Saturday, February 4, 2012

Judges 7:1-9: Gideon’s Soldiers’ Call and Commitment.

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 04 Feb 2012.
By Captain Michael Ramsay.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday in the US so I actually got a bit of an inside tip about the most significant part of the game if anyone is interested. I found some previews of commercials. Here are a couple favourites that I found.
 
 
 
The ads are sometimes the best thing about the Super Bowl. This week we are looking at Gideon’s team in his Super Bowl. He, with his team, is actually in the fight of his life with a lot more meaning than the Super Bowl. Starting next week here, we are going to be looking at the doctrines of The Salvation Army[1] and Susan is coordinating some people to share testimonies about how the Lord has used the Army in their lives, not unlike what Ron was coordinating for us before Christmas. God has called each of us here to The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is a select part of the Christian Church. We are, like our name suggests, an army for Salvation. We have many things that set us apart from other movements within the Church.[2] We will be looking at some of the things that set us apart, some of the blessings for which the Lord has set us a part.

Today we are looking at Gideon one more time. We are looking at how God selected Gideon’s team for the Bowl game against the defending champions, the Midianites (Judges 7:1-8). We are looking at how God narrows down Gideon’s forces and chooses his roster, his soldiers. Over these the next few weeks for those of you who haven’t already signed up as soldiers, we will be facing not entirely dissimilar tests. Let’s see if we all can pass them (or still pass them as the case may be), make the team, become soldiers in The Salvation Army. This training camp of the next few weeks is a good reminder for those of us who have already earned our uniforms as well. Let us take a look at Judges 7.

Judges 7:1-2a: 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. The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands…

You have far too many men; many are called but few are chosen: Matthew 22:14 (cf. also Deuteronomy 20:8, 1 Samuel 14:6).[3] This is reminiscent of the parable of the wedding feast that Jesus, generations later, will tell, Matthew 22:2-14. Jesus says,  “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son” (Matthew 22:2). Remember that story.  The king sends his servants to invite people to a banquet but they don’t come. Then he sends more servants and they still don’t come. Then the king invites in everyone he can find and they come except that one fellow does not come appropriately; he does not bother to even meet the minimum dress code and so he is tossed out. He who rejects the Lord’s offer of Salvation even after being admitted to His banquet is no better off than those who rejected the Lord right off the bat (TSA doc 9). Jesus says this is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Matthew 22:14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

This is what it was like with Gideon. He called many people and the many came to join his battle for salvation but they didn’t all fight and experience the victory (Judges 6:35, 7:23).[4] This is what it is like with us Christians. John 3:16: Jesus died for everyone so that whosover believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life – but sadly, not all do. This is what it is like with Gideon’s soldiers and this also what it is like with Salvation Army soldiers. God is calling many of us here to serve Him in battle. The question is will we join Him in the battle or will we be sent home?

Judges 7:2: The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her.”

In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her: The battle belongs to the LORD: 1 Samuel 17:47.[5] It is important that we remember that this Salvation War is not won or lost by you or I or anyone else (cf. Deuteronomy 8:17; Psalm 115:1). We have our part to do but it is important to remember that the war, the battle belongs to the Lord.[6] This reminds me of the story of David and Goliath. Do we remember that story? There is this giant veteran Philistine soldier who is defying God and challenging the Israelites to fight him. Let me read from 1 Samuel 17:43-45&47 here as David faces off against Goliath with one of Israel’s most powerful weapons, the sling which can shoot a missile at about a hundred miles an hour or so (cf. Judges 20:16, 2 Kings 3:25, 1 Chronicles 12:2, 2 Chronicles 26:14).[7] David faces off against Goliath and it seems that the Lord conceals this weapon from the enemy:

He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.  “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. …All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

We need to remember that it is not by our strength that we win people to the Lord for eternity; it is not even by our strength that people are liberated through the churches and through The Salvation Army. It is the Lord who provides salvation. We cannot be conceited enough to think that it is anything that we can do. We did not die on the cross and rise from the grave, fulfilling history and defeating sin and death. As this is true…

Judges 7:3: “announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead’” So twenty-two thousand men left – that is more than the population of Swift Current – twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

Two thirds of those gathered for battle were not fit to fight. Two thirds of those who had gathered in this army at the behest of the Lord through the encouragement of Gideon left because they were afraid.  These are warriors who had already committed. They had already left their homes and families behind them, willing to die if need be. They were given the opportunity to leave and even though they had committed to a point when faced with a real challenge they backed out. Reminiscent of some of those in the Parable of the Sower that Jesus will later tell of seeds that go up but are later choked by weeds (Matthew 13:3-8; Mark 4:3-20; Luke 8:5-8).[8]

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs 1:7[9], but that fear is not a spirit of timidity, 2 Timothy 1:7. Remember when we looked at 2 Timothy 1.[10] Deference or fear is quite different from being timid and we are called not to be timid at all but rather, as God through Paul tells us in Philippians, we are to be bold for the Gospel (Philippians 1).[11]

What are some of the things we are afraid of when it comes to our Christian faith? Are we afraid of our adversaries? Are we afraid that those who don’t like Christians may mock us or that it may cost us our jobs? Are we afraid that we might be embarrassed or humiliated? Two thirds of Gideon’s warriors are afraid. Now these aren’t two thirds of the general population, these are two thirds of those who had volunteered for military action (cf. Parable of the Sower; TSA Doc 9). Along the lines of Salvation Army Soldiership that we are going to be talking about in the next few weeks, as an expression of our Christian faith, how many of us here today who are already saved, how many of us who come here on a regular basis are afraid of serving 100% in the Salvation Army as a Soldier? I am definitely not saying that you have to be a soldier to join us in the Salvation War on this front but if indeed God is calling you to be a full member of the Army I would hate for you to miss out on that opportunity.

Even more importantly than Salvation Army Soldiery are there any here who afraid of serving in the Lord’s army. When the enemy is at the gates as he is now, how many of us will stand strong like the 10 thousand minority and how many of us will melt away like the 22 thousand majority. Secular humanism and democracy are both wrong: the majority is not right the majority of the time (cf. Judges. 21:25, 1 Kings 1:18)

Judges 7:4: But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them 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.”

Gideon, as we have read up to this point in his story, was struggling with his faith in God. His family hosted the local pagan idols (Judges 6, 8). Gideon tested God on more than one occasion – most famously with the fleece, which was like tossing a coin in the air and asking God, best two out of three (Judges 6:36-40)?[12] Without faith it’s impossible to believe (Hebrews 11:6, James 1:5-7). It is here in our pericope today that Gideon does act in faith and listens to the LORD as God handpicks Gideon’s fighting force for him this day.

Judges 7:5-7:
So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 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 other men go, each to his own place.”  

The Gospels tell us to keep alert for you don't know when Jesus is coming back. Mark 13:32-33: “‘No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come….”[13]

We need to be alert. We are all called to be Christians. Don’t take your eye off the ball. The ball has already been thrown between the cross and the empty tomb and we can either hit it or it can hit us and bowl us over (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:15,16). We need to pay attention. For all of us servants of the Lord, this is important. We don’t want to miss the pitch. For those of us who have been called here to serve the Lord in The Salvation Army we can either accept the task He has given us to serve the Lord fully where He has placed us or not; the choice is ours. The ones in Gideon’s battle, who are not keeping alert, they are asked to go home. The ones who do not keep their eyes open and looking, miss out on this opportunity to serve the Lord and experience the joys of His victory (cf. TSA doc 9).[14]

Judges 7:8: So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents 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. 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…”

This is the same with us today. Everyone here, the Lord has brought here on this day and at this time. Some of us He may just want to be adherents, to guard the luggage while the soldiers are marching off to war but some of us here today, the Lord is calling us into battle as Salvation Army Soldiers or even Officers. We are all kneeling down at the waters and now is our opportunity, we can keep our eyes on the Lord and follow Him into the Salvation battle or we can go back to our homes and guard our provisions. I invite us all to follow the Lord to where He is leading us. Some of us the Lord may be calling into a first time or a renewed relationship with Him; some of us the Lord might be calling to fight whole-heartedly for Him in the Salvation War as a warrior of His or even as a Soldier of His in The Salvation Army. Over the next few weeks we will be listening to testimonies about how God is blessing people who have indeed accepted God’s invitation to follow Him as covenanted soldiers; after the meeting each week for those who wish to ask more questions, we will be here; and hopefully at the end of this session we will see more covenanted soldiers enrolled in our ranks pressing on, shoulder to shoulder with us, towards the goal of the salvation of the whole world beginning with those right here, right now, where the Lord has placed us.

Let us pray.
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[2] THE SALVATION ARMY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST: AN ECCLESIOLOGICAL STATEMENT: A statement issued by the International Headquarters of The Salvation Army by authority of the General, in consultation with the International Doctrine Council and the International Management Council (Salvation Books: London, UK: 2008), 9: "The Salvation Army, under the one Triune God, belongs to and is an expression of the Body of Christ on earth, the Church universal, and is a Christian denomination in permanent mission to the unconverted, called into and sustained in being by God."
[3] Cf. Herbert Wolf, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Judges/Exposition of Judges/II. The Rule of the Judges (2:6-16:31)/F. The Victory of Gideon Over the Midianites (6:1-8:32)/7. Gideon's army reduced (7:1-8a), Book Version: 4.0.2
[4] Denis T. Olsen, NIB II: Judges, (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon,, 1998) 803: Gideon’s original fighters came from Manassah, Ashur, Zebulun, and Naphtali. See Judges 6:35, 7:23
[5] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 1 Samuel 17:46 – 47: The Battle belongs to the Lord, presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on 06 July 2008 and to Swift Current Corps on 02 May 2010. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
[6] Cf. Arthur E. Cundall; Morris, Leon: Judges and Ruth: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL.: InterVarsity Press, 1968 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 7), S. 108
[7]  John J. Davis and Herbert Wolf, note in Judges 20:16 in NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Zondervan: 2002), p. 361
[8] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Jesus use of Parabolic and Metaphorical Methods to Affect the Listeners of the Parable of the Sower. Presented to William and Catherine Booth College (Fall 2006). Available on-line at: http://www.sheepspeak.com/NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Sower
[9] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10: Yir’ah, The Fear of the LORD.
Presented to the Nipawin Corps of The Salvation Army, 17 May 2009. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/05/proverbs-17-910-yirah-fear-of-lord.html
[10] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 2 Timothy 1:3: Let Us Pray, presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 09 October 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/10/2-timothy-13-let-us-pray.html
[11] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Philippians 1: Be Bold! Be Prepared! Are you Ready?  Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on 06 January 2008. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/01/philippians-1-be-bold-be-prepared-are.html
[12] Captain Michael Ramsay, Judges 6:36-40: Best 2 out of 3, Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 22 January 2012. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2012/01/judges-636-40-best-2-out-of-3.html
[13] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Mark 13:32-37: Hope for a Happy New Year!
Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 30 November 2008 and to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 27 November 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/11/mark-1332-37-hope-for-happy-new-year.html
[14] Cf. Herbert Wolf, The Expositor's Bible Commentary,  Pradis CD-ROM:Judges/Exposition of Judges/II. The Rule of the Judges (2:6-16:31)/F. The Victory of Gideon Over the Midianites (6:1-8:32)/7. Gideon's army reduced (7:1-8a), Book Version: 4.0.2: 7-8a Possibly the 300 displayed a greater alertness in staying on their feet, but in actuality they may have been no more courageous than the 9,700 others. When v.8a says that Gideon "kept" (heheziq be lit., "to take fast hold") the 300, it implies that they too had a strong urge to vanish with their colleagues. This idiom is used again in 19:4, where a man is detained against his will, and in Exodus 9:2 Pharaoh forcibly "held on to" (NIV, "continue to hold") his Hebrew slaves. The idiom occurs also in Job 2:9, where Job's wife asks, "Are you still holding on to your integrity?" If these 300 men were beginning to tremble, the need for God's intervention became even greater.
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