[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:07] Welcome back to the Nomad Pastor podcast. This is Rick.
[00:00:10] Hey. We're walking through Judges. This is going to be episode six.
[00:00:15] So I do want to take the time to say thanks for joining me on this journey as kind of we walk through it. I know that it's been going over several months now, but look, the book of Judges is not light reading. It's not some comfortable teaching.
[00:00:33] It is a deeply honest book about what happens when people and when families and when nations slowly drift away from God.
[00:00:44] I think it is important that we look at some of this and truly understand what's going on. Right. And so if you haven't listened to them, I recommend you go back and listen to the first five episodes just to get a context for where we're at. And hopefully as we're doing this, I'm not going through and reading all the scripture. So I highly just recommend that as we're doing this, maybe before you listen to the episode pre read about Gideon, read that book of Judges, kind of understand it.
[00:01:18] And so it important to know what's going on and how we got where we are.
[00:01:25] And so what I want to do is I kind of just want to jump in to where we're at today.
[00:01:32] You know, we just finished up talking about Deborah and how God raised up this leader in a time where it seemed like courage was just scarce. It wasn't around, right?
[00:01:48] And her story with Barak confronts this reality of leadership and the hesitation that is there. And so we have to recognize that when those who are called to lead refuse, God is still going to move, Right? And so today we're going to meet Gideon, right?
[00:02:16] He takes, you know, chapter six begins with words that I think I've said every, every episode, except for maybe episode one, I don't, I don't really remember. But we, we recognize them immediately, right?
[00:02:32] Israel again does evil in the sight of the Lord.
[00:02:38] And this time the oppression that they go through is nothing short of devastating.
[00:02:48] Because at this time, the Midianites are ruling Israel. And they don't just rule Israel, they ruin it, right? They steal livestock, they destroy crops, they leave the land stripped completely bare.
[00:03:06] You know, scripture tells us that Israel was brought very low because of Midian.
[00:03:13] Very low. When it says very low, that is not inconvenience.
[00:03:18] Very low is desperation.
[00:03:22] Sometimes God allows us to reach a place where our own strength will finally fell us.
[00:03:32] And that's not because God hates us.
[00:03:35] It's because he loves us enough to not let self reliance destroy us.
[00:03:43] So before God sends a deliverer he sends a prophet to remind them why this is happening.
[00:03:52] You forgot the Lord. You feared other gods. You drifted away.
[00:03:57] You were not obedient.
[00:04:01] So what happens in that moment when God sends that prophet, right? He's addressing the heart of Israel, and he does that before he addresses the enemy of Israel.
[00:04:15] So this is where we meet Gideon and where he is.
[00:04:19] You see, Gideon, he's hiding.
[00:04:22] He's threshing weed in a winepress.
[00:04:26] And at that time, a winepress is a pit, right?
[00:04:29] So Gideon himself is working in this winepress pit in fear. He's trying not to be seen.
[00:04:37] Oppression has taught him to live this kind of small life, to be in fear and to be in hiding.
[00:04:46] And then while he's in this pit, the angel of the Lord appears to him and says something that's almost ironic, right? Because he's hiding and he's this little man.
[00:05:01] And the angel of the Lord says, the Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.
[00:05:08] In this moment, Gideon doesn't feel like a warrior, and he certainly doesn't look like one.
[00:05:16] But God speaks to him based on who he's calling him to become, not who he personally, not who Gideon currently believes he is.
[00:05:29] You see, that's how it works, right?
[00:05:32] God calls first, then he shapes us.
[00:05:37] We have to really remember that, right?
[00:05:44] You know, I have said it, I don't know, countless times, right?
[00:05:49] God doesn't call the equipped. He equips the ones he calls.
[00:05:53] That is what he is doing here.
[00:05:59] In his insecurity, Gideon responds with questions and objections. He is like, where are the miracles? Why has this happened?
[00:06:10] How can I save Israel? My family is weak and I'm the least of them.
[00:06:16] You see, this is just complete insecurity from Gideon.
[00:06:27] He's so insecure about it.
[00:06:33] But remember that insecurity, what that is, is it's keeping focus on yourself, not on what God can do.
[00:06:41] And in this moment, God doesn't argue with Gideon's feelings.
[00:06:47] He just says, surely I will be with you. He's giving him a promise.
[00:06:54] That's always the foundation of a calling, right? And if you feel like you're being called and you're like, I just don't know how to do that. I'm not good enough for that.
[00:07:04] I don't speak good enough. I don't know scripture. I don't this. Look, I went through all of those, every one of them.
[00:07:12] I think if you've listened to this podcast, you know, I felt like God was calling me to do this for three years before I ever did it. Because I didn't know enough. I didn't talk well enough. I didn't have the right equipment. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't. And in all of those, the word that predominantly kept coming up is I.
[00:07:32] God says, surely I will be with you. This is not about your ability. It's about God's presence.
[00:07:43] So we have to remember that. And as we move back to Gideon, before. Before Gideon ever confronts Midian, God gives him this private assignment, right? Tear down the altar to baal. Tear, destroy Asher, the Asherah pole. Build an altar to the Lord.
[00:08:05] See, God's going to help us, but he is not going to send us to fight some battle while we still tolerate internal idols.
[00:08:20] And when I say that word, tolerate, I.
[00:08:22] I say tolerate for a reason.
[00:08:25] Because you can tolerate an idol and not. Maybe you're not worshiping it, but you're like, well, it's okay that it's there. I don't worship that, but it's okay.
[00:08:33] No, God doesn't want us to even tolerate them.
[00:08:37] So what happens? Gideon obeys.
[00:08:40] But you got to think about this, right? He's afraid, right? His family's weak. He's the smallest of them.
[00:08:48] So what does he do? He does it at night because that fear is still present.
[00:08:52] He's still obedient.
[00:08:54] And God accepts his obedience and continues to shape him.
[00:09:00] That's important, because what that teaches us is that grace meets us where we are.
[00:09:08] But that same grace, it refuses to leave us unchanged. It is going to change us.
[00:09:18] So in this moment, I personally, like. I'm like, okay, I don't understand sometimes, but I don't understand why Gideon did this. But that's okay.
[00:09:27] I don't have to. But Gideon asks for confirmation.
[00:09:31] The fleece wet, then the fleece dry.
[00:09:35] I don't understand it, right? And a lot of people criticize him, and some people defend him. The reality is, is in this moment, what was going on is Gideon is learning trust.
[00:09:49] He's got a lot of fear.
[00:09:51] He doesn't understand. He's obedient. God said, go do this. And he did it. He may have done it at night, but he did it.
[00:10:01] And what this is teaching us is that trust that Gideon is learning.
[00:10:07] God doesn't shame him in that struggle, right? And it's an honest struggle. And I know that I have personally struggled with that trust, trusting God a lot in my walk.
[00:10:20] But instead of, you know, shaming Gideon, God responds to it.
[00:10:31] It's amazing to me to think about, like, God Saying, yeah, okay, let me just make that fleece wet, let me just make that fleece dry.
[00:10:43] And he doesn't shame him.
[00:10:44] And that gives me hope that God's not going to shame me either when I'm learning to trust him.
[00:10:56] So as we jump back into this, there's this defining moment, right?
[00:11:04] Gideon gathers up his army, 32,000 men. And that sounds like a lot back in that day. Feels like we're strong.
[00:11:15] But then God says to him, the people who are with you are too many.
[00:11:19] And I don't know about you, but I'm like, hold on, Lord, what do you mean too many?
[00:11:29] And the reason was, is because Israel might take the credit.
[00:11:33] You've got so many men that this win will be for Israel, not because of God.
[00:11:43] So then God says, anyone afraid can go home?
[00:11:48] Well, of course they're going to war.
[00:11:50] A large percentage of them are afraid. Even if they think they're going to win. Like, well, I could die. So anybody afraid can go home.
[00:11:57] So what happens?
[00:11:59] 22,000 leave, 10,000 remain, which still seems like a lot of men, but you don't have the power from 32,000 to 10,000.
[00:12:13] And God says it's still too many.
[00:12:17] So he reduces it again down to 3,000.
[00:12:22] And in this moment, what God is doing is he is intentionally removing every visible source of confidence, every reason that Israel could have to be confident in this battle. God has removed it.
[00:12:43] And we have to think about why is, why is God reducing us?
[00:12:49] Because this is where that story should reach into our lives.
[00:12:54] You see, God often throughout our walk, reduces us because he uses us. He removes our resources.
[00:13:04] He dismantles whatever worldly plan that we have. He exposes our weakness. He strips away our self confidence.
[00:13:14] And why?
[00:13:18] Well, he does it because if I rely on myself, if I rely on my resources, if I rely on my plans, if I rely on my strength, if I rely on my confidence, all of those things compete with faith.
[00:13:36] And as long as we can manage life on our own, we're never going to fully trust God.
[00:13:45] You know, whether it's ministry, church, family, life, if you're in recovery, sometimes reduction is not a punishment, it's actually preparation.
[00:14:01] And I know that's a hard concept to think about, but if we think about this story, right, 32,000 to 10, down to 3, he's just continually reducing it to make sure that it can't be on them.
[00:14:22] It's not about their resources, it's not about their war plans, it's not about their strength.
[00:14:29] And they have no more confidence because the army is so small.
[00:14:36] He just keeps reducing him to show his power so that we have to fully trust in God and that they had to fully trust in God.
[00:14:52] And at that moment, right, God gives Gideon reassurance through a dream overheard in the enemy camp.
[00:15:01] And then the battle happens.
[00:15:05] Not a traditional charge, no overwhelming force, just obedience, right? Torches, jars, trumpets.
[00:15:13] And what happens in that moment is God brings confusion and the enemy defeats itself.
[00:15:22] That was not Gideon's brilliance.
[00:15:26] It was God's power.
[00:15:31] But remember that Gideon's story doesn't end perfect right after the victory. He refuses this kingship, but creates an ephod that becomes a spiritual snare.
[00:15:46] Like a snare trap, right?
[00:15:49] He trusted God in the crisis, and then he struggled with success.
[00:15:54] How many times in our lives have we done that?
[00:15:57] We're in the bottom. We're in the pit.
[00:16:00] Gideon started in the pit.
[00:16:02] How many times have we got to the pit and we call out to God, just like Israel did in the whole entire Book of Judges.
[00:16:09] God raises us up, and then we struggle with that success.
[00:16:15] We struggle with. Because victory brings new temptations.
[00:16:20] How many times do we struggle with those new temptations, like pride or control and influence?
[00:16:28] A lot of people fall after God uses them, because humility is harder to maintain than desperation.
[00:16:38] When you are desperate, that is easy. I am going to call out to God. But when you have everything and you need to be humble and call out to God, that's much harder.
[00:16:48] You know, we live in a culture obsessed with strength and visibility and numbers and influence. How many likes did I get?
[00:17:00] I can't even tell you how many people listen to this.
[00:17:03] I don't go, look, there may be nobody listening to this podcast. There may be one person, or there could be 5,000. I have no idea. So I don't track it. I don't put it on places that I make no money off it. That's not what this is about.
[00:17:20] But we live in a culture the exact opposite of that.
[00:17:24] How many likes can I get? How many shares can I get? I do ask people to share it and like it and comment and send me an email, but I don't care if anybody does.
[00:17:35] You see, God is still in the business of reduction.
[00:17:40] He reduces people so they listen.
[00:17:44] He reduces churches so they depend on him, and he reduces nations so they remember.
[00:17:51] And right now, the question is not whether God will reduce us.
[00:17:56] The question should be, will we trust him when he does?
[00:18:01] Because he's going to.
[00:18:04] So will we trust him?
[00:18:07] Think about your life right now. What has God been reducing in your life that you don't understand?
[00:18:14] What have you lost that forced you to rely on God?
[00:18:21] Is there something in your life that has been stripped away that you thought you needed?
[00:18:28] Because I'm here to tell you that might not be a failure.
[00:18:32] It might be preparation for what God has planned next.
[00:18:39] God reduced Gideon before he used him, and he might be doing the same thing to you right now.
[00:18:50] It's a critical thing to listen and be obedient.
[00:18:57] I think we spend a lot of time talking to God and not a lot of time listening to God.
[00:19:04] And maybe if you're listening, there's a reason that I said that.
[00:19:10] Look, I want to thank you for walking down this path with me in the sixth episode of Judges, and hopefully you're getting something out of it. I know that me doing the study and reading and kind of going back over it again and again and again has really helped me understand it better. So hopefully that's what it will do for you.
[00:19:30] Again, I want to remind you that you can subscribe to the podcast on any of your favorite platforms. We're kind of out there everywhere. Share it. If it meant something to you, it may mean something to somebody else.
[00:19:43] I do want to remind you I've started doing this the last couple episodes, but make sure you're going to a good Bible believing church.
[00:19:53] You need a community to. To help make you strong and stand you up.
[00:19:59] So if you have one, amazing. If you don't and you want help finding one, send me an
[email protected] I will do some research in whatever area you tell me you're in. You can just give me a general vicinity and we'll get you in touch. We'll get somebody to reach out to you. I'll do the legwork for you.
[00:20:21] Right. It's important that community is important.
[00:20:25] So next episode, we're going to step into Jephthah and kind of talking about broken identity and rejection and danger and, you know, we'll see where it goes, right? Every episode I talk about this Judges is going to get darker and it's going to.
[00:20:41] But, you know, the grace of God still shines through every single time.
[00:20:46] So again, this is Rick with the Nomad Pastor podcast. Hey, thanks for listening and remember to love God and love people. It.
