Journal 6: Judges 6 and 7
Observation
The chapters of Judges 6 and 7 tell us the story of Gideon and his Army, and how God used him
to salvage the Israelites. In the first part of judges 6, The Israelites are punished by God for being
wicked people and committing evil deeds despite Gods warnings. They work for the Midianites
as penalty for their disobedience. It says in Judges 6:1 that “The Israelites did evil in the eyes the
LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.” The Midianites
plagued the Israelites, and in their misery they cried out to the lord for help. The Lord sends a
prophet to the Israelites who tell the Israelites that they disobeyed God by worshipping other
Gods. Meanwhile God sends down an angel to Gideon who tells him (as it says in Judges 6: 1217) to save Israel form the cruelty of the Midianites. Thus the story of the conquest of the
Midianites began.
Later, the Lord instructs Gideon to Destroy the Altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah pole .He
commands Gideon. “Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this
height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt
offering”. Due to this, Gideon attracts attention from the people of the town who intend to kill
him for his actions. Joash, the father of Gideon questions the people saying “If Baal really is a
God he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar. Due to this Gideon earns the
nickname of “Jerub-Baal”which means “Let Baal contend with him”
In Judges 6:34 it says that “Then the spirit of the LORD came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet,
summoning the Abiezrites to follow him”. To confirm that God will Save Israel by Gideon’s
hand, Gideon challenges God .He positions a wool fleece on the ground and tells God that if the
fleece is wet and the ground is not, only then will he believe the promise God made to him. God
does as he was asked. But the seed of doubt was still planted in Gideon’s mind, He requests God
of another favor. This time, he tells God that if the ground is dry and the fleece is wet, then he
will truly believe in the promise. God did not disappoint and the next day it was done as it had
been asked. Confident in God's promise, Gideon gathers his army and sets camp but God does
not want a huge army. In the end, Gideon is left with an army of three hundred.
After overhearing a Midianites profess a dream claiming that Gideon will destroy the
Midianites,Gideon instructs his army to stand around the camps of the Midianites ,with the
trumpets and the torches he had given them, and shout “For the Lord and for Gideon”. In this
way they were able to scare off the Midianites and conquer their lands.
INTERPRETATION
www.sermoncentral.com
GIDEON: FROM ZERO TO HERO
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In this sermon Pastor Scott Kircher,uses the story of Gideon(Judges 6:11-40) to present to us the
way God uses “ordinary people” to do “ extraordinary things”
Important points
❖ He talks about the cycle continuously repeated in Judges.This cycle goes as such.
God blesses his people
Spiritual satisfaction
Sin(The Israelites start disobeying God and turn to other Gods)
God punishes them
They cry out to the Lord
He delivers them through a prophet or a chosen one.
❖ He talks about how Gideon was a nobody and yet,God used him to deliver the
Israelites.
❖ He talks about Gideons lack of faith,and how God was patient with him.
❖ He mentions how God whittled down Gideon's army to three hundred men, so
Israel cannot boast about their victory.
Pastor Kircher commences his sermon with a direct question to the audience. “Do
you ever think that God is unable to use you?”He uses this as a form of affinition
with the audience,so they can connect or relate with the Person God has
chosen.He then offers them a ressurance saying that no matter how difficult it is
right now; God has a chosen path for each and every one of us.He then gives them
a vague explanation of a cycle found repeatedly in Judges.(first point above).This
was a major weak point of his as the cycle was an important validation of God's
faithfulness to his covenant.
He then recites the story of Gideon from the bible emphasizing on main points
such as the cutting down of Baal's altar,the appearance of the angels, and the
gathering of his army.This creates another connection with the audience as they
are taken through the entire life story of Gideon.He explains that God whittled
down Gideon's army because he did not want Israel to boast that they did this
great miracle.This was another weak point of his, as the way he interpreted this,
made it look like God was being selfish, and wanted the spotlight for
himself.Pastor Kircher then accentuates the frailty of Gideons faith and how God
was patient with him,He then delivers a powerful line. “When we are
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faithless,God is faithful”He reminds us of the all times,Gideon asked God for
miracles before he went to defeat his enemies.But God was patient which is a bit
unusual,since God has become many angry many times over people who doubted
him.Yet Gideon,succeeded and salvage the Israelites
He then uses the rest of his sermon to explain the value of the life God has given
us and the Story he has planned for each and every one of us.That despite how
worthless we might appear to ourselves,God has a miracle planned out and all we
need to do is to believe in his promise and he will turn the ordinary into the
extraordinary.He ends his powerful sermon with a prayer.
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