Don’t Drop Your Spiritual Weapons
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“And Gideon said to him, ‘Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian" (Judges 6:13).
Gideon was a wheat farmer who lived during one of Israel’s most challenging eras. The book of Judges records several cycles of God’s judgment of Israel’s sin. God lifted His hand of protection, followed by enemy attack and oppression, then national repentance and the rise of a leader/deliverer to bring victory over the enemy. By the time we read about Gideon, Israel had gone through several of these cycles of judgment. Rebellion, rebuke, repentance, restoration, revival… rinse and repeat.
Gideon was living in the fifth such cycle, because like people usually do, the Israelites would come back to God when things were bad and start rebelling against God when things became good again.
Israel was once again reaping the consequences of their rebellion and were oppressed by a cruel group of people known as the Midianites. The Midianites would wait for Israel to plant a crop, and right when the harvest would come, they would attack, killing, stealing and destroying the Israelites who tried to stop them.
The Midianites had lived off the labor of the Israelites for several years, until Israel had mostly resigned to the fact that there was no hope. They lived in fear and hid in caves, scavenging for any food they could just to survive.
Gideon’s circumstances had gotten so bad that when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in Judges 6, Gideon was hiding from the Midianites in a winepress threshing his wheat, completely despondent and apathetic.
Have you ever been there before?
It’s too hard, it’s taking too long. I’m not seeing any results. I’ve tried everything I know how to do. I don’t feel like praying or reading the Bible; I’m just not into going to church today. I’m just too tired to stand in faith anymore. I guess I’m just resigned to things being the way they are, because I’m exhausted emotionally, physically and spiritually from trying to change them.
If we find ourselves in this dark and lonely place, we can restore hope and look for direction from God’s plan to refresh Gideon, when He gave him the path to victory.
Remember Your Victories and Your Identity
“Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, 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!’” (Judges 6:11-12).
Notice where the angel of the Lord shows up – a city named Ophrah, located only sixteen miles from Jericho where Israel experienced one its greatest military victories. Sixteen miles from one of God’s greatest deliverance miracles, when the walls defending the enemy city fell suddenly with one unified shout of God’s people.
And how does the Angel greet Gideon? He reminds him of his victorious and courageous heritage and reveals his true identity: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
But imagine how Gideon must have reacted to this greeting, even as he was hiding in a winepress trying to process his wheat crop for a little food.
Wow, I’m so hungry I’m seeing things... No, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
What… who are you talking to? It can’t be me because I’m in here, hiding! No, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
God sent the angel to speak truth, hope and encouragement to Gideon in the middle of his resignation to accept circumstances as “just the way things were.”
God was reminding Gideon’s of his true identity, and when we feel defeated, He does the same for us:
- You are a child of God, even if you are acting like a coward
- You are an heir and a joint heir with Christ, even if fear is consuming you
- You are more than a conqueror, even if you have waived the white flag of surrender
- You are the head and not the tail, even if life seems to be kicking you around
- You are well able, even if you don’t feel like you can get out of bed to face another day
- You are a highly favored new creation in Christ Jesus, God’s masterpiece, and the apple of His eye
- You are redeemed by Jesus, adopted by the Father, and filled to overflowing by the Spirit
When you’re tempted to give up, don’t forget your Jericho. Don’t forget the day in your past when God caused the enemy’s walls to fall. Remember the goodness and the faithfulness of God. And because of who you are, and whose you are, there is victory pre-built into your future.
Don’t Lose Your Faith in God
Gideon eventually received the word of the Lord. He was raised up by God to lead the men of Israel to great victory over the Midianite enemy, but he began by tearing down the pagan altar and building an altar to God.
“When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. And they said to one another, ‘Who has done this thing?’ And after they had searched and inquired, they said, ‘Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.’ Then the men of the town said to Joash, ‘Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it’" (Judges 6:28-30).
The Israelite people had lost their way and become ardent Baal worshippers. When they discovered that the sacrificial altar to Baal was destroyed, they were angry, fully intent on killing Gideon in retribution. They even gathered outside his home.
I imagine Satan began to whisper discouragement and defeat in Gideon’s ear – it’s no use. These people are so far gone, nothing is going to change this situation, no matter what you do. You might as well stop trying to fight it.
Then God gave Joash, Gideon’s father, a bit of wisdom:
“But Joash said to all who stood against him, ‘Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.’ Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, ‘Let Baal contend against him,’ because he broke down his altar” (Judges 6:31-32).
After the public confrontation dissipated, the men of the land began to look to Gideon for leadership and followed him (Judges 6:34-35).
What can we learn from all this? There will be times when you’ve done all you can do, and you just can’t do anything else to fix the situation or turn the situation around. And the enemy will say, raise the white flag.
But that’s when God steps in. That’s when God blocks it and scatters the enemy. So don’t lose your faith in God! He is the way-maker. He creates streams in the desert and roads through the wilderness. He hasn’t forgotten you; He knows where you are, even if you are hiding in a wine press. And at the moment when you think you just can’t, He will come through.
Don’t Drop Your Weapons
Thirty-two thousand men initially joined Gideon’s army, but they were still outnumbered by the Midianites army of 120,000 men who had encamped against them at the Valley of Jezreel (Judges 6:33-35).
But before they could attack, God stopped Gideon… there are still too many of you! The people will take credit and believe they were better organized, smarter and more militarily skilled than the Midianites. So if I give you this victory now, you’ll just take your victory and go back to living a rebellious life without Me.
And this isn’t about your victory; it’s about your relationship with Me!
So God says, announce to the men that if any of them are scared, they can go home. Gideon does so and Gideon’s army drops to 10,000! (Judges 7:3)
Now 12:1 odds is a real long shot, but still conceivable. Incredibly, God looks again and says, nope, still too many men! I need you to have no doubt whatsoever that it was My hand that delivered you!
“And the LORD said to Gideon, ‘The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' shall not go.’ So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, ‘Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.’ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the LORD said to Gideon, ‘With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home’" (Judges 7:4-7).
I believe the 300 remaining men were the only ones that held onto their weapons when they were brought down to the water and remained vigilant and ready for war. The others got on their knees and stuck their face down into the water to drink. You can’t do that unless you put down your weapons and take your focus off the battle. When God is ready to do something impossible, He still wants you to be vigilant and ready.
What does all this mean for us today? What do many of us do when the odds start turning against us, and our breakthrough is less and less likely? When it seems like a miracle is just a faint hope? We lay down our mighty weapons, things like prayer, trust in God and standing on His promises, worship instead of worry, knowing who we are in Christ, pleading the blood of Jesus and declaring what God has said.
We lay down our weapons because we don’t really understand how powerful they are. Spiritual weapons have the ability to destroy anything that stands in the way.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds…” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
Gideon’s army of 300 men were victorious, not because of superior fighting ability, even though they were brave and ready to be used by God. The Scripture account tells us that the way 300 men beat 120,000 men was through the spiritual weapons of obedience and faith (Judges 7:16-22). God directed Gideon to “attack” using merely horns, empty jars and torches, and they supernaturally defeated the Midianite army (Judges 7:19-22).
Why did God use horns, empty jars and torches? Because God wants us to know that our “weapons” are mightier than they look, because they are supernaturally empowered by God.
So, if you find yourself feeling defeated and ready to resign, consider how God lifted up Gideon. Remember your past victories against the enemy, embrace your true identity in Christ, stay in faith, and like Gideon’s men, don’t drop your weapons! They’re powerful!
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Media Whalestock
