Written by: Nick Treby
Judges 6 v 24-26
So Gideon built an altar there to worship the LORD and named it The LORD Is
Peace. It still stands at Ophrah, where the Abiezrites live.
That same night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take the bull that belongs
to your father and a second bull seven years old. Pull down your father’s
altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah idol beside it. Then build an altar
to the LORD your God with its stones in the right order on this high ground.
Kill and burn a second bull on this altar, using the wood from the Asherah
idol.”
Notes
The nation of Israel has been having a rough time. They’ve been
under attack by other nations, so they’ve had to shelter in caves in
the mountains, to avoid their enemies. Their enemies had done all sorts of
things, including camping where Israel had planted their crops, so they got
no food.
But the beginning of chapter 6 says that this happened because Israel did evil - they didn’t do what God wanted. And so, when Israel has prayed to be released from this tyranny, God sent a deliverer, Gideon.
And just before today’s reading starts, Gideon has been told by God that it’s his job to lead Israel.
The first thing Gideon does is to worship God. And God asks Gideon to do two specific things. First, he asks Gideon to tear down his Dad’s Asherah idol, and second he asks Gideon to sacrifice his father’s bull. Asherah idols were an idol to a god called Baal, who people worshipped, and so taking them down is like saying his Dad’s system of worship was all wrong. And to sacrifice his father’s bull? Well, God asked this so he could put the whole nation’s sins on the bull, and then forgive.
So this is a big test for Gideon, and we see later on in Chapter 6 whether Gideon does it or not.
Are you any good at doing what you’re told? Probably not always. But with God we must listen carefully to what he says, and then do it!
Prayer
Lord God, help me to listen to you, as I read the Bible every day. Help
me to put into practice everything you tell me to do. Amen
Judges 6 v 27-29
So Gideon got ten of his servants and did what the LORD had told him
to do. But Gideon was afraid that his family and the men of the city might
see him, so he did it at night, not in the daytime.
When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw that the altar for
Baal had been destroyed and that the Asherah idol beside it had been cut down!
They also saw the altar Gideon had built and the second bull that had been
sacrificed on it. The men of the city asked each other, “Who did this?”
After they asked many questions, someone told them, “Gideon son of Joash
did this.”
Notes
Gideon has just been set a test by God. Will he destroy his father’s
idols, and will he take his father’s bull as a sacrifice?
Well, Gideon comes through! He does what God has asked him. But it’s pretty full on, so he does it at night - when no-one will see him! I think it’s interesting that the Bible doesn’t tell us whether it’s good he did it at night, or bad. It doesn’t say that God told Gideon he had to do it in the day. Sometimes God asks us to do things, but then gives us a choice about how to do it - that’s ok, so long as the job gets done.
But it doesn’t take long for people to find out something’s happened. And soon enough, they find out it was Gideon.
Sometimes, doing what God asks us to do means we are going to take some flak. Perhaps you get laughed at for going to Christian Union, or telling someone about Jesus. Perhaps your boyfriend or girlfriend dumps you because you won’t sleep with them, or perhaps you won’t date someone you like, because they aren’t a Christian. Life is tough sometimes.
But if we do what God asks, we will be ok in the end. How do I know? Because God has promised it. You can read about it in 2 Timothy Chapter 4 v 18, where he says “The Lord will save me when anyone tries to hurt me, and he will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.”
Prayer
Lord God, help me to be brave enough to do what you ask, and to put up
with the consequences. Help me to remember it’s better to please you
than my friends. Amen
Judges 6 v 30-32
So they said to Joash, “Bring your son out. He has pulled down
the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah idol beside it. He must die!”
But Joash said to the angry crowd around him, “Are you going to take
Baal’s side? Are you going to defend him? Anyone who takes Baal’s
side will be killed by morning! If Baal is a god, let him fight for himself.
It’s his altar that has been pulled down.” So on that day Gideon
got the name Jerub-Baal, which means “Let Baal fight against him,” because
Gideon pulled down Baal’s altar.
Notes
Gideon has just done some pretty serious things. He’s destroyed his Dad’s
idols, and he has sacrificed his Dad’s bull. And everyone has just found
out. So the crowds are really angry, and they get Joash (Gideon’s Dad)
and say, “Look what he’s done, we should kill him.”
But Joash is great. He’s probably a bit confused too, and it must have been a shock when he got up that morning to find out what Gideon had done. But Joash quickly realises his mistakes, that he shouldn’t have been worshipping Baal, and says that if Baal is a god, he can fight his own battles. He gets Gideon off the hook with the crowd!
And of course Baal is fake, and so nothing happens.
I’m really impressed at how quickly Joash realises his mistakes, and defends Gideon. It’s pretty hard to admit when we’ve got things wrong, but sometimes we just have to. Don’t worry about lost pride, just get on with doing things right.
Jesus died so that we could say to God, “I’ve got that wrong, please forgive me”. Joash realised his mistakes quickly, and put things right with Gideon - can you own up to your mistakes? Sometimes we need to put things right with other people we’ve fallen out with. Perhaps you need to kneel before God, and put things right with him?
Prayer
Lord God, I know I get things wrong. Help me to realise quickly, ask for forgiveness,
and then move on with you. Don’t let my mistakes hold me back from
loving you more. Amen
Judges 6 v 33-38
All the Midianites, the Amalekites, and other peoples from the east
joined together and came across the Jordan River and camped in the Valley of
Jezreel. But the Spirit of the LORD entered Gideon, and he blew a trumpet to
call the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers to all of Manasseh, calling
them to follow him. He also sent messengers to the people of Asher, Zebulun,
and Naphtali. So they also went up to meet Gideon and his men.
Then Gideon said to God, “You said you would help me save Israel. I will
put some wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the wool but
all of the ground is dry, then I will know that you will use me to save Israel,
as you said.” And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early
the next morning and squeezed the wool, he got a full bowl of water from it.
Notes
Gideon has so far come through some pretty tough tests. He has learnt to listen
to God, and to trust God. He has destroyed idols that his nation, Israel,
were worshipping.
And now, he has to start to lead the nation. He’s now got an even bigger test. First, God’s Spirit enters him. This means he is able to do lots of things because he’s with God, which he couldn’t have done without God. He calls all the people to follow him.
And he gets nervous again. This is another pretty big ask. So Gideon asks God to prove that what Gideon thinks God is saying, he is actually saying. He puts a sheep’s fleece out, and says to God that if it’s wet, he knows he’s heard him properly.
You see, sometimes we think we are hearing God, but we’re not sure. How can we know whether we really hear what God says, or if we’re kidding ourselves?
Well, we can read the Bible. God won’t ask us to do something that the Bible says is wrong. He’ll never do that, in any circumstance. That’s why it helps us if we know what the Bible says.
And we can ask God to speak really clearly to us - we pray. That’s kind of like what Gideon did. He wanted to be really sure so he said to God, “You need to be really clear here - help me listen”. That’s why it helps us if we pray.
Prayer
Lord God, help me to know when it is you speaking to me. Help me to check by
reading the Bible and praying. Amen
Judges 6 v 39-40
Then Gideon said to God, “Don’t be angry with me if I ask
just one more thing. Please let me make one more test. Let only the wool be
dry while the ground around it gets wet with dew.” That night God did
that very thing. Just the wool was dry, but the ground around it was wet with
dew.
Notes
Gideon has just checked he was hearing God properly. He put a fleece outside
overnight, and said to God, ”If it’s you speaking, make the fleece
wet.”
Well, in this reading, Gideon does it again. But just to make sure it’s not all happened by chance, this time Gideon says, “If it’s dry, I’ll know it’s you.”
And sure enough, the ground around was wet, and the fleece was dry. So one night God got the fleece wet, and the next night he got it dry.
God was pretty patient with Gideon. This is the second time Gideon asked God whether he’s heard him properly. I wouldn’t be surprised for God to lose patience. I had some teachers at school who were like that - they explained it once, and didn’t want to have to explain it again. It’s frustrating having to go over the same things time and time again.
But Gideon is trying his hardest to do what God wants and I think God likes that more than anything. So God was really patient with him. What good news for us! God will hang in there with us - he’ll never give up on us, and if we’re slow, he’ll go at our speed.
Prayer
Lord God, please be patient with me. I really want to live my life your way.
Help me to remember that you are always around, whether I’m fast or
slow, whether I make mistakes or not. Amen
Judges 7 v 1-3
Early in the morning Jerub-Baal (also called Gideon) and all his men set
up their camp at the spring of Harod. The Midianites were camped north of
them
in the valley at the bottom of the hill called Moreh. Then the LORD said
to Gideon, “You have too many men to defeat the Midianites. I don’t
want the Israelites to brag that they saved themselves. So now, announce
to the people, ‘Anyone who is afraid may leave Mount Gilead and go
back home.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men returned home, but ten
thousand remained.
Notes
Gideon has been trying to make sure he hears God properly. He’s just
done two checks, to make sure he is right in thinking he’s been asked
by God to lead Israel. And both times God has said “Yes, it’s the
job for you.”
And so Gideon is going into battle. He’s gathered his army around him - thirty two thousand men. That’s a lot of men!
But then God throws in a test for Gideon. “If you win the battle with thirty-two thousand men, you’ll just say that you won the battle because you had a great big army. That’s no good. You have far more men than you need. Send some home!”
“What!” I expect Gideon thought. Surely in a battle you want as many as possible! But God is checking that Gideon trusts him, not the army. And so anyone who is scared is allowed to go home! Twenty-two thousand men do. That leaves just ten thousand, less than half!
Do you trust God? Do you believe he can do anything? That’s what God is checking with Gideon. If God wanted, Israel could have won the battle with no-one. But God is making sure that Gideon remembers it. Gideon has checked God twice, and now God tests Gideon!
Prayer
Lord God, help me to trust you - that you can do anything. Help me not to rely
on myself, but completely and utterly on you. Amen
Judges 7 v 4-6
Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take the
men down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say, ‘This
man will go with you, he will go. But if I say, ‘That one will not go
with you,’ he will not go.”
So Gideon led the men down to the water. There the LORD said to him, “Separate
them into those who drink water by lapping it up like a dog and those who bend
down to drink.” There were three hundred men who used their hands to
bring water to their mouths, lapping it as a dog does. All the rest got down
on their knees to drink.
Notes
Gideon went back and asked God twice about whether he was really asking him
to lead Israel into battle.
And God has just tested Gideon, by getting rid off twenty-two thousand men from the army, leaving just ten thousand.
Now, God says that there are still too many people. What must Gideon be thinking?! “You’ve already cut my numbers from thirty-two thousand to ten thousand. And still I’ve got too many? Surely not.”
This is Gideon’s second test, to match the twice he checked with God! God sends the ten thousand men to the river to drink. Three hundred use their hands to bring water to their mouths, and nine thousand seven hundred lap water, like dogs do.
Now I think Gideon realised what was going on by now. He knows that God is about to send more of his army home. The next reading will tell you which way round it goes! But what is Gideon hoping - that the three hundred go home, or that he keeps three hundred? You will have to read on to find out!
I think Gideon would rather send three hundred away. But God is in charge, not Gideon. Do you trust that tomorrow God will do the right thing, even if you’re not sure what is going to happen?
Prayer
Lord God, you are in charge. You don’t always do things the way I’d
like. Help me to remember that your way is best. Amen
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word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes