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27: teaching series, Gideon
February 25, 2018 | steve ellis Lesson Outline: Gideon - Peace in Faith Southbelt Church of Christ
I. Introduction
Hebrews 11:32 32
And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:
This week from (Hebrews 11) A Portrait of Faith we will notice the image painted of Gideon
Looking back as we have painted this portrait, we have noticed: Faith = Know + Trust + Move (Knowing God, we Trust Him as we Move according to His purpose)
Noah - Had a faith that stood out In Abraham - We see a heart of faith demonstrated in worship to the Lord Joseph - Was robed with faith Moses - Demonstrated a faith the responded to the Lord Joshua - Had a faith that brought down walls and
Rahab’s faith was from the other side of the wall and one that trusted the Lord
Gideon, in the O.T. book of Judges (Judges 6), we will notice lived in a very difficult time in the history of Israel
As we notice Judges 6:1 “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,”
Israel had enjoyed forty years of rest (or peace) after the defeat of the Canaanites, but as they had done in the past, they repeated the mistakes of their fathers in turning again to foreign god’s
God delivered them into the hands of the Midianites and the Amalekites
Judges 6:4-6 4 Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. 6 So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.
Noticing back up in (v2) the children of Israel hid from the Midianites in caves and the dens of the mountians
Gideon lived during a time when Israel was impoverished, fearful, it was a time of conflict and turbulence
II. Lesson
Does this sound familiar? Does it sound much different than the times we live in today?
Bill Rasco, Heroes of Faith - A Study of Hebrews 11 (pg. 41)
“Conflict. Upheaval. Instability. Chaos. Sometimes it seems like our days and our circumstances will get the best of us. We worry and fret over what can happen or what we expect. We wonder about the future and feel shame over our past. It seems like conflict is part of being human. The sad truth is that conflict is part of this fallen world. The world is full of circumstances that leave us feeling bruised and battered. That is why the promise of peace is so important in the life of the Christian.” [1]
God desires for us to have and to know His peace. The fruit of the Spirit is peace (Gal. 5:22)
Jesus, Himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14) and He gives peace (John 14:27)
We are told in (Philippians 4:6,7) “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Again, Bro. Rasco would write, “Faith grows best in the climate of peace. Faith tells us that the God who promises peace is able to accomplish peace in our lives. Faith opens our eyes to the ways that God is moving to bring us peace.” [2]
Learning from Gideon
Gideon lived in turbulent times, times when conflict and distress were always present. Looking at the account of Gideon, what can we learn about God’s peace for us today?
Notice three things with me:
1. Our identity in the Lord
Judges 6:11-13 11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” 13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
Notice how the Lord saw Gideon (v12) “mighty man of valor!”
Is this how Gideon viewed himself? NO
Gideon is hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat so as to not be noticed or seen by the Midianites
He is full of doubt and fear “if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?”
He is doubting God, “And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’”
Gideon’s conclusion is “But now the Lord has forsaken us…”
So often don’t we allow our circumstances to identify us?
Do we listen to the voice of our enemy when we are told we are worthless, undesired, and of no use?
This is a message, I pray our younger generation would understand, I pray some of us as an older generation would understand
We ware the name of the King, Christian
1 Peter 2:9-10 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Our identity as a Christian, our value, our worth is not in the lies of the enemy, it is not in our circumstances
Our value and worth is found in an identity that is in the Lord
As His children, we ware His name, and He defines our worth
2. Walking with the Lord
Gideon’s faith is shaken, he is weak and feels hopeless as he is surrounded by his enemies
Thrashing wheat in the winepress he is exhausted under his own strength
Judges 6:14-16 14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” 15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
The Lord calls Gideon to walk in a new strength, He calls Gideon to walk in His strength
The Lord said to Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
Can we know peace when we stand in the middle of conflict, in the middle of circumstances that seemingly overpower us and seem to great to overcome?
He calms the storms when the wind and waves beat against us, the promise of the Lord is for our rest
Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
When things seem out of control when our circumstances swirl around us like a raging storm
When we feel defeated, weak and small
Walk with the Lord, walk in His strength and know His peace
Shift our focus from our circumstances to the Lord
3. Seeing the presence of the Lord
In (Judges 6:17), Gideon speaking to the Angel of the Lord says
“If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.”And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”
Gideon prepares an offering and in (v21) the Angle of the Lord consumes this offering by the end of His staff, then departed from Gideon’s sight
Gideon suddenly comes to the realization of Whom he has been in the presence of
(Judges 6:22) Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”
Brother Coffman notes in his commentary:
“Gideon was familiar with the Five Books of Moses (Yes, they most certainly existed when Samuel wrote the Book of Judges), and the passage in Exodus 33:20 came instantly to mind: "No man shall see me (God) and live." The fear that clutched at Gideon's heart came from the knowledge that no man could see God and live.” [3]
The Lord comforted Gideon’s heart, and brought peace to him “you shall not die.”
So Gideon (Judges 6:24) built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace.
Here, perhaps is one of the most important points in our lesson today
God is with us, we must train our hearts and minds to see His presence
It will take practice to learn to see the Lord
When “Conflict. Upheaval. Instability. Chaos.” surround us, the Lord is with us, and He goes before us
When we see Him, we know peace, The-Lord-Is-Peace
III. Conclusion
So what do we learn today from the faith of Gideon? What picture do we see?
1. “Faith grows best in the climate of peace. Faith tells us that the God who promises peace is able to accomplish peace in our lives. Faith opens our eyes to the ways that God is moving to bring us peace.” [1]
2. Our identity is not in our circumstances or the value or worth the world may assign to us. Our identity, as Christians, is in the Lord, in His promises, and in His purposes. He assigns our value not our enemy
3. We can know peace in the middle of conflict if we will rely on the strength of the Lord and not our own efforts - in our efforts, we will exhaust ourselves
4. The Lord is Peace, and we need to learn to see His presence in our day
The faith of Gideon is one that is restored from a place of defeat and hopelessness, a place of anxiety and fear to a place of one that knows peace and overcomes
references:
*All Scripture from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted *Series based on Heroes of Faith-A Study of Hebrews 11, Bill Rasco, 2012, 21st Century Christian, 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN., http://21stcenturychristian.com/viewproduct.cfm/resultstable/tblItem/prodno/9780890985847/startrow/1
[1] Heroes of Faith-A Study of Hebrews 11, Bill Rasco, 2012, 21st Century Christian, 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN., p. 41 [2] Heroes of Faith-A Study of Hebrews 11, Bill Rasco, 2012, 21st Century Christian, 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN., p. 42 [3] Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Judges 6". "Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/judges-6.html. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999., accessed: 24 Feb. 2018
Blessings!
Steve Ellis
About: Steve has been married to his truly loving wife for the past twenty-four years and they have three beautiful daughters. He is also the preaching minister at Southbelt Church of Christ located in Pasadena, TX. The views expressed in this article may not necessarily reflect the views of Southbelt Church of Christ. SimplyRevised.org, articles, podcast, associated resources and materials are a reflection of the ministry of Steve Ellis.
Links:
Subscribe to our email list
Contact simplyRevised
music provided by Eric Gwin: http://ericgwin.com
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February 25, 2018 | steve ellis Lesson Outline: Gideon - Peace in Faith Southbelt Church of Christ
I. Introduction
Hebrews 11:32 32
And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:
This week from (Hebrews 11) A Portrait of Faith we will notice the image painted of Gideon
Looking back as we have painted this portrait, we have noticed: Faith = Know + Trust + Move (Knowing God, we Trust Him as we Move according to His purpose)
Noah - Had a faith that stood out In Abraham - We see a heart of faith demonstrated in worship to the Lord Joseph - Was robed with faith Moses - Demonstrated a faith the responded to the Lord Joshua - Had a faith that brought down walls and
Rahab’s faith was from the other side of the wall and one that trusted the Lord
Gideon, in the O.T. book of Judges (Judges 6), we will notice lived in a very difficult time in the history of Israel
As we notice Judges 6:1 “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,”
Israel had enjoyed forty years of rest (or peace) after the defeat of the Canaanites, but as they had done in the past, they repeated the mistakes of their fathers in turning again to foreign god’s
God delivered them into the hands of the Midianites and the Amalekites
Judges 6:4-6 4 Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. 6 So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.
Noticing back up in (v2) the children of Israel hid from the Midianites in caves and the dens of the mountians
Gideon lived during a time when Israel was impoverished, fearful, it was a time of conflict and turbulence
II. Lesson
Does this sound familiar? Does it sound much different than the times we live in today?
Bill Rasco, Heroes of Faith - A Study of Hebrews 11 (pg. 41)
“Conflict. Upheaval. Instability. Chaos. Sometimes it seems like our days and our circumstances will get the best of us. We worry and fret over what can happen or what we expect. We wonder about the future and feel shame over our past. It seems like conflict is part of being human. The sad truth is that conflict is part of this fallen world. The world is full of circumstances that leave us feeling bruised and battered. That is why the promise of peace is so important in the life of the Christian.” [1]
God desires for us to have and to know His peace. The fruit of the Spirit is peace (Gal. 5:22)
Jesus, Himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14) and He gives peace (John 14:27)
We are told in (Philippians 4:6,7) “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Again, Bro. Rasco would write, “Faith grows best in the climate of peace. Faith tells us that the God who promises peace is able to accomplish peace in our lives. Faith opens our eyes to the ways that God is moving to bring us peace.” [2]
Learning from Gideon
Gideon lived in turbulent times, times when conflict and distress were always present. Looking at the account of Gideon, what can we learn about God’s peace for us today?
Notice three things with me:
1. Our identity in the Lord
Judges 6:11-13 11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” 13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
Notice how the Lord saw Gideon (v12) “mighty man of valor!”
Is this how Gideon viewed himself? NO
Gideon is hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat so as to not be noticed or seen by the Midianites
He is full of doubt and fear “if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?”
He is doubting God, “And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’”
Gideon’s conclusion is “But now the Lord has forsaken us…”
So often don’t we allow our circumstances to identify us?
Do we listen to the voice of our enemy when we are told we are worthless, undesired, and of no use?
This is a message, I pray our younger generation would understand, I pray some of us as an older generation would understand
We ware the name of the King, Christian
1 Peter 2:9-10 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Our identity as a Christian, our value, our worth is not in the lies of the enemy, it is not in our circumstances
Our value and worth is found in an identity that is in the Lord
As His children, we ware His name, and He defines our worth
2. Walking with the Lord
Gideon’s faith is shaken, he is weak and feels hopeless as he is surrounded by his enemies
Thrashing wheat in the winepress he is exhausted under his own strength
Judges 6:14-16 14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” 15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
The Lord calls Gideon to walk in a new strength, He calls Gideon to walk in His strength
The Lord said to Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
Can we know peace when we stand in the middle of conflict, in the middle of circumstances that seemingly overpower us and seem to great to overcome?
He calms the storms when the wind and waves beat against us, the promise of the Lord is for our rest
Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
When things seem out of control when our circumstances swirl around us like a raging storm
When we feel defeated, weak and small
Walk with the Lord, walk in His strength and know His peace
Shift our focus from our circumstances to the Lord
3. Seeing the presence of the Lord
In (Judges 6:17), Gideon speaking to the Angel of the Lord says
“If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.”And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”
Gideon prepares an offering and in (v21) the Angle of the Lord consumes this offering by the end of His staff, then departed from Gideon’s sight
Gideon suddenly comes to the realization of Whom he has been in the presence of
(Judges 6:22) Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”
Brother Coffman notes in his commentary:
“Gideon was familiar with the Five Books of Moses (Yes, they most certainly existed when Samuel wrote the Book of Judges), and the passage in Exodus 33:20 came instantly to mind: "No man shall see me (God) and live." The fear that clutched at Gideon's heart came from the knowledge that no man could see God and live.” [3]
The Lord comforted Gideon’s heart, and brought peace to him “you shall not die.”
So Gideon (Judges 6:24) built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace.
Here, perhaps is one of the most important points in our lesson today
God is with us, we must train our hearts and minds to see His presence
It will take practice to learn to see the Lord
When “Conflict. Upheaval. Instability. Chaos.” surround us, the Lord is with us, and He goes before us
When we see Him, we know peace, The-Lord-Is-Peace
III. Conclusion
So what do we learn today from the faith of Gideon? What picture do we see?
1. “Faith grows best in the climate of peace. Faith tells us that the God who promises peace is able to accomplish peace in our lives. Faith opens our eyes to the ways that God is moving to bring us peace.” [1]
2. Our identity is not in our circumstances or the value or worth the world may assign to us. Our identity, as Christians, is in the Lord, in His promises, and in His purposes. He assigns our value not our enemy
3. We can know peace in the middle of conflict if we will rely on the strength of the Lord and not our own efforts - in our efforts, we will exhaust ourselves
4. The Lord is Peace, and we need to learn to see His presence in our day
The faith of Gideon is one that is restored from a place of defeat and hopelessness, a place of anxiety and fear to a place of one that knows peace and overcomes
references:
*All Scripture from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted *Series based on Heroes of Faith-A Study of Hebrews 11, Bill Rasco, 2012, 21st Century Christian, 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN., http://21stcenturychristian.com/viewproduct.cfm/resultstable/tblItem/prodno/9780890985847/startrow/1
[1] Heroes of Faith-A Study of Hebrews 11, Bill Rasco, 2012, 21st Century Christian, 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN., p. 41 [2] Heroes of Faith-A Study of Hebrews 11, Bill Rasco, 2012, 21st Century Christian, 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN., p. 42 [3] Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Judges 6". "Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/judges-6.html. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999., accessed: 24 Feb. 2018
Blessings!
Steve Ellis
About: Steve has been married to his truly loving wife for the past twenty-four years and they have three beautiful daughters. He is also the preaching minister at Southbelt Church of Christ located in Pasadena, TX. The views expressed in this article may not necessarily reflect the views of Southbelt Church of Christ. SimplyRevised.org, articles, podcast, associated resources and materials are a reflection of the ministry of Steve Ellis.
Links:
Subscribe to our email list
Contact simplyRevised
music provided by Eric Gwin: http://ericgwin.com