Lessons from Gideon Part 1

On this week's episode, Crystal digs deeper into the lesson she presented at the Quiet Resting Places ladies meeting last week. In this first part of the study on Gideon from Judges 6, you will be encouraged to know that God knows you in a very personal way! When God looks at us, He sees our potential when we surrender our lives to Him. He doesn’t see our brokenness. Our flaws. Our shortcomings. He sees who He created us to be. 

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hi there, welcome to Wisdom for Wednesday, your midweek pause for truth, encouragement, and practical faith. I'm your host, Crystal Ratcliffe, author, speaker, and fellow traveler on this journey of growing in God's Word. Each week we'll dive into Scripture together and have the opportunity to be encouraged in the truth that never changes. If you're able, grab your Bible, a cup of coffee, and let's seek God's wisdom together. Hi there and welcome back to the podcast. So I had last week the opportunity to be in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee at the Quiet Resting Places Ladies Meeting, and it was such a blessing to me. I have to tell you, I was praying that the Lord would just meet with me there and give me what I needed, and He certainly did that. It was a wonderful meeting. I thank those ladies so much for putting that together. I know that they worked tire tirelessly. I was exhausted watching them, and I was exhausted just from being a part of it. It was a lot of late nights, but it was so fun to get to meet several of you who were podcast listeners or who have done the studies. And I'm so thankful for those of you that stopped at the table to say hello and just to meet me because it is an encouragement to me. And so I really appreciate that. And so I welcome you if you're new to the podcast. If you found out about me from the meeting, I welcome you to the podcast. And today I'm actually going to kind of teach through at least the first part of the lesson I did there. And I just had so much. I had so many notes. This was actually something the Lord changed my mind. I had a plan of what I was going to teach, and I thought it was pretty good, but apparently it wasn't what the Lord wanted. So I actually started studying in the book of Judges, studying about Gideon a week or so before the trip. And truly, I thought it was for my volleyball players. Those of you who followed me, you know that I uh coach volleyball, and the girls were just struggling to have confidence. And so I was telling them the story about how God had told when he was kind of trying to whittle down the army that if any were feel fearful and afraid, they must turn back because fear and discouragement is catching. And so I was kind of talking to the girls about this story and telling them that, and it just really started speaking to my heart. And so I got a lot of encouragement out of studying it again. Obviously, this is a familiar story, and so I want to try and share some of what was so helpful to me in the last couple weeks with you as listeners. And you know, if you were at the meeting, maybe I will say something I didn't. I'm gonna try and go into a little bit more detail than I did during the session. So, anyway, that's where we're gonna be today is in Judges chapter six. So if you have your Bible and you're able to turn there, go ahead and do that while I'm kind of giving some introduction. So the Hebrew name Judges carries that expanded thought of a savior or a deliverer, not just the legal idea of what we think of when we think of a judge. The book of Judges records the desperate times that called for raising up judges or deliverers. Israel's conditions came about because of their apostasy and forsaking God's leadership and his word. Most people believe that this was written by Samuel, who is considered the last judge. And Brother Richard Hester says it is the book of failure through compromise. And there are two contrasting lines of truth throughout the book. There is the desperate wickedness of the human heart, and then there is God's long suffering, his patience, his love, and mercy. Now, before we get to Judges chapter 6, I am going to read in chapter 2. This is kind of the pattern that we will see all throughout the book of Judges. So in chapter 2, verse 11, it says, And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Balaam, and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth, and the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them, and they were greatly distressed. Let's continue there in verse sixteen. It says, Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them, and yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went ahooring after other gods and bowed themselves unto them. They turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord, but they did not so. So this is the pattern that is repeated over and over, and we could continue to read here. But they turn from God, they mingle with the heathen, they intermarry with them, they worship the false deities, and then God punishes their sin by allowing their enemies to oppress them. And then God's people cry out in repentance for deliverance. God answers that prayer and raises up a judge to lead in a miraculous deliverance. And so this continues throughout the book of Judges. And truly, the book of Judges shows us a downward spiral of the nation of Israel. And it is the wickedness and evil that's recorded in the final chapters can be summed up with one verse, and that's in chapter 21, verse 25. It says, In those days there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. So Gideon comes on the scene after they had a period of rest for 40 years. The judge that was right before that was Deborah. You may have you may remember that story, Deborah and Baric, and how God actually used two women in that time period to help deliver his people, Deborah as the judge, and then JL. And so that's another story that you could look at. One thing that I just want to note there that we're going to talk about later on, and it may even be next week. But JayL was available, she was willing, and she was obedient. And those three things are important for us still today, if we want the Lord to be able to use us. Now, one thing that's interesting to me is that up to this point when Gideon comes on the scene, there's 53 recorded years of oppression that the Israelites have been in. And then total, there's 111 years of oppression that's recorded in Judges before Samson is born. So when we're introduced to Gideon, the people had been oppressed by the Midianites for seven years. And not only that, the Amalekites had joined them. And so the Midianites and the Amalekites were joined together against the Israelites. And the time of oppression here was only seven years, which was shorter than some of the other recorded periods, but it was very severe. So the one thing I want you to think about, you will have enemies come against you. And sometimes it feels like you have multiple things happening in your life that will come against you. And the Lord is with you and He has a plan, He has a purpose. I always like to say the Lord knows and the Lord cares. So while we're not fighting other countries like the Midianites, the Amalekites, we do have enemies in our life, we do have trials, we have tribulations, we have things that are coming at us, and sometimes it can seem like they just get stacked one after the other. Things are happening, and you feel like everything's against you. I want you to remember that the Lord is not, he is with you. And so let's read in Judges chapter six. I'm going to start reading in verse four. It says, And they encamped against them and destroyed the increase of the earth till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor ass, for they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude. For both they and their camels were without number, and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. So the first thing that you need to do if you're feeling like everything's against you, is you need to cry unto the Lord, just like the people did here. And we can see that they were starving. They were starving in the midst of a land flowing with milk and honey. And I want you to think about that because they were in the promised land. And so I recently heard a message from Brother Don Ohm that we can be spiritually in three places. And if you've gone through the book of Arise, go, you know that's kind of what it's all about. We can be in Egypt where we're lost in need of salvation. We can be in the wilderness, wandering, not experiencing the abundant life God has for us. And sadly, I think this is where a lot of Christians are, just wandering in the wilderness, never understanding that God has that promised land, that victorious Christian life is available to us right now here on this earth. And it to me is marked by an unshakable peace, an everlasting joy, and abundant fruitfulness. And you will want to stay there. Once you get to the promised land, you will want to stay there. Now, I also heard Brother Jeremy Simpson on his podcast, he added a fourth place, which was backslidden in Babylon. And we know that that can be true. We can be backslidden in our lives. And I would say anytime that you have, you can look back and say, I was closer to the Lord here than you are right now, that means you're backslidden. You've taken a step back from your relationship with the Lord. And understand this, it's you moving backwards, not the Lord. He doesn't move. He is right there and ready for us to be back in a right fellowship with him. So my question on this for you would be: Are we spiritually starving despite all God has given to us? Are we feeling apathetic? Are we feeling spiritually dry? And you may remember I even did an episode on spiritual dryness. But the trouble with Gideon and the Israelites is they didn't know God. They didn't know the God they served. And we could even read about that in Judges chapter 2, verse 10. It says, And there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. So it's speaking of the generation after those who had who had experienced God's deliverance from Egypt and had crossed over the Jordan River and conquered the land. Um, that's the generation that apparently failed to teach the next generation. Um, they needed to be reminded of who God was and all he had done for them. And we see that in verse 8 that the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and I'm sorry, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you and gave you their land. And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God. Fear not the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell, but ye have not obeyed my voice. So God was reminding them who he was and what he had done, his deliverance, and that he is, it says, I am the Lord your God. They needed to understand who he was. It was also a reminder that, hey, it's from your own disobedience that has put you in this position. Because they were questioning whether God cared for them. What we need to understand is that because the Lord was chastening them, that was evidence that he cared for them. Because the Lord will always try to bring you back into a right relationship with him. So when we think about what does it mean to know God, to truly know him. And again, I've done a podcast up on episode on this, I think called What Do I Know About My God? I always think I'm going to go back and put the episode numbers in my notes so I can tell you, and maybe someday I'll get good at that. But um, the word know means to perceive with certainty, to understand clearly. It can also mean to distinguish, as to know one from the other. So for the Israelites in the Old Testament, God did things to show them and the surrounding nations that he was the one true God. Because there were so many nations around them that were openly worshiping and serving false gods. So he wanted to distinguish himself from all the others. And truly, that's the reason that God asked them to be set apart and warned against allowing people from those other nations to influence them and their worship of him. So not only do we know that he is God, the one true God, but we should also desire to know him, to know and recognize the character of God. And we do this by reading and studying his word, by taking time to be still with God. We draw near to him, he draw nears to us, but we also do this by looking back. We recall, we remember all the works of the Lord. And so while Gideon, we can see he didn't fully know God, know who God was, or what God was capable of doing at that point, we can see that God knew Gideon and he knows us. So Gideon, we see in verse 11, he was hiding, um, threshing wheat in the winepress. So let's begin reading in verse 11. It says, And there came an angel of the Lord and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah that pertained unto Joash the Abizarite, and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. And I just love that because God calls him a mighty man of valor while he's hiding in the winepress. So you didn't normally thresh wheat in the winepress. I actually did a deep dive into this in There's a Fly in My Tea when Peter was told that Satan desires to have you and to sift you as wheat. So I kind of did a deep dive into that study, There's a Fly in My Tea, about this to understand what that was talking about. And it's not something you would do in the wine press, so or in the wine cellar. Um, he was attempting to hide the food from his enemies. And so when God looks at us, he sees our potential when we surrender our lives to him. He doesn't see our brokenness, our flaws, our shortcomings. He sees who he created us to be. And I love that. He sees who we can be when we're in his hands. I love that because I never would have thought I would be doing any of these things that I'm doing as far as writing Bible studies and speaking. Some of you know my testimony about writing. When the Lord first put it on my heart to write a nonfiction Bible study, I said, no, I can't do that. I'm not qualified to do that. Um, and so I love that God looks at us and He sees the potential of what we can be when we surrender our lives to Him. And now I'm not saying that for everyone, that's something like writing or speaking. That's not what I'm saying. Even the smallest things, even the service he wants to do us in our church, or singing in the choir, or teaching a Sunday school class, or going out and just being faithful to knock doors and to witness, God wants to use us for those things which are big things because they're spiritual things. All spiritual things are big things, right? So he wants to use us and he finds Gideon hiding in the wine cellar and he says, Thou mighty man of valor. Oh, I just love it. So I wanted to read to you and go through Psalm 139 because that is my favorite place of where it talks about the Lord knowing us and who we are. And actually, if you have done the It's Time Bible study, uh, the very first video lesson to kick off that study is taken from Psalm 139 because it's so personal. And the It's time Bible study goes through various seasons of life. Well, I don't know what season you're in, but God sure does, and He knows you personally in a very intimate way, and we can see that from Psalm 139. So let's take a look there. In Psalm 139, I'm gonna start reading in verse 1. O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me, thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off, thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto it. So this is just evidence. God knows us like no one else does. He knows our thoughts, he knows our words, everything about us. He knows the hurt that you're feeling, the pain you've experienced, he knows the jealousy you feel, the insecurities you have, the uncertainty, the anxiety. He knows it all. So you might as well just talk to him about it, right? I just love that. He knows us so well. And then in verse 7 it says, Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. So it doesn't matter where we go, we cannot get away from the presence of the Lord. He is always with us, and that is so comforting to me. He is always with us, you are not alone. That is the uh quiet resting place's theme is you are not alone. Well, the Lord is always with you. Okay, verse 13 says, For thou hast possessed my reins, thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. So God created me and he calls me wonderful, and that is so amazing. God created you perfectly, exactly like he wanted you to be, and he calls you wonderful. And then verse 17 says, How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God, how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee. God thinks of me continually, he thinks of you continually, his thoughts of us are innumerable, and that is truly amazing. I hope that this right here encourages you as much as it does for me, because while Gideon and the Israelites didn't really know God, he certainly knew then. And God knew Gideon's potential and called him a mighty man of valor, and he looks at you, he calls you wonderful, and he sees your potential when you surrender your life to the Lord for whatever it is that he asks you to do. So you may you may remember I talked about early on JL and how she was available, she was willing, and she was obedient. So while you're waiting for that next step that the Lord has for you, make sure you are doing the basics, the fundamentals of the Christian life, the things that you know you are supposed to be doing. You're reading and studying your Bible, you're praying, you're serving in your church wherever the opportunity arises, you're being involved and you're investing in others, whether that be to encourage other Christians or to witness to the lost. Those are the basics, the foundations, the things that we must be doing in our Christian life. So make sure you're being obedient now, and that is what shows that you are available and you are willing when God wants to give you something more to do. So I'm gonna leave it right there for this week. I've got more to say about Gideon, and I'm excited to bring that out to you, but we'll get to that next week. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. I do appreciate it. And as always, if you enjoyed the episode, please share it with a friend. You will notice in the show notes there is that support the show link, and that will take you to my website, which is also where you can find any of my stationary journals, cards, also the books. They are also available on Amazon, so you can find them there. And I just appreciate your support of the writing ministry and the podcast. Thank you so much.