Chris

Question 5 Gideons reason for slaying Zebah and Zalmunna were to avenge the death of his family. We have to remember that these were different times to now and that a ruling at that time was that you could avenge the unjust killing of members of your family. In the light of this fact I feel that we should not be too hard on Gideon for his actions as he was only carrying out the actions he truly believed to be correct at that time. However we then go to Romans 12: 19 and we are categorically told that it is not our place to take vengeance and that any wrong doing should be left in the hands of the Lord to avenge and not our hands. On reflection I feel that it is so important that we do keep our anger and temper under control no matter how much we may be goaded - one good reason for this is that by our showing anger we are not showing the true character of the Lord to others and will be giving the wrong idea about how a Christian should live and behave - in effect we would condoning any sort of bad behaviour

Question 4 The reason for the refusal of the cities of Succoth and Peniel refusal to help Gideon and his army was their fear of the Midianites and retaliation. At that time all they could think of was the fact that the Midianites had not been completely eradicated and they didn't have the same faith in God that Gideon did and they decided to take what they thought was the easy way out. Their sin at that time was they lacked faith and allegiance to the Lord and that they did not show love and compassion to Gideons army when they needed food (for the Lord has said that to whomever we feed when hungry we are also feeding Him). Gideon has no alternative but to punish the cities of Succoth and Peniel for the fact that they not only turned their backs on Gideon but also on the Lord. As to the whether a Christian now could be guilty of the sin of these two cities, I would say yes as there are times in our lives when we do not put our complete trust in the Lord and I am sure that there have been times in each of our lives when we have not shown the love and compassion to others that the Lord would have required of us - I know this is true in my own case but at least I am prepared to admit it and hope I will learn from these mistakes in future.

Question 3 The reason that Gideon had to vanquish the Midianite Army of 15,000 in Karkor was because there was always the danger that if any of the army had been spared they would rebuild an army and retaliate at some time in the future. With regards to our own lives we have to learn to be honest with ourselves and the problems we may be facing at a given time. We must also be prepared to admit to ourselves our own deficiencies and if necessary seek the help of a fellow Christian or leader within our Church. What we must avoid is the feeling that just because we are Christians we are beyond any kind of suffering and that when we do experience any type of trial in our life we take the necessary steps to seek the Lord in order to strengthen us throughout this period. It is when we do not seek the Lord's help that we will feel so alone and helpless but with the Lord on our side nothing is impossible.

Question 2 Gideon was asking the Ephraimites to join in and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah. In so doing they killed the Midianite leaders Oreb and Zeeb and took their heads to Gideon. The Ephraimites were initially angry as they strongly felt that they should have been included at the onset of the attack on the Midianite camp. To put it bluntly their noses were put out of joint through Gideon not asking for their help. I find Gideon's reply to be a good standing for our own spiritual journey with Christ and this reminds us that whatever we do in His name should be for His glory and not our own. As we see in Gideon's case, on the one hand he could have boasted to the Ephraimites about his victory over the Midianites and made them even more angrier. However he chose to minimise his part in the battle and bring praise to the Ephraimites for their own accomplishments with the gleaning of grapes as opposed to the grape harvest of Abiezer. We must always remember that we are not the victor throughout our journey and that we must humble ourselves wholely to our Saviour in all that we do.

Question 1. Gideon's reason for dividing his army into three companies was in order to trick the Midianites into thinking that their camp was surrounded with a lot more than 300 men. With respect to the trumpets normally in battle each individual group of an army would blow their trumpet prior to moving forward. In this case, of course, there was the sound of 300 trumpets which had the result of causing panic amongst the Midianites as it gave the effect of a large army of men. The purpose of the empty jars was to hide the torches till they were ready to attack and at that time the jars would be shattered on the ground, thus revealing many torches around the Midianites camp which would again give the effect of a large army surrounding them. The result of this particular strategy was complete and utter confusion within the Midianite camp and they didn't know whether they were coming or going. In the confusion, plus the fact that it was dark, the Midianites were running in all directions and were even attacking and killing each other. I feel that the reason this strategy worked was because the Lord was with Gideon and it was He that put the thoughts of confusion and fear into the Midianites minds. Another important reason I feel this strategy was successful was owing to Gideon's faith in God to deliver the Mitianites into their hands as promised. If Gideon had gone against God's wishes at any time, for instant in increasing the number of his army being deployed, then I am sure the result would have been so different. This situation can also be compared to our own Christian lives, not so much leading an army, but having the faith and trust in God to lead us and the knowledge to know that He will never forsake us.

The rolling barley loaf in the Midianites dream refers to Gideon's army proceeding to Midian and finally having victory over the Midianites. God's reason for allowing Gideon to overhear the conversation was as a final reassurance to him and also to encourage him to have the confidence and faith in Him to carry out His will and to know that he would have victory over the Midianites even with 300 men.

The significance between selecting lappers as opposed to Kneelers I feel is purely with regard to "Being prepared". I say this because the lappers were more likely to be aware of their surroundings while drinking and be able to see all that was going on around them, whereas the kneelers would not be fully aware of their surroundings. The difference between these two with regard to either being a member of an army is that the former would be more alert in their actions, whereas the latter due to their lack of alertness could put the rest of the army in danger.

Personally I feel that we are only human and that with our scope of knowledge and wisdom cannot always fully appreciate what God is capable of. I do not feel that there is anything wrong with first trying to understand God's will for us rather than obeying immediately. God knew right from the beginning of time that there would be times that His followers would have times of doubt and I strongly feel that he would prefer us to question him rather than bulldoze ahead in a particular direction not knowing why we are going in that direction. I am sure He doesn't look upon it as a weakness in our part but like Gideon that we are pursuing to strengthen our own understanding and faith in God. In a proportion of our Christian life we may have no doubt whatsoever in knowing what God wants us to do but none of us can be exempt from situations whereby we are unsure and cannot determine in which direction to take. In these situations we must humbly come to God for spiritual guidance and even more importantly than this we must ensure that we are listening 100% for the answer even if it means we have to ask again. If we do not listen 100% to what God has to say to us then we are in danger of not carrying out His will so I do feel that we need that assurance sometimes that we are doing the right thing. Sometimes God may use another person to point us in the right direction when we go through those times when we are unsure of His will. I know in my own life I have times when I am in no doubt atall as to what God wants me to do but there are other times when I have not been so confident and on those occasions He has used fellow Christians to reassure me.

When I first read the passage I did initially feel that after the first test then Gideon should have been satisfied but after reflection it would seem that he purely wanted to make sure that there hadn't been a fluke of nature so he requested the opposite of his first request to God. When you really get down to thinking about it Gideon also had to consider his army so I think he wanted to be absolutely sure about what God was telling him not only for himself but for the safety of his men. Ok it may be debatable as to whether he should have put his complete faith in God but if we consider our own faith I think we all fall short on occasions and do have times when we are unsure which way we are going and what God's will is for us. In this particular instance Gideon is not asking God to perform miracles to prove anything but in order to increase his faith in God's capabilities

The reason why God felt that the army was too large is due to the fact that if Gideon had gone out and had been victorious over the Midianites it wouldn't necessarily have been considered by the Israelites as having anything to with God helping them and certainly would not have led to restoration of their faith and allegiance. Gideon must have been under terrible pressures and fear for what others would think of him as a leader and also for the safety of his army as God continually asked him to reduce his army. In this day and age we wouldn't initially even consider going to fight another country with a smaller amount of men but the reason behind God's request was that Israel's faith and allegiance was more likely to be restored if there was a victory over the Midianites with so few men. In the end after being led by God to go down the Midian camp Gideon heard a Midianite telling of a dream that he had whose interpretation of it was that God had given Gideon victory over the Midianites. Once he had heard this he felt reassured and was then in no doubt of obeying God's will.

Initially my first thought is that we should have enough faith in God not to ask for any kind of re-assurance whether it be by a sign or any other means. However as we are human through the original sin we do from time to time have doubts and find it difficult to determine if what we are doing is actually God's will or whether the direction we are taking is God's way. Just as we would expect our children to come to us if they are in doubt of our instructions or wishes I feel that God also wants us to turn to him for assurance - not so much testing - that we are doing what he wants us to. Regards Chris

What inspires Gideon to blow the battle horn and summon an army against the Midianites. What does Gideon have in common with other judges and leaders of his era? (Hint: see Deuteronomy 34:9; Judges 3:10; 11:9; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Samuel 11:6.) There was only one inspiration that inspired Gideon to blow the battle horn and that was the Spirit of the Lord coming upon him. As we know today the Holy Spirit is just as powerful in our lives as it was then and we all need to allow ourselves to be strengthened by the Spirit in all we do for Christ. The common demoninator between Gideon and other judges and leaders of his era is the fact that God was ultimately in control in each of their lives and in some cases they were not fully aware of it. He was in control of every one of them, albeit in different ways. If we study the Bible closely we do see God 's works throughout. The same too, if we look back in our own lives we too will also see how God has worked in and through us in every situation we have experienced. The Holy Spirit is an important part of all Christians lives today and providing we allow it will help us to discern right from wrong and will guide us to live our life as Christ would want us to.

What kind of leader has Gideon's father Joash been up to this point? (6:25b) How does Gideon's action affect his father? (6:30-31) Shouldn't Gideon have considered the impact on his father? How should this have affected Gideon's action? In what sense is Joash a follower of Yahweh now? Up to that point Joash was continually swaying to and fro between Baal and God and was not totally committed to either. As there was a mixture of worshippers between Baal and God he allowed both worships and also permitted the altar to be built in respect of the worshippers of Baal. At the time I think he felt he was doing what was right as he didn't know any better. I am sure that Gideon did consider the impact on his father and that this was one of the most difficult tasks he had to carry out for God as it would directly affect his father Joash should he be revealed as the man who destroyed the altar of Baal and pulled down the Asherah Pole. For this reason he carried out the deed in the dark of the night in the hope that no-one would ever know that it was him. Gideon's faith and trust was really put to the test but as much as he loved his family his obedience had to be to God first and foremost as is stated in Matthew 10: 37. The good response that came out of Gideon's actions was the fact that Joash began to realise the power of God and stood proud in his sight against the people he led and instead of being stuck in the middle of Baal and God he chose to commit completely to God's ways and support his son's actions.

Can a person be a "disobedient disciple"? Doesn't that represent an oxymoron? Did Gideon have a choice here? Do we have choices? Yes I do feel that a person can be a "disobedient disciple" for the mere reason that we are all human and the fact that we were all born sinners. We may for the majority of the time follow Christ and obey all that He requires of us but there are times that we ALL choose to do things our way rather than God's way. For most of us this is only a temporary situation and we soon realise that our way is not best and this failure to comply with God's wishes in no way makes us less a disciple. God knows that all through our Christian life there will be times when we will ignore his will and go our own way but he doesn't love us any the less for it. Just as we as parents will have "disobedient children", God will have "disobedient disciples". In both cases guidance is needed and through the power of the Holy Spirit within us God will discipline us and point us in the right direction. Initially yes Gideon did have a choice as we have all been given the freedom to choose in our life. At no time did God physically force Gideon to do His will and the final decision to go ahead and destroy Baal's altar and the Asherah pole , regardless of the risk, was Gideon's. One factor I feel that led to this decision was the fact that he had experienced God's presence prior to this and promised to be with him always. We also do have the same choices as to whether to follow our own ways or whether to follow God's ways. God would rather us turn to Him willingly than be forced to against our will. At the end of the day we are either for or against God in our every day life.

2.How are we to obey the commandment to "Honor your father and your mother" in the kind of situation Gideon finds himself? What justification does Gideon have for his action? (Matthew 10:37). I know that we are told to honor our father and our mother but we are also told that we should not honor them more than we honor God and that we should not honor sons or daughters more either. As sad as it may seem God has to be the centre of our lives even if it means we have to stand up for our beliefs in front of our own family. Deep down I feel that our standing up for our faith and trust in God could even be the reason for those close to us coming to know Christ in a more personal way through observing what He has done and is still doing in our lives. This appeared to happen to Gideon's father Joash and although I don't think he was absolutely against God he was neither one way or the other just a happy medium. However when it came to the crunch he chose to stand up for his son's actions and thereby acknowledging that God was the one and only God. To conclude it wasn't really a matter of choice for Gideon - as much as he may have loved his family his faith in God was more important to him as it should be to all of us today. Even if some of our family may not share the same beliefs as we do we can't blame ourselves and should continue in our following of Christ and leave them in God's loving hands.