As In The Day of Midian......Part 2

 

“…the yoke of his burden, the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor - You have broken as in the day of Midian.” Isaiah 9:4

We met Gideon the end of Part 1 in this blog series. He is the “mighty man of valor” God is going to use to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Midianites.

As we continue our journey thru Judges 6, we learn in vs. 25 that Gideon’s own father was an idol worshipper. The same night God appears to Gideon, He tells him to throw down Baal’s altar, that his father has, and cut down the grove by it.

In this passage, I see God’s grace - no matter what your family situation, you do not have to go down the same road - you can be a repairer of the breach (Isaiah 58:12). God raised up Gideon in the midst of his own family worshipping a false god - Israelites, God’s covenant people, breaking the first commandment (Exodus 20:3).

vs. 6:26 - God tells Gideon to build an altar to Him in the same place - beauty from the ashes (Isaiah 61:3). Another thing to note, Gideon obeyed immediately. Whatever altar you have been bowing down to - it is time to tear it down and Break Free - ‘now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation’ (2 Corinthians 6:2)

vs. 6:27 - Wow - there is a lot that could be said here - ten men went with Gideon to destroy the pagan altar. Remember 6:1, “the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord” - but here we have ten men going with Gideon - can we believe at least these ten men had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18) since they were loyal to Gideon and willing to assist him in the destruction? A good friend reminded me this week of when Abraham prayed for the righteous in Sodom & Gomorrah; in Genesis 18:32, Abraham asked the Lord if only ten were found, would He not destroy it for ten’s sake and the Lord answered He would not. We are right smack in the middle of another election year and it seems the plumbline is becoming more and more evident as each one passes. Read Mark 13:12 about brother betraying brother, fathers their sons, and children rising up against their parents; in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, we are told there will be a “falling away”. I think we read these passages without realizing what this is going to look like or how it is going to hurt; I think we also assume it is going to “just happen”, but I believe it is going to be gradual and before we realize it we are here. We have read and acknowledged 2 Chronicles 7:14 but have we really grabbed hold and settled it deep within our hearts the responsibility of God’s people humbling themselves - it is not about prosperity, economy, jobs, our agendas, or even what we think is best, - it is a call to PRAY, to SEEK our God, and REPENT from whatever does not line up with God and His word.

I think Judges 6:27 also shows the importance of having people in our lives of the same faith in whom we can confide in and walk with so they may encourage and minister to us - do not forsake gathering together (Hebrews 10:25). Keep reading and you will see because they “feared his father’s household and the men of the city…they did it by night”.

In 6:12, God called Gideon a “mighty man of valor” yet here we see him scared, hiding once again, as he goes about doing what God has called him to. I take comfort in this verse - God knows I am scared to death sometimes, trembling and full of fear - we will see God’s grace again in the midst of fear when we get to 7:10.

vs. 6:28 - the men of the city rose EARLY in the morning and realized what had happened to the altar of Baal and the grove by it; they also noticed the sacrifice on the altar built in its place. Can we assume here that these men set out to start their day with their false god? Oh, I pray, I will have the same strong conviction and desire to start my day with the one and only true and living God.

vs. 6:29 - the men start enquiring who has done this atrocity and it is reported Gideon. Had word gotten out? Did one of his 10 friends say something? Were they seen? Or could it be, that Gideon was known to be different - peculiar - others knew he served God because of his character, his speech, his heart. People saw this in Peter and John also, Acts 4:13 says, ‘now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.’ We have heard it said, we may be the only Bible some people read - may they see Jesus in us.

vs. 6:30-32 - the men of the city go to Gideon’s father and demand him to hand Gideon over to be killed because of what he has done. Joash spares his son’s life by posing a question to his persecutors, “Will you plead for Baal? Will you save him? If he be a god, let him plead for himself, for it is his altar that has been cast down”. Love this! I love that God says they make idols with their own hands, idols that can not see, nor hear, they can not speak, nor move (Psalm 115:4-8) - our God DOES see, DOES hear, DOES speak, and DOES move. Amen! He also tells us the battle is His (2 Chronicles 20:15) - when the enemy comes against us and proclaims lies about our God - it is our God he is blaspheming and we are His redeemed being oppressed. Read Isaiah 37, an evil king was devising a plan to destroy God’s people and was telling them their God was no different than any of the other nations’ gods he had set out to destroy - there was no one to save those people and there would be no one to save them now either. Psalm 71:10-11 tells us it is the enemy that says God has forsaken us and there is no one to deliver. In Acts 5, a wise teacher of the law spoke regarding Peter and the other apostles, saying ‘if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.’

vs. 33 - “THEN all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel”. This reminds me of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt crying out for deliverance - Moses comes on the scene and then the Egyptians make the situation worse for the Israelites causing them to beg for Moses to let them be. How many times do we also see our circumstances as getting worse so we pray against the very thing God is going to use in our deliverance? God had heard the cry of His people (vs. 6:7-8) and came to Gideon with His plan (vs. 6:14). Gideon was quickly obedient in doing what the Lord commanded as we just read, but now the enemy has gathered together, come over, and pitched right next to them. Doesn’t it seem like the same thing happens to us? We do something good for God and things seem to immediately get worse - so what is the point? What is going on? Why does it have to be so hard all the time? Press on! PERSEVERE! Beth just addressed this in our last video session - she spoke of it being ‘hard’- ‘hardest’ - ‘easier’ - ‘under my feet’. DO NOT grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we DO NOT give up. (Galatians 6:9)

vs. 34a - ‘the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon’ - one of the commentaries I read spoke of this ‘coming upon’ like being ‘clothed’ and gave an example of putting on the full armor of God mentioned in Ephesians 6. Our pastor has recently been preaching on this in a series titled, ‘This Means War’.

vs. 34b-35 - ‘and Abiezer was gathered after him’. I may be wrong, but I think Abiezer is speaking of a ‘people’ and not necessarily an individual; I get this in part from 6:11 and the names of the tribes mentioned in vs. 35. I also believe these are the same people who sought to kill Gideon for tearing down their idolatrous altar (see 6:24), but now they are gathering after him, supporting him in his cause.

vs. 36-40 - the miracle of the fleece - I could not find a whole lot regarding the significance of this, at least that made sense to me. One commentary mentioned it being in line with Mark 9:24, ‘Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief’. Another talked about this going against the laws of nature that God has set in place; therefore, proving He is truly Lord of all and NOTHING is impossible for Him…..

…..INCLUDING OUR DELIVERANCE!

As In The Day of Midian......Part 1

 

 



Our Sunday School class has just started Beth Moore’s Breaking Free. “Free”…what in THIS world could that possibly look like?

Read Isaiah 61:1-3 and Luke 4:16-21. Notice Jesus quoted this same passage from Isaiah, but stopped short in the middle of 61:2. We are in the day of grace, "the acceptable year of the Lord". I know we are supposed to be "kingdom" minded and "seek first His kingdom" so sometimes I think He is not as concerned about what I am dealing with down here and all the promises He has for me are only meant for when we get to Heaven. But, He came HERE - if freedom were only for there (Heaven) - then why did He come HERE? He came to free us HERE!

I love what Beth says, "NO bondage can withstand His word!" - NO bondage - His arm has not been shortened that He can not reach you! (Numbers 11:23)

Ok, now look at Isaiah 9:4 - the yoke of his burden, the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor - You have broken as on the day of Midian.

Remember - His yoke is easy (Matthew 11:30) - His rod and staff comforts us (Psalm 23:4) - not the same connotations from Isaiah 9:4.

If you were praying this verse back to the Lord - crying out for deliverance; for freedom......"Lord, my yoke - my burden - it is so heavy, weighing me down. My staff for my shoulders? It is crippling me - pressing down - I think I'm about to fall and I don't know if I can get back up again. The rod of my oppressor - it's hard, it's brutal, it's tiring, but Lord, Your word says You can break all of this - as in the day of Midian".

If that's your prayer, you might want to know what He is talking about when referring to the day of Midian. You want to be set free and He is saying you can be - whatever is binding you and holding you back, causing you to live in defeat - can be broken as in the day of Midian.

Midian means "strife" and Beth shared he is first mentioned in Genesis 25 as being Abraham's son from his 2nd wife after Sarah died. In Exodus 2, Moses fled to the land of Midian (descendants) after fleeing from Egypt for killing an Egyptian - and in Numbers 25, it is the Midianites that try to seduce the Israelites into idolatry.

We also read about the Midianites in Judges 6-8; I hope you will follow along in your Bible as I share some notes from this lesson and some others I found.

vs 6:1 - 'the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord' - ok, this is Chapter 6 of Judges - look at 2:11, 3:7, 3:12, 4:1 - they REPEATEDLY did evil in the sight of the Lord. But our God is so good, look at 2:16, 3:9, 3:15, 4:23-24. They sinned again and again and again, and our Lord? He saved them again and again and again. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever - He has not stopped being your Saviour! Your eternal salvation is secure if you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, but He is our personal Saviour day in, day out - saving us from ourselves, our enemies, our choices.

vs 6:1 - ‘the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years’ - seven represents completion - however long it takes to complete the process. (Philippians 1:6)

vs 6:2 - the Israelites rebelled AGAIN in verse 1 which opened the door to oppression in vs 2, so ‘they made shelters’ - which is fine when you are hiding in the right place. Jesus is our habitation - where we are to continually live (Psalms 71:3), He is our hiding place (Psalm 32:7), our shelter (Psalms 61:3), our refuge and fortress (Psalms 91:2).

vs 6:4 - the enemy ‘destroyed the increase…and left no sustenance’; he makes us unproductive and wants to destroy our fruit. He seeks to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) - no wonder we have it rough sometimes - we have a very real enemy that WANTS TO UTTERLY DESTROY US! But God said we are to bear MUCH fruit (John 15:8).

vs 6:5 - the enemy ‘was without number…and entered to destroy’. We are weak on our own, the enemy is too much for us in our own strength, but the battle is His (2 Chronicles 20:15) and in our weakness, He is strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).

vs 6:6 - ‘Israel was greatly impoverished….and cried unto the Lord’. When will we be so impoverished that we will cry out to God? Look back over the notes for verse 1, they sinned again, they cried out again, and He saved again. A broken and contrite heart He will not despise (Psalms 51:17). He will never kick out of the way a prayer laid at His feet by one of His children - NEVER!

vs 6:8 - ‘the Lord sent’ - He acted on behalf of their crying out.

vs 6:8-10 - like any good parent, the Lord wants you to know why you are where you are; He wants you to learn from it and to know ‘I am the LORD your God’.

vs 6:11 - The Lord is going to call the sixth Judge, Gideon - and where do we find him? Threshing wheat in a winepress - he is hiding. Satan loves secrets and strongholds lead to isolation. The Israelites were hiding in the land the Lord had GIVEN them - from an enemy, He would have gladly defeated.

vs 6:12 - God calls Gideon a "mighty man of valor". Jump ahead to vs 15 and we see what Gideon thinks of himself and how scared he was in vs 27. God sees our potential and appoints the experiences necessary. God knows you can be faithful because you are His. He has plans for you - no matter how you feel. (Jeremiah 9:11)

vs 6:13 - ‘if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of’. How many times do we allow our circumstances to determine how much God loves us?

vs 6:14 - the Lord asked, "have I not sent thee?" - Who? I AM! I am, who? - I AM everything my word says I AM (Hebrews 11:6) - BELIEVE IT! BELIEVE HIM!

vs 6:17 - ‘If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign’. How many times do we want a sign from the Lord? You have to be careful here - we walk by faith and not by sight and without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus said in Matthew 12:39, a wicked and perverse generation asks for a sign - it was because of their unbelief that they were asking this in Matthew - they were making a mockery. In Judges 6:19-22, asking in faith becomes an act of worship - an altar of remembrance reminding us where we have been with our God.

vs 6:18 - ‘I will tarry until thou come again’ - the Lord waits for us!! Until we come again.....

vs 6:22 - You will see God (Job 42:5). We cry out for deliverance - for God to deliver us "from" - when His purpose is to deliver us "to" - to Himself. Just like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, we cry out for the promised land and miss the journey - the here and now - with our God. Don't miss Him in the process, this is where you see Him work and get to know His heart and His ways.

vs 6:24 - "fear not - you are not going to die". You may feel like whatever you are going thru is going to kill you but our God is for us - if He leads you to it, He will lead you thru it - but you know what, even if He didn't lead you there, and you wandered off on your own - He will bring you back. He is the Way (the only way in - the only way out), He is the Truth (His word is powerful and will set you free), He is the Life (and He came to give it to you - ABUNDANTLY).

I have more to follow regarding the rest of Judges 6 and chapters 7-8........Victory is COMING!