Gideon: Self-Doubter Biblical Passages: Judges 6:11–16; 7:1–8 Supporting Passages: Judges 2:6–19; Hebrews 11:32; Acts 1:8 Memory Verses: Judges 6:15–16 Biblical Truth: God chose Gideon, an insecure and selfdoubting man, and supplied the security and assurance Gideon needed to accomplish His purposes.
Consider . . . Have you wondered what strengths you possess that God could possibly use? Or, does everything about you feel like a weakness? Do you live in doubt, fear, and insecurity, thinking God has not noticed you? Gideon wondered the same thing. He saw himself as weak, small, fearful, and insignificant . . . how could God possibly use him for anything?
and dens. Israel cried out to God. In response, God sent a judge to remind the people of His past provision, His command to fear only Him, and their disobedience. Gideon concluded that God had delivered the Israelites into the hand of the Midianites. His assumption that God had abandoned them was wrong. He saw no relationship between Israel’s dependence on other gods and the dire circumstances in which he and his neighbors found themselves. Despite Gideon’s lack of perception and his fear of the Midianites, the “angel of the Lord” addressed Gideon as a “mighty warrior.” God saw judges (shaphat) Gideon not only for what he was, From the time of Joshua’s but for what he could become. death until the reign of
King Saul, Israel was a loose
Reread verses 12 and 14. Notice the relationship between what God reveals about Himself and the valor and might He ascribed to Gideon. What did God want Gideon to understand?
confederation with no central governing body. The people of Israel tended to rebel
against God and received oppression from foreign
nations as punishment. When they called out to God for
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deliverance, God employed
judges as His agents. Judges
God, in order to show His glory, chooses weak, insignificant people to accomplish His purposes. He calls us in the midst of doubt, fear, and unbelief to go forth in His strength as mighty men and women of valor. The story of Gideon shows that God holds the future. God is sufficient to carry out His plan in spite of the insufficiencies of the one He chooses to carry out His plan.
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were a diverse and charismatic group of leaders who rallied
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their nation to defeat the
foreign nations (Judg. 2:6–23).
_________________________ Midianites
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The Midianites were a nomadic people who
descended from Midian, the
God Calls Us for What We Will Become (Judg. 6:11–14).
God Promises to Be with Us (Judg. 6:15–16).
Because the Israelites had placed their trust in false gods instead of the one, true God, the Lord gave the Midianites power over Israel. The Midianites made raiding trips into the Israelites’ lands and stole their crops and livestock. The raids forced the Israelites to retreat to mountain caves
Gideon was accustomed to hiding in a cave, trying to feed his family while not getting killed. He saw himself as the weakest member of the weakest clan in Israel. Gideon’s
son of Abraham and Keturah. They lived in the desert
fringes of Moab and Edom
near the Sinai Peninsula and were known for the wide-
spread use of camels as a new combat tool.