* Judges: Gideon's first assignment

Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet

Judges 6:1-6    And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.

For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. 

And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.

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7-10    And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites,

That the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 

I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;  And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;

And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed MY voice.

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The main reason for trouble in the church is people disobey the voice of the Lord and the scriptures in the New Testament Holy Bible.

We have all these examples in the Old Testament where God told them something and they did not follow God's word completely.

As a new Christian in 1975, God taught me by taking me to these Old Testament examples.  I'm sure I absorbed the concept that we must do that which God says to us.

A few weeks after I was born again, I was greatly tested on this matter.

I owned a business and a woman took me to court.  I'm certain she thought she saw a way to get money from me.

I heard two words from the Spirit of God in the form of a thought:  "Don't testify."

Immediately I told my lawyer he might not want to represent me because I felt God had told me not to testify.

Lawyer said he would represent me anyway.  He said Flo's witness of the situation at my business would cause me to win the case.  (Flo was an older woman who worked for me.)

When Flo learned I was not going to testify, she was angry and she said:  "Since you won't testify, the burden is all on me!"

I explained to her that I believed God had told me not to testify so there wasn't anything I could do about it.

The man I was dating at that time said, "Joan, you aren't doing this woman any favors by not testifying."

I replied, "I'm not trying to do her any favors.  I'm just trying to obey that which I believe God has told me."

The day of the court case arrived.  The judge of the case was sitting at the bench scribbling something on a note pad.  When he heard I would not be testifying, he stopped writing and looked directly at me in shock and asked, "You're not testifying?"

I responded, "No."

The second day of the trial, my lawyer said to me, "Joan, Flo's testimony wasn't as strong as I'd hoped it would be but if you will testify there is no way we can lose this case."

I responded, "I'll see."

At the court recess, I went into the ladies room and prayed, asking God what HE wanted me to do and I heard, "Don't testify." 

I returned to the court room, and when my lawyer looked at me, I just shook my head, "No."

At one point, I said to God, "I hope YOU know what we are doing.  We're going to lose this case."

(I was a very new Christian at that time.  Perhaps about a year or less.)

We did not lose the case.  We won.  I did not testify.

During the past years I've wondered how I ever managed to stay the course and not testify.  I had no scripture at all that I can recall.  When God gives me a scripture, it is easier.  So as a new Christian, how was it possible to keep that word, "Don't testify," which I believed to be from God?

I believe God gave me a spiritual gift of "faith" at that moment in time.  (See I Corinthians 12:9)

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As I have been writing these chapters about Old Testament, I realize how strongly they teach us to obey God.  I suspect that is the reason I was able to hold onto that which I believed to be from God. I think these examples in Old Testament are so vivid concerning obedience, and especially concerning disobedience, that I would have been more afraid of God than of men.

Psalm 111:10   The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do HIS commandments: HIS praise endureth for ever.

There were many tests for me through the years but none stronger than this first test, so far as I know.

The reading and absorbing of these Old Testament examples can pay very big dividends for those of us who allow ourselves to be disciplined by them.

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An angel of God appers to Gideon:

Judges 6:11-32   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. 

(Angels do not have wings.  They look like ordinary men.  See Genesis 19:  The two angels who were sent by God to destroy Sodom.)

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him (to Gideon), and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

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.

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?

And he (Gideon) 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.

(Doesn't this statement remind us of Moses?  Exodus 3:10-11)

And the Lord said unto him,  Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

And he (Gideon) said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

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:  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.

These are very specific instructions from God and every word must be carried out exactly as instructed.  I count 4 instructions in the above statement.

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.

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.

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.

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? 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.

Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

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That is such a wonderful statement:  If he be a god let him plead for himself.

I see church going people cross themselves "for luck" without considering failures.

The apostle Paul says, Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  I Thessalonians 5:21

Why don't you prove that by scripture?  Where in the New Testament does it tell anyone to cross himself?  And if it is not in the Bible, why do you bow down to that thing?

Jews today pray at a wailing wall.  Why?  Where in Bible does it say to do that?

And why pray to Mary, a dead person, and say a "Rosary"?  (The word "rosary" is not even in the Bible.)

When Jesus said:  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  Be not ye therefore like unto them:  (Matthew 6:5-8)

Prove your doctrine by the Bible.

If the doctrine is not in the Bible, cast it away from you.

Where in the Bible does it say to pray to dead people who are sleeping.  How can that one who is sleeping watch over you? That person who sleeps does not know what is going on.

What does the Bible say about that which you are doing?

And if what you are doing is from God, why be afraid to prove it by the Bible?

If it is from God, let HIM plead for Himself.

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