Scripture:
Judges 6:11-16 NKJV
[11] 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. [12] And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” [13] Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” [14] Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” [15] So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” [16] And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
Observation:
Now listen, I know that it’s not at all the first time these scriptures have come across our sight here, but I believe that’s the reason they have been written down for us. So that we can go over them over and over. Just bear with me as we go through this together again. That being said, I won’t waste any time, so let’s dive in. As I said just a short time ago the times had been better for the children of Israel if we back up to the first few verses in this chapter, a picture is painted of desperation. I mean Gideon wasn’t hiding because life was going smoothly, in fact he was hiding in a winepress because he basically had to if he wanted to feed his family. Anytime the children of Israel would start to move forward, the Midianites would come with force and take everything. This type of life began to shape how Gideon saw himself, even though he was in a winepress doing everything he could to feed his family the way he saw himself was weak and feeble, and honestly who wouldn’t. But there was something different about Gideon. He wasn’t like the rest. I have gone over this scripture so many times because I see myself in it a lot. As I read it, the LORD brings pictures to my mind, almost like a move playing in my mind and this is how I see this situation going down. As Gideon saw his family struggling, hungry, and needing provision, he was doing whatever it took to gather what was needed to provide for them. As he was tucked away in the winepress, threshing wheat. I can see him praying, asking the LORD to do something. We can see the evidence for this in verses 7 through 10, but how I pictured this happening is Gideon frustration getting the best of him in the winepress, I mean I have never threshed wheat, but I have researched the process, and the wind plays a big part in how it all happens. So I want you to picture this, a winepress is a two teared hole carved directly into the stone. The first tear was shallow where the grapes were stomped on to squeeze the juice out of them. The juice would run into a deep hole that would separate the skins from the juice using gravity. The second tear was deep enough to stand in. Now knowing that wind was required to thresh wheat, we can see the difficulty in what Gideon was doing and how the frustration would bring about a conversation with the LORD. As he was praying the heart in his prayer drew the attention of the angel of the LORD. That’s where we pick up our story. The scripture says, “Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree.” I see HIM sitting there listening to every word of Gideon’s prayer, hearing him ask for help, running over all the time that the LORD had delivered Israel in the past, “You parted the sea, you knocked down the walls, and made the sun stand still in the sky, but why have you left us here to be bullied by these Midianites.” The angel of the LORD hearing all this HE knew it was time. Gideon was ready, now whether he knew that or not needed to be drawn out of him. Once he made HIS presence known, HE started to do just that. Verses 12 says, ”And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.” As that was spoken over his life. I picture a puzzled look coming over Gideon’s face, almost like what are you talking about, as he began to question the LORD, “If the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened.” This is a question I have asked myself, but there is a purpose for everything in GOD’S plan. Reminding the angel of the LORD of all the things that had taken place prior to this, being brought out of Egypt, yet these Midianites hold them in bondage. Continuing to call out the mighty warrior that was inside of Gideon, the angel of the LORD doesn’t miss a beat, verse 14 says, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” This is where we see how Gideon sees himself. Although all the evidence points against this image, he still saw himself as weak and unable. The LORD had called him. That means he had been equipped for the battle, yet he was forgetting the very first statement that was made. Let’s revisit it just to remind ourselves how the LORD sees us, “The LORD is with you mighty man of valor.” Finishing up with verse 16 we see the angel of the LORD bringing that back to our focus, “And the LORD said to him, surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” That was the reassurance that was needed Gideon was not alone. His faith may be a little shaky, but he was not alone, the LORD was with him. The warrior had been called out through the trials that had been faced, making him stronger than he had realized. As this story continues we can see this warrior stand tall by starting the fight right in his own camp pulling down the altars that had been built to other gods seemingly causing a bunch of problems for himself, yet that’s not exactly what happened. His stand for the one true GOD made the others see that the LORD was with him.
Application:
I don’t know about you, but today it’s time to make a stand. Now here is the thing you are either going to believe what GOD says about you or you are going to continue to let the enemy punk you. I am personally done being punked. It will not happen any more. I don’t care how big your building is or how many ears you tickle. The fact is that the bible calves us to pull down the altars that we have built to other gods and build one to the one true GOD. The atlas of wealth here on earth is not what we need to worship, the altar of pride and elevating ourselves to a point of worship needs to be smashed. Yet instead of building altars we are building platforms, and stages. Elevating man rather than GOD. Listen today I stand here a mighty warrior, not because I wanted to be but because that’s what GOD has made me. It’s not time to excuse away our sin, it’s time to call it out and do something about it. If you are comfortable in your sin and explain it away using the grace of GOD as a license to do what you want, this is the warning. GOD’S grace is not a license to live for the flesh, it’s the reason we don’t. We have truly had an encounter with the LORD, it changes us. Gideon was not the same, Moses was not the same, Paul was not the same, Isaiah was not the same. We can not deny the power of GOD to change our lives. This is not the direction I thought I was going to go with this but my desire is to let the Holy Spirit have HIS way. Whether or not you like me or agree with me doesn’t matter. We need to set aside our flesh and walk in step with the Holy Spirit. This is my stand. I am calling out the warrior in you. Stop letting the enemy punk you. Stop letting him enslave you and lie to you about it. Put your flesh to death. Seek GOD’S will. What I am here to tell you is the bible does not teach that sin is ok. I heard a man say from a stage about 2 years ago that it was, that day was a turning point for me. Here is what I am saying, the more I study the Bible the more I see that we can not live in sin…. We will make mistakes…. But we can not stay there. Get up and try again. I remember when I was learning how to ride a bike. The first few times things didn’t go well, but with bloody knees I got back up, and got back on the bike, and eventually I got to a point where I haven’t fallen off the bike in a long time. What I am saying is get back up, get on the bike and try again. GOD is with you, don’t let the enemy tell you that you are a slave to sin, don’t let him lie to you and tell you the grace allows you to do whatever, HE is the same today as HE was yesterday, You have a choice to make follow the word or the herd, Ezekiel chapter 3 and verses 16 through 19 should be taken into consideration. It’s the council of GOD and can not be overlooked 1 John chapter 3 verses 4 through 9 should also be looked at when we are looking at how to conduct ourselves. Grace is not excusing sin if that were the case why would Jesus continue to say, “Go and sin no more.” Let us not be deceived. We will all stand in front of HIM, and that day will reveal our lives, and our hearts desires. I want to hear one statement, “Well done my good and faithful servant, now enter into my rest.” Fight the GOD fight of faith.
Prayer:
Father, I believe it’s time to not be caught sleeping, we want to lift up your high and Holy name. I know that this is not the direction I thought you were going to take this SOAP, but I have been obedient to what you have told me to say, so at this point I release it to you. I pray that you fill us with the boldness that you have called us to…. You are calling out the warrior in us, and I pray that all who are included in these groups will read this and come out from among them. This SOAP is the battering ram that you have placed in our hands, please use it to remove the veil of deception that has been placed over your church, the veil that says sin is ok. Call out the warriors who will stand for truth in the face of an enemy who has outnumbered us. We know today that you are with us so we stand here in victory over sin because that’s what you have died for. Thank you for the new creation that you have made us. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen.