The Book of Judges is the record of Israel’s failure in the land. God had brought them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, then led them through the wilderness, and set them in possession of the promised inheritance. As long as they walked in obedience and dependence, no foe could stand before their face. But man invariably fails when entrusted with blessing under responsibility, even under the most favorable circumstances. Israel was no exception.
Israel “served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua” (Judg. 2:77And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. (Judges 2:7)), but then “there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim” (Judg. 2:10-1110And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. 11And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: (Judges 2:10‑11)). But with Israel’s failure we also see the Lord’s faithfulness, and out of God’s faithfulness sprang His intervening grace, giving His people a little restoration in the midst of their departure. The similarity between this state of things and the present state of the church will be apparent to all. I propose to call attention to one of the most signal instances of God’s intervention with Israel—His raising up of Gideon to be a judge and deliverer to them. Here we may learn the qualifications which God seeks in those whom He can use for service and testimony among His people.
The Midianites
“The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years” (Judg. 6:11And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. (Judges 6:1)). Midian had descended from Abraham through Keturah, his second wife, and again and again they are brought into contact with Israel. In the wilderness the Lord told Moses, “Vex the Midianites, and smite them: for they vex you with their wiles” (Num. 25:17-1817Vex the Midianites, and smite them: 18For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake. (Numbers 25:17‑18)). But now they are in the land itself, “and Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites.” But when Israel cried unto the Lord, He first sent a prophet to bring their sin home to their conscience, and then He sent an angel to raise up a deliverer. The angel finds Gideon threshing wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites (vs. 11).
Feeding on Christ
We may name this first qualification, feeding on Christ in secret. Wheat is surely a figure of Christ (see John 12:24; 6:3524Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (John 12:24)
35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)). It was a time of great difficulty; idols had usurped the place of Jehovah, so that those who remained faithful in the midst of the general ruin could only worship the Lord alone and in private. So it was with Gideon; Baal had an altar in his father’s house, but this “mighty man of valor” threshed wheat alone that he might find sustenance, notwithstanding the watchful eye of the Midianites. Alone in his family and alone in threshing wheat, he gathered strength from communion with the Lord.
Surely feeding on Christ in secret is the fountainhead of all qualification for the Lord’s service. Thus it was that Joseph was sent into exile and a prison, that Moses was sent for forty years into the desert, and Paul into Arabia, for it is when we are alone with Christ that we learn both what we ourselves are and, blessed be His name, what He Himself is, in the infinite fullness of His grace and sufficiency. The Lord can never use us as standard-bearers until both of these lessons have been learned.
An Exercised Heart
The next qualification is evidently an exercised heart. Gideon identified himself with the condition of his people, for he says, “Why then is all this befallen us?” (vs. 13). Entering into their state, he bore it on his heart before the Lord. And without this he would not have been qualified to be their helper. Our power to succor others will be in proportion as we have been able to make their sorrows or difficulties our own. The Lord will use us if we are qualified for it, but to be qualified for it, we must have felt deeply the character of the evil in which we, the people of God, are entangled, and we must have mourned over it before the Lord.
Our Nothingness
We now get another very important qualification: a sense of his own nothingness. Gideon replies, “O my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (vs. 15). His exercises had thus not been without blessing, for he was now in the place where God’s power could come upon and use him. All the Lord’s servants must learn this lesson sooner or later, that there is nothing in themselves which can be used for God; all their resources and strength lie outside of themselves. It is then no longer a question of what the Midianites are, but what God is. Accordingly, the Lord now said to Gideon, “Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man” (vs. 16).
Liberty
Gideon becomes bolder, prepares a kid and unleavened cakes of flour, and places his offering, at the direction of the angel, upon the rock. “Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight” (vs. 21). By this Gideon is made to know that he had seen an angel of the Lord face to face, and he is filled with fear. But “the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.” And thus he obtains from the Lord a further qualification for service: a soul at liberty—at peace—before God. God had revealed Himself to His servant, and he is now at home in God’s presence. Here we have a direct connection between peace and service.
A Worshiper
The immediate consequence in Gideon’s case was that he became a worshiper. “Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah-shalom” (vs. 24). He worships God as the One who had spoken peace to his soul. The true servant must first be a worshiper, for to go out in service before we are worshipers is to misrepresent our Lord and to expose ourselves to defeat. Let us then be careful to maintain the divine order.
Obedience
Now the Lord calls upon Gideon to act, but he must first begin at home. He must “throw down the altar of Baal” and “cut down the grove that is by it.” Then he must “take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down” (vss. 25-27). Here we get obedience. Gideon was associated with evil in his father’s house, and, as another has said, “Faithfulness within precedes outward strength; this is God’s order.” Until he had dethroned the idol in his father’s house, he could not be sent to smite the Midianites.
The Lord Jesus vanquished Satan in the desert by obedience; the reply, “It is written,” foiled him in every attack. And here too was Gideon’s strength, for no sooner had he received the command than he “did as the Lord had said unto him” (vs. 27). The devil resisted in obedience is the devil vanquished.
Power
Gideon is now a vessel “sanctified and meet for the Master’s use,” and we get accordingly the crowning qualification of power. The vessel is now prepared for service, but immediately we are told, “Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them” (vss. 33-35). While Gideon is being prepared, the Midianites are still; when Gideon is ready, God gathers them together for destruction.
Gideon is now equipped, ready for the conflict. There will be weaknesses and failures, doubtless, but still he is one whom the Lord can now employ. May God grant that the sevenfold qualifications of Gideon may be found in all who are engaged in His service and testimony in these closing days!
E. Dennett