Wednesday, August 12, 2020...1 Wednesday, August 12, 2020 A Bible Study Series Exploring the Concept of Overcoming! Session 6: Gideon “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Judges

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Wednesday, August 12, 2020

A Bible Study SeriesExploring the Concept of

Overcoming!

Session 6: Gideon

“The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”Judges 6: 12

4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory thathas overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes theworld? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

1 John 5:4-5

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The Urban Dictionary defines an “overcomer” as...A warrior, someone who battles no matter what task is ahead, someonethat not only regains strength from his weaknesses but also sees life in away no others can. Someone who has been through it all, and did it with asmile on their face. The true definition of an overcomer is a warrior.

The Word of God says...

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthensme.”

Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil withgood.”

1 John 4:4 says, Little children, you are from God and have overcomethem, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

John 16:33 says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you mayhave peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I haveovercome the world.”

Our Guiding Questions:1. What did Joshua do?2. What did God do?3. What was the result?

Bible verses from the ESV coypright 2001

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The Least of his House:

11 Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, whichbelonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in thewinepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to himand said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 And Gideon said tohim, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Andwhere are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did notthe LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us intothe hand of Midian.” 14 And the LORD[a] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yoursand save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said tohim, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh,and I am the least in my father's house.” 16 And the LORD said to him, “But I will be withyou, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Judges 6: 11-16

How differently did Gideon view himself from how the Lord viewed him?

How does the Lord overcome our own limited views of ourselves?

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+6&version=ESV#fen-ESV-6669a

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The Lord is Peace

22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, “Alas, OLord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” 23 But the LORD saidto him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altarthere to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah,which belongs to the Abiezrites.

Judges 6: 22-24

How does God reassure us when we are fearful?

How should we respond to God when He reassures us?

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Gideon Destroys the Alter of Baal

25 That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father's bull, and the second bull sevenyears old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down theAsherah that is beside it 26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top ofthe stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offerit as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 27 SoGideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because hewas too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.28 When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal wasbroken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offeredon the altar that had been built. 29 And they said to one another, “Who has done thisthing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joashhas done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son,that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherahbeside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Orwill you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he isa god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been brokendown.” 32 Therefore on that day Gideon[c] was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baalcontend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

How should we act when God tells us something, but others threaten us if we obey?

Who defends Gideon? Whom does God put in your life to stand with you when others are against you?

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+6&version=ESV#fen-ESV-6687c

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Gideon the Leader33 Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together,and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit ofthe LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were calledout to follow him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they toowere called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali,and they went up to meet them.

Judges 6: 33-35

Why did the people follow Gideon?

How does God prepare us for our calling?

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The Sign of the Fleece

36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you havesaid, 37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on thefleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel bymy hand, as you have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning andsqueezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl withwater. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speakjust once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry onthe fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night;and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Judges 6: 36-40

How do we know when it’s really God speaking to us?

How is God faithful and patient with you?

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Too Many Men to Give God the Glory!

1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early andencamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, bythe hill of Moreh, in the valley.2 The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give theMidianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has savedme.’ 3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful andtrembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of thepeople returned, and 10,000 remained.4 And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to thewater, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This oneshall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shallnot go with you,’ shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. Andthe LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps,you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6 And thenumber of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but allthe rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7 And the LORD said to Gideon, “Withthe 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and letall the others go every man to his home.” 8 So the people took provisions in their hands,and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retainedthe 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

Judges 7: 1-8

What gets in our way of giving God the glory?

What does God reduce or take away in oiur lives so that we look to Him?

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A Man of Israel

9 That same night the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I havegiven it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp withPurah your servant. 11 And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shallbe strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah hisservant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 And the Midianitesand the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts inabundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashorein abundance. 13 When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to hiscomrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley breadtumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell andturned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” 14 And his comrade answered, “This isno other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given intohis hand Midian and all the camp.”

15 As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, heworshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD hasgiven the host of Midian into your hand.” 16 And he divided the 300 men into threecompanies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torchesinside the jars. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come tothe outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are withme, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘Forthe LORD and for Gideon.’”

Judges 7: 9-18

We have seen God use dreams to inform and encourage his people. In this case, the interpreter clearly reiterateswhat God already told Gideon, thereby reinforcing His Word.How does God reinforce what He tells us about our own battles?

When Gideon hears the dream, what is his first reaction? What does that show us about how we respond toGod?

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Gideon Defeats Midian

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of thecamp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And theyblew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20 Then the threecompanies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands thetorches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword forthe LORD and for Gideon!” 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all thearmy ran. They cried out and fled. 22 When they blew the 300trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army.And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,[a] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and fromAsher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

Judges 7: 19-23

When it feels like you have too little to accomplish too much, how do you move forward?

Gideon and his 300 men follow God’s commands to the letter. Their victory was complete, despite theoverwhelming odds. How do we overcome the overwhelming?

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%207&version=ESV#fen-ESV-6717a

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Gideon’s Ephod

22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and yourgrandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them,“I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule overyou.” 24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you giveme the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they wereIshmaelites.) 25 And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread acloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. 26 And the weight of thegolden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels[b] of gold, besides the crescentornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian,and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 And Gideon madean ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and itbecame a snare to Gideon and to his family. 28 So Midian was subdued before thepeople of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty yearsin the days of Gideon.

Judges 8: 22-28

Victory can often bring complications. How can we avoid the “snares” while overcoming the hard stuff oflife?

The Biblical time of the Judges predates the time of the Kings. Here, Gideon refuses to rule - and refuses that hissons should rule (he had 72 of them).So who rules our hearts in our lives today?

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%208&version=ESV#fen-ESV-6746b

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OVERCOME!God viewed Gideon as a warrior even when Gideon saw himself as “less than”.What can we learn about being an overcomer from seeing God’s view of us?

So many of us are so often insecure and overwhelmed; yet God reassures us of our identity inHim.How does God’s reassurance of who we are to Him equip us to overcome the overwhelming?

Gideon overcame incredible odds through faith and obedience. He then resisted taking credit and power.Yet through his need for recognition (the ephod), his son Abimelech (yes, that one) did evil by killing 70 ofhis brothers in the hunt for power.Gideon fulfilled God’s plan, but was imperfect in the way he finished. How can we overcome theoverwhelming, enjoy victory through faith and obedience, and still remain in God’s favor when things getbetter? (hint: it has to do with humility)