"Where are His Miracles? Part Two”
Judges 6:11-31

April 30, 2006
by C.W. Powell

“11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.

1. You remember that the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon when he was threshing wheat behind the winepress for fear of the Midianites.
2. Although Israel had forgotten God, yet He had not forgotten them, but heard their prayers of distress and raised up Gideon, one of the greatest of the judges.
3. He did not see himself as a mighty man of valor, but God declared him to be so, and prepared and fitted Him to win great victories for Israel.
4. He was working, for very little return, to provide for his family, threshing wheat.

13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, 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 hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

1. Gideon was asking some very good questions?

a. Where are the promises of God? Where are the miracles?
b. Our fathers? Gideon’s father was an important man in Israel, but he was a Baal worshipper, or what might be even worse, he included Baal among the gods that he worshipped, or in fact, really didn’t worship any at all, perhaps didn’t believe in any at all. I suspect that Josash was an inclusivist, for that is what usually became of Israelites—it is not so much that they deliberately stopped sacrificing to Jehovah, but they included the gods of the land in their worship.
c. The great sin of Israel always seemed to be this: they abandoned the exclusive worship of the Lord God.
d. God is a jealous God, and will not be content to be included among the gods; If you do not worship Him alone, you do not worship Him at all.
e. So we see in I Thess. “9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” (1Th 1:9-10 AV)
f. “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” (Ex 34:14 AV)

2. What was the problem; what is the answer to Gideon’s questions; where are the miracles; has God forsaken us?
3. See Isaiah 59.

a. The problem was not with outward worship: When we read of Israel forsaking God, it is never because of outward behavior alone, for God has always required spiritual worship.

b. Isaiah 1 tells us that it is not because of outward things, but because of turning away of the heart from God. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18

c. God always promised to forgive sins: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isa 1:2-20 AV)

d. Isaiah 59 says that it is not because of the of God’s weakness or God’s ignorance: it is man himself: “1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. 6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

e. “Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. 10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. 11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.” (Isa 59:9-11 AV)

4. These are the answers to Gideon’s questions. It is not God who has forsaken Israel, but Israel had forsaken God. It is a very great sin for you to sit around feeling sorry for yourself and complaining that God has forsaken you. As we saw last week from Isaiah 59, my reaction is to moan like a dove or roar like a bear—feel sorry for myself or rage against everything around me.

a. This is against the promises of God.
b. This is contrary to faith.
c. This is against the power of God.
d. This is against the truth of God.
e. This is against the love of God.
f. This is against the grace of God.
g. This is against the honor and integrity of God.
h. This is against every attribute of God.

15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.
16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
18 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.

1. "How will I save Israel?" Gideon’s response is a humble one. Many appoint themselves saviors, but they prove to be false. How do we know of God’s appointment?

2. I will bring bring my present: my offering. This is the same word as meat offering. Gideon knew that this person was a very special person. Like Abraham, he desired to do this angel service and prepare a meal for him. Remember hospitality, we are told, for some have entertained angels unawares. But this was more than a created angel, as we are about to see.

19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. 20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. 22 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.

1. God does not need our offerings and our gifts. God does not eat or drink. He is not served with men’s hands.

2. The offering of Gideon was accepted by the fire of the Lord.

3. Gideon knew that this was no created Being. We believe it is the Lord Jesus Himself, as the Angel of the Covenant, or the Captain of the Lord’s Host. Not yet revealed as the 2nd Person of the Trinity or the Sacrifice for sin. That would come later, especially in John’s magnificent Gospel, where our Lord is revealed as the eternal Word and Wisdom of God. He became flesh and dwelt among us, but He is not yet so revealed, but to Gideon revealed as a Mighty Angel. But He accepted the offering of Gideon.

4. Worship is always first. Nothing will ever be right in the life, until the heart is right with God. Your business is always in the heart before God, for that is the only altar upon which true worship is offered. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." Our trouble is this: we want to be considered true worshippers of God, when in reality our hearts are far from Him. But nothing can be right in our lives if our hearts are wrong. The Apostle said, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” (Tit 1:15 AV)

23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 And it came to pass the same night, 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:
26 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.
27 Then Gideon took ten men 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.

1. God declares peace to Gideon. God justifies Gideon, and gives him rest, which is the foundation of all God’s work in us. Peace with God is the foundation of all of God’s work in us.

2. Gideon is commanded to throw down his father’s idols, to build an altar on that same rock where the angel had appeared, and using the wood of the grove to burn a sacrifice unto the Lord God, showing that our peace is in Christ and in Him alone. The Lord Jesus is our peace and we worship Him because of the peace that we have with God.

3. He was afraid of his own relatives, but he obeyed the Lord, even if he was lacking the courage to do it in the light of day.

28 And when the men of the 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.
29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
30 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.
31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.” (Jud 6:11-32 AV)

1. How degenerate were the men of Gideon’s house. They were worthy of death, but were ready to murder Gideon.

2. God used Joash, idolater though he was, and Joash was moved to spare his son, Gideon. I am sure this was from some secret impulse from God. There were no kings in Israel in these days and human authority was by fathers, the heads of households. Maybe some prickings of conscience, some word that he remembered perhaps from his childhood, maybe some of those stories that Gideon had referred to when he first met the angel of the Lord—maybe some, or all of this, stirred in the mind of Joash, so that he spared the life of his son.

3. Will ye plead for Baal? There is a very great principle here. We do not need to defend the honor and glory of the living God. He can take very good care of Himself. We are messengers, not defenders. Dead gods cannot defend themselves, but must be defended by dead men. The true defense of the faith is by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men and this comes by the preaching of the gospel, not by clever argument.

4. Enticing words of men’s wisdom do not change the heart. If you have eyes you don’t need an explanation for the sun shining. If you are blind, no explanation will do.

5. Joash was ready to execute anyone who pled for Baal. The living God doesn’t need a pleading, and it is wicked to plead for a dead God. If Baal is a true God, let him take care of himself.

Application:

1. Let us keep our hearts from the worship of idols. We must trust in God alone, not ourselves, nor others.
2. The altars of false gods, no matter how revered by our fathers nor from how many long generations, are not to be reverenced, but are to be abandoned God alone and His word are to be revered.
3. What might have seemed as a great hostility to his family, was love of the highest order; Gideon put his very life in jeopardy to deliver his family from wickedness.
4. Where are his miracles? The Jews seek after a sign, the apostle said, and in these times, God gave them signs and wonders because the Jesus, the Word and Wisdom of God had not yet appeared. We no longer seek for signs and wonders, but we seek Jesus, who is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Salvation is in the preaching of the cross, which is the power of God.
5. No Christian should say with Gideon, Where are all his miracles? Rather, we should say, “Sir, we seek Jesus, who is the author and the finisher of our faith.” Amen and Amen. Don’t seek for miracles, but rather seek the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. But we will continue this next time.

Amen and Amen. May God bless you.