Judges 2024

Judge chapter 7. Early in the morning, Gerable, that is Gideon, and all his men camped at the spring of Harriet. The camp of Meridian was in was north of them in the valley near the hill of Mora. The Lord said to Gideon, have too many men.

I cannot deliver midian into their hands or Israel would boast against me. My own strength has saved me. Now announced to the army, anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilliard. So 22000 men left while 10000 remain. But the lord said to Gidyan, 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 1 shall go with you, he shall go. But if I say this 1 shall not go with you, he shall not go. So Gidien took the men down to the water. There, the lord told him, separate those who lapped the water with their tongues a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.

300 of the men drank from cupped hands lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to Gidyan, with the 300 men that lapse, I will save you and give the midianites into your let all the others go home. So Gidien sent the rest of the Israelites home, but kept the 300 who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now, the camp of median lay below the valley, below the middle valley.

During that night, the lord said to Gidiom, get up, go down against the camp because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant, Puhrer, and listen to what they are saying. Afterwards, you will be encouraged to attack the camp. So he and Pura, his servant, went down to the outposts of the camp. The medianites, the amalekite, and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts.

Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashell. Gidien arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. I had a dream, he said. He was saying, a round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the median camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.

His friend responded. This can be nothing other than the sword of Gidyan, son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the midianites and the whole camp into his hands. When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, get up, the lord has given the midianite camp into your hands, dividing the 300 men into 3 companies he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them with torches inside.

Watch me, he told them. Follow my lead, When I get to the edge of the camp do exactly as I do, when I and all who are with me blow the trumpets, then from all around all around the camp, blow yours and shout for the lord and for Gideon. Gideon and the hundred men with him reach the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch just after they just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jar that were in their hands. The 3 companies blew the the trumpets and smashed the jars, grasping the torches in their hand, their left hands.

And holding in their right hands the trumpets, they were to blow. They shouted, a sword for gideon, a sword for the lord, and for gideon. While each man held his position round the camp, all the median nights ran crying out as they fled. When the 300 trumpets sounded, the lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Becca Shitter, the towards Zera, as far as the border of Abel Mahura, near Tabath.

The Israelites from Nafatali, ASHA, and all at manasseh were called out, and they pursued the medianites. Gidien sent messengers throughout the hill country of ephraim saying come down against the midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan. Ahead of them as far as Beth Barra. So all the men of Eframe were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barra. They also captured 2 of the midianite leaders, Orab and Zib, oreb, they killed oreb at the rock of oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb.

They pursued the midianites and brought the heads of Orev and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Garrett Davis.

I am 1 of the members here at Cornerstone. I serve on the youth team with some of our older youth, the rooted lot, and we're going to be opening up judges 7 together. I'm going to pray, pray now for the lord to help you. So if you pray with me. Have any farther, we do thank and praise you that we can come together, as Tilly has mentioned, that we can come together twice in 1 day to to hear your word.

We thank you, lord, that your word is alive, that it is active, and Father God, we pray that tonight that you would be, speaking to us that you would use me, to speak to us, to speak to our hearts, so that your words may take a deep root in our lives and that we may see Christ all the more clearly. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Our men. God's strength is made perfect in weakness That is the Sherman. Okay?

I had feedback from a Sherman, maybe my first 2 or 3 sermons. And the guy said, what was your main point? And I just finished, and I I've absolutely no idea what my main point was. My main point today is God's strength is made perfect in weakness. We are going to get to judges chapter 7, but before we do so, we're going to look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

So if you keep a pen, keep a finger in judges chapter 7, we won't be in 2 Corinthians for too long. We flick forward to to Corinthians, it is page 1 1 6 1. If you've got 1 of the church bibles, And the principle that we're looking at this evening is that god's strength is made perfect in weakness God strength is made perfect in weakness to Corinthians 4 and verse 7. But we have this treasure in jars of clay. To show that this all surpassing power is from god and not from us.

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. V7 again. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from god and not from us. You see within these jars of clay, there is a treasure.

That's what Paul is saying here to the Corinthians. Within these jars of clay, there is a treasure. The jars of clay themselves are not the treasure. They are nothing special, but within the jars of clay, there is a treasure I am a primary school teacher, and 1 of my greatest joys of being a primary school teacher is teaching art. Not because I enjoy teaching art, but I like the aftermath of teaching art.

Because and I used to hold this as an event with my, with my colleagues. I used to hold it as an event. Every year when we would do tudor portraits, I would hold an opening and we would come to see the latest, the latest offerings of Tudors painted as if they were mister and Mrs's potato head. And it was just fantastic to see the Children's art well, to see really awful, awful art. And it is, it's still 1 of the reasons I wake up every morning to get it into the curriculum where I can, but 1 of the things that is in the curriculum in year 5 is clay pots.

Whose idea was that. Clay pots is in the curriculum. Kids are making clay pots and as as well as it being a great joy for me when a teacher comes and says, you need to see this. You need to see what this kid has made. And what is also a great joy is when they finish their project and they take it home, and you go, go on, go and show your mom, and they take it to mom, and their mom looks at it and looks directly back at you, the teacher, to go.

6 weeks. This was 6 weeks, and they also sort of have that look of Where's all that stuff you asked me to buy? Where's all the resources, all the glitter that you asked me? This is horrific. There's cracks in it.

This awful. Even better than that when the child gives it to dad, and dad takes it and looks straight to mom. What am I to do with this? And mom has to then rectify the situation because they can see that the child has has sort of spotted what dad thinks. And mom says, oh, Brilliant.

That is, oh, that would go with the slipper that you made last year that could only fit an octopus and Yeah. What what what we'll do what we'll do with that is we will put we'll put some flowers in it. Yeah. Yeah. That'll look.

Lovely. And the kid comes into school next days. Mister Davis, mister Davis, mom loved my pot. Did she? But, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. She loved my pot. How do you know she loved it? Because the first thing she did when we got home, she put some daffodils in it.

It's nice. Some daffodils in the pot. She doesn't love your pot. She loves the daffodils. She loves the daffodils.

And actually, What the pot does really, really well, the cracks that are in the pot, the imperfections that are all over it, what they do really well is they enhance the beauty of the Daffodil. That Daffodil looks outstanding in that pot because the pot looks so bad. So 2 Corinthians and chapter 4 verse 7, but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from god and not from us. We'll flick as well just briefly to 2 Corinthians, just slightly forward to chapter 12 and verse 9, but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. That's the principle that we're looking at this this evening here is God's power is made perfect in weakness. God's power is made perfect in weakness. Just like with those clay pots They're not perfect. They are abysmal, but what they carry is a promise of what is inside.

And as Christians here tonight, we we are very much like those clay pots. That's what Paul is telling us and we carry Christ inside of us. Christ is in us as Christians. That is that is a remarkable truth. That the Bible says that Christ is in me.

And just as the the Daffodil shines out, and the child's mom and dad are no longer looking at the clay pot, they are looking at the Daffodil. That is what we want as Christians. We we want Christ placed within me, placed within us, and for other people to look at Christ, not to look at the clay pot. And we see that the principles of this, illustrated really beautifully in the story in judges 7 We're going to look at it in 3 ways, 3 ways in Judge chapter 7. Firstly, we're going to look at god's strength is made perfect in obstacles.

Secondly, we're going to look at god's strength is made perfect in fear or in our fear. And then thirdly, and finally we're going to look at God's strength is made perfect in his victory. So Judge chapter 7 Firstly, god strength is made perfect in our obstacles. We're back in judges we're back in the the cyclical pattern that we've seen in judges. The the when we did the series with, with the rooted lot, I was going to get you to dance.

But the way that we sort of remember the cycle with the rooted lot was that that God saves The people misbehave, the people are enslaved, the people are dismayed, and then the people wailed. So that here, where are we in this cycle? Is god currently saving them? Have the people misbehaved? Have the people been enslaved?

Have the people been dismayed or are they wailing for a savior? Well, in chapter 6, verse 1 and 2, the start of the Gideon story, we see that the people are oppressed and imprisoned The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the lord. There's the misbehaving for 7 years, he gave them into the hands of the midianites. They're enslaved. Because of the power of Midion was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts caves and strongholds.

Verse 6 of chapter 6, median, so impoverished, the Israelites that they cried out to the lord for help. That that is they are physically impoverished here the Israelites. They're struggling with food, struggling with clothing, struggling with the the necessities of life. Try not to sing the beer necessities of life there. And it's into this context here.

Into this, this is the part of the cycle that we are in, the people are enslaved, and they are calling out, they are crying out to god. For a savior. And we saw Gidi and enter into that situation, but the midianites, there's still a problem. The midianites are still there they haven't been dealt with, they're still very much enslaved. And we pick it up in chapter 7 verse 1, early in the morning.

Early in the morning, Gerable, that is Gidyan, and all his men camped at the spring of harrods. Early in the morning, every time I've I've read that the past couple of weeks, I get the sense of, doomsday sort of, exam day. It's a big day for them. It's a job interview day early in the morning. They've woken up.

They know what's to come later that day. Early in the morning that they've woken, and they they know the battle that is ahead of them. And to this, god says: first 2, the Lord said to Gidyan, you have too many men. If you win Gideon with your 32000, you're going to think that it's your strength. You're going to think that you with your your military expertise, you've got the victory for yourself.

No. I I I can't let you go. I can't let you go with 32000 men. You have too many men. Now, just look down at verse 12 here.

Gidien's got 32000. Let's look at the the opposing team. The midianites, the Amalekites, and all the other Eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could not no more be counted than the sand on the Seashore. Gidian is is justifiably here, my sort of paraphrase of the Bible is Gidian is pooing himself here.

He is not in a good way. If if this is Gideon's first battle, his first day on the job, he is in way over his head. He is out of his depth. I had 32000, but their camels alone, I can't count. It's like the sand on the seashore.

We don't need to talk about how many people they've got, their camels could beat us up. You have too many men. That's how is Gidian feeling here? Exhausted already perhaps. Worried, anxious, afraid, weak.

How must Gidiom be feeling? I I also like to think how must his men be feeling. They've got this leader that they've this is the first battle that he's he's really leading them into. And now he's got to come out of his tent. And Gideon comes up and the trumpet sounds.

Here the word of of Gideon. Gang. It's too many of us. I know I know that some of you have heard how many of them there are. But we've got way too many.

So some of you, you I know you've got a wedding tomorrow. Some of you can go home and and we'll we'll pick up with whoever's left. So basically, if you're skid, here, if you're this, I will this, I will thin it out. If you're if you're feeling a little chicken, you can go home because we don't need you. We don't need those those of us who are feeling scared and, you can go home.

Maybe there's a part of Gidi in here that's thinking, this is actually genius. Little bit of reverse psychology. I'm gonna say if you're chicken, and then they're gonna go, no, we're not chicken. We're not chicken. We're we're gonna stay on with guys.

Yeah. We're gonna stay. Woo. A sword for the lord and giddy. And yes.

Maybe there's a bit of giddy in thinking that. It's not it's not thinking that long when 20000 people or 22000 people stand up and go, yeah. Yeah. I'm feeling a little bit scared actually to see you tomorrow, Gideon. I I will go home.

So 22000 of them go home. 22000 of them go home. And maybe Gideon goes back into his tent here, and he's maybe with Pura, and he goes, What? We've got 10000 of us left. The the thick the camels we can't count.

They're as thick as locusts when we look at them, we what are we gonna do? What we're gonna do, we feel so pathetic and so weak here. Look at this obstacle in front of us. We've had the population of Chesington and New Maldon together, leave us. 22000 have just gone.

Our army has been reduced by 70 percent. This 4, the word of the lord returns again. This 4, look with me. But the Lord said to Gidyan, there are still too many men. Surely Gideon's response here was Pardon?

Still too many men? 22000 have just left. That's the capacity of crystal palace's stadium. Have just gone. And you're saying that we still have too many men?

What? So Gidien takes them down to the water, and and god says to him, I I I'm gonna I'm gonna thin them out for you. I'm gonna choose who's who's gonna go with you. And maybe g giddy and thinking fine, but I can't afford to lose more than more than a handful. So verse 4, 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 1 shall go with you, he shall go. But if I say this 1 shall not go with you, He shall not go. So Gidien took the men down to the water. There, the Lord said to him, separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps. From those who kneel down to drink.

300 of them drank from kaptans lapping like dogs All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 300 of them are left. 300 I mean, we've all had a bad first day on the job, but to go from 32000 to to 3 hundreds Soldiers is fairly remarkable in terms of bad days at the office. Through I and sorry. I should be really clear with you here.

The lappers and the kneelers. Don't know. I really I've read a lot about what people think about the lappers and the kneelers, and as, as funny as some suggestions are, I think the main point here that I I I want to take away is god wants it to be really, really small number. That's the main point. So if you are concerned with the lapping and the kneeling, come and see me afterwards, I've got 1 1 particular 1 that I like, not I don't like like it, but it's funny.

The point here is god god's strength is going to be made known in their weakness. If if you had 32000 and I carried you to victory, Gideon, you could have said it was you. If you had 10000 and we ca I carried you to victory. Maybe still you could have said it was you. So send another 9700 home.

Because I'm going to make my strength known in your weakness. So Gidien sent the rest home and they have another 300 left. Surely here, Gideon is feeling anxious, worried, scared. The 300 that are left, surely they are thinking, why did I pretend I wasn't scared? I should have left when the 22000 left.

And and a detail that I like is that they are given the provisions and the trumpets of of those who've left. So what the picture that I've got in my mind, and I know it's comical and silly, is that he's got 300 men, all of whom have 6 trumpets each, and loads and loads of food But that's that's not an army. You don't win a battle with an orchestra or snacks. That's not how you win a win a battle. God's strength is made perfect in obstacles.

God, I don't know what your obstacles are. But, you know, as a church here, we've we've faced quite a few obstacles, and I'm sure lots of obstacles that I don't I'm not aware of just in terms of the church building. National rail have been an obstacle. In some in some senses. And I don't know how this is going to pan out, how this church building is going to pan out.

But I do know, and I can confidently say that in 5, 10, 15, 20 years' time, we, as a church, will be able to look back and go, God's strength was made perfect in that obstacle. Look at look at what god has done. Look at how god has provided there for us as a church. Yeah. We brought our trumpets, but but god had a plan for us as a church there.

So firstly, god's strength is made perfect in our obstacles. Secondly, god's strength is made perfect in our fear. Gidian is Skade. I think that's fair enough. And we see in verse 9 here during the night The Lord said to Gidien get up, go down against the camp because I am going to give it into your hands, you and the 300 that is.

If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant, Pura. If you are afraid. Surely, there's there's a part of Gideon that goes Oh, I'm jolly glad you said you've given me that because actually, lord, afraid doesn't even come close to it. A afraid it doesn't even come close to it. I haven't learned even what a a c note is on the trumpet, and I've gotta carry 300 men to battle that.

Lord, I'm terrified. I am terrified 300 against this vast force If you're afraid, lord, I am terrified. And he says to he says to give you go down to the camp and take your servant purer with you. Go down to the camp and take your servant purer. I like the detail about where they go, where in the camp they go to, If you are afraid to attack Visten, go down to the camp with your servant, Pura, and listen to what they are saying afterwards you will be encouraged to attack the camp.

So he and Pura and his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. They're they're at the border, that they are terrified. They're at the border of this camp. They're they're they're sneaking their way in. No.

You go first. You go first. Is it safe? Yeah. Yeah.

We carry on with him, and they get towards a tent And this whole time, they're thinking, some somewhere out of this, god has promised that he's gonna tell us something. Is gonna show us something. Maybe we'll get down there and everyone will be dead. Everyone will already be dead. And it was the 22000 dollar long.

God, he's good. Brilliant. No. They get down towards the tent, and they start to hear whispering. And they start to hear they get a little bit closer, a little bit closer, and they start to hear more than just whispering, and they start to hear 1 of the midianites say through through the fabric of the tent, They start to hear.

Yeah. I I had a really strange dream last night. Oh, yeah. What's your dream? Well, you see, I was dreaming about this barley loaf.

Oh, not you and that barley loaf again. Yeah. I was dreaming about this barley loaf. And you see this barley though, in my dream, it it comes it sort of comes to it's only so big and our tent is, you know, much, much bigger, and this barley lofts just comes down, rolling down, and takes out the tent. Just destroys the tent.

Such a bizarre dream. Really, really odd. Such a strange dream. So that's that's the dream there in verse 13. God is so gracious to Gideon, that he doesn't just offer this dream, but the enemy interpret this dream for Gideon.

The enemy themselves interpret the dream for him. In verse 14, this man's friend in the tent responded This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon, son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the midianites and the whole camp into his hands. You see, this barley loaf here The odds of this barley loaf being able to take out this tent is like 300 men being able to wipe out this army, it can't happen. It can't.

You you you won't turn on BBC News tonight and and find an article about a barley loaf knocking down a tent. It doesn't happen. It only happens because god will take this 300 men, and he will make his power made perfect in their weakness. And in terms of application here, god's strength is made perfect in our fear, I don't I don't know a a fear that unites us more wholly than than the fear of of trying to evangelize. That's a fear that that I have.

A fear of trying to perhaps speak up to to work colleagues family, family are a really scary 1 to evangelize to for, for lots of reasons. But god's strength is made perfect in our fear. I would share a a very, very brief story and, It's it's on evangelism there. My, I'm it's mother's day, happy mother's day mum, and moms, my mum became a Christian because god made his strength perfect in someone's fear of evangelism. When my mum took us 4 children to the the school gates, she she was with this woman, and she she didn't have much of a relationship with her.

And this woman, and I'm this woman said to her, oh, my church are doing an alfa course. My church is doing alfa course. You should come along, and that was that. My mom didn't go. But years later, the first chance that my mum got to go again, my mum went on that alpha course, became a Christian has raised 4 children as as Christians, and I genuinely cannot wait to get to heaven to say thank you to that woman at the school gates because god's strength was made perfect in her fear, in that woman's fear.

And there will be thousands of stories like that when we get to heaven. But we want to go into our evangelism prayerfully. And say, god, your strength is going to be made known here. I'm not gonna convince this person with my my fine sounding argument. But, Lord, I'm going to be faithful to you.

I'm scared, but I'm going to be faithful to you here, father. So god's strength is made perfect in our fear. And finally, god's strength is made perfect in his victory. 300 men. And what Gideon does is he splits the 300 men up into 3 companies you go over here, you go over here, you lot to stay with me, take your trumpets with you.

And what are they carrying? They're carrying the trumpets and what else are they carrying. Have a look. They're carrying the trumpets, and they're carrying their jars with them, with their torches inside. Surely, surely the 300 mannequin.

What are we doing? He's we're actually doing this. We're actually doing what? We're gonna do with this? Maybe maybe there's 1 or 2.

Maybe there's 1 or 2 who are a bit more optimistic. But this looks rather hopeless. Rather hopeless indeed. The world would stand by and laugh just in the same way as it did when the the walls of Jerico came crashing down. Oh, you're gonna march around again.

Are you? Brilliant. Let me know how many steps today. Yeah. Let me know.

Look at these idiots marching around the walls. What a joke. Clips, until suddenly the walls come crashing down. You see, god has not changed. God hasn't changed from from The walls of Jericho are coming crashing down.

To this story here with Gidyan and his 300 men to today in the 20 first century, God has not changed. He is the god of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And we can we can say confidently today that my god is so big, so strong and so mighty that there is nothing My god cannot do. It's not just a Sunday school song. It is a Sunday school song, but it's a fantastic Sunday school song.

Because my god is so big, so strong, so mighty that there is nothing my god cannot do. He can get victory by us doing laps. He can get victory with some lappers. That was accident. He can get victory.

He can get victory. You see with 300 men and some jars of clay and some trumpets. Because what happens? They blow their trumpets, they smash their jars, and the people in the camp They just go mental, and they start killing themselves. And the israelites They win, and they don't lose a man.

Why? Because their god is so big. So strong and so mighty. There's nothing that he cannot do. God doesn't need our help with stuff.

He doesn't He god doesn't need our help with stuff. But god's strength is made perfect in our weakness. We see that most clearly on the cross. God's strength is made perfect here in the weakness of only 300 men, only 300 men, with trumpets and jars of clay and they smash and they win. They do not win.

God wins. God wins. And on the cross of Christ, The world would laugh at that. The world does laugh at that. The world mocks the lord Jesus Christ.

On the cross. He's dying. You celebrate your king, your savior, dying. Yes. Because god's power is made perfect in weakness.

God's power is made perfect in weakness My sin. My sin took Christ to that cross. Your sin took Christ to that cross. And Christ takes our sin from us. And on the cross, He makes a way for him to to live with us, to live inside of us.

And we are clay pots. You see these 300 men, they have no right to get to get home from this camp and go We won? You should have seen how brilliant we were. That's not a trumpet, is it? You should have seen how brilliant we were.

We were fantastic. Oh, we we all smashed them at the same 1 tooth smash. We all did at the same time. It was like a dance routine. We were amazing.

No, they have no right to do that. No right to do that whatsoever. And that child that I taught in school has no right to go. My pot is brilliant. Your pot is sucks.

Sucks. The Daffodil is amazing. The Daffodil is beautiful. Your effort here this 300 is awful. But look at how glorious that makes God look.

Because god's power is made perfect in our weakness. God's power is made perfect in our weakness. It is a fantastic truth. It is a truth that this world cannot simply cannot get their head around that the lord Jesus Christ would come. He would live a life.

And he would die to save sinners like you and me. It's a world that this world cannot grasp that because we're just clay pots. We're worthless. But inside of me is the lord Jesus Christ, the treasure of the lord Jesus Christ. Because god's power is made perfect in weak people.

So I'm going to leave you with with a question. Are you weak enough for god to use this evening? Are you weak enough to know god's power in your life. Let's give a couple of moments to pause to reflect and until he's gonna come and close in prayer.