Breaking Badly 7: The Book of Judges

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Breaking Badly Episode seven, Gideon the Coward in the Wine Press, Part one. Today we arrive at the central narrative of the Book of Judges, the story of Gideon, and if Judges has been showing us the downward spiral of Israel. Gideon represents something important. He represents Israel itself, weak, confused, spiritually insensitive, quick to blame God, and yet still chosen. Welcome to Gospel Rant podcast and doctor Bill Sinyard YouTube channel. I'm your host, doctor Bill Sinyard. We are free wherever you get good podcasts, of course on YouTube as well, so please subscribe. As always, one of the fastest ways you can help us grow is by leaving your comments below or by letting me know it Bill at gospeldesh app dot com. I love it and thank you sincerely ahead of time. Also, thanks for making Gospel Rant podcast one of the top ten percent in the world. Thank you for listening every week. We hope that it helps to regularly hear about God's love for the unlovable, the unloved, the unlovely, the unworthy, the unlikely, and the hurting. And that's all of us on any given day. If we were just a little bit honest and more aware. I want to get right into this after a brief word from our sponsors before we step into the story. It helps to remember something about the apostle Paul and what he writes in Romans chapter one. Paul describes humanity. That's me and you as well this way. Although they knew God, they neither honored him as God nor gave thanks to him. So God gave them over. And that's the phrase God gave them over captures the pattern we've been seeing throughout Judges Israel repeatedly does what seems right in their own eyes. They pursue their own wisdom, their own plans, their own survival strategies, and eventually God gives them over to the consequences of those choices. But notice something, most of the time, this rebellion isn't obvious evil, right, I mean, it's far more subtle. It looks like good judgment, risk management, responsible decision making, good stewardship even and yet sometimes those things can still be completely out of a line with what God is calling us to do. The Cross itself looked foolish from every human point of view, but it turned out to be the greatest good in history. By the time we reach Judges chapter six, Israel has once again abandoned God. And yet God has not abandoned them. He is the God who pursues the most unlikely, like me, and they will experience His love for them as they are. To that end, God gives them over to a new app presser, the Midianites. For seven years, these nomadic tribes sweep into Israel every harvest season. They arrive on camels and overwhelming numbers like locusts. They devour crops, they pillage villages, they destroy livestock, and when they leave, Israel has left with nothing. The people become so desperate that they begin hiding in caves and mountain strongholds. This is what life looks like when a nation lives disconnected from God. Constant fear, constant survival, constant scarcity. Eventually, Israel cries out to the Lord for help. But once again we should be careful not to assume repentance or sorrow. The text doesn't say they were sorry for their idolatry. It just simply says they cried out. Often, when we cry out to God, we're simply frustrated that the things we trusted have failed us, you know, career, money, relationship, ships, politics, success, and when those things collapse we suddenly remember God. Not necessarily because we really want him as he is, but we want relief. Those are two different things. Before God sends a deliverer, he sends a prophet and an angel. Judge is six. When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of midian he sent them a prophet who said, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all of your pressers. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. I said to you, I am the Lord, your God. Do not worship the gods of the Emorites in whose lands you live, But you have not listened to me. The Angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Oprah that belonged to joe As thee right where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the Midianites. When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior. That's Judges six seven to twelve. The prophet reminds Israel of their history. God rescued them from Egypt, he delivered them from oppressors, he gave them the land, and he told them not to worship the gods of the Emirites. But the prophet concludes with a devastating sentence, you haven't listened to me. God had spoken clearly, Israel simply refused to hear. And into this moment steps Gideon, or steps an angel to Gideon, and the introduction is almost comical. Gideon is threshing wheat in a wine press. Now that might not sound strange at first, but threshing wheat normally requires open space and wind. Wine presses are pits carved into the rock. Gideon's hiding. That's the point, trying to process grain in a place completely unsuited for the task. It's an image of fear. And while he's hiding, an angel of the Lord appears and says something surprising. The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Now look, I would look who am I? But if I were God, I would have said something like, Gideon, what are you doing? But what are you thinking here, aren't you supposed to fill in the blank? But that's not what God says. God says, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Wow. Well, at this point, Gideon looks like anything but a mighty warrior. He's hiding in a hole freshing wheat. But God often sees things in people before those things exist, or maybe better, God actually knows the quest that he has ready for people, ordinary people like Gideon. Gideon's response is revealing. He says, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Wow, there's some boldness there. It's just not smart. And look, it sounds reasonable, but it completely misses the point. Gideon is blaming God, and so do I. Often Gideon assumes God has unfairly abandoned Israel. I'm sure that was kind of going around the tribes. Where's God? Why has he abandoned us? We're on our own here. It sounds like modern times, but the reader, you and I already know the truth. God hadn't abandoned Israel. Israel has abandoned God. God is pursuing Israel. Isn't that interesting? God is pursuing Israel and they think he's abandoning them. It might not feel like it to cold hearted Israel, self centered Israel, who wants to do what they want to do, but we the readers know Gideon represents something deeply human. When life collapses, we instinctively blame God for the consequences of our own choices. Well, Gideon's real problem isn't that he doubts God's power. It's that it refuses to examine his own heart. There's no repentance, there's no sorrow, there's no realization that he's abandoned God. There's no confession, there's no winners that israel suffering is connected to their idolatry. They're chasing after other gods and God is giving them over. So he just assumes the standard operating procedure. God failed. And if we're honest, come on, many of us have had moments exactly like that, maybe recently so. And yet God responds with a man astonishing patents. I mean, this is God in the universe. You see how Gideon's talking to him. So instead of rebuking Gideon, which would make sense, God says, go in the strength you have, whatever that is, and save Israel out of Nidian's hands. I love it, I mean highly unlikely. Gideon objects, of course, I mean that makes sense to me. My clan is the weakest in Manassa, and I am the least in my family. Boy, there's a cop out from a human perspective. It even might be true, but Gideon is still ignoring the central promise. God says, I will be with you. That's the only thing that ultimately matters. So Gideon asks for proof. He prepares a meal offering. The Angel touches it with a staff, fire consumes it instantly, and suddenly Gideon realizes he has encountered the Lord. So boy, a voice doesn't do it, but a magic trick does again, very human, so he panics. Now he assumes he is going to die because of he's been responding, And yeah, I get that. He You know, a case could be made that reaction reveals something interesting. Gideon doesn't yet understand God or God's mercy, or God's pursuing or God's call, or God's unlikely love for the unlovable. Like Gideon right, his view of God still looks more like the pagan gods of Canaan dangerous, unpredictable, capricious. Boy, you don't want to tick him off. Still, Gideon bills an altar and names it the Lord is Peace. But even here something is missing. No confession, no sorrow for sin, no sacrifice for sin. I also wonder if this is a deflection versus crying out proclaiming that God is Lord and the God of peace. Easier to name a pile of rocks peace, It's possible. Gideon simply adds Yahweh to the list of God's he hopes will help them well. That same night, God gives Gideon his first task. Before Gideon can confront Ndian, he must confront idolatry at home, specifically his father's alter to bail. There you go. God tells Gideon to tear down the altar, cut down the asher a pole beside it, and build a proper altar to the Lord. Then offer a burnt sacrifice. The command is risky. I mean, it's going to put Gideon in conflict with his own community, his own family, his father. Right. I mean, this is interesting, right, And Gideon obeys, But but he's still Gideon. He does it at night. He's still hiding, he's still operating in the shadows. He's still risk averse, but he does obey, and sometimes you know that's how faith begins, small steps in the darkness, imperfect obedience taken while our hearts are still trembling. By morning, the town is furious. The altar of Bail is destroyed. They demand Gideon's death. Somehow they find out, but Gideon's father unexpectedly defends him, and he says, it's kind of a statement of faith. I guess, kind of weird. If Bail is really a god, then let Bail defend himself. Kind of funny. Not exactly a man of faith, not the kind of elder you want in your church. And Gideon receives a new nickname, Jereb Bail, which means let Bail contend with him. What we see here is not the rise of a confident hero. It's the beginning of a transformation. It's the beginning of a quest for a unlikely, unworthy, really in many ways, unlovable guy. God chooses a fearful, confuse, spiritually and sense man with very few qualifications and slowly begins shaping him into something more, which tells us something important. God rarely begins with finished heroes. He's not checking, resumes to make his calling. He begins with people who look a lot like Gideon, and that would include me. So here's the question the story raises. Where have we blamed God for the consequences of our own choices? Where have we built quiet altars, hidden compromises while still hoping God will rescue us? Are still identifying as being people of God? And what simple step of obedience might God already be asking you and I to take something we could do on our own strength, in the strength we've already been given. Yeap, what's next? I will let you know after this brief word from our sponsors. Well enough parent book is out. Parenting is hard. Too often Christian parents feel like they're really messing up, doing a poor job, ruining their kids. And by the way, your kids are asking subconsciously two questions. Wouldn't you like to know what those questions are? I mean, I think you're called to be the answer to those two questions. So, four parents and grandparents and guardians, I've pulled together eighteen biblical, neuroscientifically informed, very doable tips that can help, no shame, no lecturing. Bottom line parents, if you're feeling the love of God for the unlovable and loved unlovely and worthy, unlikely and hurting. Particularly if you're feeling shamed and frustrated as parents, your child is not helping. If you're feeling the love of God, your child's going to notice the difference. Get the book and read it. I think you'll be encouraged. The goal is to be your child's best pal when they are thirty. Get two or three of the tips and apply them to your family and give me a call, give me a text and let me know. Bill at gospeldesh app dot com. Get copies for your church, your Bible study, book club, neighborhood children, and children's children. They will thank you. Next time, we're going to continue the story of Gideon, and we'll see how God turns a fearful man hiding in a wine press into the leader of one of the most unusual military victories in the Bible. But he still maintains a fatal flaw. Thanks for listening to breaking badly take our child of God.