Gideon Part 2

Judges 7

God's power and might are shown clearly when He reduces the size of Israel's army to just 300 men, and the Midianites turn on each other. The men of Israel chase them and kill two leaders. It is a thoroughly successful mission, because God is running it!

After all Gideon's indecision, he finally obeys God- with amazing results.

The incident demonstrates how much God wants us to depend on Him, not on our own strength, and how much He deserves all the glory. As soon as God's people forget that they need God they begin to be sinful and disobedience.

It is vital for our spiritual health that we remember who we are and how dependent we are on God for every breath of each day.

Gideon Part 1

Judges 6

The story of Gideon is really remarkable. God punishes the people for turning away from Him, but graciously helps them once they turn back and cry for help.

Gideon doesn't seem to have much faith- he questions where God is in all the misfortunes of Israel, he questions God's command for him to lead the people and he obeys God's command to take down the Baal altar in the dark, because he fears the reaction from others.

In all of this, God marvellously and graciously works to ensure His purposes are fulfilled. He even grants Gideon's requests for the fleece to be wet, then dry, to give him reassurance. God loves His people so much that He does all of this. How amazing!

Judges: worth reading?

Judges has to be one of the most violent, gory and shocking books of the Old Testament. It gives us the famous stories of Gideon and Samson, and yet even these heroic stories are blotted by the flaws of these figures. Gideon is a man who repeatedly doubts God's promises, and his fleece experiments are definitely not an example for us to follow! Samson is meant to be delivering Israel from the Philistines, and yet lets his sexual desires over-rule his calling as he marries a Philistine woman, and later tells Delilah the secret of his strength.

So what is the value of Judges for Christians today? Well, it DOES have value- it is part of the Word of God for starters, and 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking and training in righteousness. Judges probably tells us more what NOT to do than provide positive examples, but it is no less worthy of our attention because of this.

Judges also testifies to the extraordinary faithfulness of God. To put it into context, God has led the Israelites out of slavery to Egypt, and into the promised land. Joshua, their leader after Moses, dies, and not long after this the people begin to do exactly what they were told NOT to do. They do not drive out the other nations completely or break down their pagan altars. God's angel tells them that these nations will be 'thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you' (3). The people weep and offer sacrifices, but it is a sad fact that 'another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel.' (10) Despite the Exodus and establishment of Israel in the promised land, the covenant and the law, they STILL forget God.

As soon as the Israelites worship other gods, they lose their security and are plundered by raiders. But in His mercy, God raises up judges who save them from these raiders (16). The cycle of disobedience and grace, establishing way back in Genesis 3, continues... And yet God is still loving, caring and involved in the lives of His people.

For us as Christians, we perhaps need reminding of why we need the cross of Jesus so much, and why it was such an amazing act of grace for God to send His Son into a world that had rejected Him from its very creation. Judges gives us a horrifying picture of life without God, and motivates us to cling to Jesus, a Saviour who (unlike the flawed judges) brings us perfect relationship with God.