June 2, 2010
The LORD gives the victory, but that does not mean that we get to sit back, do nothing, and wait for the LORD to do it all. We have to listen. We have to obey. And sometimes, we have to go into battle. Going into battle can be exhausting and a very hard thing to do.
After Gideon and his 300 men surrounded the camp, God gave the victory. But look at what it says in Judges 8:4 - "When Gideon and this three hundred men came to the Jordan River, they were tired, but they chased the enemy across to the other side." Gideon asked the people of Succoth and Peniel for some bread for his soldiers, "because they are very tired."
Tired. It can be exhausting to go into battle, even when the LORD has promised victory. It wasn't Gideon's work and skill that gave them the victory, and it isn't ours either. It is the LORD and obedience to Him that gives the victory. God never promised an easy road, but He did promise the victory. Tired? You bet. Discouraged or defeated? No.
The people who refused to help Gideon were held accountable and destroyed. Not only did they refuse to help, they were critical and condescending. Dealing with critical people can be exhausting, but hang on! Accountability for attitudes and actions WILL happen.
After Gideon did so much good he started to do things on his "own." He asked the people to give him the gold earrings that were taken in the battle. Listen to what Gideon said. "I want you to do this one thing for me. I want each of you to give me..." God did not ask him to collect the gold. Gideon decided to do it on his own. He made it into a holy vest which he hung in his hometown. The Israelites began to worship it instead of God and it became a trap for Gideon's family. Often it is after the battle that we (like Gideon) put down our guards and run the risk of becoming self-sufficient instead of remaining God-reliant.
It was the attitude that was wrong. God asked the Israelites to pick up stones from the Red Sea and Jordan as a reminder to them and future generations of what God had done. Gideon wanted the gold and vest to show what they had done. Look what we did. Look what we took from them. The focus was not on God and His power. It was instead a focus on what they had done even though it was God who gave the victory.
We have recognized that the time we are going to need to protect our hearts and minds is after "the storm" is over and life returns to normal. We don't ever want to view God's protection as "our" victory. As I've written before, we feel a memorial of stone should be built as a reminder to us and the generations that follow of what GOD has done. All praise, honor, and glory belong to Him. What Gideon did would be equivalent to us "winning" the battle, taking the spoils from the battle and using that to have on display as if to say "look at us and what we did," instead of look at God and what HE did.
The battle isn't ours, the battle plan isn't ours, the battle victory isn't ours, and the battle spoils aren't ours. All praise, honor, and glory belongs to Christ and Him alone.
Abimelech, one of Gideon's sons by a servant woman decides that out of Gideon's 70 sons HE should be the king after Gideon died. He starts campaigning among his mothers family and gets them to support him. He kills all of his brothers (70) except the youngest who ran away. He was willing to do anything and everything to gain power and have full control. He knew what he wanted and nothing was going to stop him. Jotham (his youngest brother who escaped) talked to the people about what they had done. He said to them, if you've been honest and fair in what you've done then be happy with Abimelech. But if not, then may fire come out of Abimelech and destroy the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo. And may fire come out from them to destroy Abimelech. That is exactly what happened. Destruction came to all of them from within. When Abimelech destroyed the city of Shechem, he threw salt over the ruins making it useless for producing crops. The destruction was complete. Judges 9:56–57 - "In that way God punished Abimelech for all the evil he had done... God also punished the men of Shechem for the evil they had done... so the curse spoken by Jotham... came true."
Evil actions will be punished. Accountability will happen.
Next Entry: Judges 10:1 – 12:15
The LORD gives the victory, but that does not mean that we get to sit back, do nothing, and wait for the LORD to do it all. We have to listen. We have to obey. And sometimes, we have to go into battle. Going into battle can be exhausting and a very hard thing to do.
After Gideon and his 300 men surrounded the camp, God gave the victory. But look at what it says in Judges 8:4 - "When Gideon and this three hundred men came to the Jordan River, they were tired, but they chased the enemy across to the other side." Gideon asked the people of Succoth and Peniel for some bread for his soldiers, "because they are very tired."
Tired. It can be exhausting to go into battle, even when the LORD has promised victory. It wasn't Gideon's work and skill that gave them the victory, and it isn't ours either. It is the LORD and obedience to Him that gives the victory. God never promised an easy road, but He did promise the victory. Tired? You bet. Discouraged or defeated? No.
The people who refused to help Gideon were held accountable and destroyed. Not only did they refuse to help, they were critical and condescending. Dealing with critical people can be exhausting, but hang on! Accountability for attitudes and actions WILL happen.
After Gideon did so much good he started to do things on his "own." He asked the people to give him the gold earrings that were taken in the battle. Listen to what Gideon said. "I want you to do this one thing for me. I want each of you to give me..." God did not ask him to collect the gold. Gideon decided to do it on his own. He made it into a holy vest which he hung in his hometown. The Israelites began to worship it instead of God and it became a trap for Gideon's family. Often it is after the battle that we (like Gideon) put down our guards and run the risk of becoming self-sufficient instead of remaining God-reliant.
It was the attitude that was wrong. God asked the Israelites to pick up stones from the Red Sea and Jordan as a reminder to them and future generations of what God had done. Gideon wanted the gold and vest to show what they had done. Look what we did. Look what we took from them. The focus was not on God and His power. It was instead a focus on what they had done even though it was God who gave the victory.
We have recognized that the time we are going to need to protect our hearts and minds is after "the storm" is over and life returns to normal. We don't ever want to view God's protection as "our" victory. As I've written before, we feel a memorial of stone should be built as a reminder to us and the generations that follow of what GOD has done. All praise, honor, and glory belong to Him. What Gideon did would be equivalent to us "winning" the battle, taking the spoils from the battle and using that to have on display as if to say "look at us and what we did," instead of look at God and what HE did.
The battle isn't ours, the battle plan isn't ours, the battle victory isn't ours, and the battle spoils aren't ours. All praise, honor, and glory belongs to Christ and Him alone.
Abimelech, one of Gideon's sons by a servant woman decides that out of Gideon's 70 sons HE should be the king after Gideon died. He starts campaigning among his mothers family and gets them to support him. He kills all of his brothers (70) except the youngest who ran away. He was willing to do anything and everything to gain power and have full control. He knew what he wanted and nothing was going to stop him. Jotham (his youngest brother who escaped) talked to the people about what they had done. He said to them, if you've been honest and fair in what you've done then be happy with Abimelech. But if not, then may fire come out of Abimelech and destroy the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo. And may fire come out from them to destroy Abimelech. That is exactly what happened. Destruction came to all of them from within. When Abimelech destroyed the city of Shechem, he threw salt over the ruins making it useless for producing crops. The destruction was complete. Judges 9:56–57 - "In that way God punished Abimelech for all the evil he had done... God also punished the men of Shechem for the evil they had done... so the curse spoken by Jotham... came true."
Evil actions will be punished. Accountability will happen.
Next Entry: Judges 10:1 – 12:15
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