Darleen Nelson

Gideon had to destroy what was left of the Midianite army so they could not cause his people trouble later. If we think temporary or partial solutions are good enough we are gravely mistaken. The problem must be solved and steps taken to prevent it from creeping up again. As Jesus said when demons are cast out if you do not fill the vacancy left by them more and greater demons will move in. We must use the Word of God, prayer and fellowship to completely get rid of the problems we are facing and to be protected from future occurances. Satan will throw something else our way and it may be serious if we aren't ready for his attacks.

I just read a commentary from the Life Applications Study Bible I have to share as it is so applicable to this topic. "Engineers and millionaires may design and finance an elegant bulding, but it is the brigklayers who get the work done. Pride causes us to want recognition. Are you content to be God's bricklayer of do you resent the work God has given you!" (Life Application Study Bible; Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Ill. Copyright 1988). I must congess after all of my years as an active Christian pride still tries to creep in to the things I do as unto the Lord.

With daylight Gideon knew that his small army could not handle the fleeing Midianites so he asked the Epheaimites to help them. The Epheaimites were very angry because Gideon had not asked them to help in the original attack but this was not according to God's plan. It would not have shown God's power if this large army had been in on the attack and they would probably not have listened to Gideon and his plan anyway. Gideon demonstrated to me that it is not important who gets the glory as long as the plan is successful. He did not demand the credit for the victory because he knew God was the victor and not man. He put the continuing blessing of God ahead of the momentary glory he deserved for the great victory.

Gideon's strategy was to make the Midianites thikn they were a large group and that the Midianites were surrounded by a huge army. In the dark they could see only the torches all around them but not how deep the group was. They did not know they were at a depth of only one person. The noise of the breaking jars was very frightening when they had no idea of what it was The troops were paniced and began fighting anyone they came close to. The problem was the person they were fighting was one of their companions. Those who were not killed by their own soldiers fled to get away form the huge army that was attacking htem. The strategy worked beause they folowed God and were obedient.

Why was it important for Jesus -- and for us -- to grow "in favor with God and men" (2:52)? How is our relationship with people vital to our spiritual growth? We cannot reach others without the help of God in our lives and we must have people's favor or acceptance for them to be willing to listen to what we have to say when we witness to them. God's favor extends into how we accept and deal with people and how close we can become to the example of Jesus' life on earth and how we are to relate to others. We mst be willing to learn from others and not have a closed mind. I know I moved into a completely different church than the one I was raised in and there were some things about the new church that were not in my basic teaching, such as tithing. When the Lord convinced me that tithing was still in His will and it was for today I began tithing and He began blessing me in ways that I still have a problem believing. I wish so much that I had tithed in the more productive years when I would have been given so much more to help others with. Now my chief help is witnessing to others of the way the Lord blessed me when Istarted tithing.

What does it mean that "the grace of God was upon him"? (2:40) Why was this necessary for Jesus? Why is it necessary for us? God's presence was with Jesus and he was walking in the Lord's will and way. Jesus was on earth as a man and He had the same temptations and shortcomings as any other man but remained perfect. We must have the grace of God to go with us in our daily walk and to bring us to the perfection that Jesus attained.

I don't believe Anna and Simeon were expecting a Savior who would bring political freedom for them but one that would be just as Jesus was with peace, love, salvation, grace, and all of the other things we attribute to Him. I feelt that they might have realized He was for all people but would still have the Jewish pride in Him being of and for them. Jesus brought salvation to us today just as he did then. All we must do is accept Him as our Savior and live as much like Him as we possibly can.

These were the things they lived for and spent their time on. I think that we admire people who devote long periods of time to fasting and prayer and may even expect our pastor's or spititual leaders to do it but we don't take time to arrange our lives so that we have time for extended times of prayer and worship. we are missing out on a great experience with God and I feel like many of us, myself included, don't know what we are missing by not giving Him more of our time.

They spent their time in the temple and in praise and worship. Often we cannot hear God because we devote so little time to actually listening to him or to the Holy Spirit. Maybe a few minutes at night when we are tired and have a hard time keeping our mind and spirit on Him.

The Lord is showing Gideon through the words of an enemy soldier that he will be victorious beause God is fighting with him. John Bevere says in his book "Under Cover" that faith and obedience are the one and Gideon showed his faith in his obedience.

The only significance that I see was that this was God's way of selection and Gideon didn't question it. God would be recognized as the source of such a great victory and Gideon was obedient in choosing the members to participate in just the way the Lord told him to choose them.

Often we are afraid of what others will say or of what they think. We are strong in believing what God shows or tells us until others question it and then we began to doubt. Asking someone else's opinion may improve your confidence if you have faith in that person and his relationship with God but remember God spoke to you and you must decide to obey Him. It it lines up with Scripture than move out in faith. Gideon didn't have the complete Scriptures we have to use in judging the directions he had been given.

Men would receive the glory of the victory instead of God if they continued with the larger army. Israelites needed to see God work through this small group of soldiers and be reminded of what powerful things God had done for them in the past. I am sure the soldiers wanted to keep their army as large as possible but Gideon now trusted God completely.

We have the complete Word of God which Gideon did not have. We should not need signs other that what is contained in the Word. Our confidence should be gained by studying God's Word and finding out His will. Satan can counterfiet answers to signs we may ask for.

Gideon had the facts and knew from the past that God was speaking to himbut he was not secure enough in his new position to completely trust God. He had not had years of experience with God's Word and His promises so he wanted more proof that he wasn't being led by his own ideas. Visible signs are unnecessary if they conform what we already know is God's will. I think Gideon believed God buthe wanted more proof of what God was saying. This was a big step and he wanted to be sure God was with him.

:rolleyes:God told Gideon to sound the horn to call all the men of the tribe of Abiezrite to follow him. They must have been the only ones close enough to hear the horn as he sent messengers to the other tribes to join them. Gideon was like the other judges who let the Spirit of the Lord take control of their lives and guide them in the way God wanted them to go. When the judges did that and the people obeyed they prospered but when they turned their backs on God they did not. We are also given the Holy Spirit to guide is in what God wants us to do. If we walk according to His guidance we will prosper.

Joash, as the majority of the Israelites, had tried to serve both Yahweh and Baal. He had Baal's altar built on his land but he also must have recognized Jahweh and known of His power as he supported what Gideon had done when the people wanted to kill him for desecrating their gods. If Joash sincerely worshipped Baal he would have also been in the lynching party. Gideon put his father in danger by his actions and forced him to take a stand for or against Jahweh. I am sure Gideon did consider the effect his acitons would have on his whole family but he obeyed God. In just the same way we are told to make a choice and hopefully we also will choose God.

Sometimes a leader does not make wise choices and even though we agree with their basic beliefs we may take a stand against the way they are attempting to reach solutions. We can then disagree with the action suggested while still agreeing on the basic belief. Many who believe that Iraq is wrong to refust to disclose their possession of nuclear weapons do not agree with going to war against them with all it entails.

Jesus told us in Matthew 10:37 if you love father or mother more than me you are not worthy of being mine. This was true in the Old Testament as well as New. Gideon had to make a choice and he chose to obey what God had told him to do even though it was not in line with his father's practices. Apparently Joash had allowed himself to be influenced by others to place the altar on his property because he came to full support of Gideon and reminded the protesters that if Baal had any power he could take care of the matter himself.

Gideon was asked to follow God's directions to get rid of false worship and return the people to the worship of the one true God. This was a great test of Gideon's faith and commitment. Their religion was very political, so an attack on a god was often seen as an attack on the local government. It would resuslt in serious social problems for Gideon and even a physical attack. He also was to build an altar to God. I believe this was an act of faith and was done at night so Gideon was able to complete the assigned tasks. He never could have finished what God had told him to do while the worshippers of the god were there. He even had to hide what he was doing from his family which we could not have done during the day. The fact he did what God told him to do showed great faith. Doing it at night made it possible for him to finish the task as God told him to.

God's promise was to be with Gideon and that the work would be done together. When I taught in a Christian school our students soon stopped saying "can't" because they would hear a chorus of "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!" If we remember this promise we will be able to accomplish many things. I pray often that I will be reminded of the source of allmy powers and abilities and that this source is always available.

God addressed Gideon as a might warrior. In the New Living translation he is called mighty hero. I am sure as the hid in the windpress to hide the wheat he was harvesting from their enemies the last thing he felt like was a warrior or a hero. We also must remember that God does not look at us as we see ourselves. We must remember what God has said we are and act as though it has already come to pass and we are this person. We are more than conquerors, walking in God's power and glory. How can we be discouraged by what our human eyes see?

They had stopped listening to God. You can not turn your back on God, ignore Him and expect to receive His blessings. They had put other Gods before Him and worshipped the gods of the Amorites. We often put other things before God: family, job, entertainment, etc. They may be good things but our first loyalty must be to God.

Wow so many responses. I was on the board for the end of Luke and we never got responses like this. I think it is wonderful. Have a few comments although most of them are already covered. Gideon reminded the angel of the protection that God had always given to the Israelites and how he had helped them when they left the land of Egypt and of the care He had given them through the wilderness. They had food and protection and now they had neither one and he seemed to be blaming this on God. They were at the position of having nothing and he felt God had forsaken them. He was right in his assessment but put the blame in the wrong place. The Israelites had turned away from God and lost His proteciton. We must watch that we stay close to God and put our faith and confidence in His care and not in our own efforts. We must remember who our source is and obey Him. If we trust Him daily we will not be put in these dire circumstances.

Hi everyone. I am Darleen AKA auntie and also live in Texas about 35 miles from Houston. I am a retired school teacher, taught for about forty years, and am not doing tutoring at home. Have about eight students who come various times during the week. I have always been a Bible student and am looking forward to this study. I hope to get to know many of you as you post your replies here. I am a member of the Assembly of God church but was raised a Lutheran up in the northland.