Sep 8

Written by: jyankey
9/8/2011 2:26 PM 

 

"Testing God: Gideon's Story"

Judges 6:1 – 22, 36 – 40

Ted Jansen September 4, 2011 First UMC

 

1.)    What do "Test" and "Trust," mean to you? I want you to imagine a line that connects these two words. I want you to think of your personality and ask yourself do you tend to lean towards test or trust? Are you someone that has a high level of trust and willingness to risk or are you a person that needs to test things out and have evidence before you act.

Are you someone, like myself in ninth grade, who was going to ask a girl to go on a date with me but only if I knew that she would say yes? I discovered this by having my friends ask her friends if that I asked her if she would say yes. She did say yes to my friends so I knew that when I asked her she would say yes to me face to face. Whew! That was hard work.

Are you someone who would get in line for a crazy looking roller coaster that no one has ever been on before and be excited and not scared?

As you think of Trust and Test listen to an invitation from scripture. Proverbs 3:5, 6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Malachi 3:10 says, "Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty..." Trust and Test are words for us and an OT guy named Gideon.

 

2.)    Gideon was the youngest son of his family, a family with no important connections in Israel. Gideon worked doing farming during a time when a hostile environment was caused by the Midianites. The Midianites, for seven years would ruin crops and cause fear in their lives.

    Life was bad because the people of Israel had abandoned the Lord, worshipping instead the idols of Baal and Asherah. The people were miserable, oppressed, and cried out to the Lord in desperation.

    Even though the people has been unfaithful God was faithful and sent a prophet who said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says; I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. I said to you. I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not listened to me." (Judges 6:8 – 10)

    The prophet told them the life they were experiencing was because of their actions. If you leave God you will suffer consequences. Yet, God is faithful, loving and patient. God listened to their cries and saw their suffering. God loved even when the people did not love God.

 

3.)    So, an angel comes to Gideon who is threshing some wheat in private, for fear of the Midianites. While Gideon is crushing the grain the angel says, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." (Judges 6:12)

    So, as we look at our test and trust continuum line we are going to see how Gideon responds. Gideon says, "But sir,… if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt? But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."(Judges 6:13) Is Gideon trusting God or testing God in this response?

    Then we read, "The LORD turned to him and said, Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" (Judges 6:14)

    Gideon's response is this, "But Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." (Judges 6:15) Is Gideon testing or trusting?

    Does it appear that Gideon is moving towards trust or is he on the testing side of life and faith? It appears to me that Gideon is not trusting God yet the LORD speaks again to Gideon.

    "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together." (Judges 6:16)

    Gideon doesn't want the LORD to leave. Gideon wants to prepare an offering for the LORD. It appears Gideon was still testing God. The Lord said that He would wait for Gideon.

    So, Gideon prepares the offering and it was consumed and Gideon realizes that he has been in the presence of the LORD. He moves closer to trusting God.

    The LORD asks Gideon to take down the altar to Baal and the Asherah poles. These were the idols that people worshipped. Gideon moves out on faith and trust in these actions.

 

4.)    In Judges 6:36 we read about a test that Gideon perhaps is most remembered for. Gideon tests God by demanding a sign with the wool fleece. Gideon wants the ground to be dry but the fleece to be soaking wet. God does that and it is a sign but Gideon tests God another time and demands that God make the ground to be wet and the fleece to be dry. God does this and Gideon, with each test moves closer to trusting in God.

    You can continue to read in Chapter 7 about how God invites Gideon to trust Him in the Lord's battle plan. The plan involves going from 32,000 fighting men down to 300. The plan involves no actual fighting but lights, trumpet, pots and shouting. Gideon and the 300 men could see God at work as they trusted God in this unusual battle plan. They experienced victory over the Midianites and God's glory was revealed in their trust. Trust in the living God was real.

 

5.)    I need three volunteers to help us apply test, trust and our present situation. I will ask you to place yourselves in relation to test and trust in three situations that I will describe.

    *You are going to do a bungee jump of a tall bridge. Do you lean towards test or trust? Do you need to check things out with the equipment and talk to others? Do you have a spirit that moves you to "go for it," you trust that it is safe.

    *You are going to eat food that has been prepared for you in a blind taste test? Do you lean towards test or trust? Do you want to know who cooked it, what type of food is it, how hot or cold it is, etc? Or are you willing to be surprised by the food?

    *You are going to travel to a country, 5,000 miles away, that you have never been to before? Do you need to know about the conditions, the plane, the people that are hosting you, etc? Or are you willing to go and see what happens? Do you lean towards test or trust?

    

6.)    Let's consider a faith perspective as we think of the words test and trust.

    *You are told that all of your sins are forgiven. Do you tell yourself that you remember how you have messed up, and you can feel guilt and shame and believe God hasn't forgiven you? Or are you able to say with confidence and assurance, "I am forgiven!"

    *You are challenged to give 10% of your income, a tithe, for the next 3 months. Do you tell yourself that you can't do that because of bills, expenses and plans? Or do you say, I am going to trust God and do this for 90 days and see what happens?

    *You are led to serve a person in your neighborhood. Do you say to yourself, I am not sure what to say or do, or this might be awkward? Or do you say, I will start by bringing my neighbor some food and see what other needs I can help meet?

    

7.)    One day Jesus was with a lot of people, around 5,000 according to Luke 9:10 - 17. His disciples told Jesus after the people had been with Jesus a long time that Jesus should send them away to get food. Jesus told the disciples that they needed to feed the 5,000. What where they supposed to do?

The disciples told Jesus that they had five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus instructed the disciples to have the people sit down in groups of 50. Jesus took the food and gave thanks to the Lord; it was a moment of Jesus trusting in that need. The disciples began to pass out the food and to their amazement realized it was more than enough to feed the crowd. In fact there were leftovers. Each disciple collected the leftovers in baskets; there were twelve baskets full of bread and fish.

    The disciples were holding a sign in their hands, baskets of food that were leftover. I believe their trust was stronger as a result of this miracle.

 

8.)    Gideon held a piece of wool cloth, a fleece in his hands. It helped him trust the LORD. The disciples held a basket of leftovers. It helped them trust the Lord.

    We are invited to hold a cup and piece of bread. These are a sign of the love of God in Christ, who gave His body and shed His blood for us. When we eat the bread and drink the juice with a heart of repentance and thanksgiving we are forgiven, we are redeemed, we are restored and we are renewed in the image of God.

    May the Lord move you to trust more of your life to Him.