Presented to Corps 614 Regent Park of The Salvation Army, 28 August 2016 by Captain Michael Ramsay
To view a version presented to Warehouse
Mission, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2016/08/judges-71-7-genesis-138-18-at-warehouse.html
Today we read in Genesis about the LORD
reducing the size of Abraham’s entourage for harmony and we read in Judges
about the LORD reducing Gideon’s numbers for mission.
The passage in Judges comes near the end of
a very difficult time. Some people – at least the tribe of Manasseh, probably
the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali as well - and maybe even more or all
of the Israelites have been under the control of the Midianites for 7 years.[1]
And this was not the first time that they had been in dire straights, under the
control of another and having everything that they had seen built, torn down
bit by bit so that more and more of their people are fleeing and in hiding (cf.
Judges 3-5). It is in this context that the people of Israel cry out to the
LORD and, Judges 6:7-10:
When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, 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. 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. 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.”
Nonetheless the Lord has compassion on them
and sends His angel to Gideon and gives Gideon the responsibility to lead
Israel through this difficult time (Judges 6:11-27).[2]
We don’t have time to get into the whole story of Gideon today but Gideon was
probably not what one would consider to be cut from the best material for being
a leader.[3]
He and/or his dad and people working for them worshipped other gods right on
his property, Gideon hid behind his parent’s apron strings when things got
difficult, and by his own admission, his clan was the weakest in Manasseh and
he was the least in His clan. However, knowing this, the LORD says to him,
“Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby
commission you…I will be with you and you shall strike down the Midianites”
(Judges 6:11-19).
This is the setting for our Judges pericope
today: Chapter 7:1-7. Israel was suffering; all they had built was being torn
down; their leaders had gone into hiding and they were feeling oppressed and
attacked as all they had was being trampled and disappearing. Does this sound
familiar at all?
Our building here will be torn down. And
more than that: there was much built up around here over the first part of the
last 15 years or so. 614 was famous. 614s popped up around the world: England,
Australia. Almost as far away from this place as you can get and still be in
Canada; Susan, the older girls, and I were called to assist those founding 614
in Vancouver very shortly after the formation of this 614 here in Regent Park.
Very quickly this 614 here grew. People
flocked to the community. Outsiders were called away from their communities
into this one. People came from not only all over Toronto but from Edmonton and
all over Canada and from Australia and all over the world to be part of this
people God was raising up in Regent Park.
But then things seemingly came to a halt. I
am not going to tear open old wounds here by recounting everything. Those who
have been here a long time know stories of sin and of marriage break-ups, of
struggles with authority, of finances, of accusations, of turmoil and
of real hurt and real struggle. If I were to recount the symptoms and results
of oppression and decline that has left us without many of the old leaders,
without any of the old financial resources, and without the even former favour
from the hierarchy, I am afraid we may leave here grieving all the more what
was lost, what is in the past.
In the account of Abraham that we read in
Genesis, you will notice that they are without a home and are in the process of
finding out where they are going and they do not yet even know when or for how
long they will be in transition. It is in this context that God removes from
Abraham his family members who were in the midst of conflict. That sounds a
little like us here today too.
Back to Gideon in the book of Judges: the
tribe of Manasseh in Israel was grieving when the LORD moves to save them. God
takes Gideon, a leader of no previous reputation; He takes a broken people and
He uses them to deliver the community of Israel. Judges 7:1-3:
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.
I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My
own strength has saved me.’ 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.
Israel gathers to fight now but God says
“no, not yet;[4]
there are too many of you. When the battle has been won you will boast against
me, ‘my own strength has saved me.” So God sends home 22 000 men out of an army
of 32 000 men. There are those who don’t want to stay so God says, ‘let them go’
and two thirds of his army for salvation go home. They will no longer fight
under that banner.
We have wonderful banners here that many
people, heroes of the faith, champions of our traditions, and legends of our
community have fought under, who are no longer fighting here. Maybe as many as
two-thirds who were here before, God has let go.
Continuing in our Judges text, 7:4, “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.” And then, Verse 7 and 8a “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.’ So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites
home.”
When things are at there absolute worst,
when victories are but a distant memory and even those memories are beginning
to fade, when life is at its most difficult and more than 2/3rds of
the leaders in battle have left, God culls the leadership even further. Of the
1/3rd who are left, God lets 2/3rds of the remnant return
home before the battle. God leaves only 1/3rd of 1/3rd of
the remnant to experience the victory with Him on this day when He reasserts
His control and His blessing over the whole area, over the whole community. And
why does the Bible say that He does it this way? Chapter 6 says that honestly
the people got into this problem in the first place by thinking a little too
highly of themselves and Chapter 7 says that even when they are broken, if the
Lord uses too many leaders to deliver them, than they might boast against Him,
‘Our own strength has saved us’ (cf. Zec 4:6).
Today we are small. We have lost many from our numbers over the years like Gideon lost very quickly from his. And like Gideon was the least
of the last, maybe some of us are too. But here is the truth of the story, God
delivered Gideon, God delivered Israel, God delivered Abram; and God can
deliver us and God will deliver us. Like Gideon’s army today, we are gathered
at that spring.[5]
And the battle belongs to the Lord (cf. 1 Sam 17:14, Zec 4:6)[6]
Today we read in Genesis about the LORD
reducing the size of Abraham’s entourage for harmony and we read in Judges
about the LORD reducing Gideon’s numbers for mission. I believe he has done the
same for us.
This building here is coming down at some
point soon and then we will be like Abram, waiting for our home. Some of what
happens here now will not happen there and then. Some of the people who have
been here have already gone away, like Lot’s people and like Gideon’s men, but
God will deliver us.
The first thing that God does in the Gideon
story is to bring the people back to worshipping Him in the ways they did
before. God tears down the other altars.
614 was founded on prayer and on SMALL
groups. Even this week in devotions John shared about going door-to-door to
pray with people. Patricia in a devotion this week spoke about the importance
of Scripture (TSA doc 1). Prayer and small groups is in our DNA that God has
replicated all over the world. That is the way we worshiped the Lord from the
beginning and that I believe is what God is calling us back to today more than
ever. If everyone here prays on a regular basis with others and if each of us
holds each other accountable in small groups, I believe that God will use our numbers just like he used Gideon’s small numbers to do a mighty thing.
Today, you and I are standing at that spring. We have already been pared down
and we have the choice before us: do we look down like the men who buried their
heads in the water and so were sent home or do we look up and taste and see
what the Lord is doing? Because as we look to the LORD I really do believe that
He will use our numbers just like he used Gideon’s small numbers to do a
mighty thing!
Here is what I ask of us today at the
spring waters of 614. I have these pieces of paper. On these pieces of paper,
for those of us who are willing to serve, are real opportunities for ministry.
Every one of us who is willing, I ask that we mark the paper committing to be
in a weekly group of prayer and accountability and to mark the sheets as
follows. I pledge to:
_____ Have that
group at my house
_____ Provide
snacks for that group
_____ Lead the
weekly group
_____ Be the
leader’s helper
_____ Other:
_______________________
And then mark the times and days that you are available. And then pray. Pray from today and
never stop praying. Pray without ceasing. Pray asking the Lord, what He wants
you to do and pray asking who you can invite to be a part of your group.Today
let us commit to pray and today God will do a mighty thing in our midst. Fill
out your papers now and as Susan plays, you are invited to come to the water
and leave your sheets here at the altar.
Let us pray.
---
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[5] K Lawson Younger Jr, ‘Judges’ in NIVAC Bundle 2: Historical Books,
Judges and Ruth - The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Mi,
Zondervan: 2002): 'harad' is Hebrew for trembling, thus where this takes place
is the spring of trembling (16 min left)
[6] Cf, Captain Michael Ramsay, 1 Samuel 17:46-47: The Battle
belongs to the Lord. Originally presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on
July 6, 2008, on-line:
http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
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