THE SECRET TO BEING VICTORIOUS
Text: Judges 7:1-23
Introduction
This morning my message text is found in Judges 7:1-23 and the title of the message is, "The Secret To Being Victorious". Within these verses, the prominent figure is a man named Gideon.
During the days of Gideon, Israel had turned away from the Lord and we are told in Judges 6:1 that "The Lord gave them into the hands of Midian seven years." Israel was greatly mistreated by the Midianites so they cried out to God for help.
Judges 6:6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. (NIV)
Because of this, Israel needed a leader and Gideon was the man God chose. He was the 6th Judge of Israel and judged Israel for 40 years. What kind of person was Gideon?
Judges 6:11-12 Then the Lord's angel came to the village of Ophrah and sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was threshing some wheat secretly in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him. 12 The Lord's angel appeared to him there and said, "The Lord is with you, brave and mighty man!" (TEV)
At the time God called Gideon to be Israel’s Judge and leader, he was hiding from the Midianites. Which only goes to show the kind of person God can use.
I’ve heard many different people over the years say things like: "I'm only a housewife." "I'm only a janitor." "I'm only an average student." “I’m too old to do anything for God.”
Underestimating one's usefulness to God is nothing new. When God looked for someone to conquer the Midianites, He chose unimpressive Gideon.
Gideon responded, "How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family" (v.15). But God persisted, saying, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian..." (v.16). God uses ordinary people to carry out His extraordinary plan.
Before we look at our text, it is important that we first look at the verses just before this in order to setup our context.
In Judges 6:25-26, we find that God told Gideon to take his father's bulls and pull down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that was beside it. After he had done this, he was supposed to build an altar to the Lord and offer a burnt offering to him.
In verse 27 we find Gideon obeying God's command. Because of this, the Midianites became very angry with him and assembled a large army in the valley of Jezreel,
What does our text say about this great battle that was fought in this valley?
Judges 7:1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose early and camped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. (NASB)
The name Jerubbaal was a name that was given to Gideon by his father Joash.
Judges 6:32 So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar. (NIV)
While we are not told how many people were with Gideon in verse 1, from the remainder of the chapter we know that there were actually 32,000 men with him in the beginning. 32,000 people is a large number in anyone's book, yet what God is interested in is not quantity, but quality. This means that God is not just interested in numbers, but rather obedience and faithfulness to Him.
Matthew 18:20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (NIV)
Revelation 3:4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. (NIV)
What good is it to have 100, 1,000, 10,000 or even 32,000 church members if they are not going to obey and follow God's commands?
So, in the remainder of this chapter God shows us the kind of people he is looking for. And he begins a process to weed out the rest. Through these people God gave Israel the victory over their enemies, the Midianites. What kind of characteristics do we see in these people. What is the key to being victorious?