Ps. 83: Enemies of God

Psalm 83:17 "May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace."

Asaph isn't some seer, he knows that there are people plotting against Israel. When you plot against Israel, he says, you plot against the LORD himself. Which has proven itself never to be all that great of an idea. Their goals, wipe Israel off the map, and remove them from the memory of history. We've heard this recently, actually.

But Asaph is eager to see God's power of deliverance. He remembers. He was taught about Judges 4, when Deborah defeated Sisera. He recounts Judges 7, when Gideon crushed the Midianites who plotted against Israel.

Asaph knows God is forever, and those who seek to stand against him are temporary, like tumbleweed in the wind, or a forest consumed by fire.

Which side will you be on?

Jg. 8: Gideon Continues to Clean House

Judges 8:7 "Then Gideon replied, 'Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.'"

Gideon looks to have gotten quite the bloodlust. He was pursuing these Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna. When he got to Succoth and Peniel, he asked for bread to feed his tired men. The officials of Succoth and Peniel both refused. Well, Gideon was already tired and cranky, so he promised painful defeat on both lands when he got done conquering the already depleted Midianite forces. Basically, to Succoth, he promised to whip them with desert thorns...painful. And he was going to tear down some tower in Peniel. Probably a tower of some (possibly religious?) significance to them.

So anyway, he captures Zebah and Zalmunna, and wrecks their army. On the way back, he runs into a Succothite who gives him the name of each official in Succoth. Now that is what I call being connected to the social scene there. He knew all 77 town leaders? Can you name your state representative? Anyway, he brings the ZZ Kings back through and shows the officials what he had done, and still harboring the grudge for being denied grub, he whips them with thorns. Then he kills all the men of Peniel.

Then he kills the kings. He was going to have his oldest son kill them, but he wimped out, as he was only a boy. Boys shouldn't have to kill men.

Then in his zeal, Gideon makes an ephod from the gold of the Israelites. Instead of its proper use, you know, being worn on a priest, he sets it up in town and the Israelites worship the ephod. The holy shirt.

And the same thing happens, there is peace in Israel for forty years, then Gideon dies, and the cycle starts over...the Israelites worship the Baals again. Yay.

Jg. 7: Gideon's Pityin' Midian...No kiddian'

Judges 7:2 "The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands."

Well, with the dew soaking the fleece, that is as good an indicator as any to watch for as far as the LORD being with you. So Gideon gets ready for battle, and has 32,000 dudes at his disposal for war against the Midianites.

But God won't conquer the Midianites with that many men. And He tells Gideon as much. "You have too many men." God tells Gideon he has too great an advantage. Who gets the glory in a rout with that many men? The victory is easy. So God tells Gideon to cull the herd a little, and the people that are too scared go home.

With 10,000 men left, it was still too much. At the river, during a water break, God tells Gideon to send home those who stick their faces in the water to drink. So we have 300 men left to fight. We've seen that number before. Some say it was because they would be more alert to fight in battle, without their heads in the water, but would it matter, if God was already lengthening the odds against Gideon? God stacked the deck against Gideon. That's what's happening here. The longer the odds, the greater the victory, and the greater the glory given to God.

Anyway, that night, God sends Gideon and his armor bearer down to see what the scuttlebutt is down in the valley of the Midianite camp. God says he'll hear something encouraging. For sure.

One Midianite soldier has had a nightmare and is telling another Midianite soldier. And it went a little something like this:

"I had another dream about bread last night."

"You don't say. Please tell me all about it."

"OK, but this wasn't one of those good dreams with toast and fresh baked Italian bread with the oil for dipping."

"Oh, no? I loved that one."

"No, I saw this loaf of barley bread rolling down hill, and it knocked over a tent."

"You know what that means..."

"You don't think..."

"Oh yeah. Has to be the sword of Gideon son of Joash. God has turned our entire camp over to him."

"Ah."

The second Midianite soldier draws the only possible conclusion from a dream about a loaf of rolling bread. Its Gideon, and he's coming to clean house.

So Gideon is encouraged by this bit of gossip, and the very first thing he does is to stop, pray, and thank God. I would have been so excited to knock some heads together, I'da done that first. But anyway, Gideon surrounds the Midianite camp in silence, and then lets loose with trumpet blasts and shattering jars. The Midianites, already on pins and needles from the bread dream lose their minds and kill each other.

Since God had sent 99% of his army home, Gideon needed more Israelites to take over the Midianite land.

Then the Ephraimites capture Oreb and Zeeb, which is an awesome pair of names for military commanders.

Jg. 6: Or a Golden Fleece to Grasp

Judges 6:32 "So that day they called Gideon 'Jerub-Baal,' saying, 'Let Baal contend with him,' because he broke down Baal's altar."

Gideon is the right kind of ruckus perpetrator in my opinion. Let's take a look. I remember hearing about the fleece and the military victory, but the test leading up to it gives me great respect for him.

Gideon is not the greatest man in stature out there. In fact, he is the least in his family, and in the least of the tribes of Manasseh. And I love the guy's honesty. It had been seven years of Midianite rule since the 40 year peace brought by Deborah. And it was no fun. And realization of this filtered all the way through Israel, even to Gideon, the low man on his family's totem pole. Anyway, an angel of God appeared to him, and said "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." At that point, I imagine the scrawny Gideon leaning on his thresher, peering through the dust, squinting his eyes, and saying..."Huh?" Just a comical kind of picture to me.

And then Gideon asks the question that was probably on every Israelite mind...a question with the answer they didn't probably want to hear:

"If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

Well Gideon...maybe you haven't heard. Maybe you weren't even told about the covenant. Which I could understand and not place any blame on him.

The angel (God's proxy) doesn't even answer, rather kind of sharply responds, telling Gideon to go save Israel from Midian in his own strength. Which, obviously would be impossible. Gideon explains his lowly position. He acknowledges his own weakness first, and then God tells him that he himself will conquer the Midianites, using Gideon.

Gideon still has some sense of disbelief, so he prepares an offering...of some kind...it didn't appear to be along the lines of the required offerings first described in Leviticus, but it was an offering. The angel of God pokes at it with his staff and the offering explodes into flame. Gideon finally realizes what's going on. He knew seeing God's face brought death, and he totally freaked. But it was "just" the angel of the LORD. ( I am assuming this is how Moses talked to God "face to face")

The angel told him to relax, because he had a test all prepared, and it was to take a bull from his father's herd, tear down the altar to Baal, rip down the Asherah pole, and build a proper altar to God, and then sacrifice that bull on the altar to God.

This is why this is significant. Gideon was nobody, basically, yet here he was, demolishing the precious religious artifacts upheld and revered by the most important people in his family. That is the ruckus. He tore Baal down. Of course, the townsfolk lost their minds and desperately investigated to find out whodunnit. They found out it was Gideon, and went to his father's house to demand recompense. Joash, surprisingly, has a pretty cool head here. It was his own altar destroyed and his faith denigrated, but he sticks up for his son, and rationally (irrationally?) offers that Baal can take care of himself, if he really is a god. Then townspeople call Gideon "Jerub-Baal" meaning, "Let Baal Deal With Him." Amazing.

Then the Spirit of God comes upon Gideon and he marshals an army to fight the Midianites. In a way, this section shows that even with the Spirit of the LORD on someone, that someone is still themselves...they are strong, but still have their weaknesses...Gideon is hesitant to go to battle, so he does the fleece experiment.

The first time, he asks that the fleece be wet, and the ground dry, to signify that it is he (the wet fleece) who will save Israel. The second time, he asks that the fleece be dry, and the ground wet. To remove doubt. And maybe to pester God. But probably to remove doubt. And it was so, so we'll see what happens.