Judges 8:1-21

Well, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning, we're going to continue on talking about Gideon. And so I'm going to say two things before we start. Number one, yesterday I was sinful. I got mad at Nathan and I kicked his foot with my foot to try to get him away from the cord to the router down there that he was about to pull. And that was a sinful act of non-parenting. And so I apologize to your brother. And I wanted to publicly say that online. Number two, I was also prideful with Nathan. I think he was right. I think I was wrong.
And we went together and we researched and I dug in my heels and then kind of threw VeggieTales under the bus and threw him under the bus. And I think Gideon did go down to the Midianites. And I think it may have actually been one of the Midianites who said that it was this dream he had of Gideon winning the battle. Yeah, I was doing some research on him too.
Yeah, so I was wrong. And so that was prideful and sinful of me. So I need to publicly admit that to you all who watch. And I've already asked Nathan for forgiveness. I hope you all will forgive it to me as well. So let's go ahead and have some coffee. We'll pray. And obviously we need the spirits to or the spirit to give us wisdom and understanding into his word. So let's pray. Coffee first. No coffee. OK. Every time you try. Well, someday, someday you're going to like coffee. Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for your word.
God, we come to you knowing that we're sinful and fallible people. We can mess up. We can do things wrong. But Father, we pray that you would please help us to understand your word. Lord, please give us humility and wisdom. Help us, Lord, to understand and help us to live. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright. Judges, Judges chapter 8 verses 1 through 21. We're just going to do about kind of paragraph by paragraph. I'll read, you'll read, I'll read, you'll read. We'll talk about it as we go for the about. Go ahead.
Now the men of Ephraim said to him, why have you done this by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites? And they reprimanded him sharply. Okay. So, so the men of Ephraim come to Gideon and what are they mad at? They didn't, um, call him. Yeah, dude, you didn't invite me to the party.
Yeah, so, so he, that's Gideon, so he said to them, what have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaming of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezar? God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb, and Zeb. And what, and what was I able to do in comparison with you?
Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that. So what's he say there? Um, what did I do? Not what I do, but he's humbling himself. He's saying like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. We're so small and so weak compared to you. You guys are like the best, the cream of the crop. You guys already, you know, delivered Midian and Oreb and Zeb, right? You guys are a lot better than us. And what's that do to their anger? They're like, oh, okay. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. You want to read verse four and five?
When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. Then he said to the men of Succoth, Succoth, please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Ziba and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. And the leaders of Succoth said, Are the hands of Ziba and Zamuna now in your hands that we should give bread to your army? So you're asking these people for food, right? And what did they say? Why? Right, you haven't defeated them. We're not gonna give you bread. Wait, what if they come back? Could they use it against these people? Yeah, all right, verse 7.
So Gideon said, for this cause, when the Lord has delivered Ziba and Selmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars. Then he went up from there to Penel and spoke to them in the same way. The men of Penul answered him as the men of Sukkoth had answered. He also spoke with the men of Penel, saying, When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower.
Okay, so what happens there? I think threatening them. Yeah, but it's more than kind of a threat, right? Because they're not going to do it. And so this is kind of like a done deal, isn't it? Like when I defeat them, I am going to do this. Right. They've treated Gideon like an enemy. And so he's going to treat them like an enemy when he, when he wins. All right. Well, first him.
Now Ziba and Zalmuna were at Karkor and their armies with them, about 15,000, all who were left of all the army of the people of the east, for 120,000 men who drew the sword had fallen. Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of Noba and Jogbeha, and he attacked the army while the camp felt secure. When Ziba and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them, and he took the two kings of Midian, Ziba and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army. All right, so what happens there? He takes them. Yeah, right, so at Karkor, right, he takes the enemies. All right, good. You want to do 13 through 17?
Then Gideon, the son of Joash, returned from battle from the ascent of Heres. And he caught him, a young man, of the men of Sukkah, and interrogated him. And he wrote down for him the leaders of Sukkah and its elders, seventy-seven men. Then he came to the men of Sukkah and said, Here are Ziba and Zalmunah, about whom you ridiculed me, saying, Are the hands of Ziba and Zalmunah now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men? And he took the elders of the city, and the thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with them he taught the men of Sukkot. Then he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. All right, so what happens there? He does what he told them he would do. Yeah, right, so he goes back and he tears down, right? And so it wasn't just an empty threat, was it? No. Okay.
And he said to Zeba and Zamuna, What kind of men were they who you killed at Tabor? So they answered, As you are, so were they. Each one resembled the son of a king. Then he said, They were my brothers, the son of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you. Then he said to Jether his firstborn, Rise and kill them. But the youth would not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.
So Ziba and Zalmuna said, rise yourself and kill us. For as a man is, so is his strength. So Gideon arose and killed Ziba and Zalmuna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels' necks. All right, so what happens in that last part? We find out that they killed his brothers. Yeah, so they killed people who were definitely relatives, right? Uh, and so what happened with this thing with his son? He's like, okay, buddy, it's your turn now. Go, go kill them. And the boys like, and so how did the Kings respond? You kill us yourself. And so what's Gideon do? He kills himself.
Yeah. Right. So it would kind of be like me telling Nathan or Daniel. Right. If I was in a battle and they were with me and I said, Nathan, go kill them. Right. Like that, that takes a lot of like courage and steel to do something like that. Right. It, it's not an easy thing to take someone's life. Like I've never done that. Right.
But this is one of the reasons why, like, I know people who were Marines and army Rangers, And I used to work out with seals and guys who were special forces. And not an easy thing, right? When they felt like they were fighting for a just cause, they would do it. But it's not like they, at least the ones who were sane, right? It wasn't something they did gleefully, taking on a human's life. It was an ugly thing. So, all right. Let's go ahead and talk about the whole passage. What's this whole passage about? If you had to summarize it for your grandma or your mom when you walk out of here. How would you describe this passage? The events leading up to the killing of Ziba and some...
Alright, who were they? Kings. Kings of what? Midian. So why is... Why is Gideon trying to kill the kings of Midian? Because they're his people. Yeah, right. They're actually oppressing them, right? They've come into the land of Israel and they're destroying all the stuff. The Midianites and the Amalekites and people from the east, right? They're coming in and they're destroying their crops and their fields. They're making life miserable for the Israelites. And so that's what's going on here is Gideon has been chosen by God to rise up as a judge to fight against himself.
Okay. So what do you think is the best verse to summarize this section? Maybe four? Okay, verse four. Yeah, okay, that'd be fine. Oh no, five. Okay, five. I saw four and five is connected. So you, well, that's fine. So those are, those are the ones that where he's gone to the city, to the people of Succoth. And they say that they're not going to hand them over. I think it even does it. Yeah. I, you know, I kind of hard pressed to, to choose a section here, but I would probably do verse 13 and 14 in my Bible. So let's talk about seek calling. What are you called to do, right? Are you called to freeze when daddy tells you to go kill your enemy? No. You think daddy's ever going to tell you to do that? No. So what does this call you to do then? How does this show you Jesus Christ?
Be strong, courageous. Okay, but you just said I'm never going to tell you to go kill someone. it's not always you have to be strong that way so what way do you have to be strong fighting spiritual enemies okay yeah yeah right our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour right yeah maybe the enemy within too killing the old man with his passions and desires, putting to death the sinful passions and desires of the flesh, being renewed in the understanding of your mind.
Is that easy? No, absolutely not. No, no. But here's where I'm going to say this is part of a much larger story. And so this part of the story specifically, I think, right, who's the better judge than Gideon? Jesus. Jesus, right? Yeah, that's eventually where we're moving towards. Because Gideon is not going to be a perfect judge. But Jesus is.
You ready to pray? Lord, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. Father, we pray that you would please help us to walk in your ways. Father, we pray that you would let us be strong and courageous. We pray thanking you for giving us Jesus, our victor. In his name we pray, amen. May the God of all peace who raised up from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And we'll see you next time. Bye. Bye.