Bible Stories for Adults

God Chooses Gideon

Judges 6-7

Next Week - God Blesses Ruth (Ruth 1-4)
Bible Words to Remember:
If God is for us, who can against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:31-32

What did God command of Israel before they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land?
Numbers 33:51-53 = Israel commanded to wipe Canaan clean
Why was it important for Israel to drive out all the inhabitants of the land?
Numbers 33:55-56 = They will be barbs in eyes and thorns in your side

Were the Israelites able to conquer the entire territory under Joshua's leadership?
Joshua 13:1 = No, there were still large areas to be taken
What did Joshua tell the Israelites about these unconquered peoples before he died?
Joshua 23:9-13 = Stay faithful & God will drive them out, make allies & they'll be traps

Did Israel heed Joshua's warning and continue to drive out the remaining peoples?
Judges 1:28 (27-36) = The Israelites never drove them out completely
How does this set the stage for the stories of the Judges?
Judges 2:1-5 = God punished Israel by leaving the peoples to be snares

What were Joshua's last words to the Israelites before sending them home?
Joshua 24:14-15 = Choose today whom you will serve, me & my house will serve Lord
How did the Israelites respond to Joshua's call?
Joshua 24:24 = We will serve the Lord our God and obey Him.
How faithful did the Israelites remain?
Judges 2:7, 10-13 = They forgot God after a generation, served Baal
Why did the Israelites continue to fall from God?
Judges 3:5-6 = Lived among other nations & intermarried & served their gods

How did God handle this?
Judges 2:14-15 = He punished with raiders & let enemies defeat them
How did God respond to Israel's cries? = Shophet - director, governor, savior, judge
Judges 2:16, 18 = He raised up judges to save them
Did the judges have a lasting effect on Israel's faithfulness?
Judges 2:19 = After the judge died, they returned to evil & became more corrupt
What did God decide as a result of this response?
Judges 2:20-22 = Allow other nations to remain to test Israel

Sin - Judgment - Grace Cycle = Like Israel in wilderness & Genesis 4-11
Alphabet Cycle:
Apostasy = Unbelief, Rebellion
Battered = Beat upon by enemies
Cry Out = Call to God
Deliverer = God raises a judge
Emancipate = Judge frees Israel from oppression
Forget = Israel forgets what God did & returns to Apostasy

What kind of leadership did Israel have after Joshua?
Judges 21:25 = In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit
What was the Israelites' opinion of a king?
Judges 8:22-23 = God is our king, no man can be king
How tight was the confederacy between tribes?
Judges 1:3 (1:17, 6:35, 20:1) = Banded together to fight enemies
Judges 20:35 (5:17, 8:1, 12:1) = Fought with each other

Who were Israel's enemies? = Table - Mesopotamia, Moab, Canaan, Midian, Ammon, Philistia
What was Baal? = Various male gods for places or purposes, Things good when gods had sex
1 Kings 14:23-24 = Priests & priestesses have sex to encourage gods, Fertility Cult
Who were the judges? = Local heroes raised by God for specific needs, leadership not inherited
Exodus 18 = Judges instituted as leaders under Moses (Don't Read)
Hebrews 11:32-34 = Through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice ...

Who was Israel's oppressor in Judges 6?
Judges 6:1-2 = Midianites, nomadic tribe from east
What led to the battle 200 years earlier when the Israelites defeated this people?
Numbers 22:2-4a (31:7) = Moab & Midian afraid Israel would ravage the land
How did this group of people now oppress the Israelites?
Judges 6:3-6 = They ravaged the land like locusts, took all the crops & livestock
Did the Israelites know why this was happening? = Only prophet during Joshua & Judges
Judges 6:7-10 = God sent a prophet to tell them to make sure they knew

Who did God raise up to save Israel from the Midianites and how was His call accepted?
Judges 6:12, 14-15 = Gideon said he was too weak (like Moses' excuses)
What had Gideon been doing when this angel came to him?
Judges 6:11 = Threshing the little wheat he had while hiding in a winepress
How did God tell Gideon that he had all the power and might he needed?
Judges 6:16 = He'd have God's power and presence & would destroy the Midianites
Did this satisfy Gideon?
Judges 6:17 = No, he wanted a sign
What sign was he given?
Judges 6:19-21 = Fire from rock consumed sacrifice of meat & bread
Did this convince Gideon that this visitor really was from God?
Judges 6:22-24 = Yes, he was afraid, built an altar

How did God test Gideon's faithfulness to his calling? = Baal worship was political
Judges 6:25-26 = Told Gideon that night to destroy dad's Baal altar, Build & sacrifice
How did Gideon respond to this risky command?
Judges 6:27 = He did it, but at night so no one would catch him
How did the town react when they saw what had happened the next morning?
Judges 6:28-30 = They wanted to lynch Gideon for this horrible attack
How was Gideon protected and what nickname was he given? = Jerub-Baal - let Baal contend
Judges 6:31-32 = Father said that if Baal is a god, he can protect himself

How was this town enemy able to round up an army to fight the Midianites?
Judges 6:33-35 = Midianite threat got locally heavy, Spirit filled Gideon, Called Israel
How did Gideon show his weak faith and how did God respond? = Fleece wet, ground dry
Judges 6:36-38 = Asked for a sign, God consented and gave the exact sign
Did this satisfy Gideon that God was with him? = Ground wet, fleece dry
Judges 6:39-40 = No, he asked for another sign to make sure it wasn't just nature

Why did God reduce Gideon's army from 32,000 to 10,000?
Judges 7:1-3 = So Israel would know victory was from God, not by man's powers
Would this remaining 10,000 be enough to defeat the Midianites?
Judges 7:4 = No, it was still too many
How were the troops further weeded down and to how many?
Judges 7:5-8 = Seemingly random method cut down to 300 (<1% of original)
Were only 300 chosen because there weren't very many Midianites to defeat?
Judges 7:12 = No, there were more Midianites than could be counted

Did Gideon ask for another sign from God when it came time to fight the Midianites?
Judges 7:9-11 = No, but God offered one and he took it
How long did Gideon have to spend in the camp to learn what they were saying?
Judges 7:13 = Heard immediately as he arrived - only poor & needy ate barley bread
What did the Midianite's friend believe this dream meant?
Judges 7:14 = That Gideon would defeat & destroy the Midianites
How did Gideon respond to this sign?
Judges 7:15 = He went back to the troops and got them ready for attack

What was Gideon's attack plan? = Weapons were trumpets, jars & torches - No sword or attack
Judges 7:16-18 = Divide into 3 groups, surround camps, blow trumpets and shout
Did the 300 men follow this strange plan?
Judges 7:19-21 = Yes, and they didn't budge from their positions
How could just making some noise at midnight result in defeating the Midianites?
Judges 7:22-25 = Midianites were confused & turned on each other, Israel pursued

Who are the Midianites that we Christians are to conquer?
Ephesians 6:10-13 = The powers and spiritual forces of evil
Gideon attacked at midnight, when darkness reigns. What hour did God attack with Christ?
Luke 22:53 = this is your hour - when darkness reigns; day went dark at Jesus' death

What torch do we Christians have to light up this darkness?
2 Corinthians 4:4 = the light of the gospel
What jars of clay is this light carried in? = Our bodies are jars of clay (made of dust)
2 Corinthians 4:6-7, 10 = Christ's light shines in our hearts to be revealed through us

When will this light within our jars of clay be fully revealed?
1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 47, 49 = When we die and are raised with heavenly bodies
When will God's trumpets be sounded?
Matthew 24:30-31 = When Christ returns
How will the results of God's final battle be similar to His battle against the Midianites?
Revelation 20:7-9 = Satan's numbers like sand on seashore, God will destroy
What lesson should we learn from Gideon as we fight our daily battles?
Romans 8:31-32 = If God is for us, who can be against us?