Judges Chapters 6:17-7 Old Testament Bible Studies True Love Church of Refuge Prophetess Delisa Lindsey Class May 13, 2009

The Lord’s Salvation through Gideon Gideon’s Ministry is Justified

Judges 6:17-19 Gideon speaks to the angel of the Lord and says that if I have the favor of the Lord on my side and if it is really the Lord speaking, then give me a sign. He proceeds to tell the angel of the Lord (Christ) to wait until he prepares an offering to Lord. The Lord obliges Gideon and waits. Gideon presents an enormous offering to Lord. He prepares a goat and uses over 30 lbs. of unleavened flour to make bread. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and offered it unto the Lord under the oak.

Judges 6:20-21 The Lord tells Gideon to place the meat and the unleavened bread on the rock and pour out the broth. Gideon did so. The Lord touched the tip of the meat and unleavened bread with the tip of His staff causing fire to flare from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. Following this, the angel of the Lord disappeared. What are the acceptable sacrifices the Lord will graciously accept today?

Judges 6:22-24 When Gideon realized that he was dealing directly with the Angel of the Lord, he panicked. He knew that no one could see the Lord face to face and live. The Lord reassured him to be in peace and that he would not die. Gideon built an altar on the spot the encounter occurred and called it, The Lord is Peace (Jehovah - Shalom). As the book of Judges was written, the altar unto Jehovah- Jireh stood.

Attacking the Cult Demon - Baal Judges 6:25-32

Charity (Ministry) begins at home Before Gideon could begin his ministry of deliverance, he first had to attend to a few housekeeping issues at his home. Every minister begins his first ministry in the home. (How can you remove a plank out of your brother’s eye when you have a a sheet of plywood in your eye?) There was no way Gideon could attack Israel’s outside oppressors until he attacked the oppressors from within. Do we examine our spiritual houses before we minister to the Lord? Are our thoughts, hands, intents of our hearts and motives clean or filthy? How do we stand in the eyes of our spouses and our children? Is our house in order or are we offering up strange fire and stinky incense unto the Lord?

Judges 6:25 The Lord instructs Gideon to take his father’s second youngest bullock of seven years old to offer up before Him. He was also to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and the pole of Ashram beside it. Our first ministry is always to our home first. If we can’t bring salvation to those of our household, how can we be effective in the hedges and highways. The beams must first be removed from our eyes before we can remove the mote from anyone else. Where have we gone wrong in this area? Clear your path before you try to show someone else the way. Make sure your house is clean before you clean someone else’s. Even children of those in ministry know when there are practicing what they are preaching. How can you look in someone else’s window when you can’t look through yours? Keep your hands, mouth, and mind clean when handling God’s work.

Judges 6:26-27 Joash, Gideon’s father, means God is strong. The Israelites were to remain faithful to God, yet Joash was a priest of Baal. The people were in a terrible spiritual condition. After Gideon tore down the pagan altars, he was to build a proper to the one and only true God. He was to use the wood of the Asherah pole to build the fire for the burnt offering. Gideon decided to carry out God’s plan at night because he was afraid of his family and the men of his town. He took ten of his servants and went by night instead of by day.

Judges 6:28 The enemy had so completely saturated Israel that the men of the city were outraged when they saw Baal’s altar destroyed and Asherah’s pole removed and an altar of the Lord erected in its place burning a young bull. God mocked the cultish behavior of the Canaanites by using their sacred symbol, the bull, as a burnt offering unto Himself. He also used the number seven, sacred number to Him, yet considered an unlucky number to the Canaanites. God wholly denied the power of Baal and intentionally upset the people who worship him. Holy cow? Taurus

Judges 6:29-30 The next morning the men were distraught to discover their idols had been destroyed. They asked each other, “Who did it”? After their investigation, they it was determined Gideon, Joash’s son, the priest of Baal was responsible. The men of the town demanded Joash to bring out his son. They were ready to kill him for breaking down Baal’s altar and Asherah’s pole (sacred tree). Gideon’s extreme devotion and brazen act of loyalty to the Lord as demonstrated by the destroying of the idols, caused him to defend his son against the angry idolaters. Although a person may in a spiritual backslidden state, your zeal and fire for the Lord many times cause them to evaluate themselves.

Judges 6:31-32 The Israelites had backslidden so far that they were willing to kill one of their own to please their dumb idol god, Baal. Joash, convinced and spiriutally strengthened by his son’s stance against the enemy, replied on his behalf against the hostile crowd. “Will you plead of Baal? Will ye save him?” Joash challenged Baal saying that if he is a god, let him fight his own battles. He said further that if anyone fights for Baal, let him be put to death. Let Baal contend for himself. Gideon was called Jerub-Baal which means ‘let Baal contend with Him because he has thrown down his altar’.

Judges 6:33-36 In the meantime, the Midianites and their allied forces make their way into the Jezreel Valley. Gideon, empowered by the Spirit of God, blew the trumpet for war. He gathers his armies of hometown heroes of Abiezar, Asher, Manasseh, and Napthali. With the Spirit of the Lord upon him, Gideon paused to inquire of God a sign.

Judges 6:37-40 Gideon prayed that if the Lord was going to save Israel by his hand then the fleece he placed on the ground would be wet and the ground dry. The next morning the fleece was wet and the ground dry. Gideon, still uncertain, asked God for forgiveness, yet asked for the reverse, the fleece dry and the ground wet. The next morning the fleece was dry and the ground wet.

Is it a sin to ask God for a sign? Gideon was not seeking to learn God’s will because God clearly revealed that to him in v He put out the fleece for two reasons; 1) to strengthen the weakness of his own faith, 2) to give him evidence that would convince the people that he was really God’s instrument. Signs are supposed to follow them which believe, Mark 16:17, Acts 2:43 There are some who depend on signs and wonders which marks an immature believer, John 4:48. Every God ordained ministry should have signs, wonders, and miracles following. The signs are the proof that the Lord has sealed the ministry with His blessings, His presence and His favor, Acts 2:43.