Morning Light – March 24th, 2015 (Audio)

Today: [Judges Chapter Six]: Where is God in All of This? In this chapter the people of God are oppressed by the Midianites and hiding in caves. The name Midian means strife and contention. The nations of the earth are gridlocked by strife and contention. The Israelites cried out to God and the Father sent a prophet. After the prophet came an angel. God will send answers to you if you cry out to Him.

Today: [Judges Chapter Six]: Where is God in All of This? In this chapter the people of God are oppressed by the Midianites and hiding in caves. The name Midian means strife and contention. The nations of the earth are gridlocked by strife and contention. The Israelites cried out to God and the Father sent a prophet. After the prophet came an angel. God will send answers to you if you cry out to Him.
[Jdg 6:1-40 KJV] 1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: [and] because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which [are] in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. 3 And [so] it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; 4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. 5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; [for] both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. 6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. 7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, 8 That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; 9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; 10 And I said unto you, I [am] the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
The chapter begins with the people doing evil in the sight of the Lord. The word here implies that they were afflicting and distressing one another. As a result they were delivered into the hands of the Midianites. The name Midian means “strife and contention”. If the enemy cannot seduce you in any other way he will work to get you over into strife. As a result the people couldn’t live in their houses. They were living in caves. They sowed but the could not reap. The increase of the earth was destroyed. The verse says they were greatly impoverished. We see great financial upheaval in the world today so much so that throughout the nations of the earth the very currency our economy are based on are near collapse. We also see great and tremendous strife. Political parties are incapable or working with one another. Different branches of government are contradicting each other and our very governmental processes are grinding to a halt. With great strife comes great poverty. What is the way out?
When Israel found themselves in this situation they cried out to the Lord. The answer is not more finger pointing. They answer is not the next person to be elected to office. Political parties or strategies conservative or liberal will not save us. God sits patiently by waiting for our nations to exhaust themselves looking to the dependencies of man for solutions. There is one solution that brought answers to the Israelites in Judges 6 – that is to cry unto the Lord.
When they cried unto the Lord what does he do? He send a prophet. 2 Chron. 20:20 tells us that the prophets are sent to bring prosperity. If you are impoverished and struggling your answer is to seek the prophetic. God gives the prophetic to bring you to prosperity and blessing. If you have sought the prophetic and are still struggling ask yourself are you believing the words God has given? Have you looked for the conditions that you might align yourselves with what God has said. Many times we have people who receive prophetic words and all they look for is what God will do for them. They will never get their answer because they don’t understand that the prophetic is about assignment and THEN blessing.
11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which [was] in Ophrah, that [pertained] unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide [it] from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD [is] with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where [be] all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?
The angelic often follows closely behind a prophetic word. Gideon was threshing wheat behind a winepress. The Father has continually given words to us that He is bringing His people to rest at the threshing floor. One thing we can say for Gideon is at least he was doing something. He wasn’t cowering in a cave somewhere. The angels will show up when you step out. Gideon didn’t understand many things but he didn’t allow his misunderstanding or frustration to keep him from moving forward even though he didn’t have all the answers or even the right attitude.
Notice that Gideon blames God for the situation. The angel gave a strange answer in response to Gideon’s accusations against God. “Go in this thy might and the Lord will deliver you from the Midianites….” What is the angel saying? He is saying that if Gideon will attack the ENEMY with the same ferocity that he is attacking GOD that he will win a great victory. Don’t throw out what God says when you are struggling THROW OUT what the ENEMY is SAYING. Don’t question God’s promise question the enemy’s challenge to God’s promise then you are moving in the right direction. Take your murmuring and turn it toward the enemy of your soul.
15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family [is] poor in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in my father’s house. 16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. 17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. 18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set [it] before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. 19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought [it] out unto him under the oak, and presented [it]. 20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay [them] upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that [was] in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
So Gideon is demanding God to act but God through the angel demands Gideon to act. Don’t put the requirement on God to do something when it is plain in the scripture that God wants you to put the pressure on yourself to step out on what He has already said. What God has already said to you is much more powerful than what you are waiting upon Him to say or do further. What is Gideon’s answer? He is poor. He is impoverished. Right. God got that already. That is why He sends the prophets – to bring you back to prosperity. Gideon is beginning to understand. What does He do next?
The next thing Gideon does next many people never get to. He brings forth a present. Realize that he is starving and his children are starving. This is the point where he is struggling and he chooses to give out of his poverty. The angel of the Lord doesn’t reject the gift. God will always call you to an act of faith in the very area of your greatest need. They were starving and God provokes Gideon to give of the very thing Gideon most desperately needed. God told us “you are going where you are giving …” The angel was confident. The angel was powerful. The angel had the answers. Gideon makes a sacrificial gift and it was received by fire. Then what? It is time for Gideon to act. Gideon might have expected the angel to go out and destroy the Midianites but that isn’t what happened. The angel cleared out so that Gideon would put the requirement on himself and understand now he must step out in obedience.
22 And when Gideon perceived that he [was] an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. 23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace [be] unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it [is] yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that [is] by it: 26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and [so] it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do [it] by day, that he did [it] by night. 28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that [was] by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar [that was] built. 29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. 30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that [was] by it. 31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst [it is yet] morning: if he [be] a god, let him plead for himself, because [one] hath cast down his altar. 32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
Gideon has the word from God and is commanded to go up against the Midianites. Before he does this though he does something else. He destroys his father’s idols. Why? Because he know doubt remembered the song of Deborah that is mentioned in the previous chapter. “Because you have chosen new gods your enemies are at the gate…” You can’t solve the problem on the level of the problem. You must go to the heart of the matter. You must boldly address the delicate and sticky situations where the spirit of idolatry and false dependency lie. These people would have cheered Gideon for going against the Midianites but they were ready to kill him because he dealt with their own idolatry first (that brought the Midians against the people in the first place…).
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. 36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; [and] if the dew be on the fleece only, and [it be] dry upon all the earth [beside], then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
Gideon has been criticized for putting out the fleece on the ground. But the scripture plainly says over and over that in the mouth of two or three witnesses let everything be established. Gideon didn’t have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit like we do. He didn’t have the spirit of God IN him and the spirit of God was only ON him once in a while. God is not offended at asking for confirmation but be circumspect that in your request for confirmation you are not simply asking God to convince so that you don’t have to overcoming your own unbelief before you act. When the son of man comes He expects to find faith in the earth. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Whatever is not of faith is sin. Seek God for confirmation and yes He will give it but the boldness to move out will still require faith.