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The ANGEL said to him, “Go in this might of YOURS.” Wait, what??? “Go in your might?” You mean this whining, full-of-complaints, scared-to-death Gideon, the man who admitted to being a weakling…..that “might?”
Yep, Gideon the weakling, the scaredy cat. 😮 But that’s just like our God, isn’t it? He gives us the grace to do the things He asks us to do, we do those things, then He turns around and gives us the credit for using the grace He gave us in the first place to do what we did! But, don’t think for one minute it’s all your doing. 😉
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Gideon goes on to say, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (Reminds me of Moses.). And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
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Could he get a better offer than that? Guess it wasn’t quite enough to convince Gideon. You can see he was still focused on himself, not wholly on God…..yet! 😉 So, he asked the LORD if he might test and see if he was really the man for the job. Next comes the famous story of the fleece that he laid before the Lord…..twice.
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We’re not going to go into that whole story in this article. You may, however, refer to the link below for the full meaning of Gideon’s fleece:
https://emmausroadministries.international/2016/05/04/the-real-meaning-of-gideons-fleece/)
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Israel’s Troubles.
Every time Israel got herself in trouble, it always started when she left the God of her fathers and began worshiping other gods. It was a very destructive pattern that she repeated a number of times, sadly. 😓 After each indiscretion, eventually they would cry out to God and, true to Himself, He invariably sent them a deliverer in the form of one of the Judges.
(For more on the topic of Israel’s indiscretions, you may follow the link below. It demonstrates to us how God really sees things!:
Bible Numbers Part 3: God’s Math Is Not Like Ours.
Just before Gideon took over as one of the judges, Israel had once again gotten herself into another bind. This time, she was mercilessly oppressed by the Midianites. There were so many of them, their number seemed to great to count! They were everywhere and in everything. 😮
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Secrets In The Hebrew Language.
Hebrew is a language of picture writing, like Chinese. Each letter is a picture of something. Gideon’s name means, “One who hewed down (the enemy.)” Apt description! In Hebrew, Gideon is spelled like this: [גדעון]
The letters from right to left are, “gimel-dalet-ayin-vav-nun.”
Gimel is a picture of a camel, a form of transportation in those days. [ג]
Dalet is a picture of a door. The Door is Jesus! [ד]
Ayin is a picture of the eye; yes, the one in your head. [ע]
Vav is a picture of a hook or nail, depicting Jesus’ sacrifice when He was nailed to the cross. [ו]
Nun is a picture of a fish, which depicts believers. [ן]
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You see, Gideon wasn’t God’s man because he was anything special in and of himself. The “pictures” of the letters of his name tell us is this: Gideon was a man who had “TRAVELED [ג]through the DOOR [ד], SAW [ע] the SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS [ו] and believed [ן].
He became a BELIEVER! 💖🙌🏻
Gideon got enough of a glimpse of Jesus that it greatly encouraged him. When you trust in Jesus, He goes before you and “Hews down the enemy” for you…..then gives you the credit! Give Jesus all the glory due unto His Name! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
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TOO MANY MEN!
Gideon had started out with 32,000 men. Man, of course, always thinks that he must have greater numbers to defeat his enemies. Incredibly though, God said that there were too many. 😮 Gideon must have been thinking, “WHAT?! Is He aware how many enemies we’re facing?” As you read earlier, the Midianites were so numerous, they couldn’t even be counted! That’s quite a tide of evil! 🤯
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God wanted Israel to know without a doubt that He was the One Who would defeat their enemies for them. It wasn’t because of any strength or intelligence they possessed. That’s how we know our Abba loves us! He isn’t content just to tell us: HE ALLOWS US TO PERSONALLY EXPERIENCE IT! That is what bolsters and cements our faith. We may start out “Fear-FULL,” but we end up “Fear-LESS.” 💖🙌🏻
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God Further Encourages Gideon.
Joshua 7:9-12
“It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp.
Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.”
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See what I mean? How can a mere man go up against such a formidable, innumerable army of people? Pretty intimidating! But God knew that there might still be just a “little bit” of fear on Gideon’s part (Ya think!?), so He told him to take his servant and sneak down into the camp of Midian. There, they would overhear something that would totally turn the tide and encourage them. 💖
Let’s continue the story:
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The Importance Of The Shofar.
Judges 7:13-18
“And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”
Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”
“And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.” Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’”
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The Hebrew word for “trumpet” here is literally, “Shofar.” Do you know what a Shofar is? A ram’s horn which you get BY KILLING A MALE LAMB. It brings to God’s remembrance of the death of The Father’s beloved Son, Jesus! 🙌🏻💖
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It is said that demons tremble and flee in terror at the sounding of the Shofar. Well, as we shall soon see, indeed they did flee…..IN ABJECT TERROR! 🙌🏻
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“So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” And every man stood in his place all around the camp;”
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VICTORY!
Judges 7:22-25
“When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.
And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.
“Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.”
Next came the time to recall everyone, who had been weeded out prior to this rout because of their fear, to come and join the fight.
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More Secrets In The Hebrew Language.
“Midian,” means “Strife.” The names, “Oreb and Zeeb,” are also very telling. “Oreb,” comes from the root word that means “evening: Erev.” The other name, “Zeeb,” means “wolf.” What do wolves go after? SHEEP!
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In the last days (the “evening”)…..you know, like NOW…..there will be ravening wolves (the devil’s minions and their complicit media) that will go around looking to devour the sheep of God’s pasture: The Church.” But our “300,” few by comparison to the number of “Midianites,” (or as I like to call them, “the Media-nites,”) will shout, blow the shofar (frequently partake of communion) and lift up the Name that is above EVERY name: JESUS! He will fight for us and we will be completely victorious over the enemies that have sought to steal, kill, and destroy.
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Communion commemorates Jesus’ death. That is how we blow the Shofar today! God will restore to us everything the enemy has stolen…..and we will get all the spoils! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
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Shine, Partake, And Shout!
So Church of the redeemed, earthen vessels containing the Light of God: Let your light shine, no matter how small or dim it may seem to you. Shine through the darkness of this fallen world. Sound the Shofar by lifting up the name of Jesus and partaking of communion daily! The enemy has to flee when he hears the sound of the “Shofar”! In so doing, righteousness will again rule our land as we follow Jesus, the Greater Gideon.
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The Battle belongs to the LORD and the victory is ours, just like in the story of Gideon’s 300! 💖🙌🏻
You may follow the link below to part 7:
https://emmausroadministries.international/2022/08/08/fear-worship-wisdom/
Emmaus Road Ministries 
Wow…..what a revelation.Thank you for sharing. Glory be to GOD almighty…..May the GRACE upon you and be with you always!!!!!
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You are very welcome!!! Blessings to you as well!!!
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