Presented to The Warehouse Mission Corps of The Salvation Army, Toronto,
28 August 2016 by Captain Michael Ramsay
To view a version presented to Corps 614,
click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2016/08/judges-71-7-genesis-138-18-at-614-spring.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 had 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 ever sound
familiar at all?
There was much built up around here since
2003 when the Warehouse Mission was founded. The Warehouse grew. People flocked
to the community. People were saved and lives were transformed. We grew into
and out of our original building into this nice place that was then renovated
and ministry flourished.
But then things slowed. Those who have been here a
long time know the stories of trials, of real hurt, of real struggle, of
frequent leadership change, of friends who are sick, or ‘Promoted to Glory’ or who have retired or of those whom God has called away or others who have simply left.
In the account of Abraham in Genesis 13,
you will notice that they are in the process of finding out what’s going on 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 many churches today.
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 posters here and pictures
that line our hallways of many people, heroes of the faith, champions of our
traditions, and legends of the community who have fought alongside us and who are
no longer fighting here. Some who were here before, God has called away or 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 have left, God culls their numbers 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 soldiers to deliver them, than they might boast against Him, ‘Our own
strength has saved us’ (cf. Zec 4:6).
Like Abram, we are waiting. There will be
new leadership and new ways again of doing things. Some of what happens here
now may not happen soon. Some of the people who have been here have already
gone, like Lot’s people and like Gideon’s men, but God will deliver us.
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, like we said lat time I spoke here, 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 is doing the
same for us.
And I believe our harmony and our mission
can only flourish through prayer and through Bible study. I believe that that
is what God is calling us to today. If everyone here prays on a regular basis
with others and if each of us holds up each other, I believe that God will use
our small numbers just like he used Gideon’s small numbers to do mighty things.
Today, you and I are standing at that spring and we have the choice before us:
do we look down like the men who buried their heads in the water and 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 small 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 the Warehouse Mission. I ask us to pray. Pray from today and
never stop praying. Pray without ceasing. Pray, asking the Lord what He wants us
to do and who we can invite to be a part of our group here. Pray. Today let us
all commit to pray and today God will do a mighty thing in our midst.
Let us pray.
---
---
[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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