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Judges chapter 6. We'll take 
a few weeks off from our study in the Gospel of Matthew. And 
I want to, over the next several weeks, look at two of the main 
men in this book of Judges. Gideon and Samson. We'll spend 
a few weeks on each of these particular men. Both of them 
are mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, specifically in verse 32, 
as men of great faith. and certainly God raised them 
up for specific tasks. I believe and I argue that each 
of these judges that the Lord raised up in the book of Judges 
are typical of the judge that would ultimately come from heaven, 
even our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver his people from the oppression 
of sin. Just a brief introduction in 
terms of the flow or structure of the book, chapters 1 to 3, 
5 are introductory in nature and thematic, specifically in 
chapter 2, the author sets forth the themes of the book. There 
is cycles that Israel goes through of sin. and then God raises up 
earthly oppressors to bring them under bondage for chastisement 
due to their sin. And then the people cry out, 
not in repentance, but because of distress. And because of God's 
mercy and His amazing grace, He raises up deliverers. So chapter 
3, beginning in verse 6, to chapter 16, verse 31, is the major section 
of the book where those earthly deliverers are mentioned, where 
they are taught, or where the scriptures set those men forth. 
So I want to read Judges 6 beginning in chapter, or beginning in verse 
1, we'll read to verse 32. Just before we actually look 
there, imagine being in the coldest place that you know of in Canada. 
There was an old brother once who told me that it was portage 
in Maine. I don't know if that's the coldest 
place or the windiest place, but certainly if it was cold 
and it was windy, it would be cold. Imagine for a moment being 
in a place like that, you would want to be in this room. You 
would not be concerned whatsoever about the heat. You would love 
it and it would be a joy and a delight to you. So please be 
encouraged that God Most High is sovereign in the cold, He's 
sovereign in the heat, His Spirit is at work, His Word is alive, 
and I believe that there is great benefit to this book of Judges 
for the 21st century church. of our Lord Jesus Christ. So 
listen now as I read the word of the living God. Then the children 
of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered 
them into the hand of Midian for seven years. And the hand 
of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the 
children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the 
strongholds which are in the mountains. So it was, whenever 
Israel had sown, Midianites would come up. Also Amalekites and 
the people of the east would come up against them. Then they 
would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth 
as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither 
sheep nor ox nor donkey. for they would come up with their 
livestock in their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts. Both 
they and their camels were without number, and they would enter 
the land to destroy it. So Israel was greatly impoverished 
because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried 
out to the Lord, and it came to pass when the children of 
Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites that 
the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel who said to 
them thus says the Lord God of Israel I brought you up from 
Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage and I delivered 
you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who 
oppressed you and drove them out before you and gave you their 
land Also, I said to you I am the Lord your God do not fear 
the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell But you have not 
obeyed my voice Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under 
the terebinth tree, which was in Ophrah, which belonged to 
Joash, the Abizarite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in 
the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the 
angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, the Lord 
is with you, you mighty man of valor. Gideon said to him, Oh 
my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened 
to us? And where are all his miracles 
which our fathers told us about, saying, Did not the Lord bring 
us up from Egypt? Now the Lord has forsaken us 
and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the Lord 
turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours, and you 
shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not 
sent you? So he said to him, O my Lord, 
how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest 
in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." And the 
Lord said to him, "'Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat 
the Midianites as one man.'" Then he said to him, If now I 
have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is 
you who talk with me. Do not depart from here, I pray, 
until I come to you and bring out my offering and set it before 
you. And he said, I will wait until you come back. So Gideon 
went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from 
an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket and 
he put the broth in a pot and he brought them out to him under 
the terebinth tree and presented them. The angel of God said to 
him, take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock 
and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angel 
of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand, 
and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire rose 
out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. 
And the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. Now Gideon 
perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, 
Alas, O Lord God, for I have seen the angel of the Lord face 
to face. Then the Lord said to him, Peace 
be with you. Do not fear, you shall not die. So Gideon built an altar there 
to the Lord and called it, The Lord is Peace. To this day, it 
is still in Ophrah of the Bezerites. Now it came to pass the same 
night that the Lord said to him, Take your father's young bull, 
the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar 
of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image 
that is beside it, and build an altar to the Lord your God 
on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second 
bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which 
you shall cut down." So Gideon took ten men from among his servants 
and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared 
his father's household and the men of the city too much to do 
it by day, he did it by night. And when the men of the city 
arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal torn down, 
and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the 
second bowl was being offered on the altar which had been built. 
So they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And 
when they had inquired and asked, they said, Gideon, the son of 
Joash, has done this thing. Then the men of the city said 
to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has 
torn down the altar of Baal. and because he has cut down the 
wooden image that was beside it. But Joash said to all who 
stood against him, Would you plead for Baal? Would you save 
him? Let the one who would plead for 
him be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him plead 
for himself, because his altar has been torn down. Therefore 
on that day he called him Jerob Baal, saying, Let Baal plead 
against him. because he has torn down his 
altar. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for the scriptures. We thank you for this book of 
Judges and the way it demonstrates the perversity of man and the 
glory and the grace of God most high. Help us, Father, to see 
in this passage implications, applications, relevance for our 
own station as a church, of the Lord Jesus Christ in this new 
covenant setting. We pray now that you would forgive 
us for all of our sins and our transgressions. We pray that 
you would wash us afresh in the blood of the Lamb. We pray as 
well that You would fill each and every one of our hearts and 
minds with the Holy Spirit, that He would lead us and that He 
would guide us, that He would illumine our minds and hearts 
to receive with thanksgiving the implanted Word. We pray for 
those outside of Christ that they would see this passage sets 
forth a God of glory, a God who is to be feared, a God who is 
to be revered, and a God who does save to the uttermost all 
who come to Him through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God bring 
glory to your name. In this meeting we pray and we 
ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well I want to make 
one necessary qualification before we begin our exposition. There 
are some differences between the Old Covenant and the New 
Covenant. And one of those differences, one of the primary differences 
is the mandate or the command or the imperative for the nation 
of Israel to engage in holy war. In Deuteronomy 7 verses 1 to 
5 God the Lord through his servant Moses tells Israel to go into 
the land of Canaan. They were to dispossess the land 
of the Canaanites. They were to utterly destroy 
every living person. According to Deuteronomy 7, 1 
to 5, they were to make no political alliances with the people in 
Canaan. They were to make no social alliances 
with the people in Canaan. Primarily, they were certainly 
not to marry with the Canaanites. And then thirdly, they were not 
to engage in religious alliance. Rather, they were to tear down 
the altars that they found in Canaan. God knows His people 
well. He understands the reality. He 
knows the perversion of our hearts. That if we tolerate the Canaanites, 
then it won't be long before we're worshipping with the Canaanites. So God tells Israel to go in 
and engage in holy war. Now in the New Covenant situation 
that is not our mandate. We are to pray, we are to preach, 
we are to witness, we are to testify, we are to argue as Pastor 
Cam reminded us, but we are not to take up arms and try to propagate 
or extend the kingdom of heaven on earth through violence. Again, 
this is a fundamental distinctive between those two covenants. 
So when we read in this passage and when we understand the situation 
concerning the various judges, this was a time of war. It was 
a time of holy war and God the Lord was fighting for his people 
Israel. So I want to take up the verses 
that we read this morning under three considerations. First, 
the situation that Gideon faced, verses 1 to 10. Secondly, the 
call that Gideon heard from verses 11 to 24. And then thirdly, the 
demand or the command that Gideon received in verses 25 to 32. And then, as I said, God willing, 
we'll conclude with a few, I think, are very relevant thoughts that 
flow from this particular passage. But note first the situation 
that Gideon faced in verses 1 to 10. I already mentioned that 
chapter 2 specifies there are cycles in this book. The people 
sin against God. The people do what they're told 
not to do. The people receive, as a result 
of that sin, the curses promised by God in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 
28. When the people are unfaithful. 
when they break the covenant of the Lord God Most High. He 
brings judgment and chastisement upon them. So they sin, and then 
they are oppressed, and in this instance it is the Midianites 
that the Lord God uses to bring oppression upon the nation of 
Israel. And then they cry out to the 
Lord. Again, not in repentance, not 
in forsaking sin, but because of the distress caused in their 
misery. So let's see those elements in 
this particular passage, verse 1a. Then the children of Israel 
did evil in the sight of the Lord. After an earthly judge 
dies, the people revert and they act more corruptly. This is the 
cycle. This is what's specified in chapter 
2. This is what's fleshed out in this book of the Deliverers. 
Then notice the judgment of God 1B, so the Lord delivered them 
into the hand of Midian for seven years. I believe it would be 
absolutely impossible to leave the book of Judges and conclude 
that God is not sovereign. God is absolutely sovereign over 
every event, and over every detail, and over every issue in the lives 
of every single human being on the face of the earth. As the 
Catechism says, God's works of providence are His most holy, 
wise, and powerful, governing and preserving all his creatures 
and all their actions. Don't miss what the author says. 
The Lord delivered Israel into the hand of the Midianites. Again, 
this was punishment for covenant breakers. Now notice the oppression, 
how it fleshes itself out in terms of verses 2 to 6. The Midianites 
prevailed against Israel. In fact, Israel was so afraid 
of these Midianite invasions that they would leave their homes 
and they would take their children and they would go and they would 
hide in caves and in mountains because the Midians knew how 
to really devastate these Israelites. They hid them where it hurt. 
They destroyed their crops. They took their food. They made 
sure that Israel was cut off in terms of viable sustenance. That's what the passage says. 
The children of Israel made for themselves strongholds, which 
are in the mountains. And so it was whenever Israel 
had sown, Midianites would have come up. Also Amalekites and 
the people of the east would come up against them. Davis says 
that the same scourge happened every year. Invade from the east, 
cross the Jordan, hit the breadbasket in the plain of Jezreel, sweep 
southwest as far as Gaza in Philistine, practicing their clean earth 
policy. And this happened for several 
years. And this is what we need to remind ourselves of. The children 
of Israel were oppressed for long seasons and periods of time. When they cry out to God, God 
sends deliverers. And when those deliverers smash 
the enemy, we ought not to be put off. When we later read that 
Samson stands with the jawbone of an ass and he kills a thousand 
Philistines in close hand-to-hand combat, our sensitivities ought 
not to be offended, but rather we ought to praise God for the 
deliverance wrought by Samson. We read this book sometimes in 
a manner that betrays our commitment to the authority of God Most 
High. I suspect that in the church 
sometimes our delicate sensitivities are a bit put off by the book 
of Judges. I think I've mentioned before 
there's a Bible study I teach at an old folks' home. Whenever 
I mentioned judges, whenever I mentioned the book of Revelation, 
one of the dear old dolls there rolls her eyes like, oh, those 
books. Oh, those are heavy books. Oh, 
there's a lot of blood in those books. Oh, there's a lot of devastation 
in those books. There's a lot of Christ in those 
books. And we ought to study them and 
pay attention. This happened, as I said, in 
accordance with the curse of God. Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 
28 specifically, 29 to 31, 33 and 38. What does God say to 
covenant breakers? You will be oppressed. Others 
will come in and take your crops. Others will come in and devastate 
you. This is what covenant breaking 
brings. And this is the first of one 
of the many applications I think we can legitimately make. When 
we disobey God, things don't go well, do they? When we raise 
our fist at the high king of heaven and we cast into the ground 
his covenant, when we despise his holy law and we live as practical 
atheists in this world, Midianite oppression is the least of our 
worries. It is the hand, the anger, the 
vengeance, and the fury of God Most High whom we have sinned 
against that ought to be our concern. You see, these weren't 
innocent Israelites minding their own business, doing their own 
thing, living in peace and harmony, sitting around singing Kumbaya. 
We see that the very deliverer himself comes from a town where 
there's an altar constructed to Baal. If you can't read this, 
or you read this, you've got to see that the time of the Judges, 
the issue or the historical context that the Judges is up against, 
or the Book of Judges is dealing with, was very sinful and perverse. And it wasn't a whole long time 
away from the death of Moses. It wasn't a long time after the 
death of Joshua and the death of the godly leaders in Israel 
that the nation falls into these cycles. It's probably just decades 
after the death of Joshua. Later on in the appendices, 17 
to 21, we're told that Phidias is the high priest at the time. He's the grandson of Aaron. This 
is not long after Joshua that the people of Israel defect from 
God. So He sends in these Midianites, 
He brings this oppression upon them, and then notice what we 
find, the children of Israel, according to verse 6, they were 
greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and they cried 
out to the Lord. Again, you've got to understand, 
this isn't a, Lord, forgive me for my sins. Lord, forgive me 
because I have violated your covenant. Lord, forgive me because 
I have rejected your holy law. It's a, Lord, deliver me from 
all of the trials and the difficulties that I'm undergoing. I suspect 
we've prayed like this before. We find ourselves in some circumstances 
that are difficult and trying, and instead of saying, God, be 
merciful to me, the sinner, we say, God, get me out of the mess 
that I find myself in. That's what happens here, over 
and over and over and over and over again. And yet in the church 
today, it happens over and over and over and over again. When 
you are suffering the consequences and the repercussions of your 
sinful choices, Repentance is the path to take. Not just, Lord, 
get me out of this jam. Get me out of this mess. But 
Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. Wash me, purify me, cleanse 
me. Restore unto me the joy of thy 
salvation. The way David prays in Psalm 
51. And then notice what God does 
in response to this cry of distress. He sends them a prophet. They 
need a deliverer and He sends a prophet. They need somebody 
to kill Midianites and He sends them a prophet. Do you see the 
interestingness of such a situation? Do you see the peculiarity of 
the situation? Lord, save me! Lord, help me! 
Lord, deliver me from all of this trouble! I want to eat! 
I want my children to eat! I don't want to have to live 
in the caves while the Midianites rush through our land and take 
everything. So God sends a prophet. What's the point? The point is, 
is that God wants them to understand this most fundamental truth. That obedience to God, the word 
and the will of God, and your relationship to Him is far more 
crucial than Midianite oppression. Davis says it this way. He says, 
Israel cries for relief, and Yahweh sent a prophet to the 
sons of Israel. I love the illustration that 
he gives. That would be like a stranded motorist calling a 
garage for assistance, and the garage sending a philosopher 
instead of a mechanic. Imagine you break down on the 
side of the road, and you call your automobile club, and they 
say, well, send someone right out, and it's me. But I didn't want him. I don't 
want a sermon on why I should check my oil level and engage 
in preventative maintenance. I don't need to be reprimanded. I just need somebody to fix my 
car. Davis says, Israel needs deliverance 
and Yahweh sends a prophet. Israel asks for an act of God's 
power and He sends them a proclaimer of His Word. Hence, Yahweh sends 
a prophet because Israel needs more than immediate relief. It's not just these pesky Midianites 
in the land that the Lord wants to deal with. Davis says they 
need to understand why they are oppressed. Again, I just think 
that so many times we operate in this manner. We just want 
what we want. Conformity to Christ's will, 
holiness, righteousness, the pursuit of those things that 
are pleasing to God, not so much. I just don't want to be Having 
problems. I just don't want to have difficulties. 
I just want to make sure I'm able to gather my crops. I want 
to make sure I'm able to do the things with my family I want 
to do. But in terms of the issues that God is concerned about, 
I really just don't care. Note what the prophet does in 
verses 8 to 10. He reminds them of God's grace. 
He reminds them of God's grace. You're in this land because the 
Lord brought you out of Egypt. You're in this land because God 
broke the oppression of Egypt. You're in this land because God 
made a promise to Abraham to give you this piece of property. He then gives him a repetition 
of God's demand. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites 
in whose land you dwell. This ought not to be new information 
for you. This was written, specified, 
delivered to you on several occasions. You're not supposed to have chalk 
with the religions of Canaan. You're not supposed to do it. 
And then he reproves them for their disobedience. Notice at 
the end of verse 10. Also I said to you, I am the 
Lord your God, do not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose 
land you dwell, but you have not obeyed my voice." You see, 
that's the issue, that's the problem. It's not just pesky 
Midianites, it's disobedience to God. may not just be the issues 
that perplex you in your life that's the reality. It might 
be disobedience to God. I don't want to psychologize 
the passage, but we certainly ought to be able to see the connection. 
The Proverbs, Solomon so wisely says in 1315, the way of the 
unfaithful is hard. It's not the case. The way of 
the unfaithful is hard. I think the new NASB has it. 
The way of the treacherous or the way of the transgressor is 
hard. Is that true? Is that the reality? We try to live our lives apart 
from God. Sure, there may be some surface 
comfort. There may be the lack of difficulty 
in some sense. When we pillow our heads at night, 
we know that not all is well with our souls. We know that 
things are not good for us, that if the Lord God should take us 
before we rise, it will be in judgment and it will be in condemnation. You see, brothers and sisters, 
throughout the book of Judges, throughout the book of Joshua, 
throughout the book of Deuteronomy, you know what God emphasizes? 
God's Word. Do you know what the first and 
primary function was to be, or what the king was to engage in 
when he took his throne according to Deuteronomy 17? It was the 
first thing that the king was supposed to do. He was to take 
his own pen out of his own pocket, he was to take his own paper, 
and he was to write out the law for himself. Why? Because Yahweh is telling 
him, you are governing my people, and you are not going to do it 
according to your whim. You are not going to do it according 
to mystical feeling. You are not going to do it in 
some subjective fashion. You take your pen to paper, you 
write out my law, and you do what I say. The same sort of 
thing is going on in Judges 6. They see this Midianite oppression, 
they want deliverance because of their distress, but they don't 
want the reality that God is speaking to. Now that brings 
us to consider, secondly, the call that Gideon heard. And I 
think we ought to appreciate the movement from 10 to 11. Notice 
what happens. How does 10 end? You haven't 
obeyed me. You haven't done what I've said. 
Verse 11 begins with now, and we might hear cue the song Amazing 
Grace. Should be a good time actually 
to stop and sing Amazing Grace. Why, you ask? Because they had 
not obeyed God, they were not crying out in repentance, they 
were not seeking to forsake their sin, and yet God initiates deliverance. Sounds just like the New Covenant, 
doesn't it? We sin against God, we violate His law, we have no 
desire for Him. The Apostle develops this very 
clearly and plainly in Romans 3. There is an unrighteous There 
is none who fear God. There is none who seek after 
God. What happens? God seeks us out. What does Jesus say to Zacchaeus, 
or at least to the crowds who are grumbling because Zacchaeus 
has been saved? The Son of Man came to seek and 
to save that which was lost. Who comes seeking in the Garden 
of Eden? Who sets the paradigm or pattern 
in the Garden? It's God who comes after Adam 
and Eve. It's God who initiates His promise 
in Genesis 3. Who is it that comes to Abraham 
after the debacle of the Tower of Babel? It's God who comes 
to Abraham, and it's God who promises a great nation, or a 
great people to this man. Look at verse 11, it just goes 
without saying. Now the angel of the Lord, and 
for our Christological interest, notice how the angel of the Lord 
is synonymous with the Lord himself throughout this section of the 
passage. We're dealing with the second person of the triune God 
in his pre-incarnate state. And we see the angel of the Lord 
is synonymous with the Lord himself. Notice, the angel of the Lord 
came and sat under the terebinth tree, which was in Ophrah, which 
belonged to Joash, the Abizarite, while his son Gideon threshed 
wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. 
This is the extent of the oppression. Young Gideon has to go to the 
wine press to thresh out his wheat so that the Midianites 
won't find him. Because he knows very well that 
if they find him, they will take his wheat and put the proverbial 
bullet in his head. He's got to hide. The oppression 
is extensive. There's a lot of difficulties 
and a lot of issues going on in this particular instance. 
We ought to appreciate the angel of the Lord comes in the midst 
of this oppression to bring deliverance. Notice, we understand from verse 
11, it's Gideon that's going to be the man, and then notice 
in verses 12 to 13, "...the angel of the Lord appeared to him and 
said to him, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor." 
So the primary lessons we ought to take away from the passage, 
the Lord is with him. Why is Gideon a hero? Because 
the Lord is with him. Why is Samson a hero? Because 
the Lord is with him. Why is Jephthah a hero? Because 
the Lord is with him. Why is Barak a hero? Because 
the Lord is with him. Why is Moses a hero? Because 
the Lord is with him. Why are these men of valor men 
of valor? Because the Lord is with them. 
It's God who brings deliverance in Israel. You see that? It's not you. It's not your deeds, 
it's not your works, it's not your abilities, it's Christ the 
Lord who saves. To the uttermost, all who draw 
nigh unto God through Him. So the Lord says, Look at verse 
12, my pages are flipping whenever we have fans on. The angel of 
the Lord appeared to him and said to him, the Lord is with 
you, you mighty man of valor. Now note Gideon's response. He 
said to him, Lord, or oh my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then 
has all this happened to us? What's Gideon saying in this 
statement? I think he's saying something 
that you and I say. When we have trials and when 
we have difficulties, we forget everything the Bible says. We 
say, where is God? And this is a very unique question 
in light of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. God promises 
this sort of oppression for covenant breakers. Gideon is too ignorant 
to see this. The spiritual malaise is so heavy 
upon Israel that the very man of valor that's going to be raised 
up to serve the living God by delivering the people of Israel 
doesn't have the wherewithal to make the necessary conclusion 
that we're in this mess because of us. You see that? Well, where is 
he? If he's with us, then why the 
problems? If he's with us, then he'll snap 
his cosmic fingers and make all this stuff go away. That's not 
the way God operates. That is not the means by which 
He functions. We do not live in a universe 
that the health, wealth, and prosperity preachers tell us 
we do. We don't snap the fingers and 
the cosmic bellboy jumps into service to do our every bidding. We are His creatures. We are 
His servants. There is a great chasm and separation 
between the Creator and the creature. The fact that He communicates 
to us, the fact that He shows us things, the fact that He has 
entered into covenant, is a manifestation of His condescension. Gideon, 
brother, do not say things like this. Oh my Lord, if the Lord 
is with us, why then has all this happened to us? No mention 
of sin, no mention of covenant breaking. Again, have you ever 
done that? I don't know why this is happening 
to me. Maybe because you're in rebellion against God. I don't 
know why I'm having such difficulties and troubles, everything I put 
my hand to. Now, I am not suggesting that it's a necessary formula. 
Don't go from here and say, well, I had a sniffle. That must mean 
I've got unrepentant sin and I've got to deal with it. There's 
a big doctrine concerning consequences, sin, judgment, all those sorts 
of things. For our purposes here this morning, 
however, because we're in Judges 6, we need to understand that 
direct correlation between disobedience and God's anger. You'll indulge 
me for a moment without getting into all of the other particulars 
involved in a doctrine of trial and affliction and difficulty 
and sickness. I don't like those people who say, well, that person's 
sick. They must have unrepented sin 
in their life. No, not necessarily. Remember, 
Jesus countered that in John 9, that man who was born blind. Those men thought like humanists. 
Whose sin? This man or his parents? Jesus says neither of them. He's 
not making an ethical statement that they were without sin. He's 
saying that the blindness that this man has incurred is not 
directly related to the sin of his parents or to the sin of 
himself. It is so that the glory of God 
may be manifested. So there's a whole doctrine concerning 
this. But for our purposes in Judges 6, they were under oppression 
because of their sin. And oftentimes we might find 
ourselves under oppression because of our sin. Now notice, and where 
are all his miracles which our fathers told us about saying, 
did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord 
has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Bloch says that Gideon is an 
example of those who know what God has done in the past, who 
have memorized the creed, but find it belied by present reality. Stories of past deliverance are 
irrelevant in light of the Midianite crisis. I know what he did, I know what 
he's capable of, I know my theology proper, but where is he right 
now for me? There's something very arrogant 
about that approach. There's something very mercenary 
about that approach. There's something very selfish 
about that approach. And while I may rail against 
it, we continue in verse 14 and marvel at the grace of God. God 
doesn't catechize him afresh. God doesn't remind him afresh. 
God doesn't reprove him. God simply goes with him. Verse 
14. This is the specific commission 
in 14 to 16, His instruction. The Lord turned to him and said, 
Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the 
hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?" It's the 
specific instruction, that's the specific mission, and the 
power is manifested. Have I not sent you? Note his 
appeal. Look at what Gideon does here. 
Are you sure? Or how can it be? I'm from a small clan in the 
tribe of Manasseh. I'm the least in my father's 
house. You see, one of the other primary 
emphases in the Gideon narratives is that God saves irrespective 
of the means that he has at his disposal. In fact, God whittles 
down the army such that they will never take glory for their 
conquest over Midian. Remember that Gideon is the story 
where he has his 300 men that go up against all of these Midianites, 
the sword of the Lord, and Gideon... What's God saying? I can take 
an insignificant man out of the tribe of Manasseh, out of a place 
called Ophrah, out of a small clan, the least in his father's 
house, I can raise him up, I can send him out, and I can destroy 
thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of Midianites, 
and I can break the back of their oppressors, and I can bring peace 
and rest to my people Israel." It's the power of God that is 
the determining factor. Note the Lord's reassurance in 
verse 16. Surely I will be with you, and 
you shall defeat the Midianites as one man. And then Gideon does something 
here that's pretty amazing. He asks for a sign. I think we've been conditioned 
enough by our Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura, by our understanding 
of the Word of the Lord, that when God says it, we do it. Gideon 
wants a little reassurance. We'll notice at the end of the 
chapter, God willing next week, how he wants to put the fleece 
out again. What are we working with in this 
passage? A strong deliverer? He's a man 
of valor to be sure. The passage demonstrates a strong 
God. So to make a long story short, 
verses 17 to 21, Gideon says, will you please stay here while 
I go and prepare a sacrifice? And the Lord acquiesces. The 
Lord stays there. Now something we probably ought 
to remember, if we wanted burgers and we were in this place, we 
drive right downtown, we'd speak into a machine, we'd get our 
burgers and we could probably be back here in seven or eight 
minutes. So how does he know that? Because I've done it before. To prepare a kid to do all that 
he has to do, the angel of the Lord has hunkered down for a 
period of time. God condescends to encourage 
his people. God condescends to reassure his 
people. It's God who initiates the fleece 
test. It's Gideon who asks for it again. And instead of God responding 
to him the way that I know I did with my children on several occasions, 
I've already told you, do what I say. God answers the second 
time. You see, the people that would 
roll their collective eyes at the Book of Judges miss the goodness 
of God. They miss the mercy and the kindness 
of God. They miss the long-suffering 
of God. They miss the loving character 
of God. So Gideon does this. He prepares 
the sacrifice. He's instructed by the angel. 
The angel receives the sacrifice. Now note Gideon's response in 
verse 22. Now the Lord, or rather, now 
Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. So Gideon 
said, Alas, O Lord God, for I have seen the angel of the Lord face 
to face. This was a cry of fear. He was 
afraid he was going to die. Exodus 33, God told Moses, no 
man shall see my face and live. As far as Gideon is concerned, 
he just saw the face of God Most High. And he's afraid. He's terrified. He wants reassurance and the 
Lord gives it to him. The Lord gives it to him by his 
presence. And what does that presence then 
bring to Gideon? But fear, overwhelming terror 
in the presence of God Most High. And Davis points out how as New 
Covenant readers at times, we read a passage like this and 
we say, well, what's the big deal, Gideon? I mean, is it relationship 
with God, everything? Look at how the Lord comforts 
him in verse 23. Then the Lord said to him, peace be with you, 
do not fear, you shall not die. He understood what Gideon was 
thinking. He understood that Gideon knew Exodus 33. He knew 
that Gideon knew that in the presence of God, men die. Listen 
to Davis. Gideon must have assurance of 
Yahweh's promise, but when the assurance comes, it terrifies 
rather than fortifies him. He must have assurance, but there 
is a problem with the assurance. This assurance does not settle, 
but alarms him. We, Western Christians, do not 
understand Gideon's agony. Such talk is strange to us. We 
long to reach our warm hands through the print of our Bible 
page, pat Gideon's shoulder, and soothe him with, Don't worry, 
Brother Gideon, God's not really scary like that, if only you 
had a New Testament. He says, a pained, perplexed 
look would come over Gideon as if he had just heard a theological 
ignoramus. And so he did. This sort of talk 
is strange to us because we have no real sense of the terror and 
awesomeness of God. For we think intimacy with God 
is an inalienable right rather than an indescribable gift. He says there is nothing amazing 
about grace as long as there is nothing fearful about holiness. You see, it's Gideon who responds 
the way man ought to respond. When Mrs. Manoa, when Manoa rather 
fears that God is going to kill them, that's the more appropriate 
response to the God of the Bible than wandering into worship and 
engaging in frivolity, engaging in joke telling, engaging in 
the sorts of things that seek to bring God down to our level. What does the book of Hebrews 
tell us? Put your hands in your pocket, 
do the Holy Ghost Hokey Pokey, and just ask God to bless you. No, we need to come before God 
in an acceptable manner, with reverence and fear. Why? For our God is a consuming fire. That's New Covenant Christianity, 
every bit as much as it is Old Covenant Christianity. The God 
with whom we have to do is sovereign. He is powerful. He is majestic. There is no one like Him. And 
for us to treat Him as our buddy, for us to bring Him down to our 
level, for us to shuck and jive with Him the way that we do with 
one another, is not fitting! So much of what is done in evangelicalism 
today has more affinity with Baalism than with the God of 
the Bible. This working oneself up, this 
feeling-driven mindset, this emotional response, this let 
go and let Baal bless is the mentality that we see today, 
operative. God's people engage in orderly 
and God-honoring worship. They are people who engage the 
mind. They know that to love the Lord 
our God is to be with all our heart, with all our soul, with 
all our mind, and with all our strength. It is a whole-souled 
worship of a glorious God. So what Gideon says here is not 
to be thought awkward, or odd, or strange. It's the way that 
we treat God that ought to be awkward and strange. So that's 
the call. Now notice thirdly and finally 
the command that Gideon is given in verses 25 to 32. Again, for 
the sake of time, just give you the main ideas 
here. First the command is given in 
verses 25 and 26. Now it came to pass the same 
night that the Lord said to him, take your father's young bull, 
the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar 
of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image 
that is beside it. And Excuse me, build an altar 
to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement 
and take the second bowl and offer a burnt sacrifice with 
the wood of the image which you shall cut down. Now, here's the 
problem in Israel. Here's what God sent the prophet 
to address. It isn't the Midianites that 
is the problem. It's that you have an altar to 
Baal in Israel. This would both be spiritual 
preparation for Gideon, and it would be commentary to Israel. When there are altars to Baal 
in Israel's land, don't any one of you think, why are we being 
oppressed by Midianites? If you want to worship with the 
Midianites, then you will be subject to the Midianites. When you take on canonization 
in terms of religion, politics, and social privilege, then you 
will be oppressed for it. God tells Gideon to go take care 
of business. Again, Bloch says, for Gideon 
to serve as an agent of Yahweh in battle, while his family was 
worshiping Baal at home, posed a fundamental incongruity. This 
is one dimension of bearing the name of Yahweh in vain. At the 
same time, in charging Gideon to demolish the altar of Baal, 
God is pointing to the real problem in Israel, more serious than 
the oppression of the Midianites is their bondage to the spiritual 
forces of the land. You see that? It's not just pesky 
Midianites. It's hearts that are perverse. 
It's hearts that are bowing to Baal. It's hearts that are crying 
out to Baal. It's hearts that are offering 
up sacrifice to Baal. That's your problem, Israel! 
So Gideon, go back to your hometown of Ophrah and do business. Tear 
down the altar, destroy the Asherah pole, light them on fire, and 
burn your animals to Yahweh." Notice, Gideon obeys according 
to verse 27. So Gideon took ten men from among 
his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. I like to try 
and picture these things. And then you get these Sunday 
school flannel graph images where there's this little hokey guy 
and he's got a little bit of a stick and he's doing like this. 
Same with Samson. You don't kill a thousand men 
in close in hand-to-hand combat and still come out clean and 
spotless. He's covered with blood. When 
Samson says, give me a drink or I'll die, he means it. He's just killed a thousand Philistines. But note that even Gideon had 
his issues. Verse 27. But because he feared 
his father's household and the men of the city too much to do 
it by day, he did it by night. Now before we Monday morning 
quarterback and say, oh Gideon, you pathetic specimen of faith. 
Did God command him to do it in the daytime? No. Did God command 
him to do it without fear? No. Did God command him to do 
it? Yes. Did Gideon do it? Yes. And besides that, before we Monday 
morning quarterback Gideon for going to destroy Baal's altar 
in his father's house, how many times have we struggled with 
the courage to identify with our Lord Jesus in situations 
and instances where we don't? suffer at all." So Gideon does what he's supposed 
to. Praise God, from whom all Gideon's flow. Now notice the 
results in verses 28 to 32. This had a remedial effect upon 
Joash. Praise God that when Gideon the 
son comes and destroys the altar of Baal, Joash gets his act together. And when the men of the city 
arose, verse 28, early in the morning, there was the altar 
of Baal torn down, and the wooden image that was beside it was 
cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar 
which had been built. So they said to one another, 
who has done this thing? And when they had inquired and 
asked, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this thing. 
Then the men of the city said to Joash, bring out your son, 
that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, 
and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside 
it." Sometimes people read the book of Judges and they don't 
get the ethical commentary that they think they ought to get. 
In other words, the writer, the narrator, the author ought to 
spend a few verses here to just tell us how perverse the people 
of this city was. He's doing that very thing by 
recording it the way that he does. What's happening? What's going on? In a nation 
governed by the God of heaven and earth, through his servants, 
by the books of the law, Deuteronomy 13 prescribes, demands, and commands 
the death of idolaters. And here Gideon comes in to destroy 
an idol altar, and they want to kill him. Things are bad in Israel at this 
time. Now notice, Joash's intervention. Look at what he says here. This 
probably would have gotten a few laughs from the original audience, 
the original Israelite audience who heard this book. Verse 31, 
Joash said to all who stood against him, would you plead for Baal? 
Would you save him? What's the book of Judges about? 
It's about God saving Israel. It's about God raising up Othniel. 
It's about God raising up Ehud. It's about God raising up Shamgar. 
It's about God using Beric. It's about God using the lesser 
known Judges. It's about God sending in Gideon. 
It's about God sending in Japheth. It's about God using Samson to 
deliver his people. Note the irony here. Would you 
save Baal? Listen to you if you are not 
in Christ this morning, because as we will notice when we close 
our study today, there's not a lot of differences between 
Judges 6 and Matthew 6. If you have an idol, if there 
is something in your life other than the living and true God, 
you are in a very precarious position and situation. Your 
task is to save it, rather than to be saved by the living and 
true God. Look at the irony. Would you save Baal? He presses 
it. Let the one who would plead for 
him be put to death by morning. That's the reality. If he is 
a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn 
down. Sounds like Elijah at Mount Carmel, 
doesn't he? How long will you halt between 
two opinions? If Baal is God, worship him. 
If God is God, then worship him. It's very intriguing what he 
does here, and he presses this. Davis comments concerning an 
incident in the life of John Knox, commenting on the reality 
that Joash tells these people that Baal, if he's a god, ought 
to be competent enough to look after his own issues. Imagine 
having a god like that. I not only have to balance my 
own life, I have to make sure my god is doing well, I have 
to check in with him to make sure he's comfortable, to make 
sure he's stable, to make sure he's happy. This is what you 
get in 1 Samuel. What happens when the Ark of 
the Covenant is in the same room with Dagon, the idol? Dagon falls 
down before the Ark of the Covenant. What do the people have to do? 
What do the Philistines go in to do the next morning? They 
have to pick up their God and set him back up. Now, please 
don't miss the funniness of that. Funny, one, strange, but funny, 
two, the prophets make folly concerning idolatry. If you have 
to pick up your God and prop Him up, then what good is He? What good is the God whom Isaiah 
prophesied concerning? About a man who goes into the 
woods and he cuts down a tree. And he takes that tree and he 
chops it up. And with some of that wood, he burns it and he 
roasts his meat over that. And then he takes some of the 
other wood and then he bows down to it and says, you are God. 
The prophets are mocking idolatry. Joash is mocking idolatry. John Knox mocked idolatry. Davis says, Joash's retort reminds 
us of one by John Knox. When Knox was a slave in the 
galleys, he was ordered to reverence a painted figure of the Virgin 
Mary. He threw it into the river with 
the comment, let our lady now save herself. She is light enough. Let her learn to swim. That's what Joash says. That's 
what Joash does. So what do we learn as we gather 
together the teaching of this passage? First, the misery that 
sin brings. If you don't see that in 6.1-6, 
please go back and read it again. These people were sorely oppressed. These people were having to run 
like cowards in a land that the God of heaven and earth had given 
to them. They were a people who had to 
fear for their lives. They were a people that were 
not eating on a regular basis because Midianites took their 
stuff. The misery that sin brings... I know it's common outside of 
the church context to believe that sin and independence and 
doing what is right in your own eyes only yields benefit. It only yields blessing. It only yields good things. Kids and young people, if you 
have bought that, it's a lie. Sin does not yield good things. Sin does not bring happiness. 
Sin does not bring joy. Look at the person that is addicted 
to drugs. Look at the person that is strung 
out on drugs. Ask them how their God is working 
for them. Ask them how it is for them in 
independence. You want to say that somebody 
enslaved to a pipe is somehow free and independent? The man 
who is so given to his money, the man who is so alert to his 
stacks, the man who is so driven by stuff, is that freedom? Is that liberty? He says it's 
a tool to pursue happiness. No, it's a tool that has become 
an idol. And what about the man or the 
woman who is driven by their sexual desire? Is that freedom? Is that joy? Is that happiness? 
Is that blessing? No! God, who made this world and 
all things in it, God who knows man and what is best for them, 
put into place covenants, structures, parameters for the well-being 
of his people. Jesus said, I did not come. I 
came that they might have life and that they might have it more 
abundantly. If in your growth and grace and your pursuit of 
holiness, you're not being commensurately more happy, then something's 
wrong. I think what grieves the saint, 
if he's been at it for any amount of time, is not that he's becoming 
more like Christ, but the reality that he's so unlike Christ. The 
joy is to be had in pursuing the one who is altogether lovely 
and chief among ten thousand. Do not buy for a moment that 
sin brings happiness. The way of the transgressor is 
hard. I think about that text when 
I drive between here and there. I think about that text when 
I see people that are given to idolatry, whether it's through 
a pipe, whether it's through money, whether it's through respectable, 
good things. Not just people smoking a crack 
pipe or a meth pipe. It's not just people addicted 
to their money or to their sex. Could be people addicted to good 
things that they have prioritized above the living and true God. 
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then 
these things will be added to you. You can take a wife, you 
can take a husband, you can take kids, and you can bow at that 
altar. No. Sin brings misery. Secondly, the grace that God 
demonstrates. The prophet is sent. to instruct 
Israel. That's amazing grace. The angel 
of the Lord comes to fetch Gideon. That's amazing grace. The angel 
of the Lord accepts Gideon's sacrifice to bring reassurance 
to his servant. That's amazing grace. The Lord 
God Himself says to Gideon, do not fear. I'm not going to kill 
you. That's amazing grace. He promises His presence. He 
promises His deliverance. He promises to Gideon that though 
He be the earthly instrument, it will be the God of Israel 
that brings victory over the Midianites. That's amazing grace. You see what happens if we read 
this story and we read this book without recognizing the reality 
of who God is? There is so much to appreciate 
in a passage like this concerning who God is and what He does for 
His people. Thirdly, we've touched on this 
briefly, we need to understand the idolatry that God abominates. Gideon couldn't go about his 
task to deliver Israel from Midian oppression while there's an altar 
to Baal. You see, God is a stickler like 
that. God is attentive to detail like that. You want to do great 
things for God, get rid of the Baals first. You want to do mediocre 
things for God? Get rid of the bales. You want 
to do the most ordinary mundane things for God? That's all legit. 
Do them. Get rid of bale. God abominates 
it. The idols in our lives have to 
go. If you have to visualize a Gideon 
with a big sword cutting down the altar and destroying it and 
all that, hey, whatever floats your boat, but get rid of the 
idols. As I mentioned, Judges 6 and 
Matthew 6 have a lot in common. Go destroy the altar to Baal. Jesus says, no one can serve 
two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, 
or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. you 
cannot serve God and mammon." And then that statement in Matthew 
12 30, he who is not with me is against me. So Gideon, go 
do the task. Destroy the altar to Baal, cut 
down that wretched Asherah pole, light them on fire, and put animals 
to Yahweh on that burning altar. That's what God wants you to 
do with your idols. And then finally, the deliverer 
that God provides. You see, Hebrews 11 is the hall 
of faith, isn't it? It's not the hall of works. It's 
not the hall of perfection. Gideon was ignorant of Deuteronomy 
28. Why is this happening to us? Gideon was insignificant among 
the people in Israel. Gideon was fearful. Gideon need 
reassurance. Gideon, after this chapter, still 
stumbles along the way. And I'm going to tell you right 
now, he doesn't finish all together well. nevertheless typifies, 
he nevertheless points forward, he nevertheless looks to the 
one that would be deliverer for Israel, that one that would be 
a champion, that one who would be altogether lovely and chief 
among ten thousand, that one who would be in the eyes of men 
despised, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, but in 
terms of his being, in terms of his nature, God of God, light 
from light, true God from true God. He would come, He would 
press on, He would proceed in submission to His Father's will, 
He would go forward with resolute determination to save his people 
from their sins. What Gideon manifests in terms 
of a type, we ought to appreciate in terms of the anti-type. Christ 
is the victor. Christ is the one who breaks 
the back of sin, who sets his prisoners free, and who delivers 
them to the uttermost. And if you have not Christ this 
morning, may I say, come. Believe on Him and you will be 
saved. That is the consistent testimony 
of Holy Scripture from beginning to end. The just shall live by 
faith. Faith in the Son of God who loved 
me and who gave Himself for me. Look to Christ and you shall 
live. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the book of 
Judges and for what it teaches us concerning your character 
and your power and your glory. We thank you as well for amazing 
grace, and I pray that you would help us to appreciate these things, 
help us, God, to examine our own hearts and our own lives 
in light of passages such as these. And I pray that you would 
go with us now and watch over us in the remainder of this day, 
and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.