The Book of Judges: Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay
Gideon Takes a Course in Divine Math
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Report on Huntington, Utah: I want to take the opening moments of my time this morning to tell you a story that has nothing to do with my message. Those of you who attended our last congregational meeting have some prior knowledge of this situation, but much more has taken place and I want to bring all of you up to date.
Two months ago, I received a form letter that had been sent to about 600 Free Churches by a pastor in Huntington, Utah, appealing for help in getting a building erected for a new church he was planting there. He was asking churches to help by giving $10 per month for two years, and he felt that if enough churches responded they could raise the $60,000 they needed before breaking ground. (Show slide of building). This building is pretty basic, but it will be a lighthouse in Emery County, Utah—the only evangelical witness in that entire county.
The need for this building is acute because the town fathers are putting the squeeze on this little church and threatening to put them out of the community center they were renting. You see, Huntington, Utah is in Emery County, which is over 98% Mormon, and the conversion of a number of Mormons to faith in Christ has stirred up considerable animosity by the town leaders.
I don’t know why this letter from Pastor Carl Sitterud caught my attention, because I get many such letters and don’t respond to most of them. But I decided to call Rev. Rich Carlson, the Superintendent of the Intermountain District, to see what he knew about Carl and the Desert Edge Christian Chapel. He gave me a glowing report of what God was doing in Huntington. He himself had preached there recently and fifteen people had professed faith in Christ in one service!
So, I called Pastor Carl to get acquainted, and the story I heard was quite amazing. He grew up Mormon, was married at 18, divorced at 19, and didn’t come to faith in Christ until several years later. He was discipled by a pastor, met his present wife Jodie, a solid Christian, and after three children arrived, he felt the call of God on his life for full-time ministry. A meat cutter by trade, Carl pulled up stakes with his wife and kids and headed for Tekoa Falls, Georgia to attend Bible College. Upon graduation he returned to Utah and was called to serve on the staff of Price Chapel, a solid evangelical church in Price, Utah.
After several years Carl felt that God wanted him to plant a church in his hometown of Huntington, about thirty miles from Price. With the support of Price Chapel and the blessing of his senior pastor, he started the Desert Edge Christian Chapel in January of 1997. The new church started off very well, but then the denomination to which Price Chapel belonged became aware of Carl’s divorce.
As you may know, the Free Church does allow for credentialing of those who have suffered divorce if their situation fits biblical guidelines, but this other denomination allowed for no exceptions. Yet they knew that God was really blessing Carl’s ministry. So rather than tell Carl he could not be the pastor any longer, they did a very magnanimous thing. They called the Free Church and offered to give this new church, plus the five acres they had already purchased and paid for as a permanent location for the church, to the Evangelical Free Church if we would credential Carl and take on this new ministry. After determining that Carl would indeed qualify for credentialing under our guidelines, the Free Church accepted Carl and the Desert Edge Christian Chapel as a church plant. It has now grown to over 100 people, most of them former Mormons.
When I heard this story, I went to our Church Planting Fund Task Force and asked them if they thought we should do something for Desert Edge Christian Chapel. As most of you know, your giving to our Building Fund is tithed for church planting purposes. That is, 10 cents of each dollar given (unless the giver requests otherwise) is put into a Church Planting Fund. This fund, now over $200,000, has been used to buy property in Tatarstan, help purchase a church building in Hannibal, remodel the meeting place for our Dogtown church plant, and, of course, some of it is set aside to help our daughter churches find land. In other words, while we are building a major new facility for our own use, we are also able to fund church planting projects around the world.
Our Church Planting Fund Task Force unanimously approved, and the Elders supported, giving $5,000 to the Huntington Church, which we announced at our June congregational meeting. When I called Pastor Carl and told him the money was on its way, he literally cried on the phone and expressed gratitude on behalf of his entire congregation for our generosity.
Our Elders thought it would be good for someone to go out and meet Carl and see the work there first-hand. Instead, Carl and Jodie met us at our National Conference in Albuquerque a month ago. Jerry Rich and I were both able to meet them, and I got to spend some quality time with Carl. I was even able to arrange it so that he could share his testimony before the entire Conference.
Then the very next week—just two weeks ago—Richard and Pam Schumacher were vacationing in Utah and agreed to go to Huntington to see the work there. Pam is on our Task Force and Richard is one of our Elders, so this was very strategic. They came back with very encouraging reports. They were even able to visit the 5-acre site that will soon, Lord willing, have a new church building on it. (Show slide of Schumachers and Sitteruds).
Our Church Planting Fund Task Force decided this week to send another $5,000, and it is our hope that other Free Churches will make up the remaining need of about $ 22,000 before the end of July.
I have shared this because I want you to know that every time you give to the Building Fund here at First Free, you are doing more than providing future worship and educational space for your own family. You are also spreading the Gospel—to Tatarstan, the inner city of St. Louis, out-state Missouri, and even to the very heart of Mormonism.
Introduction: Last Lord’s Day our journey through the OT book of Judges brought us to the life of Gideon, whom I called “The Man of Faith Who Doubted.” We saw more of doubt than faith last Sunday, but today we will find the positive result of God’s investment in this man’s life. I think it would be well for us to read the entire seventh chapter as we begin this morning:
“Early in the morning, Jerub‑Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'” So twenty‑two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.” So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.
Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. During that night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”
When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.'”
Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.”
So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they took the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.”
Bigger is better. At least that’s what our society tends to think. Merger mania has gripped the corporate world. Blockbuster movies and gargantuan theme parks have become the norm in the entertainment industry. Even the church has borrowed this notion, to the point that the mega-church is viewed as a sure sign that God is blessing. But the fact is, God is not always as impressed by numbers as we are.
You will recall that for seven years the Israelites have been under the oppression of the Midianites, marauding desert warriors who have forced Israel to dwell in caves and hide what little grain they could harvest in secret. The camp of Midian, along with their allies the Amalekites and other eastern tribes, was in the Valley of Jezreel, according to 6:33. This incredible valley is one of the awesome sites in Israel. From the top of Mt. Carmel this huge valley stretches for 20 or 30 miles between the coastal mountain range along the Mediterranean and a small range on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
The Valley of Har Megiddo, better known as Armageddon, joins this valley, and standing there one can’t help but visualize that last great battle which the Book of Revelation talks about—involving millions of soldiers, and blood that flows to the height of the horse’s bridle. Gideon is camped at the spring of Harod in the mountains, and the Midianite army of over 135,000 soldiers is in plain view below him in the valley.
Gideon’s efforts to raise an army from four different tribes of Israelites, as recorded at the end of chapter 6, has netted only 32,000 soldiers. That makes for a ratio of over 4 Midianites to 1 Israeli, not very encouraging. But if the soldiers are well‑trained and courageous, there might just be a fighting chance for them to prevail. There have been notable examples throughout history of outnumbered armies being victorious.
But then the Lord comes to Gideon. I can imagine him thinking to himself, “Well, I’m glad the Lord sees our problem. Surely he’s going to give me a little more time so I can recruit some more troops. ” But the first words out of the Lord’s mouth are these: “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.” Too many men?!? Did I hear you right, Lord? How can you ever have too many men when you’re going into battle, especially when the odds are already more than 4 to 1 against you? So, the Lord tells him why there were too many.
“You have too many men.” (7:2) The size of the army could allow human pride to usurp the credit for what God is about to do.
Look at verse 2: “In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back.’” There’s an interesting phrase there—“boast against me.” One normally doesn’t boast against somebody; he boasts for himself. But God views boasting as against Him because it involves taking credit for something He has accomplished. That’s why pride is such a heinous sin in God’s sight. It is usurping from God the glory that is due Him alone.
By the way, can you imagine any nation saying to its draftees what God orders Gideon to say to his army? If in the late 60’s the U.S. had said to the hundreds of thousands who were being drafted for service in the Viet Nam War, “Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back,” there would have been very few heading to Southeast Asia. There would probably have been some, and when Gideon passes the word on to his army, there are also some who stay. But more than 2/3 of his soldiers take off, leaving him with only 10,000.
I think it’s important to see that God is not interested in simply giving His people victory. He is concerned with teaching them trust. In fact, if our victories make us self‑reliant, they can ultimately be more disastrous than defeat.[i] Gideon needs to learn the lesson that quantity is less important to God than it is to us. Notice I didn’t say that quantity is unimportant to God, but that it is lessimportant. God is neither limited by numbers, nor do numbers automatically evidence His blessing.
Friends, this is important for us to remember here at First Evangelical Free Church. We are a large church, but that in and of itself says nothing about our faithfulness or our success in the eyes of God. The issues that should excite us are not the numbers of people that are sitting in our services or attending youth meetings or filling up Small Churches. The issues that should excite us are
people coming to faith in Christ,
believers getting victory over addictions,
marriages being saved,
people serving God in short-term missions,
Mormons finding the truth in Utah,
believers spending more time in prayer, etc.
These are the issues that reveal our success as a church.
I have a good friend who pastors a fast-growing Free Church about our size in Chesterton, Indiana. Bill is a young man—mid-thirties—but he has a lot of wisdom and a lot of courage. One Sunday, when his church was facing a major attendance crunch, and since relief by adding new facilities was not in sight, Bill said to his congregation something like this: “If you are just here taking up space, and you’re not serious about becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, you’re not interested in serving, and you’re not interested in sharing the Gospel with others, I want to suggest that you consider going to some of the other churches in town that have plenty of empty seats.” In effect he was saying that God has called His church to be lean and mean (not really mean, but you know what I mean). Maybe more pastors should be bold enough to say that.
Yes, quantity is less important to God than it is to us. But then the Lord comes again to Gideon and says, “There are still too many men.” Whoa! The ratio is already more than 13 to 1! What could possibly be the rationale for paring them down even further? Well, I’m glad you asked.
“There are still too many men.” (7:4) The level of vigilance and preparedness of the soldiers could compromise the task.
The Lord tells Gideon to give His soldiers a secret test; that is, they are unaware they are being tested. They are to go down to the spring and get a drink. Gideon is then to separate the men who lap the water with their hands from those who stick their faces in it. Now let’s suppose it is summertime in the Holy Land—usually very hot. The soldiers are thirsty. They’re up in the mountains and they can see the enemy down in the valley, so they know they’re reasonably safe. It should be no surprise that most of the soldiers put their weapons on the ground, get down on all fours and begin to drink the cool water with their faces down in it.
Only 300 keep their weapons in their hands, their eyes on the horizon, and drink from cupped hands. What’s the point? These are the men who are vigilant, reliable, disciplined, and always prepared. These are the men God wants to represent Him. You say, why? Because they have a job to do. They are going to have to follow orders. The defeat of the Midianite army is going to be the result of a surprise attack. If one Israelite soldier blows his trumpet too early or trips and breaks his jar too soon, the strategy will not work.
You see, even though God is going to win the victory for them, they still have certain responsibilities that are crucial to success. It is always this way in the believer’s life. The success comes from God, but He only grants that success when His people are faithful and obedient.
The lesson in this second major reduction of Gideon’s army seems to be this: quality is moreimportant to God than it is to us. God would always rather have a small remnant totally committed than a large crowd of apathetic onlookers. When the Philistines were threatening Israel in the days of King Saul, God took one little shepherd boy to go up against the giant Goliath, and the defeat of that giant resulted in an absolute rout of the Philistines. When Jesus wished to establish His Church here on earth, He didn’t pour the bulk of His energies into the huge crowds that gathered around Him to see His miracles and to hear His profound discourses; rather He invested in twelve men who were willing to give up their careers and their livelihoods to follow Him. For God, “Quality is Job One.” (My apologies to any Chevy dealer who might be present for using that Ford slogan).
Gideon’s army now numbers 300, less than 1% of what he started with. The ratio of bad guys to good guys is now 450:1.
Finally Gideon’s army has been reduced sufficiently to accomplish God’s purposes.
Last week we were introduced to Gideon as a man whose faith was less than monumental. Three times He asked God to verify His promises, even though God had already made them crystal clear. But God was gracious, and He responded kindly to Gideon’s honest doubt and weak faith. Now in verse 10 the Lord Himself initiates a reinforcement of Gideon’s weak faith
The previous verse says, “During that night the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.’” But then it’s as though God hears Gideon’s knees knocking together. And this time He offers to confirm His promise without Gideon even having to ask. “Oh, by the way, Gideon,” the Lord says, “if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.”
The Lord gives Gideon the encouragement he needs. Gideon and his servant go down into the valley and sneak up on the Midianite camp. Of the thousands of tents they could have approached, they just happen to come upon one in which one soldier is telling another about a dream he has just had. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread (a bagel, if you will)came tumbling out of the mountain and flattened my tent.”
Now what’s more amazing than this strange dream is that the other guy in the tent knows exactly what it means. He says, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.” Now how did he know that was the only possible meaning of this dream? Because God had told him. And when Gideon heard his own name mentioned and heard that victory was being promised, he worshiped. I like that. Friends, that is the appropriate response to miracle, to the promises of God, to every God-sighting in our lives—worship.
Gideon’s doubt is gone. He returns to his own camp and calls out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” Not, “The Lord will give,” but “The Lord has given.” It’s so certain he can speak of it in the past tense.
Having given Gideon the encouragement he needs …
The Lord gives the soldiers the weapons they need. Now the reason why a smaller army sometimes defeats a larger one is usually superior weapons. We had far fewer troops in Desert Storm than the Iraqis had, but their anti-aircraft batteries were no match for our stealth jets and laser bombs and cruise missiles. Surely God, if He’s going to send 300 soldiers up against 135,000, is going to provide them with superior weaponry. But in verse 16 we read, “Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. ‘Watch me,’ he told them. ‘Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”
There’s no mention of swords, catapults, chariots, crossbows, camels, or anything else remotely resembling a traditional weapon—just trumpets to blow, empty jars to break, torches to shine, and voices to yell with. This reminds me of a passage in 2 Corinthians 10: “We are human, but we don’t wage war with human plans and methods. We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds. With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ.” The weapons of God are the truth, signified by a clear trumpet sound; light, symbolized by the torch; the believer’s life, symbolized by the broken clay pot; and our witness, which is seen in the shouted voice.
In another chapter of 2 Corinthians all these same elements appear. Listen to 4:5-7:
“We don’t go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us. For God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
But this precious treasure–this light and power that now shine within us—is held in perishable containers (clay pots, earthen jars), that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own.”
The Lord gives Gideon the encouragement he needs. He gives the soldiers the weapons they need. Thirdly and finally…,
The Lord gives Israel the victory it needs. When Gideon set out to raise this army, he was looking for men who could fight, but God was looking for men of faith. They didn’t even need to know how to fight, because in the terrible rout of the Midianites, not one Israelite soldier would even lift a sword. They just blew their trumpets at the set time, broke their jars, and shouted, “A sword for the Lord and Gideon!” And God caused panic among the Midianites and they turned on each other with their swords. Those that fled were captured and their leaders were executed.
The victory Israel experienced here is one of the greatest in the history of military conflict. It might be compared to a T‑ball team defeating the Cardinals. On second thought, that might not be a good analogy; this year that might just happen.
Now what is the key lesson God wants us to learn from Gideon’s course in divine math? I think it is this:
Conclusion: You can’t be too small to be used by God, but you can definitely be too big.
King Saul was too big. Samson was too big. Diotrephes was too big. Whenever we get the notion that God needs us or that we can accomplish something significant without Him, we’re in deep trouble. Jesus said to us, “Without me you can do nothing.” Gideon could do nothing without God. It was only when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in 6:34 that Gideon was able to take steps toward accomplishing what God had promised.
You know something? The focus of this story is not really on Gideon at all—it’s on God. He is all-powerful, He is sovereign, He is merciful and gracious. He may take away all your props, all your human resources, and all your crutches. But if He does so, it is so that His own power will shine through and so that you will learn to trust Him more.
I close with a prayer from the lips of King Asa in 2 Chron. 14:11. Many centuries after Gideon, Asa was facing an army of a million men and 300 chariots. And it says he cried out to the Lord His God:“O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O Lord, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!”
Whatever you are facing this week, that prayer is appropriate: “O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone.” That applies to whatever you’re facing this week, but it also applies to your eternal destiny. No one but God is able to save you. He gave you all you need when He sent His one and only Son to pay the penalty for your sin. Won’t you trust him today?
DATE: July 19, 1998
Tags:
Pride
Spiritual weapons
Quantity versus quality
[i] Gary Inrig, Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay, 125.