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And Father, I just pray that you would encourage the hearts of your people this morning and speak to us and please just inspire us to want to do something great for God. And Father, I just pray that you would bless the message and use it for your honor and glory and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Now this is a story that's maybe familiar to some, maybe unfamiliar to others that have not studied the Bible as much, but this is a story about a man named Gideon we find in beginning in Judges chapter 6. Now the first point in the story that I want to draw your attention to is in verse number 12. Now what had happened was the children of Israel had disobeyed God, as is their pattern in the book of Judges, they've already, they were in Egypt in bondage, they crossed the Red Sea, they spent 40 years in the wilderness, they crossed the Jordan River victoriously, took over the land of Canaan, but the problem was they were supposed to get rid of everybody. They were supposed to kill everybody of the wicked heathen that were there in the land of Canaan, and they failed to do so. And what they did was they left certain people alive, they made alliances with these ungodly people, they lived among them, and they thought that they could keep these people under control and they thought maybe they could even tax them and get some money out of them, so hey let's keep these people around, let's use their labor, let's use their resources. And because of that, because of their pride where they thought, well we can handle having these people around, it's not going to affect us, you know, we're not going to get into their sin. We're too godly for that. Well of course the ungodly people living among them did constantly influence them to do evil. And so on and on in the book of Judges you'll see them doing evil in the sight of the Lord, forsaking God, forsaking the Bible, worshipping false gods, and every time they do so then God brings judgment on them. And when God brings judgment on them, then they cry out to God, you know, and then they say, oh God we're so sorry, will you please save us, will you please help us? And then he would send a deliverer, he would send one of these great judges. Well this is one of those men in Judges chapter 6, Gideon. Now the Midianites are the ones, usually it's the Philistines as you're reading the book of Judges, but this time it's the Midianites that have taken over and basically they're coming in and when it's harvest time and they're harvesting all the crops and they have all the food and all the increase, the Midianites are coming in and just taking it all away from them. And just taking all their hard work and leaving them with nothing. And so here Gideon is hiding some food by the threshing floor, he's trying to hide some stuff from the Midians just so he can keep him and his family alive. Now the children of Israel at this point, as they always are, have been crying to God saying God please save us out of the hand of the Midianites, we're sorry, you know, we'll do whatever you want. And God sent them a prophet and said look, I told you this was going to happen and you deserve what's happening to you, you've forsaken me and I've forsaken you. And that's kind of the way he left it, this preacher. But the merciful God that he is, he comes and appears to this man, Gideon. And in verse 12 the Bible says, and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, this is Judges 6-12, and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. And Gideon said unto him, oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befalling on us? And where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Now right away you'll see a transition here where God speaks to Gideon and said the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. Now if you know the King James Bible, and this is one of the reasons why it's so important that you have a King James Bible and not one of these new Bibles, is that you'll know that the word thou is singular in the Bible. It's important to know that as you're reading the Bible. Whenever a word begins with a T, that's a singular. Whenever it starts with a Y, ye, you, your, that's plural. When it's thee, thou, thine, thy, that's singular. So God is addressing this individual man, Gideon, and saying the Lord is with thee, Gideon. I'm talking about he's with you, you're a mighty man of valor, he's talking just to you. He says, oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, you see that? Watch how many times he says us. If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt, but now the Lord had forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And so what he's trying to say to Gideon is look, I didn't say I was with the nation of Israel because I'm not. He says, I said I'm with you because you I see as being righteous in this ungodly nation. Here's a man whose very father, we're going to see a little later in the story, was an idol worshiper. His dad was worshiping Baal. The whole nation around him was worshiping these demonic gods like Baal. The whole nation had forsaken God, they were being judged by God, they wouldn't listen to the preaching of the prophet earlier in the chapter, and he says, thou, I'm with you, Gideon, I'm not with the rest of this nation. See, it's impossible for one man or one woman to rise above the people around them and to say I am going to be on the Lord's side even if nobody else is. Now not only that, but sometimes we can feel like God is not blessing us because maybe God's not blessing the people around us. Maybe God's not blessing our nation right now or God's not blessing our family right now, but I'm going to tell you something, if you are doing what the Bible says to do, if you are following God's word, if you're in church, if you're a soul winner, if you're in prayer, I'm going to tell you something, God is with you and God will bless you. And Gideon's saying, I don't feel like God's blessing me. Look at the condition I'm in, but God's trying to tell him, look, it's not because of you, Gideon, it's because of the people that are around you. You are right with God and I'm going to use you to straighten this whole nation out. But look at the next verse. It says in verse 14, and the Lord looked upon him and said, go in this thy might. Notice how God brings it back to the singular, go in this thy might and thou shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee? See how God's making such a point about it? And watch this in verse 15. And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family. Again, see how he just has this idea about the group constantly? I mean, he can't get it through his head. Gideon, don't you understand that it only takes one man to save Israel. It only takes one man to do God's work. It only takes one person to do what God wants done. I don't care about your nation. I don't care about your family. Do you want to serve God? You see what he's saying there? He's saying, Gideon, don't you get it? You don't need anybody, just you are enough. Listen, mom and dad, it only takes one parent living for God to raise those children for God. Period. That's what God says. God says if you have an unbelieving husband or an unbelieving wife, he says one parent will raise the kids for God. One man can turn a nation back to God. One person can do great things for God. One person, man, woman, boy, girl, that will say I'm going to sell out for God and live for God. Boy, God can use you in a great way. Look at the next verse. He says, well, look at this. He says, behold, my family is poor and manassy, and I'm the least in my father's house. And look at verse 16. And the Lord said unto him, surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. You see that? I mean, just emphasizing it to Gideon, hey, one man is going to do this. Well, look at the next verse. The Bible says in verse 17, and he said unto him, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. Basically, he's still a little bit skeptical. He's saying, well, if you're really who you say you are, and if you're really talking with me, I want you to show me some kind of a sign. And so here's what he does. He says, I'm going to bring an offering. So he brings a meal and sets out a meal before him, and I'm going to skip these scriptures for sake of time, but he puts out this meal before him, and fire comes down from God and consumes the meal and the angel of the Lord ascends up out of the fire, out of the flames of the fire, up into the heavens where he came from. And then the Bible says in verse number 22, or look at the end of verse 21, it says, then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, alas, O Lord God, for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said unto him, peace be unto thee, fear not, thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord and called it Jehovah Shalom. Under this day it is yet an ophrah of the Abi Ezraites. So he's scared. You know, Gideon is afraid. He doesn't understand that he has what it takes to do the job that God has asked him to do. He's trying to give him some confidence and saying, thou mighty man of valor, you can do this. You don't need anybody else. You have what it takes because I'm with you. He's trying to instill some confidence and some courage into this man, Gideon. Well, look in verse 25, it says, and it came to pass the same night. So this was in the daytime. And then in the nighttime comes, it says that the Lord said unto him, take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it, and build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock in the ordered place, and take the second bullock and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove, which thou shalt cut down. So this is what I was talking about. See how his dad has this major altar to Baal in the town. Actually, you'll see this a little bit in the story, but in this city, his dad is the one who has built this giant altar to Baal. And the whole town worships Baal with Baal of Satan. Baal is short for Beelzebub, Beelzebub, with a hyphen in the Old Testament. And so he has this altar to Satan in the town that his dad has built. And so he says, I want you to tonight, Gideon, I want you to go take that altar that your dad built, I want you to destroy it and throw it down. And so look what happens. Then Gideon took ten men, this is verse 27, of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him, and so it was, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. Again, fear is something that Gideon is struggling with. And when the men of this city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built, and they said one to another, who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, hath done this thing. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, bring out thy son, that he may die, because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? See, he's saying, what? I thought Baal was God. You know, I mean, you just threw down his stupid image, and this is even his dad who built it. He says, you know, if my son is wrong in throwing down the altar of Baal, then why doesn't Baal do something about it? I mean, if he's a god, right? He says, look, if Baal can't do anything about it, I'm not going to do anything about it. And he kind of realized it's just a dumb idol that they threw down. And so basically Gideon's afraid to do it, but God told him to do it, so he said, I'm going to do what God said to do, just in faith. Even though I'm afraid, even though I'm not sure how it's going to turn out, I'm just going to do it. I'm going to do it in the middle of the night, because I'm scared, you know? He brings ten people with him. Hey, you do it with me, you know? Kind of like in school, when you're trying to do something, you want to get as many people doing it as you can, you know, so you don't get in trouble. And so he brings ten other people, here, you do it with me. And they throw it down, and it actually turns around, because it actually turns out to where the whole city kind of realizes that the guy who built the altar to Baal is now turning and saying, wait a minute, maybe Gideon's right, you know? Maybe Baal is a phony. If somebody could just throw down his altar and he doesn't do anything about it, he says, let's see what Baal does about it. And then they change, he changes his son's name at this point, Gideon. The Bible says in verse number 32, the Bible says, therefore on that day he called him, talking about his father, called him Jerubel, saying, let Baal plead against him, because he had thrown down his altar. The word Jerubel, you don't even have, it's funny, you know, people are always going back to the Hebrew and the Greek, you don't even have to go back to the Greek and Hebrew. You could figure out what all these Hebrew words mean if you study the Bible, just so you know that. You could just compare different words all throughout the Bible. And the word Jerubel means somebody who has made, basically, an offense to Baal. I mean, somebody who has done something in attack to Baal. And so he says, hey, let Baal plead against him, because he's throwing down his altar. And look at this in verse 33. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites, remember these are the enemies that are keeping control of the children of Israel. And the children of the east went, I'm sorry, were gathered together, and went over and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and Abiezer was gathered after him. So he blows a trumpet, and he says, we're going to fight these people. I'm tired of letting them come in and take all our stuff. He basically organizes a big group of people, a giant army. And he says, we're going to take care of these people, we're going to stop them, we're going to fight back. And it says in verse number 35, and he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also was gathered after him, and he sent messengers unto Asher, unto Zebulun, unto Naphtali. These are tribes of Israel, these are large groups of people. And they came up to meet him. And Gideon said unto God, if thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, and he does this famous story where he says, look, I just want to make sure, God, that you're going to do this. So he puts out a fleece outside, and he says, God, when I wake up in the morning, I want there to be dew on the fleece, but I want the whole rest of the ground to be dry. And so he went out. Sure enough, that's the way it was. Then he says, OK, that was too easy. Somebody could have just poured a little water on my fleece here. So here's what I'm going to do now. He says, I want the whole ground to be wet with dews the second night, and I want just the fleece to be dry. So then he wakes up in the morning, sure enough, that's exactly the way it is. He's like, OK, God. I mean, this guy just has to have everything just shown to him exactly how it's going to be. And so that whole thing goes on. And then in verse number one of chapter seven, look at the, pick up the story. Then Jerubel, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early. That's a great place to start whenever you're going to do anything for God, start getting up early in the morning. And then the Bible says, and pitched beside the well of Herod, so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moria in the valley. And the Lord said unto Gideon, notice the theme continued from chapter six, the people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel bump themselves against me, saying mine own hand hath saved me. He says, wait, you have way too many people to fight this battle. Now we just read before that the Midianites and the Amalekites were so many that you could not even number them. I mean, just a huge number, it says they were like the sand of the sea in multitude. Just this giant throng of people, just innumerable. And the Bible names a lot of big armies. The biggest army that's named in the Bible is of one million people. It's an Ethiopian army, it says a thousand thousand. And so a huge army of people that have come out to fight, the camels were without number. So they also, because a lot of times they had a lot of foot soldiers, but they didn't have as many people on horses or camels, but even the people on the camels couldn't even count how many there are. Gideon has 32,000 people, which is not really that huge of an army. And he says, that's way too many people. You guys are going to think that you did it in your own strength. And so you have too many people. So watch what he does. Now therefore go, this is chapter seven, verse three. Now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people saying, whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And their returned of the people 20 and 2,000, and their remained 10,000. So 22,000 people that said, sure. They said, who's scared? Who doesn't want to fight this? They're just like, me. And they just leave. I mean, can you imagine how you must? I mean, you've got to think about this. This is a real story. I mean, this isn't just some kind of a fairy tale. Just imagine the whole way home, those people. Just what are they talking about? What do they think? How do they feel? I mean, they're there with 32,000 people to fight for their country. Who's scared? Who's afraid? Who's a wimp? And they're just like, we are. And then they just, what are they doing walking home? What are they thinking about the whole way home? I mean, it must take them days to get home. This is probably what they're doing, though. They're probably talking about, yeah, you know, there's no way we would have won. They're probably just talking about how, you know, trying to make each other feel better, a bunch of sissies, a bunch of wimps. Oh, by the way, look at something. Keep your finger there. Flip back to Deuteronomy chapter 20, and I'm going to show you something interesting. They were actually supposed to do that at every single battle that they ever fought, the children of Israel. This is actually something that God commanded. Look at verse number one of Deuteronomy 20. Just on a side note, the Bible says, when thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou art, be not afraid of them. For the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. He says, don't be afraid when you see these giant throngs of people. God will be with you. And the Bible says, and it shall be when ye are come nigh out of the battle, that the priests shall approach and speak unto the people, and shall say unto them, Here, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts faint. Fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them. For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you. And look at verse number eight. This is supposed to be every battle is what they're supposed to preach to them. And look at eight, Deuteronomy 28. And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? I mean, after you just told them. Don't be afraid in four different ways. And he says, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart fade as well as his heart. He says, send them away. Get them out of here. If they're scared, if they don't want to be here, send them away. God is trying to say to them, and that's just a general principle for every battle that they were ever supposed to fight as a nation in Deuteronomy 20. He said, This is what I want you to do. I want the preacher to get up before the battle. And I want him to preach to these people and say, Don't be afraid. Don't be scared. Don't be a wimp. God is with you. Some trust in horses, and some trust in chariots. But we will trust in the name of the Lord our God. And then he says, OK, who's scared? Huh? Who is it? Huh? Get out of here. We don't want you around. You're making us all scared. You're making us all lame. Get out of here. And so back in Deuteronomy, or I'm sorry, Judges 7, 7, and you'll see the rest of the story here, he sends away 22,000 people that were scared. Only 10,000 people remained. And then look what God says. Now they have 10,000 against this giant, innumerable multitude. I mean, just to put it in perspective, I mean, that means each person is probably facing like 100 opponents, OK? I mean, it's unbelievable. But look down what the Bible says in verse number four. And the Lord said unto Gideon, the people are yet too many. He said, you still have too many people. Bring them down into the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee. And of whomsoever I say unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought them down, so he brought down the people under the water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise, everyone that bowed down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hands to their mouth, were 300 men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. So God gives Gideon this instruction. He says, send them all down to the river to get something to drink. And he says, I want you to divide the people into two groups. He says, Gideon, I want you to look at the people, and you look at them, and you tell me which person's in what group. One group of people are the people who get on their knees and put their hand in their mouth and laugh it like a dog out of their hand, like, like that. Then he says, the other group are the people who just stick their face in the water, OK, just drop their head down into the water and drink. So Gideon looks, and he sees there's barely anybody that's putting their hand in their mouth. And then the rest of the people is putting their face down to the water. And here's what he does. He says, he divides them up. And he's got 9,700 people in one group. He's got 300 in the other group. And he's probably thinking, you know, if 10,000 was too many, it's like, what, are we going to get rid of 300 people? That's a big deal. He doesn't really know which group God's taking, you know? He just divides them up. And then God says, OK, we're going to take the 300. We're going to take the 300 people who put their hand in their mouth, and we're going to send the people that suck their face down in the water home. And you say, why? Why is it that God tested them with how they drink water? And you seem kind of silly, doesn't it? And I'll be honest with you. I don't really understand it. Like, I don't really know what the big deal was about somebody sticking their face down in the water or somebody using their hand to drink the water. But I'll tell you something. It goes to show that sometimes there's little things in your life that will stop God from using you. I mean, it's just little, you know, things that we think are little, like little sins, little bad habits we have. And for whatever reason, God didn't like the way these people were drinking their water. So what I'm trying to say is, you know, you're so nitpicky, you know, preaching the Bible, all these little, you know, strict. Hey, look, do whatever you want. But I'm going to tell you something. God's watching you, and he sees every little thing you do. And I bet he looks at little things and says, I think I'm going to decide how much I'm going to use you. You know, kids, he might look at how you clean your room. He might decide how big of a house he's going to give you one day if you can't keep your little room clean. You know, you think about that, or like, you know, get a little bit of money, and you waste it and blow it on things, or kids and adults. And you spend your money on stupid things or on sin, then God's going to say, why would I give you more money? You know, and I'm not one of these prosperity preachers that says, you know, God's going to make you rich. You know, he's going to give you all this money. But what I am saying is that I think God watches how you handle what he gives you, the money that he gives you, the house that he gives you, the friends that he gives you. And I think he's going to decide whether he's going to give you more based on what you do with what you've got, because it's little things. He says, I can just look at somebody, and he said, God, what is this about? But God said, no, I can look at somebody, and I can just look at the littlest thing about them. And I can just tell volumes about who they are and volumes about their character. And so watch out for the little things in your life, the little commandments in the Bible that we don't obey sometimes. Hey, watch out for that. That could really stop God from using you. But the Bible says in verse number 7, And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that laughed, will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go, every man, unto his place. So he sends home 9,700 people who were just ready to fight. And he said, we're not scared. We're ready to go. He says, we don't need you. See you later. So the people took vittles in their hand and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man, unto his tent, and retained those 300 men. And the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley. Now notice, see how it says that they took vittles in their hand, that's food, and their trumpets. Where's the sword? Where's the weapon? Where's the shield? They don't even have a sword in their hand. They have a trumpet in their hand. Now look at this. It says, and it came, and by the way, the only person in this story, in the first part of the story that has a sword in their hand is Gideon. Remember how he said it's going to be like one man doing this? He has a sword in his hand. He's got 300 people with no sword, with a trumpet in their hand. It says, and it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Fuhrer thy servant down to the host. Now shalt hear what they say, and afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. And then look, then when he down with Fuhrer his servant. Did you hear that? He says, like, if you're scared, I mean, do you notice how many times he's being brought up in the story? He says, if you're scared, take this guy with you. And it's like, okay, so he took him with him, you know, he went down there, and he sneaks down into the host. The 300 men are camped up at the top. He sneaks down into the enemy camp, goes down the side of the mountain, into the valley where all their tents are, and he sneaks up to a tent. And this is what it says in verse 13, and when Gideon was come, he sneaks up beside somebody's tent. He puts his ear up to the tent. See what he can hear. And he listens, and it says, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, this is in verse 13, and said, behold, I dreamed a dream. And lo, a cake of barley bread, like a loaf of bread, he's saying, tumbled into the host of Midian and came unto a tent and smote it that it fell and overturned it that the tent lay along. So basically, he pictures in his dream, this soldier woke up, he's telling his buddy he had the craziest dream. This loaf of bread rolls into the camp and hits a tent and just rips a tent down and rolls it up on the ground and falls over. And his fellow answered and said, this is none else. And this guy doesn't even know who Gideon is. I mean, God is just performing a miracle by revealing this dream to him. And his fellow answered and said, this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, the man of Israel, for into his hand have God delivered Midian and all the host. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof that he worshiped and returned unto the host of Israel. So this was another thing, just trying to build Gideon's confidence. Look, I'm with you. I mean, he goes and hears the enemy talking about, yep, Gideon's going to come in and just kill us all. And so it says right here in verse number 16, and he divided the 300 men into three companies and he put a trumpet in every man's hand with empty pitchers. So this is like basically an earthen pitcher, like a clay pot. And he says empty pitchers, a trumpet in one hand, a pitcher in the other hand, and lamps within the pitchers. So basically like he puts a lit lantern inside the pitcher. He's got a lid on the pitcher, holding that in one hand, he's holding the trumpet in the other hand, all 300 of these men. And I love this verse, verse 17, it says, and he said unto them, look on me and do likewise. Hey, is that what you teach your kids? Huh? Look on me and do likewise. Is that your life story? Is that what you can tell your friends? Is that what you tell your friends when you win unto the Lord? This is how you live. Just look at how I live. You ought to be able to say that. Look on me and do likewise. How do I live the Christian life? Well, look on me and do likewise. That's what you ought to be able to say. And he says, look on me and do likewise and behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that as I do, so shall you do. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and say the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came into the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch and they had but newly set the watch and they blew the trumpets and break the pitchers that were in their hands and the three companies blew the trumpets and break the pitchers and held the lamps in their left hand and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal and they cried the sword of the Lord and of Gideon and they stood every man in his place round about the camp when verse 21 of Judges 7 and all the hosts ran and cried and fled and the 300 blew the trumpets and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow even throughout all the hosts and the hosts fled to Beth Shaddai and Zerath and to the border of Abel Mahola and to Tabith and the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali and out of Asher and out of all Manasseh and pursued after the Midianites. So here's what happened. All these 300 men, they're in three different groups surrounding this giant innumerable multitude of people. It's in the middle of the night and what they do is they all at the same time blow their trumpet and break their pitcher so immediately there's a sound of a trumpet and just 300 lights appear on the outside of the camp and they all yell at the same time the sword of the Lord and of Gideon and when they did that it just scared these people so much. I mean they thought there's just crowds of people all around them and God kind of sent this delusion on them that we're surrounded by these huge armies on all sides. There's light everywhere. I see these lights everywhere. They hear all this noise and they got so scared they started just killing each other. They're stabbing each other with sword. They think that their buddy is the enemy. They're confused. They're knocking things over. They're falling out of bed and then what happens? They start just running scared in the other direction trying to get away. They find the weakest point and they try to run away and escape. Well when they're just fleeing and running they've already killed a bunch of each other. It's confusion. They don't know what to do. They have no leadership and they're just running away scared. Well then all the other Israelites who before were scared, who didn't want to fight, who weren't doing anything. Well now the whole nation of Israel sees that they're running scared and they all come and just start coming after them and fleeing and pursuing after them and they're already on the run. They're already losing and so they chase after them and the Bible says in the men of Israel verse 23, Gathered themselves together out of Naphtali and out of Asher and out of all Manasseh and pursued after the Midianites and Gideon sent messengers throughout all Mount Ephraim saying, Come down against the Midianites and take before them the waters under Bethabara and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together and took the waters under Bethabara. So now he's organizing the whole nation of Israel. They're all after him because once they're already losing, you know, once they're already running away, it's like they had the momentum and they've already killed a bunch of their own men by accident because you have to remember there were three nations there. There were the Amalekites, the Midianites and the children of the east. So basically the Midianites are like killing the Amalekites and the Amalekites are killing the children of the east. That's where the confusion came from. They weren't all the same army. It was three armies together. And so they're chasing after them and the Bible says in verse 25, And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeb, and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb and Zeb they slew at the winepress of Zeb, obviously it was named after it after the fact, and pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan. Then the Bible says in verse number four, And Gideon came to Jordan and passed over. He and the three hundred men that were with him faint yet pursuing them. So he's still with his three hundred men, you know. He sent these other guys, you go here and head them off at this pass. You go take this river here. But he's still with his original three hundred. I mean these were the top, these were the best three hundred out of thirty two thousand. These were the ones that were not scared. They did everything exactly the way God wanted them to do it. These are the great warriors who started this whole battle. And so he's still with those, just alone with those three hundred men. And the Bible says in verse four, He passed over, faint yet pursuing. I mean they're tired. They've been running all night. They're beat. And he said unto the men of Sukkoth, this is the city of Israel, Give I pray you loaves of bread unto the people that follow me. He says can you give us something to eat? I mean we've been fighting all day, we've been fighting all night, we've been chasing after these people. Can we get some food? Can we get something to eat? Can you help us out? For they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zeba and Zalmana kings of Midian. They already killed the two princes before that, but now they're after the two kings. And the princes of Sukkoth said, Are the hands of Zeba and Zalmana now in thine hand? There are like three hundred people? You think you're going to defeat this army? I don't think so. They obviously hadn't really heard the news of what was going on. That we should give bread unto thine army? Why should we give you any food? You're going to lose. And Gideon said, Therefore, when the Lord hath delivered Zeba and Zalmana into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with the briars. He says, I'm going to pay you back for this, for not helping me out, for not fighting with me, for not being with me. And he says in verse number eight, And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Sukkoth had answered them. It wouldn't feed him either. And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. Now Zeba and Zalmana were in Carcor, and their hosts with them about fifteen thousand men. All that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east, for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in the tents on the east of Noba and Jogbeha, and smote the host, for the host was secure. And when Zeba and Zalmana fled, he pursued after them and took the two kings of Midian, Zeba and Zalmana, and discomfited the host. Now you see what's going on here, and I'll also explain to you this battle, these three hundred men come upon Zeba and Zalmana, the two kings of Midian. Now they're with the army from the children of the east. Now the original size of the army of the children of the east was a hundred and twenty thousand people. Now remember that was just one of the three that made up the innumerable multitude that was probably in excess of a million people. And so he's now down to fifteen thousand in this one section. They'd already killed all the rest of them off. And so, actually I'm sorry it was a hundred and thirty-five thousand, a hundred and twenty thousand died, and so now it's down to fifteen thousand. And so Zeba and Zalmana are with these men, and just three hundred men with Gideon, just attack them. I mean they have so much confidence now, I mean they've already seen what God's done over and over. I mean there's no doubt in their mind now, they don't even care now, they haven't even eaten anything in days. They just run into this host, three hundred people, no fear, God's with us. They run in and defeat fifteen thousand people. They are running away scared, fleeing from them. And then they catch Zeba and Zalmana and they execute these two wicked kings who'd been oppressing them. You know, this is what I notice about this crowd over in Succoth and also in Penuel that we saw in verses four through nine. You're kind of the wait and see how it turns out crowd. You know what I'm talking about? They said, well wait a minute, you haven't defeated them yet, we don't want to help you, we're not going to be with you, we're not going to fight with you, we want to see how it all turns out. And you know what, when you come back here with Zeba and Zalmana and you've defeated these kings, hey then we'll help you out. When you're on top, you know these kind of friends that are only with you when you're on top. You know when things are going great, they're right with you. Now they say, you know what, you've got 300 men, they've got 15,000 men, we're just going to wait and see how it turns out. Isn't that terrible? I mean no faith in God, no loyalty to their friends, and you'll constantly see this theme throughout the Bible. Remember we saw it a few weeks ago in the book of Matthew, how Peter had this mentality, I'm going to see what the end thereof, I'm going to watch and see how things turn out. Now get in there, get in the battle, get involved, and he says, when I come back it's going to be too late for you to be with me. I want you to be with me now when I need you, otherwise I'm going to come back and I'm going to fight against you myself, and I'm going to pay you back for your disloyalty. And so he comes back at the end of the story, well look at verse 18, we'll finish up the story quickly. Then said he unto Zeba and Zalmana, what manner of men, so they catch them, they're interrogating these two kings, they have them prisoner, they sit down with them, what manner of men were they whom you slew at Tabor? And they answered as thou art, so were they, each one of them resembled the children of a king. He said, what were the people like that you attacked, this is a previous event, he says, that you killed, what did they look like, these people that you attacked and ransacked their house and took their stuff, and he said, well they looked a lot like you, that's kind of a stupid thing to say, well they look a lot like you, they dress like you, they look like the children of a king, he said yeah that's because they were my brother. And so he says to his son, Jethur, he says, I want you to have the honor son of killing these two kings, Zeba and Zalmana, and he was scared to do it, he took after his dad, so he's scared and he wouldn't do it, and Zeba and Zalmana said hey why don't you do it yourself Gideon, and he says okay I will, and Gideon took these two men's lives, and that's the end of the story. But you see, what's God trying to show us in this great story out of the Bible, the story of Gideon, and see by the way, that's why I like having the kids in the service, because like you don't get that full story in Sunday school, I learned about Gideon growing up, I didn't get all that, I only got like the very basic part, you know, I didn't get the whole thing. Well look, Gideon was a man who was alone righteous in his day, I mean everybody, I mean his dad had sold out, his family had sold out, his nation had sold out, but God said if I can just take one man, if I can just find one person that's willing to just give it all to God, one person that's willing to have the faith, and he said I don't even need that much faith, I mean he didn't even have that much faith, he had to test God like five different times, wait God, jump through this hoop and show me that you're really with me, wait do this, do this, do this, do this, but he said I'm so desperate to find somebody that still loves me, I'm so desperate to find somebody that still wants to do something for me, I'll even take Gideon, I don't know, you know, he's enough, see it doesn't even take that much faith to serve God, just if you're willing to give what you do have to God, and say I'm not going to let my dad be an excuse, I'm not going to let my mom be the excuse, I'm not going to let my church be the excuse, I'm not going to let my friends be the excuse, I will stand up and fight for God against all the odds, and when he stood up the first time, and he threw down that altar, God ended up bringing about a whole change in his whole town, where they decided, you know, maybe the Lord is right, maybe Baal's a joke, and then the second time he stands up, he puts over a million people to flight, one man with one sword in his hand, with 300 people with him that he's leading, he puts millions to flight, and then he goes and fights another battle, he's getting more and more bold each time, more and more faith each time, and he comes and fights against 15,000 people with 300 men, and defeats them, so God can do anything, the only thing that he's limited by is our unbelief, our lack of faith, to step out there, I mean God constantly is telling us in our lives, as we read the Bible, as we hear preaching, he's constantly telling us that get out of the comfort zone of what we're comfortable with, you know, where everything's safe and we know how it's going to turn out, he said get out of that zone where it's what you're comfortable doing, and it's safe, and he said I want you to step out in faith in obeying what I told you to do, he says there's no telling what I can do, there's no limit to what I can do, I can do great things, I can change the whole nation, I can change your whole family, I can change everything about the world you live in, if you will stand up and be with me, and he says look, things are going bad in your life, where are all the miracles God, if you're with us, why are we with the, why are we under the Midianites, and where are the miracles that our fathers told us of in the land of Egypt, where's the parting of the Red Sea, where's the Jordan River, he says Gideon, I'm about to show you something as great as the Red Sea, I'm about to show you the miracles, and I think that's why God chose Gideon, why did he choose this fearful coward, why did he choose a man who lacked faith, because he chose somebody who said I want to see the miracles, I don't want to read about it, what somebody else had, I don't want to just read about what my dad told me about it, my grandpa told, oh way back then, we did it back then, no he said I want to see it now, I want to do it now, I want to see the Red Sea cross, I want to see the Jordan River parted, and he said Gideon I'm going to show you something that's just as great, I mean this is as great as a miracle, I mean when 300 people send a million people running scared, he says I'm looking for somebody in every generation, not just in the children of Israel's day, not just in the book of Judges, he says I'm looking for somebody in every generation, man, woman, boy, girl, rich, poor, doesn't matter, he says I'm just looking for people who will stand up and say God show me something great, what can you do with me if I'm willing to push myself and be faith and yet pursuing, if I'm willing to step out in faith, what can you do God, show me something great, then he's looking for those 300 people who will say I'm not scared, I'll stand behind, you know they were probably less scared than Gideon was, and they said I'm going to stand behind this guy, I'm going to be with him, and we're going to do something great for God, see it doesn't take millions of people, it doesn't take hundreds and thousands of people to do God's work, it takes one person to do God's work, and there's no reason in the world why it couldn't be anybody in this room, I don't care what your situation is, you can decide I'm going to let God use me in a great way, it's not limited by your age, your gender, your circumstances, he says anybody who will get a hold of this, anybody who will beg me for power and say I want to see what people have seen in the past, the great miracles, I want to see the multitudes saved, I want to see people's lives changed, I want to see nations and families and whole groups of people influenced, anybody, anybody, God can use you if you'll say where are the miracles God, let me see it, and I'm not talking about some Benny Hinn crusade, I'm not talking about slapping people on the forehead, I shouldn't even need to say that, I'm not talking about where are the miracles God, I haven't seen it since Tuesday night when I watched Benny Hinn, no I'm talking about the real miracles of God, where something great is done for God that results in people being saved, lives being changed, battles being won, but Father please just bless the service this morning and God I just pray that everyone that's here this morning would get a hold of this truth dear God and decide that they want to be like Gideon dear God, they want to be one of the few.