The Call of Gideon (2)
Notes
Transcript
This week we are starting a new series that I’ve entitled “The saga of Gideon” During this series we are going to explore the story of Gideon, who was one of God’s Judges.
Background In order to set up the background of what’s happening in Gideon's story, we need to Understand what is happening in Israel. The people of Israel had once again fallen into Idol worship, as a result they were being constantly targeted by a people know as Midianites. However the Midianites never really seemed to conquer the Israelites. Rather the Midianites choose to constantly send raiding parties into Israel to plunder their goods and money. Israel was unable to defend themselves against the constant raids of the Midianites. The economy of Israel had been completely crippled.
Gideon This is where Gideon's story finally begins. God has decided to resolve the issue of the Midianite raiding parties, and he was going to use Gideon as his means of accomplishing his will. ( Give a brief explanation of the period of the judges)
(READ Judges 6:11-16
Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord 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 Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
The first thing we need to consider is Gideons plight, or his current situation. When we first encounter Gideon he is threshing wheat in a wine press in order to keep it from the Midianites. Remember the Midianites were constantly plundering the Israelites crops. Meaning you had to be diligent if you wanted to keep your harvest out of their hands. Typically you would thresh wheat in an open field, however that wasn’t feasible with the threat of Midian Marauders lurking. This means Gideon had to thresh his wheat in a winepress in order to remain hidden.
(ILLUSTRATION Grain Bin) The process of removing the wheat pellet from the leafy chaffee was dusty. Remember Gideon was in an enclosed structure, meaning he would be absolutely filthy, covered with dust and chaffee. Threshing wheat in a winepress would have been both difficult and humiliating. When Gideon threshed wheat in a wine press he showed us that he was willing to do whatever it takes, and he was smart enough to find a way to make it happen. Gideon showed he was shrewd and determined.
Gideon’s Question Gideon (spitting dust) askes a serious question. “If God is with me, why has all this happened? How often has this question been asked? If God loves me, why did he let this happen to me. If God is loving, why does evil exist? Perhaps many of you have asked this same question. Why has God allowed this to happen? Notice the way God responds to Gideons question, or perhaps how he DOESN’T respond. God doesn’t even address the question!! Near the end of the book of Job, God finally answers Jobs' questions. However God DOESN’T really answer the question, he doesn’t tell Job the reason for human suffering. Instead God speaks about how it was he who created everything and set everything in motion, and Job needs to trust his wisdom. When Gideon asks a similar question, God doesn’t really give him an answer.
Why does God do this? Why doesn’t he give a straight answer when it comes to suffering? My biggest best attempt to answer is this. There is no answer to this question that will bring us peace. There isn’t an answer that makes suffering make sense to us. Which is why God doesn’t elect to answer the question. Suffering isn’t something that can be sufficiently explained for the human mind. Which is why God doesn’t give a conventional answer.
God’s response When Gideon tries to ask God why he and his people had suffered, God redirects Gideons focus. He essentially says to Gideon. Let’s focus on what we are going to do instead. God wants to provide Israel with a solution for their suffering, and he wants to use Gideon to end Israel's suffering. When it comes to suffering God is solution focused rather than reason focused. In recent years a type of therapy called “Solution Focused Brief Therapy” has been gaining traction as an effective means of providing therapy, this is actually the form of counseling we were taught at Ozark. SFBT the goal of this approach is this: Instead of focusing on problematic behavioral patterns or reasons, SFBT focuses on positive behavioral patterns and developing those instead.
Psychology today says this: A new article published in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is one of the most effective ways to treat a wide range of psychological issues, and that psychologists and mental health practitioners around the world are becoming more aware of its merits.
In other words the world of professional psychology is understanding the importance of being solution focused instead of reason focused.
The question we are left with is this; Are we reason focused, or solution focused? Today I hope we make a commitment to being solution focused when it comes to suffering, and I hope we pray that God helps us focus on solutions, instead of dwelling on and reasons for suffering.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of this, because he is the key to bringing suffering to an end. His death, burial and resurrection have given us the solution for suffering. What’s more is that God has put us in the same position as Gideon. God told Gideon that he would be part of the solution to the suffering of the land. Christ, when he gave us the great commission, invited us to be part of the solution to ending suffering. Gideon is going to answer God’s call to action. What will we do? Will we be reason focused? Or solution focused?