God is our Refuge

July 24, 2011

Lesson: Judges 7:1-25

Key Verses: Judges 7:7, 15

Introduction

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. …Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in all the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psa. 46:1, 10-11). This is the lesson Gideon had to learn, that he had to wait upon the Lord and not depend upon the strength of his army. Charles Spurgeon wrote that “Not our armies, or our fortresses. Israel’s boast is in Jehovah, the only living and true God. Other vaunt their impregnable castles, placed on inaccessible rocks and secured with gates of Iron, but God is a far better refuge from distress than all these: and when the time comes to carry the war into the enemy’s territories, the Lord stands his people in better stead than all the valour of legions or the boasted strength of chariot and horse. Soldiers of the cross, remember this, and count yourselves safe, and make yourselves strong in God.”

Christ Jesus spoke to the churches of Asia saying, “for the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). Persecution and tribulation were upon the congregations and the war between the unrighteous and the righteous was a reality. Would His Church be victorious? Who would lead them? Christ directed their eyes to Himself. “who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5-7). Christ has come and continues to come on the scene today as the “faithful witness,” the “resurrection and the life,” as the one who is above all, the “prince (ruler) of the kings of the earth.” Christ is our victory as we hear His words for us today: “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8).

Eliminating Temptation –Judges 7:1-6

The Lord had spoken to Gideon saying, “Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it. And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down” (Judges 6:25-26). Gideon, during the night, took ten men and did as the Lord had commanded him. In the morning the men of the city noticed that the altar of Baal was destroyed. Finding that Gideon had done the task they said unto his father, Joash, “Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal.” Joash replied, “Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? He that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. Therefore on that day he called (Gideon) Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar” (6:30-32).

The Spirit of the Lord was with Gideon, giving him the assurance that He would be with him by the placing of a fleece of wool on the ground and in the morning the ground was wet while the fleece was dry (6:37-40); and Gideon knew that it would be the Lord who would save Israel. The Lord confirmed His promise to Gideon that he would be the instrument of salvation for Israel. Gideon, who was now called Jerubbaal, along with his army, camped beside the well of Harod. The dreaded Midianites were on their north side by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. And the Lord began His conversation with Gideon, saying, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’”

God has just begun to destroy any self-esteem that Israel was hoping for. Here is the test of the ages, “who will be acclaimed with glory, and power, honor, and praise?” Gideon would learn this lesson of his Master: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what is a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:24-26).

The Lord begins to weed out of his human army, those who are fearful and afraid: “Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.” And twenty-two thousand people returned, while ten thousand remained. Thirty-two thousand men would have a fighting chance against the Midianites. But ten thousand? And did God weed out the fearful because He was unable to make them victorious? These men were not cowards. God used this method of bringing the number of His human army down to the number, whereby they would have no doubt that if victory came; it came by the hand of the Lord. “And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men.”

Discussion: What temptations do we face that show we depend upon ourselves rather than the strength of our Lord?

Promise of Salvation –Judges 7:7-14

The Lord told Gideon to bring ten thousand men to the water’s edge. The test was,   “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart, by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” Those who were chosen to fight under the Lord would go against the great army of the Midianites. The rest went home. The Lord said to Gideon: “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites unto your hand.” Gideon and his 300 men took provisions for the needs of an army, along with their trumpets. The Midianites would be like Goliath looking down on the shepherd man, David. David had his sling slot, which would seem much better than three hundred men carrying trumpets to fight the army of the Midianites.

The promise of our salvation, the work which guarantees victory over eternal death-for the wages of sin is death-rests upon Christ and His atoning work on the cross of Calvary. Salvation is of the Lord, alone! The promise of forgiveness of sins and life eternal rests in the Son of God.  We have been saved by grace through faith, and not of any works we can hope to do. This is our Lord’s promise to us: “In (Christ) you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:13-14).

The “Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.” Gideon was to look at this great people from the eyes of the Lord. In a vision Gideon saw: “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread crumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.

The Midian camp was just below Gideon and his 300 men army. In the night the Lord speaks to Gideon, saying, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.”  Notice that the Lord does not say to go against the enemy and see if you can make a dent in their armor. Nor does God say that we are to hope for some crumbs from the table of the enemy. He promises complete victory; for God sends His people into the battle with the surety or confidence that victory is guaranteed. The Lord sends Gideon into battle as if it has already been won: “For I have delivered (the victory) into your hand!”

Discussion: What victories have we won, personally or as a congregation, by the hand of the Lord?

Armor of God –Judges 7:15-25

Gideon, after hearing these words, rushes back to the camp of Israel, and commands, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand!” Gideon then divides the 300 men into three companies. At his command the men carry a trumpet in one hand, and in the other a pitcher, with a torch inside. Gideon then tells the men to do just as he does. In the middle of the night Gideon and his men blow the trumpets, break the pitchers, and, holding high the torches in their left hands, and with the trumpets in their right hand, blowing as loud as they could; and crying, as with one voice, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” Then the Lord “set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host.” The Lord will bring confusion to the enemy that they will fight against themselves. Look and see if this is not true, whether it be in the halls of congress or on the battle fields of nations.

Have you asked yourself the question, “Why does it look like evil prevails around us like a plague of locusts? It is like asking whether a glass is half empty or half full. We are more apt to see with our own eyes than with the eyes of our Lord. See the enemy of Christ and His church as Gideon saw the armies of Midianites and Amalekites: “And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried and fled.”

Discussion: How did Gideon and his army win the battle?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2011 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.

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