This afternoon I would like to trace some of the incidents in the life of Gideon-Judges 6.
Before turning to that, perhaps we might read a few verses in the 11th of Hebrews, beginning at the 32nd verse:
"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of, Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."
Going down to the 39th verse we read:
"And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."
Now turn back to the 6th of Judges. We read from Heb. 11:32 that time would fail to tell of Gideon; that is just exactly the way I feel as I stand here this afternoon.
What a full history is given of this man, Gideon. We could not take the time to read all his history if we expect to have any time left to put together a few thoughts in connection with his life. We find that God raised him up in the history of Israel at a very peculiar time-in the days of the Judges (queer days they were)-when there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
You know when things are like that-every man doing that which is right in his own eyes-everything is wrong. That was the condition back in those days of the Judges. Joshua, the great spiritual leader, had been called off the scene and gathered unto the fathers at the age of one hundred and ten years. A wonderful servant he had been-a faithful man. There arises a new generation; how different now that they do not have a Joshua to lead them. They slumped back into idolatry, the grossest kind of failure and worldliness, and God let them smart for it too.
The ways of God are always consistent with Himself. Dispensations change, but God's character does not. The Word of God says, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Gal. 6:7, 8). This is true of individuals; it is true of families; it is true of assemblies; it is true of states and nations. There is that law at work-God's government. Thank God, it is always tempered with His mercy. That is true; but when you and I go contrary to the revealed will of God, we can expect nothing else than to reap the consequences.
So the children of Israel lapsed back again and again into the most awful idolatry and moral failure. Again and again God sold them into the hand of their enemies, that they might learn their lesson. He allowed them to be ground between the upper and nether millstones of His judgment until there was a measure of repentance; and then He raised up a deliverer for them. Such was the condition with which the 6th chapter of Judges opens.
The children of Israel were in a sad plight. Joshua had brought them into their own promised land; he had divided the inheritance to them. They had promised faithfully that they would see that all the enemies of God were destroyed, but it was only a lip promise. We find at this time that their enemies had the upper hand. The Midianites were swooping in upon them and robbing them of everything they had, from time to time.
"And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass." Judg. 6:4.
That was the condition. They would sow and get their crop ready to harvest, and here would come in all these great hordes, the children of the East, and gather up all the crops; and off they would go and leave the children of Israel in a pitiable condition-"greatly impoverished."
We look around us today and view the Church of God. And when one uses that term (the Church of God), he uses it, I trust, after the thoughts of God. The Church of God is that professing body that is set in this world as the "pillar and ground of the truth"-that which should have supported the great fundamentals of the faith down through the ages of the Church's sojourn here. What do we see as we look around? We see that the "Midianites" have the upper hand. The very fact that in this gathering here today there are so few of us, is a testimony to this condition. The enemies of the revealed truth of God have the upper hand in Christendom around us, and the saints of God have been robbed and robbed and robbed, and are still being robbed!
Sometimes we attend the funeral of a neighbor or friend. I had that privilege (if you can call it that) just recently. A man who stood as the representative of the pastors of God's flock had a splendid opportunity to tell the people assembled about the merits of Christ. If I counted correctly, he mentioned the Lord Jesus once in his address. The greater part of what he said was false to the truth of God. One's heart was woefully heavy as he sat and listened to such a great travesty. The "Midianites" had gotten in their work with that man, and he was passing it on down to another generation. And so today in Christendom, in the professing church of God, it is comparable to the days of the Judges; every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes. But, I repeat, if you find in your heart a disposition to take that course, you are plainly declaring that you are headed for that which is wrong.
The children of Israel were in "bondage," "slavery," "hard put to"; and they did not have enough to eat; they were miserable and they "cried to God."
In the midst of that condition there was a young man. The 6th chapter opens with this young man threshing wheat by his father's winepress. I believe that there is something expressive in that. Gideon was determined that he would have wheat. He was doing it at the risk of his life, that is true; but Gideon, by the grace of God, resolved that he would have wheat He had a right and title to it, and he would have it; and there he was threshing wheat by his' father's winepress to "hide it from the Midianites."
That wheat speaks of Christ, the Bread which came down from heaven, the food for your soul and mine. So here in this young man, Gideon, we see a young man of faith and courage, determined that he is going to have his portion of Christ, if I speak figuratively. I do not say that Gideon had the consciousness of all this, but I believe the Spirit of God indicted it, and that we may take that meaning from it. He is determined to have his portion of Christ.
Dear saints here this afternoon, you are living in a trying age; your lot is cast in a stormy period, and if the Lord tarries and you are left to grow up to middle age and on, I dare say you are going to see serious times-perhaps more serious than you ever stopped to think about. Perhaps some of us who are older may be released from the scene before the storm breaks, but there are dark clouds gathering. I want to impress on you this afteroon, regardless of whatever confronts you in your Christian life from now until you leave this world, whether by way of the grave or the coming of the Lord, your God is able to deliver. That blessed Lord never mocks us; oh no, God does not mock us. He does not call you out from the world and put upon you the blessed, precious name of Christ, and at the same time cast you into the world where you cannot live for Him. He would deny Himself if He were to place you in temptations and surroundings where you could not be true to Christ. So you need not fear the future.
Do not take the attitude that you are equal to whatever comes along; one cannot advise that, but one can say to you that God is not going to permit the trial to overcome you; He will provide a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. So face the future with confidence, but with Christ. If we face the future in self-confidence, there is many a sad lesson ahead for us; and some of us who are older have had occasion to observe this in the lives of those we have known intimately; they are paying heavy tribute to the "Midianites"; they are like Samson grinding in the mills of the Philistines, helpless, seemingly, to extricate themselves; when you try to help some of them, you feel your utter inability. It is one thing to get away from God and get yourself thoroughly into the world, and it is quite another thing to get free and back. These tragedies are strewn all along the way. It is a sobering thought to look into the faces of those present and realize that there may be some here who have already taken the early steps in a pathway like that-those whose feet are already slipping. It is a slippery way. May God give you, in His great grace, to recover yourselves today, that you may just bow to the voice that speaks here, and recover yourselves out of the hand of the enemy.
The Spirit of God introduces in this very chapter, a prophet; he comes to the children of Israel and tells them why they are suffering, though God does not even give us his name—a nameless prophet, but he speaks the truth. He tells them that they had rebelled against their God and His Word. Dear soul, if you are slipping today, it is because the Word of God is being neglected. It is because prayer is being neglected. It is because that soul of yours is not being kept in the sunshine of His love. You cannot go wrong and go on with Christ. If you and I are seeking His face in dependence, seeking to have His 'Word do its cleansing work in our lives, if we are in reality bowing the knee to God in prayer, He will keep us; He will keep you, dear young believer; He will preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom.
Gideon was threshing wheat by his father's winepress, and an angel appeared to him. There is a connection between these two things. The Spirit of God discerned a determination and a holy purpose of heart not to sell out to the enemy; God recognized that and sent His angel to greet Gideon.
"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor." He was not handling a sword, but a flail-a humble instrument. "Thou mighty man of valor." Dear young soul here this afternoon, it means ten thousandfold more to God to see you in the courage and energy of faith enjoying your portion in Christ, than to go over there on the battlefields of Europe and gain a mighty victory; God is far more interested in your spiritual welfare than in any victory you might achieve in this world. These are spiritual battles, and they are going to endure when all the nations locked in this present conquest have passed off the scene forever. They "are counted as the small dust of the balance" (Isa. 40:15). That is the way God thinks of the rise and fall of the nations.
God meets Gideon and commissions him for a great work. "And Gideon said unto Him, O my Lord, If the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us?" v. 13. There is something instructive here. Gideon is not swept off his feet at this moment because an angelic messenger accosts him. He is so absorbed that when he gets this commission as a mighty man of valor, he says, "Why then is all this befallen"-not me- but "us"? Gideon is thinking of all Israel. He is bearing on his heart all that people; he felt the burden of their condition. Have you ever borne up in the presence of God the condition of His people today? Does it form any part of your private program of prayer that the vast majority of God's dear people are in the hands of the "Midianites" and are being robbed and impoverished day after day and week after week? Does it form any part of the burden of your heart and mine? Gideon says, "Why then is all this befallen us?" He identifies himself with the case of the whole nation. That is like a scene we have brought before us in the New Testament-Nathanael under the fig tree. He is brought to Christ, and as the Lord looks at him He says, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" He says, Nathanael, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." What did He mean? The fig tree is a picture of Israel-God's people. No doubt the Spirit of God means to tell us that Nathanael was in prayer and meditation under that fig tree, thinking of the state of the nation at that time, and that is what singled him out; that is what made him important-a true Israelite thinking of the people of God and the sad condition of the nation at that time. The Lord made him one of His disciples.