Lessons from Gideon: A Man of Valor Part 3

Lesson 6: God not only requires that man give obedience to faith in the sacrifice, but He demands that he shine his light before all men.

 Matthew 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  

Lesson 7: when you take your stand for The Lord, don't expect that all those who call themselves 
Christians will be happy. 

Most people are more concerned about pleasing man more than God. 

 

Judges 6:25-30

And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, 
even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, 
and cut down the grove that is by it: And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of 
this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with 
the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and 
did as the Lord had said unto him:and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and 
the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, 
and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that 
was built. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, 
they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, 
Bring out thy son, that he may die:because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath 
cut down the grove that was by it.

 

(6) First, Gideon embraced relationship with God by building an altar and sacrificing to the God of 
Israel. As we will soon see, Israel was so far removed from serving God that their altars were erected 
to Baal rather than Jehovah. 

 

Gideon did right-- he worshiped God, but it won't stop there the next step will require that he live 
that devotion and obedience for others to see-- an example of what it's supposed to look like. 
"Where are the men who fear nothing but God?" James Van Valkenberg Christian artist Baton Rouge La. 

 

(7) The root of Israel's problem was their refusal to remove the idol's in their lives. They were 
worshiping false gods; thereby, opening doors, which gave the enemy a foothold, which has now become 
a stronghold.

 

This problem still plagues many modern Christians. With one hand holding onto the world's "goodies," 
they reach their other hand towards God. We can't serve Baal and God together. It's going to have to 
be either one or the other. 

 

Israel's bondage and loss of supply was a direct result of their failure to separate themselves from 
the world. Because of their continued disobedience, their enemy was allowed by God to have power over 
them.

 

Gideon, on the other hand, was a man who wanted to serve God. God saw his heart and chose to reveal 
Himself to Gideon in order to deliver His people from bondage. God's instruction in this passage to Gideon 
is destroy the altar of Baal. 

 

How many times do Christians allow altars of Baal (sinful disobedience) to remain erected in their 
lives? While, at the same time, they say they are God's children; yet, don't understand why their 
lives are full of strife and confusion. 

 

Well, not Gideon. He was instructed by God to destroy the altar of Baal and erect an altar towards 
Him. Once again, Old Testament altars are a foreshadowing of the cross; for it is there that the 
fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrifice was found. 

 

Essentially, for the modern Christian, the question to be asked is, "when will you let go of the 
sinful disobedience and throw yourself at the foot of the cross, allowing the 'old man' whose been 
driven by sin to be crucified and resurrected anew?"

 

Don't expect that when the fire of the Lord gets a hold of your heart and teaches you and strengthens 
you to walk in purity before Him that everyone is going to get on board w/ the program. There are some 
who don't want to move from the land of the dead to the land of the living.

 

Just as Gideon was faithful to the voice of God while the other men around him became angry because 
he destroyed Baal's altar, there will also be a small remnant who will obey the word of The Lord 
while the rest will continue holding hands with the world and pretend they've given their heart to God. 

 

Furthermore, the men of Manassah were infuriated with Gideon's obedience towards God. It should be
noted that it's still a common finding that when a man or woman has their heart ignited by the Spirit 
of God, which fuels them towards obedience, the disobedient crowd becomes convicted, resentful, and 
even hateful. The same thing happened to Jesus, so why would we expect any different?

There should be some clarification added here. There are many Christian. There are many in the church 
who desire to serve God; yet, they find themselves on the wrong end of the struggle. If that is you, I 
want you to know that God hears the cries of those that love Him. Hold onto Jesus’ nail scarred hand 
as He leads you to the Promised Land.

 

John 15:18
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

John 15:24
If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin:but now have 
they both seen and hated both me and my Father. [interesting that when God is revealed to man different 
than what he expected he doesn't like the revelation]

John 16:2-3
They shall put you out of the synagogues:yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think 
that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the 
Father, nor me.

John 5:1-16
Chapter 5
 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem 
by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these 
lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water:whosoever then first 
after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain 
man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he 
had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man 
answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool:but while I am 
coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And 
immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked:and on the same day was the sabbath.

The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day:it is not lawful for thee to 
carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 
Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was 
healed wist not who it was:for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole:sin no more, 
lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made 
him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these 
things on the sabbath day.

In addition, people should be able to see a shocking change also once we erect the altar towards God (fall at the foot of the cross).
 
Lesson 8: where there is communion {God's presence} there is victory.
 
Judges 7:13-15
And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel:for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshiped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
 
It's interesting to me that the dream contained a barley loaf (bread) bringing destruction to a tent considering the fact that the Midianites were a nomadic people group.
 
The passage says: barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, overturned, and that the tent lay along
 
What happened to the tent, representative of the Midian people is that it was struck and overturned by the bread; ultimately, resulting in the tent experiencing a violent death.
 
So what does the bread represent in this scenario? It's quite obviously of significant import considering it is the source of victory, at least in the dream.
 
Bread in the bible, especially the Old Testament, represents communion or fellowship with God.
 
Reaching back to the book of Exodus, we see reference to the shewbread KJV or the bread of presence: NIV, ESV, YLT, NASB
 
Exodus 25:30
And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.
 
Exodus 25:30
And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly.
 
Exodus 25:30
and thou hast put on the table bread of the presence before Me continually.
 
(30) You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times. Exodus 25:30 (NASB)
 
The shewbread was called the bread of presence because it was to be set
upon a table "before the Lord always.
 
Every Sabbath, once per week, the priest servicing the temple, was instructed to replace the twelve loaves, which represented Israel's twelve tribes. The fact that these loaves were "before the Lord" is representative of Israel's communion and fellowship with God.
 
While we certainly don't have time to exhaust all the types and shadows of the tabernacle and its representations of the person of Christ, there is an amazing observation to be made regarding this concept: in Christ (inside the tabernacle), there is fellowship between God and His people.
 
It should also be noted with regards to the Gideon story that the Israelites had been completely impoverished by Midian; yet, God chooses to foretell victory through a dream where prepared bread destroys the enemy. Remember, Gideon was just hiding with his wheat in the wine press.
 
There is also certainly a reference to the provision of God and the fact that when we are weak, He is strong (Corinthians). Furthermore, regarding provision, its important to remember what Jesus said about the manna from heaven: "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven" (John 6:32).
 
Jesus is true provision; furthermore, He is the source of true communion; and when we are in fellowship with Him, you can expect the enemy's stronghold to be broken when God's presence shows up on the scene. Maybe, you feel as though you are impoverished: relationships failing, finances in disarray, children are wayward, living under constant depression...
 
I will close by saying that when you have no strength left, God's is perfected and ready to bring the victory.