Hebrews 11:32 -34
32. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets.
33. Who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. 34. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens
Judges 6:11
“The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash [who was his dad] his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.]
4 Key Steps to Gideon’s Path to Power –
1. AFFIRMATION
(v. 12)
“The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and he said, `The Lord is with you mighty warrior.'”
v. 13
“But sir,’ Gideon replied. `If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the wonders that the fathers told about us when they said, `Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hands of the Midians.'”
v. 15
“But Lord,’ Gideon asked. `How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manesseh and I’m the least in my family.'”
v. 14
“The Lord turned to him and said, `Go in the strength that you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?‘ … The Lord answered, `I will be with you. You will strike down the Midianites as if they were but one man.'”
2. GOD’S REVELATION
v. 17,
“If I’ve now found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it’s really you talking to me. Please don’t go away until I come back and bring an offering and set it before you.’ And the Lord said, `I’ll wait for you to return.'”
v. 22
“When Gideon realizes that it was the angel of the Lord he exclaimed, `Ah, sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.’ But God said to him, `Peace. Don’t be afraid. You’re not going to die.’ So Gideon built an altar. And he called it `The Lord is peace’ and it stands there to this day.”
3. CONFRONTATION
v. 25
“That same night the Lord said to him, `Take the second bull from your father’s herd, one of seven years old and tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah [which was another god. Baal was a fertility god. It was a sexual cult] Then build the proper kind of altar to the Lord, your God, on the top of this bluff and using the wood of the Asherah, that you cut down, offer the second bull as an offering.” So Gideon took ten of his servants and he did as the Lord told him.”
1. God may test you spiritually.
2. God may test you emotionally
3. God may test you physically.
v. 28
“In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar demolished and the Asherah beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the altar. They asked each other, `Who did this?’ When they carefully investigate they were told Gideon, son of Joash did it.’ So the men of the town demanded of Joash his dad, “Bring out your son. He must die because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah beside it.”
(v. 31)
“Joash replied to the hostile crowd round him, `Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you going to try to save him? If Baal is really a god he can defend himself.”
4. Gideon’s TRANSFORMATION
v. 34
“Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon.”