| “Whatever…”
“Good for you, but not really for me.”
“I don’t want to have regrets.”
“I don’t want to become bigoted, inauthentic (insert your
own adjective variant).”
“It’s too early to worry about this.”
These are the kinds of responses I sometimes hear when I get into conversations
about God and religion with university students in London and other European
cities. Presenting the good news of Jesus Christ to young people today
can be a real challenge in a society that seems to be tuned out. Truth
is relativized in the secular environment, values and morals are watered
down, relationships and communities are broken, and common sense and decency
is evaporating.
It is very easy for student mission workers to wonder: “If God is with
us, then why is it so hard to bring the good news of Christ to people today?”
“Why are we seeing so little fruit in our efforts?” I do not know the full
answer, but I do believe that the Lord is with us today as we strive to
bring the gospel to people. I believe that the Lord wants to give us fresh
confidence and hope as he teachs us how to respond to him with faith and
trust. I have experienced the Lord renewing my faith and courage as I have
reflected on the call of Gideon in the Old Testament book of Judges, chapter
6 and 7. I think that Gideon is a good example for us today, because Gideon
had to face similar challenges of facing his own fears and the obstacles
that stood in his path as he tried to follow the Lord.
God’s call and
challenge for Gideon
At the time of Gideon, the Israelites were facing a spiritual, political
and economic crisis as their livelihood (food, crops, wealth, manpower)
was being devoured by the Midianites, a pagan nation that was over-runing
their land. Scriptures mentions two reasons why the people of God in Israel
were facing this crisis: First, they were being unfaithful to their God
by worshipping false gods of their enemies (Judges 6:10). Second,
their enemy had stronger military power - they had the advantage of speed
in overtaking their foes through the use of trained camels (Judges 6:5).
This was a new element in warfare for the desert nations at that time.
How did the Lord call Gideon and convince him to save his people from
their enemies? When the Lord sent his messenger to Gideon, he found him
threshing wheat in a wine press (hiding to avoid getting caught by a Midianite
raid). The angel addressed Gideon: “The Lord is with you oh mighty
man of valour.” But Gideon replies with an objection. He says, ‘If God
is with us, then why has all this happened to us’? The Lord does not answer
his question per se but gives him a clear command: “Go in this might of
yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?" (Judges
6:14).
Those of us who do evangelistic outreach work in a post-Christian environment
also want answers, like Gideon, to why it is so challenging. God’s response
to Gideon, I believe, gives us an important clue to how he wants to work
with us today. The Lord ignores our question, just like he ignored Gideon’s,
but he gives us the same command. ‘Go in this strength of yours, am I not
sending you!’
God calls us by
what he sees we will become
The Lord knew Gideon very well – he knew all of Gideon’s weaknesses
and limitations. More importantly, He knows who He (God) is and what He
is capable of doing in and through Gideon. He also knows who each one of
us is as well – with all our weaknesses and limitations. I believe that
He calls us by what He sees we will become, not where we’re at this present
moment. I don’t think He is trying to ‘butter us up’ and make us feel good
in spite of our weaknesses. He knows not only what we’re capable of in
and by ourselves, but more importantly what He is capable of doing in and
through us if we cooperate fully with him.
Courage causes
people to see truth
God next tests Gideon’s obedience in small things. He asks him to go
and tear down an altar that his father built for Baal, a pagan god and
offer as a sacrifice to God one of his father’s bulls. (Judges 6:25 and
following) Gideon obeys this command, choosing to apply it during the night,
rather than the day as he was quite scared. When the men of the town find
out that this altar was destroyed, they come looking for Gideon to take
revenge. It is quite interesting to observe his father’s change of attitude:
previously, he was a worshiper of Baal and had built an altar for him.
Now, following Gideon’s actions, his father faces the men of the town with
‘if Baal is god, let him defend himself’ (my paraphrase of Jud 6:31)
I believe it is the passion and zeal of his son Gideon that causes
him to see truth. Courage causes people to see truth.
"The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into
their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'
(Judges 7:2) The Lord next asks Gideon to reduce the size of his army so
that it is very clear to everyone that God is the one who will bring victory.
So, thirty one thousand and seven hundred Israelite soldiers leave Gideon’s
army, and he only has three hundred left. By rough calculations, Gideon’s
pack of three hundred is 0.2% the size of the army of the Midianites. Gideon
was not coming up with a new physical weapon of mass destruction, but he
was obeying the Lord who wanted to win the battle in Gideon’s stead. That
sure requires courage and trust.
If you are afraid,
go into the enemy’s camp
Further down in the passage (Judges 7:10 and following), the Lord gives
Gideon a similar command which requires obedient courage: if you are afraid
(to face an army which is 99.8 % the size of yours), go down to the camp
of the Midianites with your servant. Just as God had earlier commanded
Gideon to go in the strength of His might when Gideon was looking for a
very different kind of answer, here God calls him to do something similar:
'If you’re afraid, just go into the enemy’s camp!" While Gideon does steal
into the enemy’s camp along with his servant, Gideon happens to overhear
two soldiers discussing a dream one of them had and the prophetic interpretation
of the dream declaring that "God will give all the Midianites over
to Gideon" (Judges 7:14).
It is the power of God that gives the Midianites into Gideon’s hand.
It is not Gideon’s tact or his wisdom nor even the resources he employs.
God asks us today to trust in the same power he gave to Gideon, the power
of his Holy Spirit. God does not ask us to put our confidence in our own
wisdom, strength, or human resources. He knows we lack what we need and
that our limited resources are insufficient. The Lord has spoken prophetically
to the Sword of the Spirit that he would equip us with his gifts and strength
as we engage in the mission he entrusts to us. We are only called to take
a micro step of faith, and then watch God work in and through us. He wants
to pour out this same Holy Spirit on us today as He did with our parents
and many others who chose to be disciples on mission in the Sword of the
Spirit. We see this same pattern, time and again in the history of the
church, as God poured out his Spirit on those who responded to his call
with faith, obedience, and generosity.
God asks us to obey him and to respond with faith and courage to his
call. Let us pray for the grace and strength to obey Him wholeheartedly,
and let us remind ourselves that the power and the glory belongs to Him.
[Joe
Fahd directs Koinonia Mission
School in London, a program that trains gappers and volunteer missionaries
to do outreach in the heart of London's student world. He is a member
of the Servants of the Word
and originally comes from the People of God community in Lebanon.] |
From
the Book of Judges
.
Chapter
6
The
Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave
them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was
so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain
clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their
crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the
country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to
Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle
nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms
of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded
the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they
cried out to the Lord for help.
7 When
the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, 8 he sent them
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. 9 I rescued you
from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all
your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10
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.”
11
The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged
to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress
to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared
to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why
has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors
told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’
But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14
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?”
15
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan
is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16
The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the
Midianites, leaving none alive.”
25
That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s
herd, the one seven years old.[b] Tear down your father’s altar to Baal
and cut down the Asherah pole[c] beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind
of[d] 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[e] bull as a burnt
offering.”
27
So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because
he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather
than in the daytime.
28
In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar,
demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull
sacrificed on the newly built altar!
29
They asked each other, “Who did this?”
When
they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
30
The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must
die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole
beside it.”
31
But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead
Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall
be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself
when someone breaks down his altar.” 32 So because Gideon broke down Baal’s
altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal[f] that day, saying, “Let Baal
contend with him.”
33
Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces
and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 Then
the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning
the Abiezrites to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh,
calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that
they too went up to meet them.
Chapter 7
Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal
(that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp
of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The
Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into
their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved
me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn
back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten
thousand remained.
4 But the Lord said to Gideon,
“There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will
thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he
shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not
go.”
5 So Gideon took the men
down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the
water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.”
6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All
the rest got down on their knees to drink.
7 The Lord said to Gideon,
“With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites
into your hands. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest
of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions
and trumpets of the others.
Now the camp of Midian lay
below him in the valley. 9 During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get
up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.
10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah
11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged
to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts
of the camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern
peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could
no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
13 Gideon arrived just as
a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A
round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck
the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
14 His friend responded,
“This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite.
God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.” |
