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Defeating the Midianites in Your Life
Scripture Passage:
Judges 7:15-23 Attached audio files:
Introduction: Every Christian will have to fight their own Midianites at some point in their life. Consider the Midianites:
- A Totally Intimidating Foe – 135,000 soldiers (Judges 8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
See All...) - An Entrenched Foe – Having ruled for 7 years (Judges 6:1And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
See All...) - An Unsettling Foe – Chasing them to dens, etc. (Judges 6:2And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
See All...) - A Consuming Foe – Leaving no sustenance (Judges 6:3-5 [3] And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;
[4] And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
[5] For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
See All...) - A Prayer-inducing Foe – Israel cried to the Lord (Judges 6:5-6 [5] For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
[6] And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.
See All...)
So now, you have been beaten up by this foe and have cried to the Lord for deliverance. The Lord promises to help you. But what do you do? How do you face such a great enemy? Let Gideon show you the way.
- REPLACE YOUR FEAR WITH FAITH (Judges 7:2-3 [2] 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.
[3] 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.
See All...) - Faith Keeps You From Fighting the Battle
- Fear freezes you up and keeps you from taking action
- God does not give you the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
See All...) - Faith is Required for Salvation (Romans 10:8-10 [8] But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
[9] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
[10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
See All...) - Faith is Necessary in Order to Please God (Hebrews 11:6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
See All...) - REPLACE YOUR CARELESSNESS WITH VIGILANCE (Judges 7:4-5 [4] And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto 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 say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
[5] So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
See All...) - The Careless Inhabitants of Laish (Judges 18:7-11 [7] Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.
[8] And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?
[9] And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.
[10] When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.
[11] And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
See All...) - The Careless Soldiers of Gideon (Judges 7:6And 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.
See All...) - The Careless Daughter of Babylon (Isaiah 47:7-8 [7] And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
[8] Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
See All...) - CHOOSE YOUR TEACHERS CAREFULLY (Judges 7:17-18 [17] And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.
[18] When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
See All...) - The Example of the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 11:1Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
See All...; 2 Timothy 2:2And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
See All...) - The Ensamples to the Flock (1 Peter 5:3Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
See All...) - Who Are Your Teachers?
- BLOW YOUR TRUMPET LOUDLY (Judges 7:20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
See All...) - The Purpose of the Trumpet – to call to battle (Numbers 10:9And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
See All...; Numbers 31:6And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.
See All...; 2 Chronicles 13:13-16 [13] But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. [14] And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. [15] Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. [16] And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.
See All...) - The Purpose of the Blast – to call attention to yourself in the sense of letting your enemy know that you are in the fight
- Have you declared yourself a soldier? Or, are you hoping that you can sit it out without anyone noticing?
- BREAK YOUR EARTHEN PITCHER (Judges 7:20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
See All...) - This Speaks of our Fleshly Nature (2 Corinthians 4:7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
See All...; 2 Timothy 2:20-21 [20] But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. [21] If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
See All...) - It Must Be Broken So We Can Win the Battle (Psalm 34:18The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
See All...; Psalm 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
See All...) - HOLD YOUR LAMP HIGH (Judges 7:20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
See All...) - The Lamb Must be in the Vessel (Judges 7:16And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
See All...) - The Vessel Must Be Broken So the Light Can Be Seen by Others (Judges 17:19
See All...) - We are to Shine as Lights in the World (Philippians 2:15-16 [15] Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
[16] Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
See All...) - PROCLAIM THE SWORD OF THE LORD (Judges 7:20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
See All...) - The Sword is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
See All...; Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
See All...) - It Must First Be the Sword of the Lord – this is its authority (1 Thessalonians 2:13For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
See All...) - It Must Then Be Made Our Own Sword – this puts it into our possession (Colossians 3:16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
See All...; Jeremiah 15:16Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
See All...)
- Are you walking by faith?
- Are you aware of potential dangers?
- Are you learning from the right teachers?
- Have you declared yourself a combatant?
- Have you surrendered your own will?
- Do you hold your lamp high?
- Do you proclaim the sword of the Lord?