LIVE BY FAITH

Judges 6 verses 36‐40
Dear God if you want me to tithe allow me to win the lottery this week ... if
you want me to buy that new car let me meet 3 of them on the way to work
this morning...if you want me to ask that girl out on a date then let her walk
past me in school and say hello...if you want me to be a missionary let me see
a programme on Africa on national geographical tonight.  They all may sound
far‐fetched to you, but the sad thing is I guarantee some of you have prayed
similar prayers to that in the past, or even are doing so right now in seeking
guidance from God.
Well,  I am going to look at verses 36‐40.    The context of these verses is found from verses 1‐35 – the
terrible plight of the people of Israel at the hand of the Midianites, the call of
Gideon, on the floor of the winepress, to rise up and be a man of valour in
leading Israel to freedom.    He begins by tearing down, under the cover of
darkness, the pagan shrine to baal.   He then, under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit (v34), he blew the trumpet to sound the men of Israel to assemble for
battle against the Midianites and the Amalekites who had come to the plains
of Jezreel to plunder Israel’s harvest.   Having called the men to gather as an
army Gideon suddenly starts to have doubts and that is where we turn now to
verse 36.
Look closely at verse 36 because understanding this verse accurately is actually
the essential key to opening up the understanding of the remainder of the chapter and especially the issue of ‘laying fleeces before God.’   I want you to  read it – read verse 36.
If you will save Israel – doubt
By my hand – Gideon knows he has been called to this task
As you have said – guidance has been already given.
He repeats this again in verse 37 – there is no doubt that Gideon knows what
God has called him to – the guidance is clear.
Did you hear what I said there?  Guidance has already been given to Gideon as
to what he is to do and what God is going to do.   Guidance has already been
given to Gideon – that he has been called by God to be a mighty man of valour
and to lead Israel against the Midianites , the Amalakites and the people of the
East who have been oppressing them for 7 years and have been plundering
Israel of its harvest and choice resources.   Keep that fact in mind – Guidance
has already been given.  Gideon knows exactly who has called him, why he has
been called, the task he is called for and that victory has been promised.   It is
not for guidance that Gideon lays down the fleece before God.    Hear that
clearly – it is not for the purpose of guidance that Gideon lays
down the fleece – guidance has already been given – verse 36 and especially:
as you have said – makes that very clear‐ guidance has already been given.  So,
if  you have thought that this laying down of a fleece was for the
sake of guidance then I hope by a simple plain reading of the text you will see
the error of your ways.  So if it is not about guidance what are these verses and
this incident in the life of Gideon actually about?Verses 37‐40 Assurance
Let me ask you some questions:   Have you ever doubted God?   Have you ever
asked God:  Did you really ask me to do this?  Have you really called me to lead
here?   Have you really called me to this experience?   Of course you have, we
all have.  That is certainly where we find Gideon.  He has had the
visitation from the angel of the Lord calling him to be a mighty man of valour
and to lead.  He destroyed the altar to Baal and God kept him safe even though
all the people wanted to kill him.   The Holy Spirit has come upon him and he
blew the trumpet and the men of Israel have rallied to him to go into battle – a
vast army of 32,000 assembled before him.    Now Gideon begins to have
doubts.   The surge of enthusiasm and courage that he had received from the
Holy Spirit coming upon him has maybe just waned.  The enormous task before
him starts to grow in his heart and mind with the result that doubts enter his
head and fear enters his soul.    Although the Holy Spirit had fallen very
powerfully on Gideon his faith is still weak.     This reminds us that the
grace of God does not destroy our character or our natural human
temperament.   God knew that Gideon needed to recognise fully his weakness
in order to come to totally rely on God.
Recognise the scenario?    Identify with Gideon here?    Your initial enthusiasm
wanes and you realise this is no easy task – this is a real battle.   Gideon had
people who would point out the obvious to him – these men are farmers not
soldiers.   They are not used to handling swords in warfare.   The numbers are
stacked against you.  Don’t you know the size of the task that you are taking on
here?   What does Gideon do?   He seeks assurance – hence the beginning of
verse 36 – If you will save Israel by my hand...  He wants assurance from God that this is what he has been called to by God – despite all that has happened
in verses 1‐35 of chapter 6.
Verses 37‐40 – the events are very simple and clear.   Gideon asks God for a
sign that this is what he is to do – despite verse 36 making it clear he knows
exactly what he is called by God to do.   God has already confirmed his call of
Gideon by fire (verse 21),    peace (verse 23), protection (verses 25‐32), the
power of the Holy Spirit coming upon him to enable him to blow the trumpet
as a call to arms (verse 34), and the rallying of 32000 men to his side (verse
35).  It would appear that Gideon himself knows that this is not his finest hour
or greatest request before God – verses 39 – when he asks that God would not
be angry with him in making such a request for a second time.
Gideon lays a fleece on the ground of the threshing floor and asks for the
ground to be dry and the fleece to wet with dew in the morning.   In the OT
dew was a sign of God’s salvation, protection and prosperity – Genesis 27.28
and 39.   In essence Gideon is asking for a sign of God’s peace – something he
has already been assured of by God’s Word to him.    In the morning it is as
Gideon had requested and yet he still doubts.   I can imagine the doubts in his
head going along the following lines:   of course the wool fleece would absorb
more dew and the hardened earth of the threshing floor would not retain the
moisture of the dew.  You cannot be sure Gideon this is of God, best ask again
for another sign, and that is exactly what he does.   He prefaces this second
request with an apology (verse 39) and reverses the actions – floor wet and
fleece dry.  God in His patience, His grace and mercy works the miracle and it is as Gideon had requested.   Look at this situation for a moment.   Gideon turns
his attention away from an army of 32000 men who have gathered at the
sound of the trumpet to go into battle and focuses on a fleece.   A fleece has
nothing to do with battle but an army of 32000 men have everything to do
with the call of Gideon and the battle that is before him.
Secondly, he is not true to his word.   After the first sign is granted he wants a
second sign from God – despite all that we have noted in his call and in God’s
guidance to him.  
Now here is the key question for us all: Is this a pattern to be
followed in our Christian lives?   You may well know some Christians who have
done such ‘laying out of fleeces’ with apparent success.  It may well seem very
tempting to you because it provides some sort of certainty which makes faith
redundant.    You may have actually prayed such a prayer to God – complete
with a fleece that you laid before Him – with mixed results??   I want to point
some things out to you  from the passage which I pray will be of a
spiritual benefit to you:
Verse 36 – Gideon already had his guidance so this was about assurance.   It is
not a means of guidance, certainly not for Gideon, but of assurance.   It was to
confirm guidance, not to provide guidance that he makes this request.   I pray
you have realised that from the Word of God.
Gideon’s request was the fruit of doubt and unbelief rather than faith in God.Gideon was asking for the miraculous, supernatural intervention of God in this
sign.    It was not one of circumstantial change to give guidance.    Do you
understand that?  He was not asking God to so order circumstances that it was
a sign of God’s will but to supernaturally intervene in nature, to actually
override nature, to assure Gideon of what he already knew to be God’s will.
The challenge was in fact obedience to God’s will.   Is it possible that Gideon
was looking a way out of the task before him?  Maybe!  Are you playing games
of chance in seeking to know the will of God?    Laying fleeces
down is not the way to know the will of God – Gideon already knew the will of
God – he lacked faith and courage to obey.    God in his grace and mercy
answered but by the very words of Gideon we know he knew God would be
angry at this course of action.
Sometimes we seek to use all sorts of circumstantial reasons to avoid the plain
guidance of Scripture.   We actually use fleeces to avoid the will of God than
seeking to know the will of God.    Let me ask you another question: Do you
believe the Bible is the Word of God?  If you say ‘Yes’ then are you obeying its
plain teaching and guidance in every area of your life?  Not just some areas but
every area of your life.  You see I can lay circumstantial fleeces before God as a
means of guidance, wrongly, and avoid obeying all manner of the teaching of
the Bible?
You know the little rhyme I often quote – the main things are the plain things
and the plain things are the main things in Scripture.  Well, knowing that to be
true – that the plain will of God for each of us is clear in Scripture – are we obeying that main/plain teaching?   I have found that that the reason people
often lack guidance is that they are not reading the Word of God, not praying
and not walking according to holiness of life.  Added to this there is a deep lack
of belief in the Word of God, in that we want some further proof other than
what Scripture says – that is God is with us, that He will never leave us or
forsake us etc.  As with many other things in the Christian life – it boils down to
belief and acknowledgement that the Bible is the Word of God and obedience
to it.
So friends, from these 5 verses I hope we have learned a simple
lesson concerning laying down fleeces before God – namely that it was not for
guidance that Gideon laid them down but for assurance.   Also that God was
patient with him but Gideon himself knew God would be angry at such a
request.  Lastly, that we are called to live by faith, not by sight.

Here we are Lord.........In Faith

Here we are and soon it will be 2011.  Another year lies behind us and a new year lies before us.  I never make New Year resolutions – mainly because I never keep them.  I start off with good intentions but that is all they ever seem to remain – good intentions.  So today as we, the people of God, begin a new year together I want to share with you some thoughts from John 6 and the feeding of the 5000.  What I want to share with you I believe is important for us all to take on board as we begin a new year.

The Scene – Jesus has crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee and a great crowd follows him – mainly because of the miraculous signs that he did.  We often encounter that in the gospels – people who are only following to be entertained by another miracle – that can be true today also.  Yet note that Jesus does not chase them away.  In fact when evening comes he is concerned about their welfare – verse 5.  He asks the disciples – Where will we get the food to feed these people?  He knew that the majority of these people were not truly interested in Him or why He had come but only in the miracles He performed.  So there is a simple lesson for us there right at the beginning – we are to be concerned for the welfare of people, even if they are not interested in the message of the gospel.

The Answers

When you look at the answers given by the disciples you realise how little they had understood at this stage about Jesus and who He was.

Philip – 8 months wages would not be enough to buy bread.  Why is it when a problem arises the first thought in most people’s head is – money will help?  Money is more than often not the answer.  Look at the society in which we live – people spend their entire lives chasing money and to what end?  My grandfather often said to us ‘you can’t take it with you.’  Or as the old saying goes ‘there are no pockets in a shroud.’  Money is not the answer to this situation.  Even if the disciples had 8 months wages between them – it was evening and there would have been no where to purchase the bread needed.

 

Friends money is not answer to your problems today.  You might think it is.  

 

Andrew – I just love Andrew in the gospels.  He is a real people person.  He is always bringing people to Jesus.  Here he brings a little boy who has his pack lunch at hand.  Now think about this for a moment.  There are 5000+ people sitting on this hillside and a little boy offers Andrew his pack lunch.  What would your reaction have been?  ‘That is very kind of you but run along now.’  It would have been easy for Andrew to laugh at the meagre lunch as an answer to the problem before them.

Friends how often do we miss the opportunity to answer the problem before us because we believe what has been offered is too meagre and insignificant in the face of such a problem.  It took great faith on Andrew’s part to bring that little boy and his lunch to Christ Jesus – but that was the key – he brought them to Christ.  Learn a lesson there friends – it is not the resources that you bring to Jesus that matters – it is the fact that you bring them to Jesus.  Again the little boy could have looked at his pack lunch and thought – ‘No sense offering this – it is just about enough for me, but it would not satisfy this vast crowd.’  But he did bring it and offer it to Jesus.  It was all he had but he was willing to put it at the disposal of Jesus.  We too can be guilty of thinking that what we have to offer is insignificant and worthless in the face of such a problem.  We then think it is not worth offering to God.  This little boy could have thought – this is too little in the face of so many.  This lunch is not good enough to present to Jesus.  If I give this lunch up there will none for me – it is too big a sacrifice to make.  Let us be honest those are the thoughts which often enter our hearts when we face a problem or encounter a situation.  The devil comes and whispers despair into our hearts. 

Here is how it goes – look at the size of the problem.  There is nothing you have that will answer this problem.  Don’t even think of offering what you have – it is not enough, it is not good enough, people will laugh at it.  And so the spiral goes until we go deeper and deeper into despair.  That little boy and Andrew did not listen to such whispering.  They brought what they had to Jesus and that was all that they could do – the rest was up to Jesus.  I think Andrew had learnt a valuable lesson in the past from Christ – Jesus will provide but he chooses to do it by using what is offered to Him.  The little boy’s pack lunch was the means of starting the whole process.  He participated in the solution to the problem.

Jesus – He took what was offered, He raised His eyes to heaven, gave thanks to God for this provision, blessed the bread and fish – broke it and then gave it to the disciples to distribute it amongst the people gathered before them.  By looking up to heaven and giving thanks Jesus was reminding the people that God is the one who provides all things for mankind.  The miracle took place in the hands of Jesus, not the disciples.  The disciples had the privilege of handing it out to the people.  Look at what verse 12 says – ‘when they had all had enough to eat.’  Friends when God supplies our needs everyone is satisfied.  Everyone in that crowd was satisfied – their hunger was met.  Christ Jesus met their need, He satisfied their hunger.  Not only were they satisfied but there was also 12 baskets left over.  Those fragments were gathered up by the disciples – no wastage, the disciples would need to eat the next day also.  When God provides he does so liberally, more than we ever thought possible.

Conclusion

So what lessons are we to learn from this passage for the year ahead?

I think we need to remember to bring our problems first to Jesus.  Often, like the disciples, we can look at our problems and think that they are insurmountable.  We can easily allow satan to come in and whisper into our hearts despair in the face of a problem – don’t let that happen.

We can complain that we do not have the resources to meet the need of the moment.  We can believe that what we have is not enough, is not good enough or is too big a sacrifice to make.  Learn from the little boy – a pack lunch in the hands of Jesus is sufficient to meet the needs of 5000 people.  Not only meet their needs but satisfy their hunger and to have 12 baskets left over for another day.  Bring what you have to Christ.  Offer what you have – little, insignificant and all that you might think of it.  In the hands of the Saviour it will be more than enough to meet the need of the moment.  Jesus did not need that lunch to feed the people but it was the means by which He chose to feed them.  He does not need you and I but we are often the means by which He chooses to meet the needs of many in this world.  When we offer what we have to God we will be surprised that God will use our meagre resources to do great things.  He will use our meagre resources in ways that we would never have dreamed possible. 

Also can I remind you that the most profound lesson of this passage is that Jesus is in control even when it appears to the disciples that the situation is hopeless and overwhelming.  In the year ahead I have no doubt many reading this will encounter situations that appear hopeless and overwhelming – at that moment we will need to remember this passage and the fact that God is in control.  We are called in that situation to bring what we have to God and place it in His hands.  Jesus did not ask the disciples to solve this situation.  He did use what they brought to Him – that is important to remember.  We are very often guilty of thinking we have to solve the problem, provide the resources etc – when in fact all God asks of us is to turn to Him, give Him what we have and be the means of a miracle.

So friends as we begin another year together  I want to encourage us all to be like that little boy and to be like Andrew.  Be like Andrew and seek to bring people to Christ.  Be like the little boy – give what you have to Jesus and become the means of a miracle in your own church and your own community.