Obedience is a word that we learn from childhood. Our parents throughout the childhood years taught us the meaning of obedience, mostly by discipline. If we disobeyed we would be disciplined for our rebellion. If we did what we were told, good things may come our way. Obedience is not always something human nature wants or desires. Our natural reaction is to disobey because we do not want anyone telling us what to do. Learning to be obedient is a choice that one has to make. Once we decide that we are going to be obedient we have to accept what that obedience entails then follow through with it. If for instance, your boss tells you to get a specific job done we know that to stay in his or her good graces we must get that job done. Sometimes those jobs are something that we do not feel very confidant in because we failed to learn the job well enough or we just did not have enough experience in what we are being ask to do. But, to be obedient we must do it the best we can. In the Old Testament we find a situation similar to this. Gideon was such a person. We find this man underneath or in a pit of an old wine press threshing grain for his family. Lets examine Gideon for a moment and see just what was going on.
In the book of Judges chapters 6-7 we are going to find ourselves in this story. Maybe not exactly in the same predicament as Gideon but hearing the same voice with a call to action. The first thing we need to ask ourselves is, why was Gideon under or at the bottom of the wine press threshing grain? If we look back a few years we will find the Israelites had once again turned away from God. In Numbers 25:1-18 we find the account of where Israel allowed sin back in their camp once again. God had specifically told Moses to destroy the Moabites and the Midianites at different times. These two tribes were somewhat tied together and worshiped the same idols. The warriors of Israel had been having sexual relations with these women. As a result they began to worship idols and take after the ways of the Midianite people, thus, turning away from Jehovah God. As a result of this, God brought His judgement on Israel once again to turn them away from false idol worship. The problem is, the people of Israel, especially the warriors did not completely destroy their enemies. We must understand, from the time of Moses to the time of Gideon several years had passed. Now the Midianites had grown in number again and became a strong tribe and Israel was once again falling back into their old ways. God would allow or use the Midianite people to come against Israel and cause them to suffer under their hand. There were many different tribes throughout this land and most of them if not all worshiped idols in some form or another. Israel was allowing these forms of worship to replace their belief in Jehovah.
We pick up on this story in Judges 6-7. "The Israelites did evil in the Lord's sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then Israel cried out to the Lord for help." So here we have the reason for Israel being in the situation they were in. It seems that hardship is what they would listen to and then realize their sin and cry out to God for help. In their cries to the Lord for help God heard them and sent them a prophet to tell them what to do. This is where we discover Gideon under the wine press threshing grain for his family. Gideon like many of the people found a way to hide from their enemies and provide for their families.
God heard the cries of His people and sent this message to them through the prophet. "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. I told you, 'I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.' But you have not listened to me." Here we have not only Israel's sin of idol worship and disobedience throughout the years, we learn that God does not put up with it either. This is where we may find ourselves in a similar situation. The Israelites adopted into their culture and way of life the worship of the idols that were present in the land they possessed. They allowed a contamination of their belief by taking up the beliefs of the people around them, which affected their relationship with Jehovah. Instead of getting rid of the idols, they began to worship these idols along with God. God had already instructed them to cleanse these things from their land. We, like Gideon, tend do the same thing, we keep the idols of the world in our lives while we raise our hands in worship to God. We do not cleanse ourselves of the sin that God has instructed us to get rid of. Instead, we adopt it into our lives and call it normal. Think about things that are more important to you than your relationship with God. Ask yourself if there is anything in my life that comes between you and your Lord's relationship? Is my time more important to me than giving up some of it for service to God or even time to worship Him? Are you willing to give up that most valuable possession in order to further God's Kingdom? Are you willing to give up that one thing in your life that drags you down and causes you to not turn to God? Do the things of this world attract you more than the things of God? We all have things in our lives that are important to us, but we must be careful that these things do not become more important than God or else they become a form of an idol in our lives.
Gideon was one of the many crying out to God for help. In answering their prayers God chose Gideon to be the one to lead their people out from under the harshness of the Midianites. After Gideon hear's the call from God that he was going to be the one to lead his people, Gideon like so many of us began making excuses. Gideon undoubtedly believed God would deliver them, he just wasn't sure that he was the one to do so. Gideon says this about himself; "But Lord," Gideon replied, "how can I rescue Israel?" My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!" Isn't that just like human nature, we cry out for help but are not so willing to step up and be counted for. It would be natural for us to say that I am not qualified and am a nobody among so many that are brighter, smarter and much more qualified than me for the task. Gideon was just stating the facts. His tribe was the smallest and the weakest among the whole tribe of Manasseh. Gideon himself was the younger of the family and of least importance. The thing about the Lord is that He doesn't always do things the way we think they should be done. His call comes to us sometimes in the most inconvenient places. Here we are hiding out hoping not to be noticed by our enemy or anyone else for that matter, and low and behold God speaks to us and says get up out of there and get to work. I am sure Gideon was not feeling very comfortable at this moment, especially after hearing that he was going to be the leader; earlier before Gideon started making excuses he heard the angel of the Lord say this to him; Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!" Now after all the excuses were laid out and Gideon realized that he was not getting out of this one, he made his choice to be obedient to the Lord. The Lord told Gideon that; "I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man." Gideon knew that God would deliver the Israelites and had no doubt that God would bring victory for them, he just wasn't so sure that he was the one to do it. God told Gideon basically that it doesn't matter about your qualifications, you are the one I choose. God is saying to Gideon and to us that He is going to accomplish the task. Listen to what God says: "Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!" Already we can see that God does not need our strength or education, He just needs you and me.
To make the story short, God did just what He said He would do, deliver Israel from their oppressor's. Gideon tore down the altar of Baal. He was instrumental in bringing Israel back into right relationship with their God, Jehovah. We all like Gideon are going to face difficult situations in our lives. We may even be summoned to do something that we have very little experience in. The question that we all will face is this; am I going to be obedient to the call that God has placed on my heart? We have heard His voice, we have expressed our concerns and made our excuses, but the call is still there. Are you going to do what God has put before you? Whether it be small or whether it be great, are you going to do what God has told you to do? Remember the word of the Lord to Gideon, "you are not going to die!" and "The Lord is with you!"
Obedience is something we all have to learn. In order for us to walk in obedience their is one other aspect we must consider, and that is Faith. Any time we walk in obedience we are also walking in faith. You cannot separate the two. We cannot walk in faith without being obedient and we cannot walk in obedience without using our faith. Faith is stepping out in obedience and putting our trust in God for the outcome. Consider Heb. 11:1 "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." This is what Gideon had to do, even though he felt very unqualified he stepped up and said yes to God. Read the whole story and experience the outcome for yourself, it is very interesting how God takes care of the situation.
If you do not put your talents and gifts to work for God, then who will? God has given each one of us a unique gifting along with talents to accomplish the purpose He has placed you on this earth for. If you do not do it you need to understand this, there is no one else with the God given purpose you have. God has given you a purpose while here on this earth, only you can fulfill that purpose.
May God bless and keep you while you step up and obey the voice that calls you to do a work for Him.
