Gideon’s Faith

0:00If you've never been with us before in the Lord's Day evening, our practice is to preach through Old Testament books or text in the New Testament that are Old Testament adjacent, and that's what we're doing in our exposition of Hebrews 11, especially looking at the hall of faith. Hope you have your Bible open to Hebrews 11, focusing in on around verses 32 and following. In Hebrews 11, you'll notice the chronological order stretching out over millennia from Abel, Enic, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, the entire nation of Israel at the time of the Passover and the Red Sea and Rahead. All of these people had this in common. They had faith in God's provision of a Savior. The writer of Hebrews is desperately trying to convince his readers that this has always been the way, all through the Old Covenant, and now in the New Covenant there's only one

1:00way of salvation by faith in the promise of a Savior. Now if you read Hebrews 11, 32 verse 40, if you were reading along a moment ago when I read, these names will be words on a page unless you do the work of digging into their background in the Old Testament. So in order to know the faith of Gideon, we must keep one finger in our Bible in Hebrews 11 and then look at Judges 6 and 7. So I hope you're somewhat dexterous and you have the ability to hold two texts together at the same time, Judges and Hebrews 11. When we open up Judges 6 and 7, Israel has had a national falling away from Jehovah and has begun doing what was right in their own eyes. This meant behaving like Canaanites ethically, giving worship to Canaanite Gods and each time they did this, cyclically they would do this over and over, the Lord would each time raise up a Gentile nation to come and oppress them until Israel cried out for deliverance.

2:07The Lord would raise up a judge then and help them throw off their current Gentile oppressors. These Judges, when you study them carefully, tend to be the most unlikely deliverers. There was Iehud, the left-hander with all that meant. There was Deborah, a woman, tonight we'll see the next judge, Gideon, who's perhaps along with Samson, the most unlikely of all the Judges because if we're thinking we're putting him in the hall of faith, we're going to see tonight. His faith is there, yes, but it's so weak. He needs signs to help his faith along. In terms of sheer quantity, the book of Judges gives more space to Gideon than any other judge, even more than Samson, who also shocks us that he's in the hall of faith, who will examine next Sunday evening God willing. Gideon can be frustrating, we will see that tonight, but I'll remind you regularly tonight

3:07because you're going to be tempted to doubt this, that Gideon is a saved man. That's the point that Hebrews 1132 makes. He is a man who has the exact same type of faith that you do, faith in the promise of a Savior. Gideon lived around 1200 BC and Bale worship, as I said, was omnipresent throughout the land of Israel. Even Gideon's father, look at Judges 625 and I'm going to be making reference to several individual texts inside the context of Judges 6 and 7. Look at Judges, Gideon's father in Judges 625. He had an altar to Bale, and so every day as Gideon walked in and out of the home, there was Bale. There was the idol. This is all happening while Gentiles are oppressing Israel. We read in the early verses of Judges 6 that the Midianites, other Gentiles came and ruined their crops every year. They had done it seven years in a row.

4:08Now what they had done to Israel during this seven-year period, they had, according to verse 4 and 5 of chapter 6, they had destroyed the crops in livestock. The Midianites, when they would come down every year, they were like a plundering plague of locusts, destroying everything that the Israelites had cultivated. They were a terror worse than previous Canaanite armies who had hundreds of iron chariots. And so by now, when we read in verse 2 that Israel, when it came harvest time, they would go hide in dens and caves and ferret away any food they could and grab their children and possessions and run for the hills. The result was, look at verse 6, Israel was poor, starving, fearful, beat down, because this had happened now seven times, once annually, for the last seven years, and was just about to happen again. They were being bullied by the superpower of that time, the Midianites.

5:11And so the Lord, in the midst of this coming time of dread for every Israelites, so the Midianites will be showing up soon to destroy our farms. The Lord appears on the scene greeting Gideon. Look at Judges 6, 12, and how he greets him. The Lord is with you, mighty man of valor. In just a moment you're going to have reason to say, does the Lord really know what he's doing here? Calling Gideon, mighty man of valor. So the angel of the Lord, we find out quickly that it's a theophany, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. But the angel of the Lord called Gideon and tells him, and I want you to stare at this promise. Look at Judges 6, 14. Study these words. There is a command to him, go, and a promise to believe you shall save Israel. That's God's promise to this mighty man of valor. Gideon hardly seems like a mighty man of valor when he asked the Lord in the next verse,

6:12look at 6, 15. Oh, my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I'm the least in my father's house. I'm from the weakest clan in the whole tribe, and my family is the weakest family in the weakest clan. Well then Gideon is just perfect for God to use. Do you remember from 1 Corinthians 1 who God takes pleasure in choosing and using? He takes the weak things of the world to shame the strong. And Gideon has even one more strike against him. Look at 6, 15. Gideon is a younger son. He says he's least in his father's house. And he's simply the latest example of how the Lord confounds the wise by not choosing the biggest, strongest, handsomest, or first born. Other men who were not first born, but were selected by the Lord over their powerful older brothers would include Jacob, instead of Esau, Joseph, instead of several older

7:15brothers, Ephraim, instead of Manasseh, Moses, instead of Aaron, David over his older brothers and many more. You see, the scriptures are trying to teach us this powerful lesson. God chooses the least, the weak, the insignificant, in the world's eyes, to confound the mighty so that no one can boast before him. When Gideon pleads his inadequacy before the Lord, the Lord preaches back to him his adequacy. It's the same answer God gave to Moses when he tried to refuse God's call in Exodus 3. And the Lord finally just said to him, but Moses, I will be with you. And that is enough. Gideon's faith. When the God makes a promise, he'll be the deliverer and save Israel. For most of us, we will pray even tonight for Lord's strength in our faith. Give us more faith. And we think that the Lord will do that over a period of a decade, maybe two or three decades. Gideon's faith in God's promise is not allowed to mature or ripen before it's tested.

8:23God commands him, look at 625, God commands him to act on his faith that night. And God commands, do you see it there in verse 25, iconicalism, the destruction of images of God. And what Gideon, this weak member of the weakest clan must do, is lead Israel in putting off idolatry. The command Gideon is tear down the altar of Bale, cut down the wooden image. And so Bale and Asura, two idols are sent side by side, according to 625. These two idols formed a high place at which the perverted act of the Canaanite cults had been performed. And so Israel must put on right worship. Look at what the Lord tells Gideon, not only to tear down the false gods in verse 25, but you to put on right worship by building an altar to Jehovah in verse 26. Now this command didn't come out of left field, it's a restatement of Deuteronomy 7.

9:26In fact, and you're going to gasp in a moment, in fact Gideon has a right, some would say a duty, to stone everyone who's been involved in Bale worship. Think of Deuteronomy 13 as an aside and see what his historic command was to Israelites for allowing idol worship to go on. Deuteronomy 13 long before this historic saga. Deuteronomy 13 verse 6. The Lord says, if your brother, Deuteronomy 13 6, if your brother, the son of your mother, your son, or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, let us go and serve other gods, which you've not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him, or listen to him, nor shall you ripety him, nor shall you

10:31spare him or conceal him, but you shall surely kill him. Your hands shall be first against him to put him to death and after the hand of the people, and you shall stone him with stones until he dies because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house, the bondage. And so Gideon certainly would have been right in doing that, but Gideon is not commanded to go to some far off land and fight against idolatry, he's commanded simply to pull down idols in his own hometown, in fact on his own property, and the text specifically tells us, in verse 25 and 625, that the altar and the image are on his father's lamb. So the test of his faith, remember this is a brand new believer, his faith is so weak, the test of his faith is one that some here tonight have never passed.

11:32Is Gideon willing to love God more than the approval of his family? Isn't this the stumbling block for so many professing Christians? They show where the true loyalty lies, they'll not obey God on some matter or speak the truth and love the family members because they would rather offend God than offend family. Now don't read past some of the most beautiful words in Scripture. This is said if somebody who has brand new faith, weak faith, Gideon, look at verse 27. He did as the Lord had said to him. Gideon's faith was fresh, yes it was weak certainly, but his obedience was strong. When God issues a clear command as he did to Gideon, ours is only to obey immediately, joyfully, as you know, delayed obedience is always disobedience. Gideon may have been in fear of the townspeople, but his fear of the Lord was far greater. And so he counted the cost and obeyed the Lord.

12:35Before going into battle against the bail worshipping coalition of Amalakats, Midianites and Ishmaelites, Gideon still showing the weakness of his faith demands signs. Gideon says, Lord, you know I'm going to trust you, I'm going to obey you, but I need signs. Look at verse 36. Gideon said to God, if you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, and then Gideon begins his speech by reminding him of what he, remember this is Christ here as a theophany, has said, he's referring to the Lord's promise of Judges 614, that the Lord's going to save Israel by his hand. But Gideon prefaces his whole discussion, look at verse 36, with if, if you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. The Lord has spoken and made promises to Gideon, he's going to save Israel by Gideon's actions, and I've said, right?

13:39Well, no Gideon wants to have a discussion about finding God's will. Now I want to engage you tonight in some debunking and reestablishing of truth tonight. I cannot tell you how many Bible studies and Sunday school lessons I heard growing up that used this text wrongly. And the saga of the fleeces as a paradigm for knowing God's will. I still remember a youth pastor 50 years ago teaching us how to put out a fleece. And it seemed a whole lot more to me like voodoo than anything remotely biblical. Well, the will of God was already perfectly clear. Look at 614 and 616. You shall save Israel, you shall defeat the Midianites. That's God's will for him. No need to spend a lot of time going around and polling everyone. What do you think God's will for my life is? God had already made clear what his will was. God had spoken clearly, made promises that Gideon would be the deliverer of Israel. Case closed, believe the written word of God, the spoken word of God.

14:44Gideon doesn't test or confess his motives at the beginning, but look at 639. In the end, he admits that he has been testing God. That's what weak faith will do. His test God, unbelief, asks for signs or even sets up signs in their own mind. On asking for guidance by signs instead of the written word, if I shouldn't ask for look for signs, fleeces, how should I seek guidance? Well, we're not to see this enterprise creating tests for God and demanding that he fulfill them before we'll believe his word in act on. As we're not to see that as normative or healthy or desirable. You have the ultimate sign sitting on your lap right now. You have the completed canon of Scripture. You have pastors and teachers to explain it. You have the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth. You can and must pray for wisdom and it is promised according to James 1.

15:45You have a multitude of wise counselors, elders and experienced godly people, but be honest. Your problem is usually not being stuck between tough moral alternatives. Your problem is simply not obeying what God has clearly told you to do, just like Gideon. So in final preparation for the battle against the Gentile armies, Gideon gathers 32 hundred warriors. Look over at chapter 7. But the Lord tells Gideon, oh Gideon, that's way too many. Your Gideon's army through a process of several diminishing of the force is whittled down to 300 men. This is so no one would ever think that Gideon triumph by human power and give any man glory. Look at 7 too, or we're given the rationale for that. And this is told just repeatedly through Scripture. God will not stand for men trying to hog any of the glory.

16:47So when Gideon and his 300 men would blow their trumpets and wave their torches, the whole massive Gentile army was so frightened and confused that the Gentile armies turned on each other and began to slay one another according to 722. The Gentile rulers were tracked down, captured and executed, knowing that he was a naturally a timid man, a new believer. What enabled Gideon to do these great exploits? Remember the words of Hebrews 1132, by faith. A divine relation was given to him from the Lord. Even though his faith was weak, even though he questioned, even though he wanted signs, he believed and acted accordingly. Now once you look at chapter 7 because it's a delightful saga for us. The Israelite army is up early and ready to do battle according to verse 1. And if you check your Bible map, you'll find out that the Israelite forces are set up

17:47about four miles from the Midianite armies and so everyone is on their toes. And the Lord gives Gideon the command to dismiss all who are fearful in 732. Now I will tell you this is not unusual because in keeping with the Mosaic law, listen to these instructions in Deuteronomy 20. The officers shall speak to the people and say what man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted, let him go and return to his house less the heart of his brethren, faint like his heart. In other words, the Lord had given the law in Deuteronomy 20, knowing how disheartening it was to unit morale to have cowards going AWOL from the battle. And so the Lord had made a provision if you're too scared to go to battle, go home. But for Gideon to watch 70% of his troops leave and return, home had to be disconcerting. But his head spins when then the Lord says, oh no, still way too many. And so the Lord issues a second command to dismiss all who drank a certain way.

18:51You see it there in verses 4 through 7. So out of the remaining 10,000, the vast majority, 9,700, took their time, knelt on their knees and drank. But 300 men only threw themselves on the bank, hastily lapped up some water like a golden retriever, and had already returned to the ranks when the 9,700 were still getting ready to drink. The 300 were speedy, nimble. So now 9,700, out of the remaining 10,000 have been eliminated. Gideon's down to 300 men, fewer people than are in this room right now. Gideon's army has been reduced by more than 99%. So if you're keeping score, here is the score card. Just down in the valley, 135,000 Midianites. Just over the hill, 300 Israelites. This is a ratio of 450 Midianites for every one Israelite.

19:55Those are some pretty long odds. But Hatton Moses told Israel in Deuteronomy 32 that if they would obey the Lord, one would chase a thousand and two would put 10,000 to flight. And to as everlasting credit now in chapter 7, Gideon doesn't argue with the Lord or question his wisdom in this reduction in force. The larger question is this, why does God want Gideon to raise up an army only to weaken the army of Israel almost to the point of decimation? Look at verse 2 and study it with me. One, two, we hear these words. The Lord said to Gideon, the people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midian ites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against me, saying, my own hand has saved me. The Lord's constant overarching concern is that if the army of Israel has any strength,

20:56any firepower, any tactical ability, when the story gets told around can fires for hundreds of years afterwards, the Gideon will get glory. His captains will be praised and the soldiers will be celebrated. And the Lord was to teach Gideon the lesson Jesus teaches us in John 155, apart from me, you can do nothing. The Lord intends to humble man and exalt himself. The pride of Israel must be laid in the dust. The Midianites already know about Gideon. Look at verse 14. Gideon and his servant, Purar, have sneaked down to the camp and they're listening in. And notice what they hear the Midianite army saying in verse 14. This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joe Ash, a man of Israel, into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.

21:59Well, we're not told how word has gotten out, but these Midianites even know Gideon's father's name, according to verse 14, they know it's Joe Ash. So perhaps his exploit in his hometown of tearing down idols and burning them up have been circulated. But whatever it is, the Midianites, just a few miles away, are terrified of Gideon. There's this Gideon sitting in the bush with his servant counting up 135,000 Midianites. Gideon is smirking as he hears this conversation in the camp. He's thinking, if only they knew I'm the least in my father's house, my big brother's tease me in Sam Week. Gideon and Israel are about to be delivered from fear, while the enemy is about to be delivered to fear. Gideon knows because he's gone down and spied for himself. He's heard the Midianite soldiers talking in the camp. He knows that word is spreading through the Midianite camp that they're going to lose.

23:01He knows that all he has to do is jump out from behind the bushes and say, boo, and they're going to run. This is God's amazing Providence in this section in Judges 7. The Lord brings Gideon just to the right place, outside of one tent, among thousands of tents in the enemy's camp, where he'll hear this word of encouragement. He protects the Lord, look at verse 10, where the Lord takes Gideon and pure a down right next to the camp of the Midianites. The Lord protects Gideon and pure from detection and capture. Just at the right time, when this one soldier who's awakened 20 minutes earlier or later, and Gideon would have heard snoring or a different conversation in the tents, but Gideon and pure arrived just in time to hear the one conversation among the enemies of God's people that will encourage him. The Lord causes a pagan Midianite to dream a quirky dream. You see it there in verse 12 and 13, because he controls the Lord does.

24:03He controls us when we're sleeping in a wake. He controls our mind and our matter. He's sovereign and his sovereignty doesn't end when men fall asleep. And just so the Lord would encourage Gideon, the Lord goes to extreme lengths to strengthen the faith of one of his children, the ways it is command or limitless. Faith moves the believer to action and so Gideon runs back up the hill and commands his 300, this paltry force to get ready to go attack. Gideon tells them, look at verse 16 in chapter 7, Gideon tells them, past tents that the Lord has delivered the Midianites into their hands. They're looking at one another, the 299 other remaining soldiers, did he just say the Lord has delivered the Midian into our hands past tents? That action is yet future. In other words, Gideon believes what God has promised. He's not saying, well, I'll believe it when I see it completed.

25:04No. Faith believes in the future, yet unseen of the bare promise of God. And true faith then acts on that promise. Gideon goes up the hill into the camp of the army of Israel. He subdivides this tiny army of 300 men into three companies, according to 716. Three companies of 100 men each. And he arms and equips all 300. Here's their ammo. I've got to tell you, I've turned into a little bit of a nerd in the last week or so watching the war in the Middle East because what I want to see is, what is the newest weaponry? And I've been fascinated by this, the new bombs, the new guns and all that sort of thing. I know it's pretty goofy on my part. Think of the survey of the armament of Israel that Gideon is looking at right now. Okay, fellas, have you got your picture? Yes, have you got your torch? Have you got your trumpet? Okay, everybody's fully armed now, which makes their war cry.

26:06Look at the war cry. He teaches them to shout in 718 and 720. Here's what they're to chant. The sword of the Lord and of Gideon. You know what's so fascinating about this? They don't have any swords. Look carefully, what they have. They don't have a sword. But the reason Gideon has the men shout his name is that he knows from his intelligence gathering foray into the Midian camp. That his name is already a source of great fear for the Midianites, according to 714. So he wants to strike terror into the hearts of these 135,000 Midianites. The wording of the shout, the sword of Gideon is a tactical move. So let me keep reminding you of the numbers, because I'm staggered every time I read it. 300 Israelites, 135,000 Midianites. Doesn't this make you think of all the forces arrayed against you? The world, the flesh, the devil.

27:07God calls them in Ephesians 6, principalities, powers, the rulers of darkness, spiritual host of wickedness. You have powers arrayed against you, seemingly too many to count. But Gideon tells his men briefly, he gives them their orders. What the whole in 716? Trumpet in one hand, pitcher in the other, lit torch inside the pitcher. When to blow their trumpets, no doubt at least some of these soldiers are thinking, I think the situation calls for a green beret and not dizzy Gillespie. But more historically minded soldiers would say, you know our forefathers conquered the mighty citadel of Jericho and made their fortress walls fall down by a collective shout in blowing trumpets. God has done this before. There's historical precedent, and he tells them in 718 what to shout. The sword of the Lord and of Gideon, Gideon's men, look at 719, advance into position.

28:13And I have to stop and tell you that students of military tactics still in the 21st century know that Gideon's actions, now almost 3,500 years old, are still discussed in manuals describing psychological operations and guerrilla warfare. That's what you have here. So it happens at night in the dark. It's a stounding example of guerrilla warfare in a sneak attack. And then look at the timing, look at 719. Gideon is planned to attack at the beginning of the middle watch. And so Gideon begins his attack right after the shift change. This is genius. These men involved in the first and second watches would be in the deep sleep of the early part of the night. And those who had just been relieved will be walking back to their tents. So when the noise starts, the men who came running out of their tents to see them and would think the enemy had penetrated the camp. The noise and clamor would cause unrest among their camels, leading to a stampede.

29:17The brilliance of the plan is it negates the size disparity. The Israelites appear and sound far greater in size than they really are. The 300 Obed Gideon's order, look at verse 20, Obed Gideon's previous order issued at the briefing. And all of them, look at verse 21, stood in their places when God's people were steadfast the enemy fled. Think of what a strategy this is for battle. When they come and they stand on all sides of the Midianite camp, they stand in their places. This is the exact same strategy used at the Red Sea when Moses told the nation of Israel. When the armies of Egypt were bearing down on them to stand still and watch the salvation of the Lord, it turns out this is the same strategy Paul gives you in his magnum opus on warfare, spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6, stand.

30:21So the torches blazing on all sides of the camp convinced the Midianites that they were surrounded, the noises of shattering pictures diluted them into thinking that the Israelites had already entered the camp and were creating havoc there. And the battle cry with the names of Jehovah and Gideon did the rest. The Midianites were thrown into a complete panic, stampede ensued, and anybody who's ever been in a battle situation knows that once panic sets in and a frightened retreat begins, it spreads instantaneously. The Midianites put up no defense at all, assuming all was already lost, Gideon and his Mim stood in one place, holding their place on the perimeter of the camp, blowing their trumpets, waving their torches, and watching 135,000 Midianites sprint in the other direction. The Midianites don't even think of putting up a flight, they retreat and fast. The truth of the proverb, Proverbs 281 is shown, the wicked flee when no one pursues.

31:29Now the best part, my favorite part of the entire narrative is 722. As the Midianites flee, they turn their swords on one another, in the dark and confusion they can't recognize that they're stabbing one another. In contemporary military parlance, this is known as death by friendly fire. So Gideon's 300 men turns out they don't kill any enemy soldiers. They just stand and watch the Midianites stab each other and run. But in this case, look at 722, we're told it is the Lord that does this. He turns our enemies on one another. He sovereignly orchestrates friendly fire on a massive scale behind the Midianite lines. And the armies of Midian flee, they also drop everything. They leave all kinds of supplies, food, provisions, armament, livestock. These are what is known as the spoils of war. Now in some way, if you're thinking historically, in some way, the next day on the battlefield,

32:34there's all of this food and livestock and arms and all kinds of other provisions. This kind of makes up for what the Midianites have been stealing and destroying for the last seven years. So when the Midianites begin to flee, look at verse 23. All the tribes of Israel gather together and pursue. The reinforcements that Gideon calls up in 724 were many of the 32,000 he had previously sent home before. So how do we apply this? We're thinking of Gideon as this man in the hall of faith. So a few applications we should make. First of all, you cannot think of this historical incident as a ho-hum event. It's such a stupendous divine intervention and rout of God's enemies that it's spoken of in other texts, 700 years after this incident. Isaiah will still be referring to it. In Isaiah 9, Isaiah roots, you've broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder,

33:39the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. And then again in Isaiah 10, Isaiah writes, the Lord will stir up a scourge like the slaughter of Midian, 700 years after it. Men are still talking about it, writing about it. And so you cannot think about this as a minor victory. This is a massive military win. Another application, Israel wins the battle and puts the enemy to flight with a shout of the name of the Lord, Jehovah. It's the name of the Lord that sets the enemies of God to flight. This engaging force of 300 has no military skill whatsoever. All they can do is stand still, blow a trumpet, wave a torch, and shout the name of Jehovah. That's what puts the enemy to flight. Another application is, isn't this the 30th or the 300th example of this principle? God's ways are not our ways from Isaiah 55.

34:43If your eye would have been planning the battle, we would have taken those 32,000 men, we would have drilled them, marched them, armed them to the teeth, and we would have marched them down and brought daylight for a conventional battle with the Midianite army. That God takes all their arms, almost all of their men, and sidelines them, and puts a trumpet and a torch into the hands of 300 men, and try to name a more decisive victory than the one they conquered by. God's ways are not our ways. I grow weary of people talking about, well, Carl, have you ever thought about, you know, maybe we ought to apply these principles of business to how things happen at the church and all these different ways, and I grow weary, you probably grow weary of hearing me say, God's ways are not our ways. And we need to learn that lesson, and this is a great example of it. Another application we should learn. God always chooses what is weak, to shame what is strong.

35:47That's what we hear in 1 Corinthians 1, so that no one may boast. And this incident that you see here in Hebrews 11, this is a great example, when you read in Hebrews 1134, this is the incident that God has in mind when we record in Hebrews 1134, Gideon subdued kingdoms, Gideon escaped the edge of the sword, Gideon out of weakness was made strong, Gideon became valiant in battle, Gideon turned to fly at the armies of the enemies. Jesus being talked about here in Hebrews 1134, I think a brilliant application, one that we need to learn about. You see it in 722, I pointed out just a moment ago where the Lord's methodology was to set the enemies against one another. The Lord so confused the Midianites that they turn on one another, even though they have marched hundreds of miles to plunder and kill Israelites.

36:47So when we see the Lord today in our day, sovereignly turning Sunni against Shia, we should not step in and separate them. This is God's work. You don't see Gideon saying to the Midianites, hey fellows, break it up, don't turn your swords on one another. This is how we should pray. This is how mature Christians pray. Lord set your enemies to devour one another. Turn the newagers on the Muslim, turn the Hindus on the atheists. This is how we should pray. Another application we should see is the patience of God is shown in his long suffering with weak faith. He knows the frailty of fallen human nature. We're told in the Psalms in Psalm 103, he knows our frame and remembers that we are at dust. God accommodates himself three times to Gideon's request for science.

37:47He's patient, long suffering and merciful. This is the God who comes to meet you at his table now. You might be thinking, oh, but my faith is so weak. I know that what I must bring to this table is faith. My faith is so small, aren't you encouraged by God working with Gideon in his weak faith? God will meet you at this table even in your weak faith. Let's pray now. Our Father, we are just like Gideon, weak in faith, but you have given us the gift of saving faith even though we still question and doubt and struggle. So take this word that we've heard and then use the sacrament to strengthen our faith. We pray in the name of Jesus, amen.