Judges 7:19-21

The valley of Esdraelon is the most fought-over soil on this earth. John, in his inspired picture of the last great battle, stages that battle at Armageddon, or the Hills of Megiddo, in the valley of Esdraelon.

Gideon's Call And Doubts (6:11-24).

The angel of the Lord says: "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." (v. 12).

"But sir," Gideon replied, "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." (Judg 6:13).

Either God is not the kind of God that he has been taught to believe, or He is no longer with and for His people.

Gideon becomes a believer by placing confidence in God: "The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" (6:14).

"Everything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:23).

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom 8:31).

"...God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Heb 13:5-6).

The various signs which Gideon asks of the Lord do not show a fearful heart or a doubting heart, but a desire to be sure that God is with him: "Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me" (6:17).

Fleeces - are for proving that Gods's word is true not for getting petty information that we want.

"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (Mal 3:8-10).

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38).

GIDEON'S WAR (6:25-28) "That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. {26} Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering." {27} So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime. {28} In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!"

Before one attempts to be of service for God one must do some idol chopping within one's own life.

Chopping down the idols in one's life is a test of sincerity.

REDUCING THE ARMY - Gideon’s Resources (7:1-8).

The test of fear: "Then the officers shall add, "Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too." (Laws of War, Deu 20:8).

The test of earnestness and zeal (7:4-8). They showed that they thought more of satisfying their immediate thirst than they did of hastening forward to meet the foe.

"During that night the LORD said to Gideon, "Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.... and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp." So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp" (7:9, 11).

"Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed. His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands. When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands." (7:13-15).

GIDEON'S DOWNFALL (8:22-27).

Gideon asked was that each one give him a golden ear ring from the plunder (8:24).

"Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family." (8:27).

Gideon the chopper, the man who began his career by chopping down Baal's idol, now ends that career by leading Israel back to idolatry.

What about your early consecration?