Judges 6-7 - Gideon

Character Study Introduction

We can learn from what has been recorded in the Bible.

1 Corinthians 10

For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ³ and all ate the same spiritual food; ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was ^[a]Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. ⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “ The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” ⁸ Nor let us act immorally, as some of them ^[b]did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. ⁹ Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them ^[c]did, and were destroyed by the serpents. ¹⁰ Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

As we go through these studies let’s look for what we can learn from these examples.

Gideon -  Name means Hewer or Smiter

Lived in the time of the Judges (6-8)

Israel had been through the cycle of deliverance, worship, turning their backs to God, and punishment, then they cried out to God.

·         Judges 6:11-24 The Angel of the Lord visits Gideon

Ironically, weakness is the means by which we become strong. Paul put it this way: "When I am weak, then I am strong" (II Corinthians 12:10).

When Gideon groaned about how small and weak he was, what was the Lord’s response?

What is the Lord’s response to us when we feel small and weak?

·         6:25-27 Gideon replaces idol worship with an alter to the Lord.

Do you think Gideon showed courage in tearing down the Baal Alter?

Where did he find that courage?

Courage is not the absence of fear but rather mastery of it.

·         6:36-40 The Fleece If You will deliver Israel

Testing God? Should we follow this example? How?

Deut 6:16 – You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

·         Chapter 7 Gideon whittles an army of 32,000 down to 300. The Midianites turned against each other, the remainder of them fled.

Why was Gideon Successful in Battle?