Community Bible Study

Give Me More! I. Fear and Trembling Part 1 A. Winepress B. Angel of the Lord C. Weakest – Don’t Pick Me D. Obeyed Part 1 II. This Can’t Be Right A. Testing God #1 -Fear and Trembling 2a B. Testing God #2 -Fear and Trembling 2b C. Obeyed Part 2 D. Paring the Ranks E. Fear and Trembling Part 3

III. This Really Can’t Be Right A. Tiny Army B. Crazy Weapons C. Wrong Battle Cry D. Sly Words E. Now It’s Personal IV. Guess It WAS Me.. A. “Right” Words B. Gold Assimilation C. Harem Accumulation D. New Plan for Worship V. Conclusion: Give Me More!

Judge #4 - Gideon

Genesis As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”16

They practiced “abominable customs” (Leviticus 18:30) and did “detestable things” (Deuteronomy 18:9, NASB). They practiced idolatry, witchcraft, soothsaying, and sorcery. They attempted to cast spells upon people and call up the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10- 11)…

Their “cultic practice was barbarous and thoroughly licentious” (Unger, 1954, p. 175). Their “deities…had no moral character whatever,” which “must have brought out the worst traits in their devotees and entailed many of the most demoralizing practices of the time,” including…

“[t]hese Canaanite cults were utterly immoral, decadent, and corrupt, dangerously contaminating and thoroughly justifying the divine command to destroy their devotees” (Unger, 1988).

“Then the Children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD.” Evil….bad, malignant, deadly, poisonous, diseases…

Judges 6:10 10 Then I said to you, ‘I am the L ORD your God. Do not ·worship [fear; reverence] the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you did not ·obey me [ L listen to my voice].”

Winepress in Israel

“The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor….”

13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the L ORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the L ORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the L ORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14 And the L ORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”

14 The L ORD looked straight at him and replied, “Go with this determination of yours and deliver Israel from Midian’s domination. I’ve directed you, haven’t I?”

Then the angel of the L ORD vanished in front of him. 22 When Gideon realized that he had seen the angel of the L ORD himself, he cried out, “Oh no! Lord G OD ! I’ve been looking right at the angel of the L ORD —and face-to-face at that!”

23 “Calm down! Don’t be afraid.” the L ORD replied. “You’re not going to die!” 24 So Gideon built an altar right there to the L ORD and called it “The L ORD is peace.” (To this very day it still stands in Ophrah, which belongs to the descendants of Abiezer.)

Give Me More! I. Fear and Trembling Part 1 A. Winepress B. Angel of the Lord C. Weakest – Don’t Pick Me D. Obeyed Part 1 II. This Can’t Be Right A. Testing God #1 -Fear and Trembling 2a B. Testing God #2 -Fear and Trembling 2b C. Obeyed Part 2 D. Paring the Ranks E. Fear and Trembling Part 3

2 The L ORD told Gideon, “You have too many soldiers with you for me to drop Midian into their hands, because Israel would become arrogant and say, ‘It was my own abilities that delivered me.’

…Gideon, it says, can ascertain the religious antecedents of his men from the way in which they prepare to drink. Idolaters were accustomed to pray kneeling before their idols. On this account, kneeling, even as a mere bodily posture, had become unpopular and ominous in Israel, and was avoided as much as possible. Hence, he who in order to drink throws himself on his knees, shows thereby, in a perfectly free and natural manner, that this posture is nothing unusual to him;…

….” The three hundred—this is what God makes Gideon to know—have never kneeled before Baal; they are clean men; and with clean vessels, men, and animals, God is accustomed to do wonderful things. Midian’s idolatrous people shall be smitten only by such as have always been free from their idols….

20 All three groups of Gideon’s men blew their trumpets and smashed their jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands. Then they shouted, “A sword for the L ORD and for Gideon!” 21 Each of Gideon’s men ·stayed [stood] in his place around the camp, but the Midianites began shouting and running to escape.

22 When Gideon’s three hundred men blew their trumpets, the L ORD ·made all the Midianites fight each other with their swords [ L set the sword of a man against his companion]!

22 The people of Israel said to Gideon, “You ·saved [rescued; T delivered] us from the Midianites. Now, we want you and your son and your grandson to rule over us [ C to establish a royal dynasty].”

23 But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The L ORD will be your ruler.” 24 He said, “I want you to do this one thing for me. I want each of you to give me a gold earring from ·the things you took in the fighting [ L his plunder].” (The Ishmaelites [ C related to the Midianites, and sometimes identified with them; Gen. 37:25– 28] wore gold earrings.)Gen. 37:25– 28

Community Bible Study