Scripture
Read: Judges 7:20-25 When the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the
pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their
right hands for blowing, and cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Each stood in his place around the camp; and
all the army ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When they blew 300
trumpets, the Lord set the sword
of one against another even throughout the whole army; and the army
fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of Abel-meholah,
by Tabbath. 23 The men of Israel were summoned from Naphtali and
Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian. 24 Gideon sent
messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down
against Midian and take the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the
Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned and they took the waters as
far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. 25 They captured the two leaders
of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they
killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they pursued Midian; and they
brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.
Application: God has been working with Gideon, maturing his faith
in order to prepare him for a tremendous task. As we read the climax of this
journey that Gideon is on, we need to deal with some important issues that for
the most part many of us are uncomfortable about. First, we find it
uncomfortable to face the fact that someone other than ourselves can control
us. That is exactly Who God is if we are honest. This does not mean that God
treats us as pawns on a chessboard. However, it is important for us to remember
that because God is God, at any point if He wants to He can make us do whatever
His desire is. Gideon and his army have the enemy surrounded, when they blow
the trumpets and show their torches the Lord confused the mind of the enemy and
they turned on each other. It is too simplistic to just chalk this up as a
natural reaction of men of war mistakenly turning on each other. There's no
doubt that the strategy the Lord had given Gideon would enhance the idea that
God also placed in the minds of the enemy. When they awoke to the noise,
surrounded by torches, they would be startled and they might even strike out in
error, but it's hard to believe the entire army would do that. These are
trained warriors, so even though it is uncomfortable for us, we need to deal
with the reality of a sovereign God intervening in a very direct and deliberate
way. For ourselves, we need to remember that for the most part, as history in
Scripture shows, God allows much freedom in the choices we make. Yet there are
times where God will step in personally and make things happen. This should be
comforting and frightening at the same time. Comforting, because no matter what
the situation is or how big the enemy's army is, if God wants something to
happen, it will happen and we need to only believe and rely on him. Frightening,
because in our fallen state sometimes we do things that are very dangerous to
ourselves and insulting to God, and at some point God may decide to take direct
action and not leave what's going to happen up to us. Examples are:
Nadab and Abihu
Leviticus 10:1–3 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron,
took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense
on it and offered strange fire before the Lord,
which He had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from the
presence of the Lord and consumed
them, and they died before the Lord.
3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be
treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’ ” So Aaron,
therefore, kept silent.
Ananias and Sapphira
Acts 5:1–10 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold
a piece of property, 2 and kept back some of the price for himself,
with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the
apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled
your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the
land? 4 “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And
after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have
conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5
And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great
fear came over all who heard of it. 6 The young men got up and
covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him. 7 Now
there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not
knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me
whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that
was the price.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have
agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of
those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out
as well.” 10 And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her
last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out
and buried her beside her husband.
The believers in the church at Corinth that were abusing the
Lord's table.
1 Corinthians 11:26–30 For as often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28
But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and
drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks
judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For
this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
We also find this passage uncomfortable because of the
harshness that is portrayed that is a reality of war. For most, the Christian
life is one that moves away from carnal strife, though there are believers that
have to deal with this, i.e. police officers, military and such. However, most
of us do not work in those vocations and so the only violence that we usually
have to deal with is that which comes from wanting to defend our rights or to
take vengeance on someone that has hurt us. We know the Scriptures teach us to
do otherwise, so in our lifestyle we do not think in ways that men of war must
think. Still, there is an important principle in this story. Our enemy may not
be an army of men; it may be a habit, or weakness in our life. When God calls
us to face the enemy and war against it, like Gideon, we need to pursue that
enemy and not fear to engage it in battle. We must ask God to strengthen us to trust
Him as we battle the enemies in our life. No matter what we perceive the odds
to be, we must keep our eyes focused on our Lord, Who will battle for us, so we
then can live in the victory that God had intended.
Meditation Questions: Do
you struggle with thoughts of God over ruling your decisions? What do you do
about that? When you see a sin in your life what are the steps you take to
confront it? Have you ever experienced when God intervened personally into a
situation and left you no choice? How did you handle that? What about when
God’s sovereign hand allowed something you did not want like a sickness,
financial loss or death? Did you see His hand in it? Why? Why not? When things
are out of your control, what do you do? Why?
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