I would like to share an event we find in the book of Judges. As was the normal situation, Israel fell into idolatry and the Lord had to, once again, rescue them. However, I should point out that the root of their sin was unbelief, which brought about in all kinds of fears! So the Lord sent them a prophet to expose their root sin.
The prophet told them in so many words, “Look at you—a bunch of wimps, hiding out, afraid to stand up and fight. You’ve already given up. But you have a history of God’s deliverance! He gave your fathers great victories when they trusted him. And he has promised to deliver you too—yet you don’t believe him!”
Oh, don’t take my word for it. Read it for yourself:
One time when the People of Israel had cried out to God because of Midian, God sent them a prophet with this message: “God, the God of Israel, says,
I delivered you from Egypt,
I freed you from a life of slavery;
I rescued you from Egypt’s brutality
and then from every oppressor;
I pushed them out of your way
and gave you their land.“And I said to you, ‘I am God, your God. Don’t for a minute be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.’ But you didn’t listen to me.” (Judges 6:7–10.)
I read that and almost picture the Lord standing there, going point after point. One at a time listing on his fingers:
First, I delivered you from Egypt.
Then I freed you from . . .
Just enumerating for them all the times he came to their rescue, then slaps his forehead, “Oy Vey! But you wouldn’t listen to me . . .”
You know, many Christians are like that. They are terrified the devil is going to destroy them. They are afraid they will make a mistake or go back to their sin, and the devil will have his way. But that is a lie from the pit of hell! The Bible says you don’t have to be terrified as you walk through this life!
When you hold on to fear, it becomes contagious. Everybody around you catches it! When Gideon gathered his army, God told him to send home every soldier who is afraid: “Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave . . . So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained” (Judges 7:3).
Well those weenies! I believe the Lord is saying the same thing to his church today. He is asking, “Why are you afraid? Why are you committing your sin of unbelief by not trusting me to bring victory to your life? I have promised to defeat every demonic power that comes against you!”
Think about Gideon’s father, Joash. He had erected two statues: one of Baal and the goddess Asherah. His reasoning was, “Baal has given Midian power over us, so maybe, just maybe, if we worship their god, he will give us power.” People came from all over the place to worship there, including Midianites and Moabites! It was a powerful, demonic stronghold in Israel!
YHWH told Gideon, “I’m not going to deliver Israel until you get rid of this idol that stands between us. Knock it over—cut it down!” So, in the middle of the night Gideon “took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him” (Judges 6:27). He took an ox and used ropes to pull down Baal and Asherah! But here’s the thing. It says that the reason he did it at night was because, “He was afraid of his family and the townspeople ” (Judges 6:27).. Now he is the weenie! However! And that is a BIG however! The Lord was still able to use him because he was willing to follow and obey.
I believe the Lord is giving his church the same message he gave Gideon: “I want to help you—but I can’t when you don’t trust me. You are full of fear and before I bring deliverance, you’re going to have to pull down this stronghold, this besetting sin!” “ow off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles [you]” (Hebrews 12:1). We are to pull down all of the strongholds of fear and sin!
Gideon pulled down demonic strongholds using a strong ox. But we have been given weapons far more powerful than Gideon’s (see II Corinthians 10:4–5). Amen!!
Victory comes by praying in faith. This doesn’t mean cold, empty prayers, where we just quote a bunch of verbiage. No! I am talking about prayer in the Spirit, prayer that believes Yehoveh will answer: “Pray at all times, on every occasion, in every season, in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18)
