Don Woodhull

4. God's answer to Gideon's self-image was that his was faulty and inferior to God's because God saw him as a mighty warrior who would be successful in striking down his enemy, the Midianites, and all at one time in one mighty battle against them. Yes, when we trust in the Lord Jesus as we go to battle against the enemy, then the Lord will provide us with tremendous victories in our lives, but when we think that we can go to battle in our own strength and power, then the enemy of our souls will defeat us. He has given us who believe and trust in Him a way to escape temptation and to be victorious over it (1 Cor. 10:13) as well as His spiritual armor to fight the tempter (Satan) and to be victorious over him by prayers and supplications to the Lord for His help and strength in Him (see Ephesians 6:10-18). An appropriate prayer would be to daily ask the Lord God for His strength and direction for my life no matter what situation or thing I am going through at the time, whether good or bad, always seek Him and His will for my life.

3. Unlike how Gideon saw himself, God saw him in the near future as a "mighty warrior" at war against his enemy. Of course, God's perception of Gideon is the most accurate because God saw him not as he was hiding from his enemies but in the near future as he fought against them as a mighty warrior. When we view our own self-perception of ourselves as being inferior and not in God's love as God views us, then our own self-perception becomes inferior to His and we won't be all that God wants us to be because of our faulty view of our God and of ourselves. But if we look to God and believe, through His Word, what tremendous things He says about us as His children, and seek to see Him and His Holy Spirit work in our lives, then we will be all that He wants us to be and will be able to say, as did the Apostle Paul, that we have "fought the good fight, we have finished the race, we have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7).

2. It was because of their pride and idolatry, and that they did not listen to God nor His Word to them through the Lord's prophets He had given them. They broke the first two commandments: "You shall have no other gods before Me" and "You shall not make for yourself a carved image

1. Gideon questions whether or not God is with him and he feels abandoned by God; he feels that he will have to fight against his enemy in his own strength but that's not true at all because, at the same time, he is hiding from them and not fighting them. The Lord appears to him here because He is calling Gideon to fight as a "mighty warrior" against his enemies. Sometimes we have a tendency to blame God for when times go bad for us, but there's really no one else to blame but ourselves. The danger lies in this that we will grow bitter and cold to the Lord and not want to trust in Him again so we need to stop far short of this in the future by praising and praying to Him instead, and trusting Him in all areas of our lives, and especially in the areas where we're having the most problems and troubles in them.

Hi. My name is Don and I live in Suisun, CA., about 60 miles west of where Dr. Wilson lives. My family and I attend Calvary Chapel--Solano (a non-denominational church) and I'm active in the worship group playing the keyboards and singing with the young people. We love the Lord Jesus and desire to find out more about the Old Testament and it's pictures (or types) about Jesus. Praise God for this Bible study in His Word!