Romans: Election, Israel, and Covenant Mercy

Principles of Deliverance - 6

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2006-08-13

Synopsis: In this sermon, John Weaver continues his series on deliverance by examining Judges 7:1-15. He emphasizes that God reduces Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300 to ensure that Israel cannot boast in their own strength. The central lesson is that deliverance does not depend on numbers or a majority, but on God alone. Weaver highlights God's sovereignty in choosing a faithful remnant, the importance of giving God all glory, and how God encourages His people through providential signs. Applications include trusting God rather than multitudes, praising Him for small blessings, and relying on His guidance and consolation in trials.

[John Weaver] Well, let's open our Bibles today, if you would please, to the book of Judges, chapter 7. The book of Judges, chapter 7. And we're still dealing with the principles of deliverance, and we're on message number 6. And let's read the first 15 verses. Judges 7, verse 1. Then Jeroboam, who was Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Herod, so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Morah. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return, and depart early from Mount Gilead.

[John Weaver] And there returned to the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many, bring them down to the water, and I will tribe them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee. And of whomsoever I shall say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people into the water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, Everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink.

[John Weaver] And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go every man to his place. So the people took vittles in their hand and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man into his tent, and retained those three hundred men, and the host of Midian was beneath them in the valley." And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phura thy servant down to the host. And thou shalt hear what they say, and afterward shall thine hand be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phura his servant into the outside of the armed men that were in the host.

[John Weaver] And the many knights and the Amalekites and all the children of lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto Estella, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tin, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it that the tin lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. For into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned unto the host of Israel, and said, Arise, for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian."

[John Weaver] Well, we're in Judges chapter 7, just finished reading verses 1 through 15, and we're still dealing with the principles of deliverance. Let me take just a few moments to review. I told you, first of all, in the message concerning preparation, how God does indeed strip us of our pride and our self-ability and our haughtiness and our arrogance before He ever delivers us. In other words, we must look and see ourselves before we ever will look unto the Lord. Then I showed you secondly in the procedure how God always sends a prophet. He sends a preacher to proclaim the truth of God. Not only proclaiming repentance but also faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as well. And of course that's exactly what the prophet did in Judges chapter 6.

[John Weaver] He pointed out the wickedness of the nation and the greatness and the goodness and the mercy of God. And then of course we got to the person that God used in deliverance. We looked at these principles in the life of Gideon, and of course we found several things concerning Gideon. First of all, that he was prudent and practical. And of course we developed that thought, and the Bible does indeed say, the prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the wicked pass on and are punished. But he was prudent and practical.

[John Weaver] Secondly, he was perceptive and discerning. He understood that the nation was in the fix it was in because of its sins against God. And then thirdly, he was called in sin of God. God did call him and God did send him for the express purpose of delivering Israel. And then fourth, I point out that he was meek and humble. Nowhere did he brag of himself or boast of himself He always gloried in the Lord.

[John Weaver] And fifthly, I pointed out that he was believing and bold. And of course, he believed the Lord and then he boldly acted upon what God had commanded him to do.

[John Weaver] Now, it's imperative, I believe, for you and I to understand that whenever God calls a man for such a task, to deliver a people or to deliver a nation, the principles of his choosing will always be the same. By that I simply mean this. He will always choose a man that will have the same characteristics and the same virtues. You remember in Malachi 3.6 he said, I the Lord change not. So God is immutable. God does not change. So put this down. God is not going to give us some sloppy, inconsiderate, impudent, impractical, uncalled and unbelieving and arrogant individual as a deliverer.

[John Weaver] He never has done it. and he never will do it. God just simply does not use that kind of man.

[John Weaver] Now last week we looked particularly at the power of this deliverance, and of course we found that the power was none other than the power of God Himself. Whatever is done for God's honor and God's glory must be done in God's power. And we dealt last week with the fleece. And we looked beyond the fleece and saw the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ was indeed brought as a sheep to his shearers. There is the fleece in Isaiah 53.

[John Weaver] And he said that he had the dew of his youth, Psalm 110. So the fleece and the dew then was a picture of none other than Jesus Christ and his great deliverance. And since Jesus Christ is the true Gideon, since Jesus Christ is the true Deliverer, and he has delivered us from sin and Satan and death, then we can bank on Romans 8 and verse 32. There the scripture says, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? So if God has given us the greatest victory through his Son Jesus Christ, will he not also give us a lesser victory?

[John Weaver] And that answer is yes, of course. And so we have a picture of that in Judges chapter 7. So Gideon musters 32,000 men to fight against this Midianite horde. Now, you know, 32,000 men seems like a great number. And it is a pretty good number. I mean, not many people get to preach to 32,000 men at one time. Not many people get to see 32,000 men at one time, unless you go to football games. And maybe some great stadium might hold that.

[John Weaver] But just stop and think. 32,000 seems like a lot, but when you look down, at chapter 7 and verse 12, and the Bible says, and the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. When you look at this innumerable host, or this great host of Midianites and Amalekites And the children of Issa, the Bible says, and all of their camels. Then you have to stop and say, if one in the world is 32,000 men.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to do something. Just for a moment, imagine yourself that you are Commander Gideon. And you've got 32,000 men. And here you are beside the spring of Herod. And you're looking out and you see this innumerable host. And you're thinking, man, it's already five to one. I mean, just think about that. Five to one odds, we would have to kill five of them for every one of us. That's pretty good odds. And you're just not comfortable with the fact, well, there's only 32,000 of us. And I realize that's probably about five to one odds, but We do have God on our side, and God has promised already to give us the victory. And you know, I can be comfortable with that.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you. Look in your Bible at Judges chapter 8 and verse 10. I don't know how many men were there, but in Judges 8 and verse 10, just Ziba and Zalmuna, who were two other princes, and there were other princes there, but just Ziba and Zalmuna had 135,000 men with them. Watch it. Now Ziba and Zalmuna were in Cankor, and their host with them, about 15,000 men, all that were left of all the host of the children of Yis, and there fell 120,000 men that drew sword. So 120 plus 15, that's 135,000 men they had to begin with. Just Ziba and Zalmuna. I don't know how many of the other princes had.

[John Weaver] And so here you are, you're Commander Gideon, and you're thinking, five to one odds. Well, at least I've got God on my side. At least God has promised me the victory. And just as you adjust your thinking and get comfortable with the fact that you're outmanned, that you're outnumbered, that you're outgunned, you get a word from the Lord that, you know, you really have too many men. Now. Gideon and the Israelites viewed themselves as too few. And therefore, they feared. God said, no, you're not too few, you're too many.

[John Weaver] You see, God's thoughts are not man's thoughts. I want to show you something a little bit later in the Bible, but I want you to think about this. God never complains. about having too few. Just stop and think about that. God never complains with having too few. There was a great general who was trying to soothe and calm and encourage his troops when they saw they were outnumbered.

[John Weaver] And he says to them, how many do you reckon me for? In other words, think how many that I can take care of. Let me ask that you turn just to two passages. I want you to look in your Bibles, first of all, to Isaiah 52, and then secondly, to Deuteronomy chapter 3. And let me just tell you, as you're turning to these passages, I could multiply these passages literally by the hundreds. But notice, if you would please, in Isaiah 52, and look, if you would please, at verse 12. Isaiah 52 and verse 12. Look what God tells His people. He says, For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight. For the Lord will go before you, and the Lord and the God of Israel will be your reward. In other words, He's going to be your rear guard as well as your front guard. God is going to surround you. Now if you look in your Bibles, to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 3, and look at verse 32, And you're going to find this, I hope, very comforting.

[John Weaver] Deuteronomy chapter 3 and verse 22 it is. Deuteronomy 3 and verse 22. God tells His people, you shall not fear them. Why? For the Lord your God, He shall fight for you.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. How many do you reckon God for? I mean, just stop and think about that. Gideon, you've got 32,000 men. That's too many. But Lord, look out there. There's probably several hundred thousand out there. Gideon, it doesn't matter. You consider who I am.

[John Weaver] Now, here are two very important truths in Judges chapter 7. The first one is this, that God fights for His people. You've heard the old saying that God and one man make a majority. That's really not true. God's a majority in and of Himself. He can handle a whole lot, I can assure you.

[John Weaver] Secondly, we see here a wonderful illustration of Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9. You remember there, God said, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Gideon was probably thinking, Lord, we don't have enough, and you're trying to cut us down. God says, look, you've got more than you need. You don't even need the $32,000.

[John Weaver] Are you listening to this statement? Men think numbers are important. God thinks purity and right motives are important. Have you ever noticed how number conscious we are? You go to the average church and here's the board. We had this many last week, this many for Sunday school, this many for Sunday night, this many for Wednesday night. You know, when I first went to Jessup, the very first church I ever pastored, they had one of those boards on the wall. And the first thing I did was go up and take the board off the wall. You know why? If you look up there, you say, wow, we had 89 last week. This week, we only have 50.

[John Weaver] And you have a tendency to be discouraged. Let me tell you something, you know, it's going to be a church. Those who love the Lord and those who God has ordained to be there. Listen, if this room was packed out, overflowing, and there were people in the next room and standing around the outside of the building, I would be pleased. But if I come here and there's only three of you, I'm still pleased. Why? Because God sent you and you need teaching and you need preaching. And my wife can tell you, I have preached in a meeting all week long and the highest number we ever had was seven people. Do you know seven people need preaching too? Just like 7,000.

[John Weaver] Men think numbers are important. God doesn't. I heard somebody say, well, he must. He named a whole book, Numbers. Well, he was numbering the army. He was numbering the people. God said, Gideon, it's not the numbers. It's the purity and it's the motive. Now, if you look back in Judges chapter 7 and verse 2, God tells you very plainly why Gideon had too many people. Now, the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vault themselves against me, saying, Mine hand hath saved me. Now, God says, Gideon, the reason you've got too many is if I give the victory to you, even at five to one odds, Israel is going to vaunt themselves. Now, the word vaunt means to glory. It means to boast. In other words, what he is saying is the children of Israel, in essence, would steal my honor and steal my glory and boast as if it was their hand and their might and their power that had gotten them the victory.

[John Weaver] You know, our Lord knows what is in man. Let me just give you a passage, and I'll quote it for you, John chapter 2, verses 24 and 25. The Bible tells us, but Jesus did not commit himself unto them, that is, unto men, because he knew all men and needed not that any man should testify of man. For He knew what was in man. Likewise, our Heavenly Father knew what was in man.

[John Weaver] And He said, Gideon, you've got too many. Because if I give it to you in five to one odds, they're going to try to steal my glory. I want you to learn a valuable lesson. Please, learn this. It's man's nature. It's man's tendency to steal and to rob God's honor and God's glory. I can prove that to you. Do you realize whenever God blesses us, he provides for us, he heals us, he does something special for us, he gives us an unusual blessing, The natural tendency of man is to think, well, we earned it. We merited it.

[John Weaver] We were wise in our actions. We were gracious in our conduct. And somehow we worked it out. We never stopped to say, Lord God, it was you who gave me this blessing. It was you who took care of my need. No. We have a tendency to steal His honor and glory. Preachers are just as guilty. They can preach a message and God can empower them and bless the people and save and convert people and convict people.

[John Weaver] And the next thing you know, they're saying, boy, that sermon is my sugar stick. I'm going to preach that everywhere I go. It was not the sermon. It was not the illustration. It was not the preacher. It was God. I want you to look at Acts chapter 12 and show you a verse. There was a king by the name of Herod. He tried to steal God's honor and God's glory. Let me show you what happened to him.

[John Weaver] He just made a speech. He gave an oration and the people began to shout, it's the voice of a God and not a man. Well, Herod took that acclamation. He took that glory. And in Acts 12 and verse 23, the Bible says, and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. That's quite a price to pay just for stealing God's honor and God's glory. Immediately, the angel of the Lord smote him and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. Let me tell you something, folks, truthfully, We need to ascribe all honor and all praise and all glory to God the Father in everything that happens to us. We ought to just praise Him for being able to wake up each morning and to get up. Roy said to me jokingly this morning, Pastor, why didn't you tell me old age was going to be this difficult? Well, I could tell you this, you ain't seen nothing yet.

[John Weaver] Fifty-nine is nothing. As Greg Doris says, well, you get eighty-six, you'll find out what the pains are then. Well, you understand what I'm saying? We need to be thankful that God has given us the help that we have and the mind that we have and the family that we have and the friends that we have and the opportunities that we have. How many of us How many people get to live a full life? And how many people get to live a full life enjoying what they do? The Bible says in Psalm 50 and verse 23, Whosoever offereth praise glorifieth me. So all we need to do is just start offering God all the praise, all the glory, and acknowledging Him in every area of our life.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you very quickly about the truth of Judges chapter 7 verses 1 through 15. The truth of this passage is very clear. And I cannot wait any longer just to make this statement. Are you listening? Victory and deliverance does not depend upon a multitude. You're going to see that in this chapter. But think about that. Deliverance or victory does not depend upon a multitude. It does not depend upon a majority. It does not depend upon a great number or a great percentage or a higher percentage. It's not that we need a multitude. We only need the Lord. There are Christians.

[John Weaver] There are preachers in this country that are driving themselves absolutely insane By asking this question, how in the world can we awaken the American people? Listen, I concur that the American people need awakening. I concur that the Christian people in America need awakening. But folks, let me tell you something. The truth is most will never awaken from their slumber. They will not. They will not face the facts. We will never, ever have a multitude on our side. But the sobering reality is we don't need a multitude. We only need the Lord. We don't need the majority.

[John Weaver] When you stop and think about George Washington, And those men, do you realize that those colonial soldiers were in the minority? Someone said that Washington never had more than 8,000 soldiers at one time. Now it had more than that, but never more than that at one time. You just stop and think that God is always pleased to use minorities. Noah and his family against the multitudes.

[John Weaver] It was Lot against the Sodomites. It was Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Mendigo against all the rulers of Babylon. It was Daniel against the presidents. It was twelve disciples against the world. And when you get to Acts chapter 17 and verse 6, The wicked cry out, these that have turned the world upside down have come hither also. Samuel Adams, one of our founding fathers said this, listen carefully, it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set fires in people's minds. It doesn't take a majority. It just takes a minority that are consistent and dedicated and consecrated.

[John Weaver] Who will continue no matter what. You just stop and think our Lord chose those 12 disciples. And he turned the world upside down. Now, here's what the Lord is teaching Gideon. Look back in Judges 7 and verse 3. The Lord is teaching Gideon You don't need a multitude. You don't need a lot of men. In Judges 7, verse 3, he says, Now therefore, go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned to the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. Now, let me just tell you what God told Gideon to do.

[John Weaver] was actually a part of biblical law. In fact, if you will turn back in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 20, and I pointed this verse out a multitude of years ago when I preached on the biblical doctrine of warfare, and I went down through Deuteronomy chapter 20, but if you look in verse 8, here is a biblical military law, and God says, He is telling who shall not serve in the military. In verse 8, And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted?

[John Weaver] Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his own heart. Now what is God doing? He is getting rid of the cowards. He is getting rid of the fearful. You have heard the old adage, one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. Well, what would someone who is fearful and fainthearted do? He's going to express that fear and that faintheartedness to someone else.

[John Weaver] So it will be catching. And that's what God says. God says, don't even let them in the army. Let them go home. You don't need them anyhow. So now, think about this. Here Gideon is with 32,000 men. And God says, you just tell whoever is fearful and fainthearted, he may go home. And over two-thirds of the army leaves. Twenty-two thousand men! Wow! You know, the Bible does say in Proverbs 29 and verse 25, the fear of man bringing the snare.

[John Weaver] But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Well, evidently this principle of being fearful and fainthearted applies to defensive as well as offensive warfare as well. So after this proclamation, 22,000 leave. Basically, you've got to say this, they were not ashamed to admit they were fearful, fainthearted, and cowardly.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to stop and think about something for a moment. I want you to think about the implications of this. Do you realize here were men whose families had been oppressed and persecuted for seven years at the hands of the Midianites and the Amalekites? Everything they had had been taken and stolen from them by the Nidiites, by the Amalekites.

[John Weaver] Now God has called a deliverer, a godly man, a faithful man. God has promised them victory. And here is an opportunity for them to strike back and in order to recover their liberties and their freedom, But once again, destroy their enemies. And they go home. They just leave. So much for putting your trust in a fickle multitude. I got news for you, folks. By God's grace, I would have been someone there sticking so close to Gideon, make your head swim.

[John Weaver] I don't want to say I want my shot at him. I might not have but one trumpet and one pitcher. Whatever I've got, I want my shot at him. There is in all men a natural tendency to some fear, especially when it comes to battle. But that's enough to excite you and drive you, not enough to make you a coward and fainthearted and fearful and leave. Here are men who missed an opportunity to be used by God simply because of their fearfulness. Well, at least Commander Gideon is now left with 10,000 fearless, faithful, brave, courageous, and valued men. And these men are willing and ready to fight. But now, if the enemy only has 200,000, now the odds are 20 to 1.

[John Weaver] No longer 5 to 1, but 20 to 1. Which means they'd have to kill 20 of the Midianites, for every one of the Israelites. Wow. And then God says something else to Gideon in verses four through seven. He says, Gideon, you still have too many men. I'm not going to give this victory to 10,000 men. And so he says, look in verse 4, and the Lord said unto Gideon, the people are yet too many, bring them down into the water, and I will try them for thee there. It shall be that of whom I shall say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee, and of whomsoever I say unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people into the water, and the Lord said unto Gideon, everyone that lappeth of water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself, likewise everyone that bowed down upon his knees to drink.

[John Weaver] I'm going to try them. Now the word try there means to purge like you would purge dross from silver.

[John Weaver] Now scholars have suggested various interpretations of this. So you know the test that God is doing here. Some men that are going to get down on their hands and knees and stick their mouths into the water and drink. There are others who might bow down but they scoop the water up and they look around and they bring it to their mouth like this. God said, everyone that does like this, bringing it to his mouth, you set him to the side. Scholars have said, well, the difference was this. It was a test between those who bowed the knees to Baal and those who have not bowed the knees to Baal. You remember Gideon overthrew the altar of Baal. I don't know that that is true. I don't know that it's not true. I mean, it's an interpretation. It's a suggestion. It could very possibly be true. Someone else has suggested that this test then was as a sign of strength of body and temperance of mind, and the other was a posture of weakness. In other words, that Gideon and God only wanted these men who were going to be alert and ready and not down on their knees drinking water, failing to be alert and ready.

[John Weaver] Someone suggested that there's another application that here, These men indicated that they were only willing to taste the pleasures of this world only as they were needed, but they were willing to go off and leave them and do God's will and do what's right. I don't know. You could probably make a hundred applications out of this, but all I'm trying to say is this. What the Scripture says, it was a test. And the test was who went with Gideon and who did not go with Gideon. It was that simple. And when God got through with the 10,000, Gideon was left with 300. Are you listening? If Ziba and Zalmunna only had 135,000 troops, and there were no more, which I believe there were, Gideon has 300.

[John Weaver] Now the odds are 450 to 1. Humanly speaking, those aren't too good of odds. That means I've got to kill 450 of them for every one of us that they kill. Well, you just stop and think about this. 300 men to fight a multitude that covers the earth like grasshoppers And it covers the earth like the sand of the sea. And then you just think, what? 300 men. The natural man will automatically ask, what possible hope could 300 men have of achieving a victory? And yet, if you'll look in verse 7, And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the 300 men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, Let all the other people go, every man unto his place. God says, Gideon, you've got what you need right now. This way, everyone will know that it was I who gave you the victory. Now, I want you to watch what God does. Gideon started out with 32,000. Then he knocked him down to 10,000. Now I knock him down to 300.

[John Weaver] Now you're Gideon. And you know, you've got the promise of victory. But you look around and you've got 300 men. And you say, what in the world have I gotten myself into? Don't you imagine that went through Gideon's mind? I do. Because Gideon was a man. And God knew that. And so here's what God did. God said, Gideon, I want you to do something. I want you to take your servant and slip down to the many night host. And I want you to hear something. Something that will encourage you. Now watch it.

[John Weaver] Skip down, if you would, please, to verse 9. And it came to pass the same night, that is, the same night that he had cut him down to three hundred, the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host, and thou shalt hear what they say. And afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.

[John Weaver] And the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and all the Jorobites lay along the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the sea for the multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread trumbled in the host of Midian, and came into a tent, and smote it, that it fell, and overturned it, and the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel, for into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the host." Now, let me tell you what Gideon is learning. Gideon is learning a very important lesson.

[John Weaver] And it's one that we have to learn. Gideon is learning that he must fight by faith or not at all. You remember the passage in Hebrews 11 and verse six, without faith, it is impossible to please God. You can also say without faith, it is impossible to serve God. Now, faith has to rely solely upon the word of God. Presumption may rest upon circumstances, feelings, and signs, but not faith. Faith rests squarely upon God's Word. And so God then encourages Gideon's faith after he cuts him down to 300.

[John Weaver] He gives him a command that will warrant his action. He tells him to go down to the camp of the Midianites.

[John Weaver] Now you've got to remember that Gideon is the commanding general. I realize during Bible times the commanding officers did many things that today's commanding officers would never do. But we would tend to think it'd be rash for the head honcho to go down into the entire midst because if he was captured, I mean, there'd really be problems. But God now gives him a warrant. God says, you go down. And then he says, if you're afraid to go, you take Phu Ra, your servant. Well, what does that mean? He had some fear. He had some doubts. I mean, he was a brave man. He was a valued man, but he was still a man. So he took Phu Ra and he went down.

[John Weaver] Are you listening to me? Divine consolations are not only given to believers strongly, but seasonably. They are given when we need them. God says, Gideon, if you think I'm doing you harm, you just get down to those Midianites. You go down there and you listen to what they say. So God basically then orders Gideon to be his own spy. He sends him down to Thurai's servant. He needs at least one witness. The Bible says for out of the mouth of at least two witnesses, every word should be established. And so Thurot is going to hear what Gideon hears as well.

[John Weaver] Now, look at verse 12. I just keep harping on this because remember, they're going down at night. The moon is shining undoubtedly. And what does Gideon see as he goes down? And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. I don't know what else Gideon saw on his trip down to the Midianites. But I mean, just seeing that sight would probably be enough to make you think, oh God, if I stepped into it. I'm in trouble, now look at all these people. And just as he gets there, one man wakes up and he said, I had a dream. Why?

[John Weaver] He said, a barley cake came rolling down this mountain and rolled into my tent and just tore it to pieces, laid it down, laid it long. And the other soldier said, this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, and at whose hand God has delivered this army.

[John Weaver] Now let me ask you a question. If Gideon and Phurro had only heard the dream What would they have thought? Who knows? But God not only caused the man to dream the dream, God also caused the other soldier to interpret the dream. And what in the world could a barley cake have to do with the sword of Gideon? Other than the fact, when you find Gideon, what was he doing? Threshing wheat? He provided a cake for his visitor. And his army newly gotten together like a fresh baked cake.

[John Weaver] I mean just 300 of them. But we know that God put it in that man's mind to dream the dream. And God put it in that man's mouth to interpret the dream. And Gideon understood it was by his hand that God would deliver Midian into his hand for their destruction. God would deliver Israel and defeat the enemy. Now, look what Gideon did. Look in verse 15. Watch this carefully. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof that he worshipped and returned unto the host of Israel and said, Arise! For the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian." Gideon, once again, teaches us how to respond to the signal blessings of God. What did God do? God said, Gideon, you may be fearful. You may be doubtful. I know you only have 300 men.

[John Weaver] You've never done this before. But go down. And when he heard the dream and the interpretation of the dream, what did he immediately do? He bowed and worshiped and gave God the honor and the glory. He said, Lord, we shall defeat them. And he went back to his men and said, all right, men, get up. They're ours. God has given us the victory. Now, we're going to stop there today, because next week, when you get into what God does and how God does it.

[John Weaver] Let me just mention this. You talk about psychological warfare, God is the expert. Let me make just a couple of applications. Please remember this. Multitudes cannot save us. They cannot deliver us. Even if we have a multitude on our side, Even if we have a majority on our side, but do not have the Lord, we've already lost the battle. I'd rather be one man with the Lord than be ten billion without the Lord. We do not need a multitude of the people in this country to awaken We just need an irate, tireless minority who will not give in, who will not give up, who will not give out and will stand for the truth and the Word of God.

[John Weaver] The second application is this. We have to learn to be thankful and to praise and honor and worship God even for the smallest blessing. I'm talking about the smallest blessing, the smallest favor, the smallest indication that He's going to deliver us. We have to learn to habitually give Him the honor and the glory. When you see that little cloud about the size of a man's fist, you need to start saying, thank you, Father. for the rain you're going to send.

[John Weaver] It's not here yet, but it's coming. That is a signal that you are indeed going to bless us. We need to thank Him for that. The third application of this, God does lead us. God does guide us. God does encourage us. And God does prepare us. He will never, ever leave us alone. And at the right moment, at the right time, God will give us the consolation that we need.

[John Weaver] You know, so many of us look ahead and we'll say, Lord, oh Lord, help me to avoid that. No. Give us grace to go through it. and give us the consolations that we need and the encouragement we need to bear it for your name and for your honor and your glory. There are some things, folks, we cannot avoid. And you cannot avoid trouble. You cannot avoid persecution. You cannot avoid oppression. You cannot avoid wickedness. You must stand against it with grace and with power and with the blessing of God and trust God for deliverance. Deliverance is His act and not man's. Let's pray.

[John Weaver] Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And above all, Father, we thank You for Jesus Christ and His so great salvation. Help us to learn today, Lord, that salvation and deliverance is not by multitude, not by majority, not by a high percentage, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, by the power and grace of God alone. Help us, Lord, we pray, to stand against wickedness, to stand for truth and righteousness. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen and Amen.

Principles of Deliverance - 6

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	1025061112
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Election, Israel, and Covenant Mercy
Genre	Sermon
Date	2006-08-13
Dictation Name
Book	Book 163: Principles of Deliverance — Chapter 6
Source Timed Segments	67

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver opens with a reading of Judges 7:1-15, setting the stage for the principles of deliverance.

Well, let's open our Bibles today, if you would please, to the book of Judges, chapter 7. The book of Judges, chapter 7. And we're still dealing with the principles of deliverance, and we're on message number 6. And let's read the first 15 verses. Judges 7, verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Judges 7:1-15

Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Harod, so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return, and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many, bring them down to the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee. And of whomsoever I shall say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people into the water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, Everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go every man to his place. So the people took victuals in their hand and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man into his tent, and retained those three hundred men, and the host of Midian was beneath them in the valley. And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host. And thou shalt hear what they say, and afterward shall thine hand be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant into the outside of the armed men that were in the host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. For into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned unto the host of Israel, and said, Arise, for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.

Review of Previous Principles

A recap of earlier messages: God strips pride before deliverance, sends a prophet, and uses a man with specific virtues like prudence, perception, calling, meekness, and boldness.

Well, we're in Judges chapter 7, just finished reading verses 1 through 15, and we're still dealing with the principles of deliverance. Let me take just a few moments to review. I told you, first of all, in the message concerning preparation, how God does indeed strip us of our pride and our self-ability and our haughtiness and our arrogance before He ever delivers us. In other words, we must look and see ourselves before we ever will look unto the Lord. Then I showed you secondly in the procedure how God always sends a prophet. He sends a preacher to proclaim the truth of God. Not only proclaiming repentance but also faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as well. And of course that's exactly what the prophet did in Judges chapter 6.

He pointed out the wickedness of the nation and the greatness and the goodness and the mercy of God. And then of course we got to the person that God used in deliverance. We looked at these principles in the life of Gideon, and of course we found several things concerning Gideon. First of all, that he was prudent and practical. And of course we developed that thought, and the Bible does indeed say, the prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the wicked pass on and are punished. But he was prudent and practical. Secondly, he was perceptive and discerning. He understood that the nation was in the fix it was in because of its sins against God. And then thirdly, he was called in sin of God. God did call him and God did send him for the express purpose of delivering Israel. And then fourth, I point out that he was meek and humble. Nowhere did he brag of himself or boast of himself. He always gloried in the Lord.

And fifthly, I pointed out that he was believing and bold. And of course, he believed the Lord and then he boldly acted upon what God had commanded him to do. Now, it's imperative, I believe, for you and I to understand that whenever God calls a man for such a task, to deliver a people or to deliver a nation, the principles of his choosing will always be the same. By that I simply mean this. He will always choose a man that will have the same characteristics and the same virtues. You remember in Malachi 3:6 he said, I the Lord change not. So God is immutable. God does not change. So put this down. God is not going to give us some sloppy, inconsiderate, impudent, impractical, uncalled and unbelieving and arrogant individual as a deliverer.

God's Unchanging Character in Choosing Deliverers

God always chooses deliverers with consistent characteristics; He does not use arrogant or uncalled individuals.

Now, it's imperative, I believe, for you and I to understand that whenever God calls a man for such a task, to deliver a people or to deliver a nation, the principles of his choosing will always be the same. By that I simply mean this. He will always choose a man that will have the same characteristics and the same virtues. You remember in Malachi 3:6 he said, I the Lord change not. So God is immutable. God does not change. So put this down. God is not going to give us some sloppy, inconsiderate, impudent, impractical, uncalled and unbelieving and arrogant individual as a deliverer.

He never has done it, and he never will do it. God just simply does not use that kind of man. Now last week we looked particularly at the power of this deliverance, and of course we found that the power was none other than the power of God Himself. Whatever is done for God's honor and God's glory must be done in God's power. And we dealt last week with the fleece. And we looked beyond the fleece and saw the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ was indeed brought as a sheep to his shearers. There is the fleece in Isaiah 53.

The Power of Deliverance and the Fleece as a Picture of Christ

The power for deliverance is God's alone; the fleece and dew prefigure Christ's sacrifice and victory, assuring us of lesser victories.

And he said that he had the dew of his youth, Psalm 110. So the fleece and the dew then was a picture of none other than Jesus Christ and his great deliverance. And since Jesus Christ is the true Gideon, since Jesus Christ is the true Deliverer, and he has delivered us from sin and Satan and death, then we can bank on Romans 8 and verse 32. There the scripture says, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? So if God has given us the greatest victory through his Son Jesus Christ, will he not also give us a lesser victory? And that answer is yes, of course. And so we have a picture of that in Judges chapter 7. So Gideon musters 32,000 men to fight against this Midianite horde. Now, you know, 32,000 men seems like a great number. And it is a pretty good number. I mean, not many people get to preach to 32,000 men at one time. Not many people get to see 32,000 men at one time, unless you go to football games. And maybe some great stadium might hold that.

God's Reduction of Gideon's Army

God declares 32,000 men too many, lest Israel boast. He reduces the army first by sending home the fearful (22,000 leave), then by a water test, leaving only 300.

But just stop and think. 32,000 seems like a lot, but when you look down at chapter 7 and verse 12, and the Bible says, and the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. When you look at this innumerable host, or this great host of Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the East, the Bible says, and all of their camels. Then you have to stop and say, what in the world is 32,000 men?

Now, I want you to do something. Just for a moment, imagine yourself that you are Commander Gideon. And you've got 32,000 men. And here you are beside the spring of Harod. And you're looking out and you see this innumerable host. And you're thinking, man, it's already five to one. I mean, just think about that. Five to one odds, we would have to kill five of them for every one of us. That's pretty good odds. And you're just not comfortable with the fact, well, there's only 32,000 of us. And I realize that's probably about five to one odds, but we do have God on our side, and God has promised already to give us the victory. And you know, I can be comfortable with that.

Now let me show you. Look in your Bible at Judges chapter 8 and verse 10. I don't know how many men were there, but in Judges 8 and verse 10, just Zebah and Zalmunna, who were two other princes, and there were other princes there, but just Zebah and Zalmunna had 135,000 men with them. Watch it. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their host with them, about 15,000 men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the East, and there fell 120,000 men that drew sword. So 120 plus 15, that's 135,000 men they had to begin with. Just Zebah and Zalmunna. I don't know how many of the other princes had.

And so here you are, you're Commander Gideon, and you're thinking, five to one odds. Well, at least I've got God on my side. At least God has promised me the victory. And just as you adjust your thinking and get comfortable with the fact that you're outmanned, that you're outnumbered, that you're outgunned, you get a word from the Lord that, you know, you really have too many men. Now, Gideon and the Israelites viewed themselves as too few. And therefore, they feared. God said, no, you're not too few, you're too many.

You see, God's thoughts are not man's thoughts. I want to show you something a little bit later in the Bible, but I want you to think about this. God never complains about having too few. Just stop and think about that. God never complains with having too few. There was a great general who was trying to soothe and calm and encourage his troops when they saw they were outnumbered. And he says to them, how many do you reckon me for? In other words, think how many that I can take care of. Let me ask that you turn just to two passages. I want you to look in your Bibles, first of all, to Isaiah 52, and then secondly, to Deuteronomy chapter 3. And let me just tell you, as you're turning to these passages, I could multiply these passages literally by the hundreds. But notice, if you would please, in Isaiah 52, and look, if you would please, at verse 12. Isaiah 52 and verse 12. Look what God tells His people. He says, For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight. For the Lord will go before you, and the Lord and the God of Israel will be your rearward. In other words, He's going to be your rear guard as well as your front guard. God is going to surround you. Now if you look in your Bibles, to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 3, and look at verse 22, and you're going to find this, I hope, very comforting.

Deuteronomy chapter 3 and verse 22 it is. Deuteronomy 3 and verse 22. God tells His people, you shall not fear them. Why? For the Lord your God, He shall fight for you.

Now, let me ask you a question. How many do you reckon God for? I mean, just stop and think about that. Gideon, you've got 32,000 men. That's too many. But Lord, look out there. There's probably several hundred thousand out there. Gideon, it doesn't matter. You consider who I am.

Now, here are two very important truths in Judges chapter 7. The first one is this, that God fights for His people. You've heard the old saying that God and one man make a majority. That's really not true. God's a majority in and of Himself. He can handle a whole lot, I can assure you. Secondly, we see here a wonderful illustration of Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9. You remember there, God said, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Gideon was probably thinking, Lord, we don't have enough, and you're trying to cut us down. God says, look, you've got more than you need. You don't even need the 32,000.

Are you listening to this statement? Men think numbers are important. God thinks purity and right motives are important. Have you ever noticed how number conscious we are? You go to the average church and here's the board. We had this many last week, this many for Sunday school, this many for Sunday night, this many for Wednesday night. You know, when I first went to Jessup, the very first church I ever pastored, they had one of those boards on the wall. And the first thing I did was go up and take the board off the wall. You know why? If you look up there, you say, wow, we had 89 last week. This week, we only have 50.

And you have a tendency to be discouraged. Let me tell you something, you know, it's going to be a church. Those who love the Lord and those who God has ordained to be there. Listen, if this room was packed out, overflowing, and there were people in the next room and standing around the outside of the building, I would be pleased. But if I come here and there's only three of you, I'm still pleased. Why? Because God sent you and you need teaching and you need preaching. And my wife can tell you, I have preached in a meeting all week long and the highest number we ever had was seven people. Do you know seven people need preaching too? Just like 7,000.

Men think numbers are important. God doesn't. I heard somebody say, well, he must. He named a whole book, Numbers. Well, he was numbering the army. He was numbering the people. God said, Gideon, it's not the numbers. It's the purity and it's the motive. Now, if you look back in Judges chapter 7 and verse 2, God tells you very plainly why Gideon had too many people. Now, the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine hand hath saved me. Now, God says, Gideon, the reason you've got too many is if I give the victory to you, even at five to one odds, Israel is going to vaunt themselves. Now, the word vaunt means to glory. It means to boast. In other words, what he is saying is the children of Israel, in essence, would steal my honor and steal my glory and boast as if it was their hand and their might and their power that had gotten them the victory.

You know, our Lord knows what is in man. Let me just give you a passage, and I'll quote it for you, John chapter 2, verses 24 and 25. The Bible tells us, but Jesus did not commit himself unto them, that is, unto men, because he knew all men and needed not that any man should testify of man. For He knew what was in man. Likewise, our Heavenly Father knew what was in man. And He said, Gideon, you've got too many. Because if I give it to you in five to one odds, they're going to try to steal my glory. I want you to learn a valuable lesson. Please, learn this. It's man's nature. It's man's tendency to steal and to rob God's honor and God's glory. I can prove that to you. Do you realize whenever God blesses us, he provides for us, he heals us, he does something special for us, he gives us an unusual blessing, the natural tendency of man is to think, well, we earned it. We merited it.

We were wise in our actions. We were gracious in our conduct. And somehow we worked it out. We never stopped to say, Lord God, it was you who gave me this blessing. It was you who took care of my need. No. We have a tendency to steal His honor and glory. Preachers are just as guilty. They can preach a message and God can empower them and bless the people and save and convert people and convict people.

And the next thing you know, they're saying, boy, that sermon is my sugar stick. I'm going to preach that everywhere I go. It was not the sermon. It was not the illustration. It was not the preacher. It was God. I want you to look at Acts chapter 12 and show you a verse. There was a king by the name of Herod. He tried to steal God's honor and God's glory. Let me show you what happened to him.

He just made a speech. He gave an oration and the people began to shout, it's the voice of a God and not a man. Well, Herod took that acclamation. He took that glory. And in Acts 12 and verse 23, the Bible says, and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. That's quite a price to pay just for stealing God's honor and God's glory. Immediately, the angel of the Lord smote him and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. Let me tell you something, folks, truthfully, we need to ascribe all honor and all praise and all glory to God the Father in everything that happens to us. We ought to just praise Him for being able to wake up each morning and to get up. Roy said to me jokingly this morning, Pastor, why didn't you tell me old age was going to be this difficult? Well, I could tell you this, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Fifty-nine is nothing. As Greg Doris says, well, you get eighty-six, you'll find out what the pains are then. Well, you understand what I'm saying? We need to be thankful that God has given us the help that we have and the mind that we have and the family that we have and the friends that we have and the opportunities that we have. How many of us, how many people get to live a full life? And how many people get to live a full life enjoying what they do? The Bible says in Psalm 50 and verse 23, Whosoever offereth praise glorifieth me. So all we need to do is just start offering God all the praise, all the glory, and acknowledging Him in every area of our life.

Let me tell you very quickly about the truth of Judges chapter 7 verses 1 through 15. The truth of this passage is very clear. And I cannot wait any longer just to make this statement. Are you listening? Victory and deliverance does not depend upon a multitude. You're going to see that in this chapter. But think about that. Deliverance or victory does not depend upon a multitude. It does not depend upon a majority. It does not depend upon a great number or a great percentage or a higher percentage. It's not that we need a multitude. We only need the Lord. There are Christians.

There are preachers in this country that are driving themselves absolutely insane by asking this question, how in the world can we awaken the American people? Listen, I concur that the American people need awakening. I concur that the Christian people in America need awakening. But folks, let me tell you something. The truth is most will never awaken from their slumber. They will not. They will not face the facts. We will never, ever have a multitude on our side. But the sobering reality is we don't need a multitude. We only need the Lord. We don't need the majority.

When you stop and think about George Washington, and those men, do you realize that those colonial soldiers were in the minority? Someone said that Washington never had more than 8,000 soldiers at one time. Now it had more than that, but never more than that at one time. You just stop and think that God is always pleased to use minorities. Noah and his family against the multitudes. It was Lot against the Sodomites. It was Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego against all the rulers of Babylon. It was Daniel against the presidents. It was twelve disciples against the world. And when you get to Acts chapter 17 and verse 6, the wicked cry out, these that have turned the world upside down have come hither also. Samuel Adams, one of our founding fathers said this, listen carefully, it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set fires in people's minds. It doesn't take a majority. It just takes a minority that are consistent and dedicated and consecrated.

Who will continue no matter what. You just stop and think our Lord chose those 12 disciples. And he turned the world upside down. Now, here's what the Lord is teaching Gideon. Look back in Judges 7 and verse 3. The Lord is teaching Gideon you don't need a multitude. You don't need a lot of men. In Judges 7, verse 3, he says, Now therefore, go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. Now, let me just tell you what God told Gideon to do.

was actually a part of biblical law. In fact, if you will turn back in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 20, and I pointed this verse out a multitude of years ago when I preached on the biblical doctrine of warfare, and I went down through Deuteronomy chapter 20, but if you look in verse 8, here is a biblical military law, and God says, He is telling who shall not serve in the military. In verse 8, And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his own heart. Now what is God doing? He is getting rid of the cowards. He is getting rid of the fearful. You have heard the old adage, one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. Well, what would someone who is fearful and fainthearted do? He's going to express that fear and that faintheartedness to someone else.

So it will be catching. And that's what God says. God says, don't even let them in the army. Let them go home. You don't need them anyhow. So now, think about this. Here Gideon is with 32,000 men. And God says, you just tell whoever is fearful and fainthearted, he may go home. And over two-thirds of the army leaves. Twenty-two thousand men! Wow! You know, the Bible does say in Proverbs 29 and verse 25, the fear of man bringeth a snare.

But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Well, evidently this principle of being fearful and fainthearted applies to defensive as well as offensive warfare as well. So after this proclamation, 22,000 leave. Basically, you've got to say this, they were not ashamed to admit they were fearful, fainthearted, and cowardly.

Now I want you to stop and think about something for a moment. I want you to think about the implications of this. Do you realize here were men whose families had been oppressed and persecuted for seven years at the hands of the Midianites and the Amalekites? Everything they had had been taken and stolen from them by the Midianites, by the Amalekites.

Now God has called a deliverer, a godly man, a faithful man. God has promised them victory. And here is an opportunity for them to strike back and in order to recover their liberties and their freedom, but once again, destroy their enemies. And they go home. They just leave. So much for putting your trust in a fickle multitude. I got news for you, folks. By God's grace, I would have been someone there sticking so close to Gideon, make your head swim.

I don't want to say I want my shot at him. I might not have but one trumpet and one pitcher. Whatever I've got, I want my shot at him. There is in all men a natural tendency to some fear, especially when it comes to battle. But that's enough to excite you and drive you, not enough to make you a coward and fainthearted and fearful and leave. Here are men who missed an opportunity to be used by God simply because of their fearfulness. Well, at least Commander Gideon is now left with 10,000 fearless, faithful, brave, courageous, and valued men. And these men are willing and ready to fight. But now, if the enemy only has 200,000, now the odds are 20 to 1.

No longer 5 to 1, but 20 to 1. Which means they'd have to kill 20 of the Midianites for every one of the Israelites. Wow. And then God says something else to Gideon in verses four through seven. He says, Gideon, you still have too many men. I'm not going to give this victory to 10,000 men. And so he says, look in verse 4, and the Lord said unto Gideon, the people are yet too many, bring them down into the water, and I will try them for thee there. It shall be that of whom I shall say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee, and of whomsoever I say unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people into the water, and the Lord said unto Gideon, everyone that lappeth of water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself, likewise everyone that bowed down upon his knees to drink.

And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go every man to his place. Now, God tells Gideon, you bring these ten thousand down to the spring of Harod here, to the water. I'm going to try them. Now the word try there means to purge like you would purge dross from silver.

The Test at the Water

God tests the remaining 10,000 by how they drink water; 300 who lap with hands to mouth are chosen, while the rest are sent home.

Now scholars have suggested various interpretations of this. So you know the test that God is doing here. Some men that are going to get down on their hands and knees and stick their mouths into the water and drink. There are others who might bow down but they scoop the water up and they look around and they bring it to their mouth like this. God said, everyone that does like this, bringing it to his mouth, you set him to the side. Scholars have said, well, the difference was this. It was a test between those who bowed the knees to Baal and those who have not bowed the knees to Baal. You remember Gideon overthrew the altar of Baal. I don't know that that is true. I don't know that it's not true. I mean, it's an interpretation. It's a suggestion. It could very possibly be true. Someone else has suggested that this test then was as a sign of strength of body and temperance of mind, and the other was a posture of weakness. In other words, that Gideon and God only wanted these men who were going to be alert and ready and not down on their knees drinking water, failing to be alert and ready.

God Encourages Gideon's Faith

God sends Gideon to spy on the Midianite camp, where he hears a dream and its interpretation confirming God's deliverance, leading Gideon to worship.

Now the odds are 450 to 1. Humanly speaking, those aren't too good of odds. That means I've got to kill 450 of them for every one of us that they kill. Well, you just stop and think about this. 300 men to fight a multitude that covers the earth like grasshoppers and it covers the earth like the sand of the sea. And then you just think, what? 300 men. The natural man will automatically ask, what possible hope could 300 men have of achieving a victory? And yet, if you'll look in verse 7, and the Lord said unto Gideon, By the 300 men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, let all the other people go, every man unto his place. God says, Gideon, you've got what you need right now. This way, everyone will know that it was I who gave you the victory. Now, I want you to watch what God does. Gideon started out with 32,000. Then he knocked him down to 10,000. Now I knock him down to 300.

Now you're Gideon. And you know, you've got the promise of victory. But you look around and you've got 300 men. And you say, what in the world have I gotten myself into? Don't you imagine that went through Gideon's mind? I do. Because Gideon was a man. And God knew that. And so here's what God did. God said, Gideon, I want you to do something. I want you to take your servant and slip down to the Midianite host. And I want you to hear something. Something that will encourage you. Now watch it.

Skip down, if you would, please, to verse 9. And it came to pass the same night, that is, the same night that he had cut him down to three hundred, the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host, and thou shalt hear what they say. And afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. And the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and all the children of the East lay along the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the sea for the multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came into a tent, and smote it, that it fell, and overturned it, and the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel, for into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the host. Now, let me tell you what Gideon is learning. Gideon is learning a very important lesson.

And it's one that we have to learn. Gideon is learning that he must fight by faith or not at all. You remember the passage in Hebrews 11 and verse six, without faith, it is impossible to please God. You can also say without faith, it is impossible to serve God. Now, faith has to rely solely upon the word of God. Presumption may rest upon circumstances, feelings, and signs, but not faith. Faith rests squarely upon God's Word. And so God then encourages Gideon's faith after he cuts him down to 300.

He gives him a command that will warrant his action. He tells him to go down to the camp of the Midianites. Now you've got to remember that Gideon is the commanding general. I realize during Bible times the commanding officers did many things that today's commanding officers would never do. But we would tend to think it'd be rash for the head honcho to go down into the entire midst because if he was captured, I mean, there'd really be problems. But God now gives him a warrant. God says, you go down. And then he says, if you're afraid to go, you take Phurah, your servant. Well, what does that mean? He had some fear. He had some doubts. I mean, he was a brave man. He was a valued man, but he was still a man. So he took Phurah and he went down.

Are you listening to me? Divine consolations are not only given to believers strongly, but seasonably. They are given when we need them. God says, Gideon, if you think I'm doing you harm, you just get down to those Midianites. You go down there and you listen to what they say. So God basically then orders Gideon to be his own spy. He sends him down to Phurah his servant. He needs at least one witness. The Bible says for out of the mouth of at least two witnesses, every word should be established. And so Phurah is going to hear what Gideon hears as well.

Now, look at verse 12. I just keep harping on this because remember, they're going down at night. The moon is shining undoubtedly. And what does Gideon see as he goes down? And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. I don't know what else Gideon saw on his trip down to the Midianites. But I mean, just seeing that sight would probably be enough to make you think, oh God, if I stepped into it. I'm in trouble, now look at all these people. And just as he gets there, one man wakes up and he said, I had a dream. Why?

He said, a barley cake came rolling down this mountain and rolled into my tent and just tore it to pieces, laid it down, laid it long. And the other soldier said, this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, and at whose hand God has delivered this army. Now let me ask you a question. If Gideon and Phurah had only heard the dream, what would they have thought? Who knows? But God not only caused the man to dream the dream, God also caused the other soldier to interpret the dream. And what in the world could a barley cake have to do with the sword of Gideon? Other than the fact, when you find Gideon, what was he doing? Threshing wheat? He provided a cake for his visitor. And his army newly gotten together like a fresh baked cake.

I mean just 300 of them. But we know that God put it in that man's mind to dream the dream. And God put it in that man's mouth to interpret the dream. And Gideon understood it was by his hand that God would deliver Midian into his hand for their destruction. God would deliver Israel and defeat the enemy. Now, look what Gideon did. Look in verse 15. Watch this carefully. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof that he worshipped and returned unto the host of Israel and said, Arise! For the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. Gideon, once again, teaches us how to respond to the signal blessings of God. What did God do? God said, Gideon, you may be fearful. You may be doubtful. I know you only have 300 men.

You've never done this before. But go down. And when he heard the dream and the interpretation of the dream, what did he immediately do? He bowed and worshiped and gave God the honor and the glory. He said, Lord, we shall defeat them. And he went back to his men and said, all right, men, get up. They're ours. God has given us the victory. Now, we're going to stop there today, because next week, when you get into what God does and how God does it.

Applications and Conclusion

Weaver applies the passage: multitudes cannot save; we must thank God for small blessings; God leads and encourages us in trials. He closes in prayer.

Let me just mention this. You talk about psychological warfare, God is the expert. Let me make just a couple of applications. Please remember this. Multitudes cannot save us. They cannot deliver us. Even if we have a multitude on our side, even if we have a majority on our side, but do not have the Lord, we've already lost the battle. I'd rather be one man with the Lord than be ten billion without the Lord. We do not need a multitude of the people in this country to awaken. We just need an irate, tireless minority who will not give in, who will not give up, who will not give out and will stand for the truth and the Word of God.

The second application is this. We have to learn to be thankful and to praise and honor and worship God even for the smallest blessing. I'm talking about the smallest blessing, the smallest favor, the smallest indication that He's going to deliver us. We have to learn to habitually give Him the honor and the glory. When you see that little cloud about the size of a man's fist, you need to start saying, thank you, Father, for the rain you're going to send. It's not here yet, but it's coming. That is a signal that you are indeed going to bless us. We need to thank Him for that. The third application of this, God does lead us. God does guide us. God does encourage us. And God does prepare us. He will never, ever leave us alone. And at the right moment, at the right time, God will give us the consolation that we need.

You know, so many of us look ahead and we'll say, Lord, oh Lord, help me to avoid that. No. Give us grace to go through it, and give us the consolations that we need and the encouragement we need to bear it for your name and for your honor and your glory. There are some things, folks, we cannot avoid. And you cannot avoid trouble. You cannot avoid persecution. You cannot avoid oppression. You cannot avoid wickedness. You must stand against it with grace and with power and with the blessing of God and trust God for deliverance. Deliverance is His act and not man's. Let's pray.

Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And above all, Father, we thank You for Jesus Christ and His so great salvation. Help us to learn today, Lord, that salvation and deliverance is not by multitude, not by majority, not by a high percentage, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, by the power and grace of God alone. Help us, Lord, we pray, to stand against wickedness, to stand for truth and righteousness. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen and Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Deliverance is by God's power, not human numbers

Summary: God reduces Gideon's army to 300 to ensure Israel cannot boast in their own strength, teaching that victory depends solely on the Lord.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Victory and deliverance does not depend upon a multitude... We only need the Lord.'

God's sovereignty in choosing a faithful remnant

Summary: God deliberately sifts the army to retain only those who are fearless and alert, illustrating that He works through a consecrated minority.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'It doesn't take a majority. It just takes a minority that are consistent and dedicated and consecrated.'

The danger of robbing God of His glory

Summary: Human nature tends to take credit for God's works; God reduces the army to prevent Israel from boasting, and Herod's death warns against stealing glory.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'It's man's nature... to steal and to rob God's honor and God's glory.'

Faith must rest on God's Word, not circumstances

Summary: Gideon learns to fight by faith, relying on God's promise rather than the overwhelming odds, as God encourages him through the dream.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Faith has to rely solely upon the word of God... Faith rests squarely upon God's Word.'

God's timely encouragement and guidance

Summary: God provides seasonable consolations, sending Gideon to hear the dream exactly when he needed reassurance, showing God's personal care.

Evidence: Weaver notes, 'Divine consolations are not only given to believers strongly, but seasonably. They are given when we need them.'

Key Arguments

God's thoughts are not man's thoughts regarding numbers

Summary: While Gideon saw 32,000 as too few, God saw them as too many, because God values purity and right motives over numerical strength.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Men think numbers are important. God thinks purity and right motives are important.'

Fearfulness disqualifies from God's work

Summary: God commanded the fearful to leave, in accordance with Deuteronomy 20:8, because fear is contagious and undermines the mission.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'He is getting rid of the cowards... one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.'

The water test revealed alertness and readiness

Summary: The 300 who lapped water with hands to mouth demonstrated vigilance, unlike those who knelt and drank directly, possibly indicating spiritual compromise.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God only wanted these men who were going to be alert and ready and not down on their knees drinking water, failing to be alert and ready.'

God uses a minority to accomplish His purposes

Summary: Throughout Scripture, God works through small numbers—Noah, Lot, Daniel, the disciples—to demonstrate His power and turn the world upside down.

Evidence: Weaver cites, 'It was twelve disciples against the world... these that have turned the world upside down have come hither also.'

Worship is the proper response to God's signals of deliverance

Summary: Upon hearing the dream's interpretation, Gideon immediately worshiped, modeling that we should praise God for even the smallest indication of His blessing.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'When he heard the dream and the interpretation of the dream, what did he immediately do? He bowed and worshiped and gave God the honor and the glory.'

Scripture References

Judges 7:1-15

Context: The primary passage read and expounded, detailing the reduction of Gideon's army and the dream of the barley cake.

Judges 8:10

Context: Cited to show that Zebah and Zalmunna alone had 135,000 men, emphasizing the overwhelming odds against Gideon.

Malachi 3:6

Context: Used to assert God's immutability: 'I the Lord change not,' supporting that God consistently chooses deliverers with the same virtues.

Isaiah 53

Context: Referenced as a picture of Christ as the fleece brought to shearers, connecting to the fleece in Judges 6.

Psalm 110

Context: Mentioned regarding the dew of Christ's youth, linking to the dew on the fleece.

Romans 8:32

Context: Quoted to argue that if God gave His Son, He will freely give us all things, including lesser victories.

Isaiah 52:12

Context: Cited to show God goes before and behind His people, acting as rear guard.

Deuteronomy 3:22

Context: Quoted: 'Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you,' emphasizing God fights for His people.

Isaiah 55:8-9

Context: Referenced to illustrate that God's thoughts and ways are higher than man's, as seen in His reduction of the army.

John 2:24-25

Context: Quoted to show Jesus knew what was in man, paralleling God's knowledge that Israel would boast if given victory with many men.

Acts 12:23

Context: Cited as a warning: Herod was smitten by an angel and eaten of worms for not giving God glory.

Psalm 50:23

Context: Quoted: 'Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me,' encouraging continual praise to God.

Deuteronomy 20:8

Context: Cited as the biblical law for dismissing the fearful and fainthearted from military service.

Proverbs 29:25

Context: Quoted: 'The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe,' relating to the fearful soldiers.

Hebrews 11:6

Context: Referenced to state that without faith it is impossible to please God, applied to Gideon's need to fight by faith.

Acts 17:6

Context: Quoted: 'These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also,' illustrating the impact of a faithful minority.

Historical References

George Washington and the colonial army

Context: Weaver notes Washington never had more than 8,000 soldiers at one time, illustrating God's use of minorities.

Samuel Adams quote

Context: Weaver quotes Adams: 'It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set fires in people's minds.'

Important Quotes

Victory and deliverance does not depend upon a multitude.

Significance: Encapsulates the central thesis that God's deliverance is not contingent on numerical strength.

Men think numbers are important. God thinks purity and right motives are important.

Significance: Highlights the contrast between human and divine priorities in spiritual warfare.

It's man's nature. It's man's tendency to steal and to rob God's honor and God's glory.

Significance: Explains why God reduces the army—to prevent human boasting and preserve His glory.

Faith has to rely solely upon the word of God.

Significance: Defines the nature of faith as resting on God's Word rather than circumstances.

Divine consolations are not only given to believers strongly, but seasonably. They are given when we need them.

Significance: Emphasizes God's timely provision of encouragement, as seen in the dream for Gideon.

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set fires in people's minds.

Significance: A quote from Samuel Adams used to inspire believers to be a faithful remnant.

Discussion Questions

Why does God often reduce our resources or numbers before granting victory?

Context: Based on God's statement that the people were too many lest Israel vaunt themselves.

In what ways are we tempted to steal God's glory when He blesses us?

Context: Weaver warns that we tend to credit our own wisdom or effort instead of God.

How can we cultivate a habit of praising God for small blessings and signals of deliverance?

Context: Gideon worshiped immediately upon hearing the dream's interpretation.

What does the water test teach us about spiritual alertness and readiness?

Context: The 300 who lapped with hands to mouth were chosen over those who knelt to drink.

How does the example of Gideon encourage us when we feel outnumbered or overwhelmed?

Context: Gideon faced 450-to-1 odds but trusted God's promise.

Applications

Trust God rather than multitudes

Summary: We must not rely on numbers, majority opinion, or human resources for deliverance, but on the Lord alone.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We do not need a multitude of the people in this country to awaken. We just need an irate, tireless minority.'

Give God glory for every blessing

Summary: We should habitually thank and praise God even for the smallest indications of His favor, like Gideon worshiping after the dream.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We have to learn to be thankful and to praise and honor and worship God even for the smallest blessing.'

Rely on God's guidance and consolation

Summary: God leads, encourages, and prepares us; we should trust Him to provide seasonable consolations in trials.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God does lead us. God does guide us. God does encourage us. And God does prepare us.'

Stand firm as a faithful minority

Summary: Believers should be a tireless, consecrated minority that stands for truth regardless of cultural trends.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We just need an irate, tireless minority who will not give in, who will not give up, who will not give out and will stand for the truth.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T12:34:08Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-05T21:46:24Z

Clean Transcript

Principles of Deliverance - 6

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Well, let's open our Bibles today, if you would please, to the book of Judges, chapter 7. The book of Judges, chapter 7. And we're still dealing with the principles of deliverance, and we're on message number 6. And let's read the first 15 verses. Judges 7, verse 1. Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Harod, so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return, and depart early from Mount Gilead.
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And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many, bring them down to the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee. And of whomsoever I shall say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people into the water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, Everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
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And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go every man to his place. So the people took victuals in their hand and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man into his tent, and retained those three hundred men, and the host of Midian was beneath them in the valley. And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host. And thou shalt hear what they say, and afterward shall thine hand be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant into the outside of the armed men that were in the host.
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And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. For into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned unto the host of Israel, and said, Arise, for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
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Well, we're in Judges chapter 7, just finished reading verses 1 through 15, and we're still dealing with the principles of deliverance. Let me take just a few moments to review. I told you, first of all, in the message concerning preparation, how God does indeed strip us of our pride and our self-ability and our haughtiness and our arrogance before He ever delivers us. In other words, we must look and see ourselves before we ever will look unto the Lord. Then I showed you secondly in the procedure how God always sends a prophet. He sends a preacher to proclaim the truth of God. Not only proclaiming repentance but also faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as well. And of course that's exactly what the prophet did in Judges chapter 6.
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He pointed out the wickedness of the nation and the greatness and the goodness and the mercy of God. And then of course we got to the person that God used in deliverance. We looked at these principles in the life of Gideon, and of course we found several things concerning Gideon. First of all, that he was prudent and practical. And of course we developed that thought, and the Bible does indeed say, the prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the wicked pass on and are punished. But he was prudent and practical.
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Secondly, he was perceptive and discerning. He understood that the nation was in the fix it was in because of its sins against God. And then thirdly, he was called in sin of God. God did call him and God did send him for the express purpose of delivering Israel. And then fourth, I point out that he was meek and humble. Nowhere did he brag of himself or boast of himself. He always gloried in the Lord.
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And fifthly, I pointed out that he was believing and bold. And of course, he believed the Lord and then he boldly acted upon what God had commanded him to do.
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Now, it's imperative, I believe, for you and I to understand that whenever God calls a man for such a task, to deliver a people or to deliver a nation, the principles of his choosing will always be the same. By that I simply mean this. He will always choose a man that will have the same characteristics and the same virtues. You remember in Malachi 3:6 he said, I the Lord change not. So God is immutable. God does not change. So put this down. God is not going to give us some sloppy, inconsiderate, impudent, impractical, uncalled and unbelieving and arrogant individual as a deliverer.
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He never has done it, and he never will do it. God just simply does not use that kind of man.
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Now last week we looked particularly at the power of this deliverance, and of course we found that the power was none other than the power of God Himself. Whatever is done for God's honor and God's glory must be done in God's power. And we dealt last week with the fleece. And we looked beyond the fleece and saw the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ was indeed brought as a sheep to his shearers. There is the fleece in Isaiah 53.
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And he said that he had the dew of his youth, Psalm 110. So the fleece and the dew then was a picture of none other than Jesus Christ and his great deliverance. And since Jesus Christ is the true Gideon, since Jesus Christ is the true Deliverer, and he has delivered us from sin and Satan and death, then we can bank on Romans 8 and verse 32. There the scripture says, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? So if God has given us the greatest victory through his Son Jesus Christ, will he not also give us a lesser victory?
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And that answer is yes, of course. And so we have a picture of that in Judges chapter 7. So Gideon musters 32,000 men to fight against this Midianite horde. Now, you know, 32,000 men seems like a great number. And it is a pretty good number. I mean, not many people get to preach to 32,000 men at one time. Not many people get to see 32,000 men at one time, unless you go to football games. And maybe some great stadium might hold that.
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But just stop and think. 32,000 seems like a lot, but when you look down at chapter 7 and verse 12, and the Bible says, and the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. When you look at this innumerable host, or this great host of Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the East, the Bible says, and all of their camels. Then you have to stop and say, what in the world is 32,000 men?
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Now, I want you to do something. Just for a moment, imagine yourself that you are Commander Gideon. And you've got 32,000 men. And here you are beside the spring of Harod. And you're looking out and you see this innumerable host. And you're thinking, man, it's already five to one. I mean, just think about that. Five to one odds, we would have to kill five of them for every one of us. That's pretty good odds. And you're just not comfortable with the fact, well, there's only 32,000 of us. And I realize that's probably about five to one odds, but we do have God on our side, and God has promised already to give us the victory. And you know, I can be comfortable with that.
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Now let me show you. Look in your Bible at Judges chapter 8 and verse 10. I don't know how many men were there, but in Judges 8 and verse 10, just Zebah and Zalmunna, who were two other princes, and there were other princes there, but just Zebah and Zalmunna had 135,000 men with them. Watch it. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their host with them, about 15,000 men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the East, and there fell 120,000 men that drew sword. So 120 plus 15, that's 135,000 men they had to begin with. Just Zebah and Zalmunna. I don't know how many of the other princes had.
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And so here you are, you're Commander Gideon, and you're thinking, five to one odds. Well, at least I've got God on my side. At least God has promised me the victory. And just as you adjust your thinking and get comfortable with the fact that you're outmanned, that you're outnumbered, that you're outgunned, you get a word from the Lord that, you know, you really have too many men. Now, Gideon and the Israelites viewed themselves as too few. And therefore, they feared. God said, no, you're not too few, you're too many.
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You see, God's thoughts are not man's thoughts. I want to show you something a little bit later in the Bible, but I want you to think about this. God never complains about having too few. Just stop and think about that. God never complains with having too few. There was a great general who was trying to soothe and calm and encourage his troops when they saw they were outnumbered.
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And he says to them, how many do you reckon me for? In other words, think how many that I can take care of. Let me ask that you turn just to two passages. I want you to look in your Bibles, first of all, to Isaiah 52, and then secondly, to Deuteronomy chapter 3. And let me just tell you, as you're turning to these passages, I could multiply these passages literally by the hundreds. But notice, if you would please, in Isaiah 52, and look, if you would please, at verse 12. Isaiah 52 and verse 12. Look what God tells His people. He says, For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight. For the Lord will go before you, and the Lord and the God of Israel will be your rearward. In other words, He's going to be your rear guard as well as your front guard. God is going to surround you. Now if you look in your Bibles, to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 3, and look at verse 22, and you're going to find this, I hope, very comforting.
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Deuteronomy chapter 3 and verse 22 it is. Deuteronomy 3 and verse 22. God tells His people, you shall not fear them. Why? For the Lord your God, He shall fight for you.
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Now, let me ask you a question. How many do you reckon God for? I mean, just stop and think about that. Gideon, you've got 32,000 men. That's too many. But Lord, look out there. There's probably several hundred thousand out there. Gideon, it doesn't matter. You consider who I am.
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Now, here are two very important truths in Judges chapter 7. The first one is this, that God fights for His people. You've heard the old saying that God and one man make a majority. That's really not true. God's a majority in and of Himself. He can handle a whole lot, I can assure you.
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Secondly, we see here a wonderful illustration of Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9. You remember there, God said, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Gideon was probably thinking, Lord, we don't have enough, and you're trying to cut us down. God says, look, you've got more than you need. You don't even need the 32,000.
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Are you listening to this statement? Men think numbers are important. God thinks purity and right motives are important. Have you ever noticed how number conscious we are? You go to the average church and here's the board. We had this many last week, this many for Sunday school, this many for Sunday night, this many for Wednesday night. You know, when I first went to Jessup, the very first church I ever pastored, they had one of those boards on the wall. And the first thing I did was go up and take the board off the wall. You know why? If you look up there, you say, wow, we had 89 last week. This week, we only have 50.
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And you have a tendency to be discouraged. Let me tell you something, you know, it's going to be a church. Those who love the Lord and those who God has ordained to be there. Listen, if this room was packed out, overflowing, and there were people in the next room and standing around the outside of the building, I would be pleased. But if I come here and there's only three of you, I'm still pleased. Why? Because God sent you and you need teaching and you need preaching. And my wife can tell you, I have preached in a meeting all week long and the highest number we ever had was seven people. Do you know seven people need preaching too? Just like 7,000.
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Men think numbers are important. God doesn't. I heard somebody say, well, he must. He named a whole book, Numbers. Well, he was numbering the army. He was numbering the people. God said, Gideon, it's not the numbers. It's the purity and it's the motive. Now, if you look back in Judges chapter 7 and verse 2, God tells you very plainly why Gideon had too many people. Now, the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine hand hath saved me. Now, God says, Gideon, the reason you've got too many is if I give the victory to you, even at five to one odds, Israel is going to vaunt themselves. Now, the word vaunt means to glory. It means to boast. In other words, what he is saying is the children of Israel, in essence, would steal my honor and steal my glory and boast as if it was their hand and their might and their power that had gotten them the victory.
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You know, our Lord knows what is in man. Let me just give you a passage, and I'll quote it for you, John chapter 2, verses 24 and 25. The Bible tells us, but Jesus did not commit himself unto them, that is, unto men, because he knew all men and needed not that any man should testify of man. For He knew what was in man. Likewise, our Heavenly Father knew what was in man.
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And He said, Gideon, you've got too many. Because if I give it to you in five to one odds, they're going to try to steal my glory. I want you to learn a valuable lesson. Please, learn this. It's man's nature. It's man's tendency to steal and to rob God's honor and God's glory. I can prove that to you. Do you realize whenever God blesses us, he provides for us, he heals us, he does something special for us, he gives us an unusual blessing, the natural tendency of man is to think, well, we earned it. We merited it.
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We were wise in our actions. We were gracious in our conduct. And somehow we worked it out. We never stopped to say, Lord God, it was you who gave me this blessing. It was you who took care of my need. No. We have a tendency to steal His honor and glory. Preachers are just as guilty. They can preach a message and God can empower them and bless the people and save and convert people and convict people.
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And the next thing you know, they're saying, boy, that sermon is my sugar stick. I'm going to preach that everywhere I go. It was not the sermon. It was not the illustration. It was not the preacher. It was God. I want you to look at Acts chapter 12 and show you a verse. There was a king by the name of Herod. He tried to steal God's honor and God's glory. Let me show you what happened to him.
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He just made a speech. He gave an oration and the people began to shout, it's the voice of a God and not a man. Well, Herod took that acclamation. He took that glory. And in Acts 12 and verse 23, the Bible says, and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. That's quite a price to pay just for stealing God's honor and God's glory. Immediately, the angel of the Lord smote him and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. Let me tell you something, folks, truthfully, we need to ascribe all honor and all praise and all glory to God the Father in everything that happens to us. We ought to just praise Him for being able to wake up each morning and to get up. Roy said to me jokingly this morning, Pastor, why didn't you tell me old age was going to be this difficult? Well, I could tell you this, you ain't seen nothing yet.
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Fifty-nine is nothing. As Greg Doris says, well, you get eighty-six, you'll find out what the pains are then. Well, you understand what I'm saying? We need to be thankful that God has given us the help that we have and the mind that we have and the family that we have and the friends that we have and the opportunities that we have. How many of us, how many people get to live a full life? And how many people get to live a full life enjoying what they do? The Bible says in Psalm 50 and verse 23, Whosoever offereth praise glorifieth me. So all we need to do is just start offering God all the praise, all the glory, and acknowledging Him in every area of our life.
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Let me tell you very quickly about the truth of Judges chapter 7 verses 1 through 15. The truth of this passage is very clear. And I cannot wait any longer just to make this statement. Are you listening? Victory and deliverance does not depend upon a multitude. You're going to see that in this chapter. But think about that. Deliverance or victory does not depend upon a multitude. It does not depend upon a majority. It does not depend upon a great number or a great percentage or a higher percentage. It's not that we need a multitude. We only need the Lord. There are Christians.
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There are preachers in this country that are driving themselves absolutely insane by asking this question, how in the world can we awaken the American people? Listen, I concur that the American people need awakening. I concur that the Christian people in America need awakening. But folks, let me tell you something. The truth is most will never awaken from their slumber. They will not. They will not face the facts. We will never, ever have a multitude on our side. But the sobering reality is we don't need a multitude. We only need the Lord. We don't need the majority.
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When you stop and think about George Washington, and those men, do you realize that those colonial soldiers were in the minority? Someone said that Washington never had more than 8,000 soldiers at one time. Now it had more than that, but never more than that at one time. You just stop and think that God is always pleased to use minorities. Noah and his family against the multitudes.
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It was Lot against the Sodomites. It was Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego against all the rulers of Babylon. It was Daniel against the presidents. It was twelve disciples against the world. And when you get to Acts chapter 17 and verse 6, the wicked cry out, these that have turned the world upside down have come hither also. Samuel Adams, one of our founding fathers said this, listen carefully, it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set fires in people's minds. It doesn't take a majority. It just takes a minority that are consistent and dedicated and consecrated.
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Who will continue no matter what. You just stop and think our Lord chose those 12 disciples. And he turned the world upside down. Now, here's what the Lord is teaching Gideon. Look back in Judges 7 and verse 3. The Lord is teaching Gideon you don't need a multitude. You don't need a lot of men. In Judges 7, verse 3, he says, Now therefore, go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. Now, let me just tell you what God told Gideon to do.
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was actually a part of biblical law. In fact, if you will turn back in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 20, and I pointed this verse out a multitude of years ago when I preached on the biblical doctrine of warfare, and I went down through Deuteronomy chapter 20, but if you look in verse 8, here is a biblical military law, and God says, He is telling who shall not serve in the military. In verse 8, And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted?
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Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his own heart. Now what is God doing? He is getting rid of the cowards. He is getting rid of the fearful. You have heard the old adage, one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. Well, what would someone who is fearful and fainthearted do? He's going to express that fear and that faintheartedness to someone else.
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So it will be catching. And that's what God says. God says, don't even let them in the army. Let them go home. You don't need them anyhow. So now, think about this. Here Gideon is with 32,000 men. And God says, you just tell whoever is fearful and fainthearted, he may go home. And over two-thirds of the army leaves. Twenty-two thousand men! Wow! You know, the Bible does say in Proverbs 29 and verse 25, the fear of man bringeth a snare.
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But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Well, evidently this principle of being fearful and fainthearted applies to defensive as well as offensive warfare as well. So after this proclamation, 22,000 leave. Basically, you've got to say this, they were not ashamed to admit they were fearful, fainthearted, and cowardly.
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Now I want you to stop and think about something for a moment. I want you to think about the implications of this. Do you realize here were men whose families had been oppressed and persecuted for seven years at the hands of the Midianites and the Amalekites? Everything they had had been taken and stolen from them by the Midianites, by the Amalekites.
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Now God has called a deliverer, a godly man, a faithful man. God has promised them victory. And here is an opportunity for them to strike back and in order to recover their liberties and their freedom, but once again, destroy their enemies. And they go home. They just leave. So much for putting your trust in a fickle multitude. I got news for you, folks. By God's grace, I would have been someone there sticking so close to Gideon, make your head swim.
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I don't want to say I want my shot at him. I might not have but one trumpet and one pitcher. Whatever I've got, I want my shot at him. There is in all men a natural tendency to some fear, especially when it comes to battle. But that's enough to excite you and drive you, not enough to make you a coward and fainthearted and fearful and leave. Here are men who missed an opportunity to be used by God simply because of their fearfulness. Well, at least Commander Gideon is now left with 10,000 fearless, faithful, brave, courageous, and valued men. And these men are willing and ready to fight. But now, if the enemy only has 200,000, now the odds are 20 to 1.
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No longer 5 to 1, but 20 to 1. Which means they'd have to kill 20 of the Midianites for every one of the Israelites. Wow. And then God says something else to Gideon in verses four through seven. He says, Gideon, you still have too many men. I'm not going to give this victory to 10,000 men. And so he says, look in verse 4, and the Lord said unto Gideon, the people are yet too many, bring them down into the water, and I will try them for thee there. It shall be that of whom I shall say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee, and of whomsoever I say unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people into the water, and the Lord said unto Gideon, everyone that lappeth of water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself, likewise everyone that bowed down upon his knees to drink.
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And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go every man to his place. Now, God tells Gideon, you bring these ten thousand down to the spring of Harod here, to the water.
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I'm going to try them. Now the word try there means to purge like you would purge dross from silver.
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Now scholars have suggested various interpretations of this. So you know the test that God is doing here. Some men that are going to get down on their hands and knees and stick their mouths into the water and drink. There are others who might bow down but they scoop the water up and they look around and they bring it to their mouth like this. God said, everyone that does like this, bringing it to his mouth, you set him to the side. Scholars have said, well, the difference was this. It was a test between those who bowed the knees to Baal and those who have not bowed the knees to Baal. You remember Gideon overthrew the altar of Baal. I don't know that that is true. I don't know that it's not true. I mean, it's an interpretation. It's a suggestion. It could very possibly be true. Someone else has suggested that this test then was as a sign of strength of body and temperance of mind, and the other was a posture of weakness. In other words, that Gideon and God only wanted these men who were going to be alert and ready and not down on their knees drinking water, failing to be alert and ready.
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Someone suggested that there's another application that here, these men indicated that they were only willing to taste the pleasures of this world only as they were needed, but they were willing to go off and leave them and do God's will and do what's right. I don't know. You could probably make a hundred applications out of this, but all I'm trying to say is this. What the Scripture says, it was a test. And the test was who went with Gideon and who did not go with Gideon. It was that simple. And when God got through with the 10,000, Gideon was left with 300. Are you listening? If Zebah and Zalmunna only had 135,000 troops, and there were no more, which I believe there were, Gideon has 300.
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Now the odds are 450 to 1. Humanly speaking, those aren't too good of odds. That means I've got to kill 450 of them for every one of us that they kill. Well, you just stop and think about this. 300 men to fight a multitude that covers the earth like grasshoppers and it covers the earth like the sand of the sea. And then you just think, what? 300 men. The natural man will automatically ask, what possible hope could 300 men have of achieving a victory? And yet, if you'll look in verse 7, and the Lord said unto Gideon, By the 300 men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, let all the other people go, every man unto his place. God says, Gideon, you've got what you need right now. This way, everyone will know that it was I who gave you the victory. Now, I want you to watch what God does. Gideon started out with 32,000. Then he knocked him down to 10,000. Now I knock him down to 300.
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Now you're Gideon. And you know, you've got the promise of victory. But you look around and you've got 300 men. And you say, what in the world have I gotten myself into? Don't you imagine that went through Gideon's mind? I do. Because Gideon was a man. And God knew that. And so here's what God did. God said, Gideon, I want you to do something. I want you to take your servant and slip down to the Midianite host. And I want you to hear something. Something that will encourage you. Now watch it.
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Skip down, if you would, please, to verse 9. And it came to pass the same night, that is, the same night that he had cut him down to three hundred, the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host, and thou shalt hear what they say. And afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.
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And the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and all the children of the East lay along the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the sea for the multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came into a tent, and smote it, that it fell, and overturned it, and the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel, for into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the host. Now, let me tell you what Gideon is learning. Gideon is learning a very important lesson.
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And it's one that we have to learn. Gideon is learning that he must fight by faith or not at all. You remember the passage in Hebrews 11 and verse six, without faith, it is impossible to please God. You can also say without faith, it is impossible to serve God. Now, faith has to rely solely upon the word of God. Presumption may rest upon circumstances, feelings, and signs, but not faith. Faith rests squarely upon God's Word. And so God then encourages Gideon's faith after he cuts him down to 300.
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He gives him a command that will warrant his action. He tells him to go down to the camp of the Midianites.
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Now you've got to remember that Gideon is the commanding general. I realize during Bible times the commanding officers did many things that today's commanding officers would never do. But we would tend to think it'd be rash for the head honcho to go down into the entire midst because if he was captured, I mean, there'd really be problems. But God now gives him a warrant. God says, you go down. And then he says, if you're afraid to go, you take Phurah, your servant. Well, what does that mean? He had some fear. He had some doubts. I mean, he was a brave man. He was a valued man, but he was still a man. So he took Phurah and he went down.
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Are you listening to me? Divine consolations are not only given to believers strongly, but seasonably. They are given when we need them. God says, Gideon, if you think I'm doing you harm, you just get down to those Midianites. You go down there and you listen to what they say. So God basically then orders Gideon to be his own spy. He sends him down to Phurah his servant. He needs at least one witness. The Bible says for out of the mouth of at least two witnesses, every word should be established. And so Phurah is going to hear what Gideon hears as well.
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Now, look at verse 12. I just keep harping on this because remember, they're going down at night. The moon is shining undoubtedly. And what does Gideon see as he goes down? And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. I don't know what else Gideon saw on his trip down to the Midianites. But I mean, just seeing that sight would probably be enough to make you think, oh God, if I stepped into it. I'm in trouble, now look at all these people. And just as he gets there, one man wakes up and he said, I had a dream. Why?
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He said, a barley cake came rolling down this mountain and rolled into my tent and just tore it to pieces, laid it down, laid it long. And the other soldier said, this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, and at whose hand God has delivered this army.
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Now let me ask you a question. If Gideon and Phurah had only heard the dream, what would they have thought? Who knows? But God not only caused the man to dream the dream, God also caused the other soldier to interpret the dream. And what in the world could a barley cake have to do with the sword of Gideon? Other than the fact, when you find Gideon, what was he doing? Threshing wheat? He provided a cake for his visitor. And his army newly gotten together like a fresh baked cake.
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I mean just 300 of them. But we know that God put it in that man's mind to dream the dream. And God put it in that man's mouth to interpret the dream. And Gideon understood it was by his hand that God would deliver Midian into his hand for their destruction. God would deliver Israel and defeat the enemy. Now, look what Gideon did. Look in verse 15. Watch this carefully. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof that he worshipped and returned unto the host of Israel and said, Arise! For the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. Gideon, once again, teaches us how to respond to the signal blessings of God. What did God do? God said, Gideon, you may be fearful. You may be doubtful. I know you only have 300 men.
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You've never done this before. But go down. And when he heard the dream and the interpretation of the dream, what did he immediately do? He bowed and worshiped and gave God the honor and the glory. He said, Lord, we shall defeat them. And he went back to his men and said, all right, men, get up. They're ours. God has given us the victory. Now, we're going to stop there today, because next week, when you get into what God does and how God does it.
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Let me just mention this. You talk about psychological warfare, God is the expert. Let me make just a couple of applications. Please remember this. Multitudes cannot save us. They cannot deliver us. Even if we have a multitude on our side, even if we have a majority on our side, but do not have the Lord, we've already lost the battle. I'd rather be one man with the Lord than be ten billion without the Lord. We do not need a multitude of the people in this country to awaken. We just need an irate, tireless minority who will not give in, who will not give up, who will not give out and will stand for the truth and the Word of God.
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The second application is this. We have to learn to be thankful and to praise and honor and worship God even for the smallest blessing. I'm talking about the smallest blessing, the smallest favor, the smallest indication that He's going to deliver us. We have to learn to habitually give Him the honor and the glory. When you see that little cloud about the size of a man's fist, you need to start saying, thank you, Father, for the rain you're going to send.
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It's not here yet, but it's coming. That is a signal that you are indeed going to bless us. We need to thank Him for that. The third application of this, God does lead us. God does guide us. God does encourage us. And God does prepare us. He will never, ever leave us alone. And at the right moment, at the right time, God will give us the consolation that we need.
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You know, so many of us look ahead and we'll say, Lord, oh Lord, help me to avoid that. No. Give us grace to go through it, and give us the consolations that we need and the encouragement we need to bear it for your name and for your honor and your glory. There are some things, folks, we cannot avoid. And you cannot avoid trouble. You cannot avoid persecution. You cannot avoid oppression. You cannot avoid wickedness. You must stand against it with grace and with power and with the blessing of God and trust God for deliverance. Deliverance is His act and not man's. Let's pray.
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Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And above all, Father, we thank You for Jesus Christ and His so great salvation. Help us to learn today, Lord, that salvation and deliverance is not by multitude, not by majority, not by a high percentage, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, by the power and grace of God alone. Help us, Lord, we pray, to stand against wickedness, to stand for truth and righteousness. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen and Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T12:34:08Z

Principles of Deliverance - 6

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, John Weaver continues his series on deliverance by examining Judges 7:1-15. He emphasizes that God reduces Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300 to ensure that Israel cannot boast in their own strength. The central lesson is that deliverance does not depend on numbers or a majority, but on God alone. Weaver highlights God's sovereignty in choosing a faithful remnant, the importance of giving God all glory, and how God encourages His people through providential signs. Applications include trusting God rather than multitudes, praising Him for small blessings, and relying on His guidance and consolation in trials.

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver opens with a reading of Judges 7:1-15, setting the stage for the principles of deliverance.

Scripture Reading — Judges 7:1-15

Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Harod, so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return, and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many, bring them down to the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee. And of whomsoever I shall say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people into the water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, Everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go every man to his place. So the people took victuals in their hand and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man into his tent, and retained those three hundred men, and the host of Midian was beneath them in the valley. And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host. And thou shalt hear what they say, and afterward shall thine hand be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant into the outside of the armed men that were in the host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. For into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned unto the host of Israel, and said, Arise, for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.

Review of Previous Principles

A recap of earlier messages: God strips pride before deliverance, sends a prophet, and uses a man with specific virtues like prudence, perception, calling, meekness, and boldness.

God's Unchanging Character in Choosing Deliverers

God always chooses deliverers with consistent characteristics; He does not use arrogant or uncalled individuals.

The Power of Deliverance and the Fleece as a Picture of Christ

The power for deliverance is God's alone; the fleece and dew prefigure Christ's sacrifice and victory, assuring us of lesser victories.

God's Reduction of Gideon's Army

God declares 32,000 men too many, lest Israel boast. He reduces the army first by sending home the fearful (22,000 leave), then by a water test, leaving only 300.

Deuteronomy chapter 3 and verse 22 it is. Deuteronomy 3 and verse 22. God tells His people, you shall not fear them. Why? For the Lord your God, He shall fight for you.

The Test at the Water

God tests the remaining 10,000 by how they drink water; 300 who lap with hands to mouth are chosen, while the rest are sent home.

God Encourages Gideon's Faith

God sends Gideon to spy on the Midianite camp, where he hears a dream and its interpretation confirming God's deliverance, leading Gideon to worship.

Applications and Conclusion

Weaver applies the passage: multitudes cannot save; we must thank God for small blessings; God leads and encourages us in trials. He closes in prayer.

Principles of Deliverance - 6

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	1025061112
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Election, Israel, and Covenant Mercy
Genre	Sermon
Date	2006-08-13
Dictation Name
Book	Book 163: Principles of Deliverance — Chapter 6
Source Timed Segments	67

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Scripture Reading: Weaver opens with a reading of Judges 7:1-15, setting the stage for the principles of deliverance.
Review of Previous Principles: A recap of earlier messages: God strips pride before deliverance, sends a prophet, and uses a man with specific virtues like prudence, perception, calling, meekness, and boldness.
God's Unchanging Character in Choosing Deliverers: God always chooses deliverers with consistent characteristics; He does not use arrogant or uncalled individuals.
The Power of Deliverance and the Fleece as a Picture of Christ: The power for deliverance is God's alone; the fleece and dew prefigure Christ's sacrifice and victory, assuring us of lesser victories.
God's Reduction of Gideon's Army: God declares 32,000 men too many, lest Israel boast. He reduces the army first by sending home the fearful (22,000 leave), then by a water test, leaving only 300.
The Test at the Water: God tests the remaining 10,000 by how they drink water; 300 who lap with hands to mouth are chosen, while the rest are sent home.
God Encourages Gideon's Faith: God sends Gideon to spy on the Midianite camp, where he hears a dream and its interpretation confirming God's deliverance, leading Gideon to worship.
Applications and Conclusion: Weaver applies the passage: multitudes cannot save; we must thank God for small blessings; God leads and encourages us in trials. He closes in prayer.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

God's thoughts are not man's thoughts regarding numbers

While Gideon saw 32,000 as too few, God saw them as too many, because God values purity and right motives over numerical strength.

Weaver says, 'Men think numbers are important. God thinks purity and right motives are important.'

Fearfulness disqualifies from God's work

God commanded the fearful to leave, in accordance with Deuteronomy 20:8, because fear is contagious and undermines the mission.

Weaver explains, 'He is getting rid of the cowards... one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.'

The water test revealed alertness and readiness

The 300 who lapped water with hands to mouth demonstrated vigilance, unlike those who knelt and drank directly, possibly indicating spiritual compromise.

Weaver says, 'God only wanted these men who were going to be alert and ready and not down on their knees drinking water, failing to be alert and ready.'

God uses a minority to accomplish His purposes

Throughout Scripture, God works through small numbers—Noah, Lot, Daniel, the disciples—to demonstrate His power and turn the world upside down.

Weaver cites, 'It was twelve disciples against the world... these that have turned the world upside down have come hither also.'

Worship is the proper response to God's signals of deliverance

Upon hearing the dream's interpretation, Gideon immediately worshiped, modeling that we should praise God for even the smallest indication of His blessing.

Weaver states, 'When he heard the dream and the interpretation of the dream, what did he immediately do? He bowed and worshiped and gave God the honor and the glory.'

Scripture References

Judges 7:1-15: The primary passage read and expounded, detailing the reduction of Gideon's army and the dream of the barley cake.
Judges 8:10: Cited to show that Zebah and Zalmunna alone had 135,000 men, emphasizing the overwhelming odds against Gideon.
Malachi 3:6: Used to assert God's immutability: 'I the Lord change not,' supporting that God consistently chooses deliverers with the same virtues.
Isaiah 53: Referenced as a picture of Christ as the fleece brought to shearers, connecting to the fleece in Judges 6.
Psalm 110: Mentioned regarding the dew of Christ's youth, linking to the dew on the fleece.
Romans 8:32: Quoted to argue that if God gave His Son, He will freely give us all things, including lesser victories.
Isaiah 52:12: Cited to show God goes before and behind His people, acting as rear guard.
Deuteronomy 3:22: Quoted: 'Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you,' emphasizing God fights for His people.
Isaiah 55:8-9: Referenced to illustrate that God's thoughts and ways are higher than man's, as seen in His reduction of the army.
John 2:24-25: Quoted to show Jesus knew what was in man, paralleling God's knowledge that Israel would boast if given victory with many men.
Acts 12:23: Cited as a warning: Herod was smitten by an angel and eaten of worms for not giving God glory.
Psalm 50:23: Quoted: 'Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me,' encouraging continual praise to God.
Deuteronomy 20:8: Cited as the biblical law for dismissing the fearful and fainthearted from military service.
Proverbs 29:25: Quoted: 'The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe,' relating to the fearful soldiers.
Hebrews 11:6: Referenced to state that without faith it is impossible to please God, applied to Gideon's need to fight by faith.
Acts 17:6: Quoted: 'These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also,' illustrating the impact of a faithful minority.

Historical References

George Washington and the colonial army: Weaver notes Washington never had more than 8,000 soldiers at one time, illustrating God's use of minorities.
Samuel Adams quote: Weaver quotes Adams: 'It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set fires in people's minds.'

Important Quotes

Victory and deliverance does not depend upon a multitude.

Encapsulates the central thesis that God's deliverance is not contingent on numerical strength.

Men think numbers are important. God thinks purity and right motives are important.

Highlights the contrast between human and divine priorities in spiritual warfare.

It's man's nature. It's man's tendency to steal and to rob God's honor and God's glory.

Explains why God reduces the army—to prevent human boasting and preserve His glory.

Faith has to rely solely upon the word of God.

Defines the nature of faith as resting on God's Word rather than circumstances.

Divine consolations are not only given to believers strongly, but seasonably. They are given when we need them.

Emphasizes God's timely provision of encouragement, as seen in the dream for Gideon.

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set fires in people's minds.

A quote from Samuel Adams used to inspire believers to be a faithful remnant.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

Why does God often reduce our resources or numbers before granting victory?

[Context]

Based on God's statement that the people were too many lest Israel vaunt themselves.

[Question]

In what ways are we tempted to steal God's glory when He blesses us?

[Context]

Weaver warns that we tend to credit our own wisdom or effort instead of God.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a habit of praising God for small blessings and signals of deliverance?

[Context]

Gideon worshiped immediately upon hearing the dream's interpretation.

[Question]

What does the water test teach us about spiritual alertness and readiness?

[Context]

The 300 who lapped with hands to mouth were chosen over those who knelt to drink.

[Question]

How does the example of Gideon encourage us when we feel outnumbered or overwhelmed?

[Context]

Gideon faced 450-to-1 odds but trusted God's promise.

Applications

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