Lilac Ministries

Bible Study Lessons

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Scripture: Judges 6:17-32

Topic: Being Bold in Fear

Last week, we watched as Gideon said, “Who, me?” when the Lord said he would be the one who would deliver the children of Israel from their oppressors. This week, we find Gideon isn’t too sure about what he’s being asked to do. Don’t we all feel that way at one time or another? We might see an injustice or unfairness, but we don’t really want to be the spoon God uses to stir the pot. It’s never a fun place to be, and yet we all know the task needs to be undertaken.

Gideon, like us so often, asks the angel of the Lord for a “sign.” The angel waits patiently as Gideon prepares a food offering. When Gideon offers his food, the angel touches the rock below it with a staff, and fire consumes the whole thing! Holy cow! Don’t we all wish we could get signs like that?! We asked ourselves what are some of the reasons we’d like a sign from God. Our answers included that sometimes we’re confused about our direction, other times we’re concerned about self-deception, and generally speaking we just want to do what God wants us to do.

Back to Gideon: The Lord speaks to Gideon and gives him a task – tear down his father’s idol, kill his father’s favored bull, then use the wood from the idol to burn the bull as a sacrifice. Now … shouldn’t Gideon be raring to go? After all, he got a sign, didn’t he? Well … why doesn’t God gives us EASY things to do?? Gideon does follow through, but does it in the night, because he’s still a bit skittish about all of this. Turns out, he must have lived in a small town, because by the next day, everyone knew who had done this thing.

Relationships are often difficult. When we aren’t on the same emotional or spiritual page with someone we love or with whom we have a blood or work relationship, we run into problems. You can imagine that Gideon would have been very concerned about what his earthly father thought, even though he had full guidance from his heavenly Father. Well … turns out that Joash, Gideon’s father, saves him. The townsfolk want Gideon put to death. Joash says, “No WAY! If this Baal is a REAL god … then let HIM take care of Gideon!” The townsfolk must’ve bought into that argument, since there is plenty more of Gideon’s story left in the Bible!

Okay – so what do we take away from this? I think there are a couple of points. First, that following God’s will is often fearsome and may well create conflict. Gideon’s father backs him up, but very often, this doesn‘t match our experiences. Nevertheless, I believe that God does not hang us out to dry when we’ve been obedient. My second point is this: We need to be brave when we are near the boundaries of life, when we KNOW what we are doing is the righteous thing. Sometimes that involves a faith step. It will be scary, but our Abba Father will hold our hand on the way through.