AM Bible Study Group; June 10, 2015 from Judges 8:4-21
Theme: The ‘second phase’ of Gideon’s battle teaches us the necessity of thoroughness in God’s call.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
In our study of the life of Gideon, we have found that he was faced with several challenges with respect to God’s call on his life. He was called by God to deliver his people from seven long years of oppression from the Midianites (6:1-24). And in rising to God’s call, we found that he had to overcome the challenge of Baal (Chapter 6), the Midianite forces (Chapter 7), and even the disunity of his own people (Chapter 8). But by God’s enabling, he overcame these obstacles; and with a remarkably small army of 300 soldiers, God used him to bring about a victory against odds that amounted to 400 to 1.
But that was what we might call the ‘first-phase’ of this battle. A second phase remained—what we might call the ‘clean-up’ phase. Out of the vast force of 135,000 Midianite solders, only 15,000 remained. That reduced the odds to 50 to 1—odds that still required that God must win the battle. And as this second phase of the battle shows us, God was sufficient, but His servant must be thorough. He could not leave the work at phase-one only half-way completed; but must bring the work to a full end.
Gideon was called to a literal military battle. We are called to fight a spiritual battle. But the need for us to be thorough in our completion of God’s call on our lives is just as vital as it was in the case of Gideon. Challenges will arise; but we must overcome them and finish the work. We can’t start off with faith in Jesus, and then quit only half the way with Him. We can’t say yes to His call for ministry, then leave the work before He says we’re done. We can’t make promises to others in the name of Jesus, and then not fulfill them. We cannot be baptized in Christ’s name, and then wander away and forget our baptism after the thrill has worn off. What would it have been like if Jesus had only brought about a half-way salvation for us? That’s not how He works; and neither should it be how we work for Him.
Note how this final stage of Gideon’s battle exemplifies for us . . .
I. THOROUGHNESS WHEN FACED WITH A LACK OF SUPPORT (vv. 4-9).
A. It would be very tempting for us to slack in God’s appointed work for us when we feel as if we are the only ones doing it—as if we were the only ones who cared. Gideon must have felt profoundly unsupported in the task that God had given him. To finish the work, and to bring an end to the remaining Midianite threat, he had to pursue the two kings of the Midianites, Zebah and Salmunna—and the 15,000 troops that ran back home to them—over a great distance across hot and dry wilderness. His 300 men were battle-weary and hungry. So naturally, he expected that the cities of Succoth and Penuel—Israelite cities along the way on the eastern side of the Jordan River—would want to support his troops with much needed food. But they refused—leaving Gideon and his troops hungry and unsupported.
B. There may have been a practical reason for this in the minds of the people of these two cities. They were on the eastern side of the Jordan—closest to the Midianites; and they were without the benefit of the more populous regions and the larger valley of the west to protect them. If they had been found to support Gideon in his campaign—and the campaigned failed—then they would be subject to the retribution of the Midianites later. Things were bad enough; and they didn’t want to make things worse. But it may also be possible that they weren’t motivated by fear; but rather, by something more sinister. It may be that they actually sought the favor of the Midianites, in spite of the things they suffered from them and in spite of God’s call for Gideon to defeat them. In any case, when Gideon asked for help, they gave the answer, “ Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” (v. 6).
C. In the case of Succoth, Gideon promised, “For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!” (v. 7). And to Penuel he said, “When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower!” (v. 9). These may seem like harsh words; but the circumstances were harsh too. Their lack of support was as much as if to wish that Gideon and his troops to be dead! Nevertheless, the lack of support didn’t stop Gideon. Most likely, God provided food for Gideon and his troops through other cities along the way. A lack of support from one source shouldn’t discourage us from believing that God will support us through another. When we feel we’re alone, we need to press on faithfully and remember that—through God—we are never alone!
II. THOROUGHNESS WHEN TEMPTED TO SETTLE FOR, ‘GOOD ENOUGH’ (vv. 10-12).
A. The fact that Gideon would go on—against such great odds, and over such a long distance, and with such a small army, and even after the forces of Midian had run away severely crippled—is truly amazing. Most of us by that point might have been tempted to think that the work that God called us to was sufficiently accomplished. The rest of the work is hard, and things are ‘good enough’. But the fact is that it wasn’t. The two kings remained alive; and they still had a force of 15,000 men. The hard work was far from over—and the danger of a Midianite uprising later was still very strong.
B. Scholars tell us that Gideon and his 300 men traveled a distance of 150 miles—across desolate nomadic paths—to reach the troops of Midian when “the camp felt secure” (v. 11). Perhaps even the Midianites thought that Gideon would be satisfied with ‘good enough’ and leave them alone. What a shock it must have been to them all when Gideon and his men appeared to finish the job! And it must be that God Himself gave the small band of 300 the victory; because we’re told “attacked the army while the camp felt secure. When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army” (vv. 11-12). ‘Good enough’ is not good enough in God’s work when the work remains undone. The call must be completed; and the full work must be finished.
III. THOROUGHNESS WHEN CONFRONTED WITH APATHY AND UNBELIEF (vv. 13-17).
A. The work is not really finished until even the attitudes that would lead to half-heartedness in God’s work are completely removed from our lives. If such attitudes are allowed to remain in us, they will creep up and hinder us in God’s work later. This is illustrated to us by the way that Gideon went back to the two unsupportive cities and kept his promise to them. He captured a young man from Succoth and got the names of the city leaders from him; and then he went back and showed them that he captured the two kings. Then we’re told that “he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. Then he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city” (vv. 16-17).
B. This may seem harsh and vindictive to us; but let’s remember that their refusal to help—whether out of apathy, or fear, or pride—was, in essence, a denial and disbelief in the promises of God to Gideon and to His people. Their act of unbelief could have resulted in the death of Gideon’s army, and a failure to finish the job, and the eventual return of Midianite oppression. Their unbelieving lack of support amounted to support to the Midianites. Jesus warned us that if even our right hand, or our right foot, or our right eye causes us to sin, we must severe it from ourselves (Mark 9:42-48). Thoroughness in God’s work sometimes requires us to make some very drastic separations!
IV. THOROUGHNESS WHEN TEMPTED TO LET OTHERS FINISH THE TASK (vv. 18-21).
A. Because the story now involves Gideon’s young son, we can suspect that he was home again with his 300 troops. But he brought the two kings with him. And perhaps it was then that he discovered how thorough he truly had to be. He found that the two kings had killed several of his people at Mount Tabor. And when he asked the two kings about it, he discovered that they were Gideon’s relatives. He told them, “As the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you” (v. 19). It became evident how dangerous these two kings were—what the potential losses could be to his own people if he allowed them to live.
B. But when it came time to finish this dreadful task, Gideon asked his young son to do the job. It may be that he wanted to humiliate the kings by letting a boy kill them. But the boy couldn’t do it. And the kings urged Gideon to do it. They may have been taunting Gideon when they said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength” (v. 20); but it also may have been a last plea for honor. But in the end, Gideon himself finished the job and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks. This illustrates for us that, when it comes to being completely thorough in God’s work, we mustn’t leave it to others to finish the task for us. We must do all of the work that God has given us to do, and do it all the way.
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Let’s learn from Gideon’s example not to live half-hearted Christian lives with a half-baked commitment to our Lord. When we stand before Him and give an accounting, He will not say, “50% well-done, thou half-good and partially faithful servant!” Instead, He tells us;
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26-33).
May God make us a people who are—like Gideon—thorough in fulfilling His call on our lives!