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden earrings which he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, beside the crescents and the pendants and the purple raiment that was upon the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. And Gideon made an ephod thereof and put it in his city, even in Ophrah. And all Israel went a whoring after it there, and it became a snare unto Gideon and to his house. In the first place, perhaps innocent enough, a man seeking something to remind him of those glorious moments when God used him to gain victory for Israel. A man rejoicing in the spoils of battle, in the enrichment of God's people. A man would have to be more than human, wouldn't he, not to look back from time to time and think about the relics of the great things that God has done through him. The people willingly rewarded him thus, giving up their spoil, giving up these earrings, and he made an ephod. Oh, but beware, gentlemen. Beware of idolizing your spiritual. Insidiously it can become an incipient form of idolatry. And I haven't fulfilled my promise. I am six and a half minutes over five o'clock, but you must admit that even so, I have substantially improved. If I break, I'll study here and now.