Gideon Recap - Guest Dustin Russell

In this episode we spend time talking about the story of Gideon from beginning to end with our guest Dustin Russell. We talk about God's call to Gideon as well as the battle itself, and also the aftermath. 

Transcript

 Hello and welcome back to Cultivating Growth. I wanna thank everyone for joining us again this week. This is our last episode in our series, studying through the story of Gideon. We've been in judges chapters six, seven, and eight, and today we're gonna have a special guest with us to recap Gideon's story and talk about maybe some of the things we didn't spend as much time on over the past few weeks.

So with that, let's get right to the conversation. Well, John, you made mention we're here at the end of our study on Gideon. We'll kind of take a look at the story as a whole. We'll work our way back through judges. Six, seven, and eight if you're studying along with us. And you made mention we do have a guest, a new friend of ours, Dustin, who is preaching over at Danville Church of Christ, and he's gonna spend the next few minutes here with us as we kind of close out this story of Gideon.

We've made mention over the last three weeks. It, it really is an interesting story that covers three chapters and each of the three chapters almost feels like a story in and of themselves. It, it is one story that flows from the beginning to the end, but I mean, chapter six almost feels like it has a beginning, middle, and end.

And chapter seven feels like it has a beginning, middle, and end. And chapter eight feels like it has a beginning, middle, and end. And so it really is kind of a unique, you know, kinda way to go through. And so I thought we'd go back. To maybe the beginning and just kinda work our way. Maybe just with some highlights that we may have and maybe just see where the conversation goes.

And we don't necessarily have to go in order within the chapter, but we will go back all the way to judges chapter six. And so dust, I don't kind of throw it your way first when you think of judges chapter six, we work our way through. That chapter and kind of the introduction to Gideon and, and his introduction to God in, in a lot of ways and their back and forth.

Maybe what is something kind of big picture kind of, you know, here at the outset that stuck out to you when it comes to judges chapter six That I think would be a good talking part to start with. Sure. Yeah. Well, thank you guys for having me. When I think about judges six I, I think about just that introduction we have to Gideon and how it's kind of humorous.

I can't help but laugh when, when he's hiding there in the wine press and the angel says, you know, the Lord is with you valiant Warrior. Mm-hmm. We have a children's class that are building at Danville and on the door it has a whole bunch of, you know, bible heroes and attributes about them. And it has Gideon and the, the attribute, you know, is just a leader.

And I'm like, that is not the Gideon that we see in judges Chapter six, Uhhuh. But I love that the Lord already sees him as this because he doesn't just see him for where he is at that moment, but he sees him for the potential that he has and what he knows he's capable of. With the Lord's help, of course.

I think that's a really good point. We, we talked about that when we did this episode a few weeks ago about the difference in the way that God sees Gideon compared to how Gideon sees himself. But I think that word potential is an important one. God sees potential in Gideon that nobody else did at that moment in time, and I would like to think the same is true about me, that God sees potential in me that I haven't yet realized that maybe no one else around me even has yet realized.

But. When God is patient with us and God is long suffering with us, one of the things he's doing is allowing us time to realize the potential that he sees in us. And that's a beautiful aspect of Gideon's story and, and so many other biblical characters. We talked about the similarities between this story and Moses', for instance, where the same could be said God saw potential in someone that didn't see it in themselves.

It's, it's just a reminder to me that sometimes I, I may feel inadequate for something or ill-equipped for something, but God sees potential in us that we don't necessarily see in ourselves. And when we are willing to dedicate ourselves our time, our energy, our abilities to him. Then that potential can be fully realized.

But if we don't, it never will be. And, and that's, that's a scary thing to consider. The, the idea of going through life and the potential that God's put within us, never being fully realized, but God's patience with Gideon allowed that potential to come to the front. I think one of the interesting kind of lessons that we miss sometimes when we go to the pages of the New Testament and we look at a parable like say, let's say the parable of the talents, and we get, we get wrapped up sometime in the fact that, you know, the master gave to one servant, five talents to another servant, two talents to another servant, one talent.

And we often get wrapped up into, I mean, that five talent guy. I mean, that is, that, that's really impressive and certainly in comparison to the two and the, and the one talent guy. But I think sometimes we miss. Another really important point of that story is there are no zero talent servants. Mm-hmm. Like there was no, and to this servant, he gave zero because he was worthless and had no potential in any capacity whatsoever.

Right. There are no zero talent servants. Gideon saw himself as a zero talent servant then there's no question about it. And it need to be reminded by God that that's not how God operates. God doesn't operate that way and, and so he had to get over that. He had to, you know, to be able to see the way that God sees and he's able to see potential.

He's able to see out, so he's able to see. Into judges chapter seven. Yeah. Gideon can't see that, but God certainly is able to see that and he speaks that way. Even a, as the chapter kind of goes forward, he, he basically is always speaks into the future and that's what he does. Even the book of Joshua or the book right before this, it is always, I, I've given.

The hand of Midian into you. I, I've, this fight is over. This battle is over. And, and that is to help Gideon, you know, in a lot of ways. And, and I think it is, you know, Dustin, to your point, to be able to, to see. How God sees us is really important because God sees value, he sees effectiveness. He sees helpfulness in each and every one of us.

Whether you get into passages like Romans 12 or one Corinthians 12, that'll make the point that when it comes to Lord's church. Every part of the Lord's Church is important, not just ineffective or lesser is important. And, and this is a, certainly a lesson that Gideon needed. Yeah, absolutely. No, I, I think, I think he, he's very relatable in that way.

And, and. You think about this potential this, that he doesn't see it himself. At first, I think of, you know, verse 15 when he says, oh Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh and I am the youngest in my father's house. And when you look at that verse and you start to count the pronouns, we think of that.

And, and maybe it is humility in a sense, but I also think there's a lot of pride in that passage. And, and it's, it's not kind of classic pride like we think of, of, look how great I am. But who's he still talking about? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's me. It's I, and so I think whenever that focus is on ourself and not on God or someone else, that's, I think that is a form of pride and, and the humility God calls us to is not a self debasement.

It's not you know, looking at ourselves with low self-esteem. That's, that's not humility. And, and so. Gideon definitely know. He, he goes through a growing experience and I appreciate that very much. And his, his faith grows. But as you go through chapter six and even in chapter seven. His faith grows as he obeys the Lord.

Mm-hmm. You know, there's a lot of uncertainty. There's, there's his questioning, his his asking for signs and I commend him for that because I think what he's doing there is confirming God's will. Mm-hmm. And, and just making sure. Okay. I, I. ISII hear you. Let me just make sure that I'm understanding your will and I'm understanding that you Lord are behind this.

And so he's learning to look to God and, and learning to look beyond himself because let's be honest, if it was just Gideon. Going out with 300 men, they stood no shot. Yeah. At what they're going to do. And so it's only when we look beyond ourself and look to God that all of a sudden what we are capable of is, is much greater.

And it's exactly what God calls us to do. I love that point. We, you know, we talked about pride in Gideon when it comes to chapter eight. Mm-hmm. A little bit, but I, I hadn't necessarily thought of it in the context that you were just describing it, but I think you're right. Wrongly. We sometimes associate self belittlement with humility, and that's not really what humility is.

Humility is about putting the focus on God, not self. And you're right when, when God calls Gideon. His reasons for being hesitant were all about himself. Yeah. And it wasn't that he was boasting in himself. It was the exact opposite. Yeah. But the focus was still on him and, and that, I think you're spot on.

That is an aspect of pride in that. And when Gideon goes about asking God for these signs, it is Gideon. Beginning to transfer some of that self way of thinking to God's way of thinking. God, I see that. If this is left up to me, this isn't gonna work. Yeah. But I want to know for sure that you are going to lead me through this.

And if you confirm that, then I know we can do it. Gideon's growth is evident through his asking of these signs. And so, you know, as we, we talked through that previously, we may mention to the fact that God works with Gideon through his uncertainty and he's patient with Gideon and probably because he's seen that growth in Gideon through these requests that he was looking for.

Yeah. I mean, let's dig into that a little bit more before we leave, you know, chapter six, it, it, it is striking. In how many signs he asks for and God delivers. But really in chapter six and even into the middle of chapter seven. It, it is a gr faith journey that Gideon is going on. Mm-hmm. And it, it is God kind of holding his hand, you know, along the way.

He doesn't jump on him, he doesn't rebuke him. He doesn't, you know, criticize or condemn him in any way. He just helps him along the way. And so you have Gideon asking for these signs and God. Delivering. And, and you see this journey even at the, you know, kind of the outset. A after the the sign of the fire and the food has already taken place, and you know, he's told, Hey, listen, you know, step one, let's, let's tear down, you know, the altars of bail.

And he is like, all right. But I'm gonna do that at nighttime because I don't wanna want to get caught. I mean, it, we just, we see that, you know, almost, Hey, good job on that. And, and then he is of course asking for the f flees, wet, dry, kind of back and forth. And even into chapter seven, when he is whittled down to the, you know, the 300 men that God even allows him, then hey, go into the camp and see, you know, what they're talking about and, and what really is striking.

As God is really helping him through this journey, and what that does is that tells me. I is that that's what faith is. I mean, faith is a journey. Mm-hmm. Faith is a, a moving forward and, and God wants me to go on that journey maybe more so he wants to help me along in that journey. And you know, I think we talked about this a couple of weeks ago.

Maybe sometimes it just, it, it comes down to me being honest with God, listen, I need help. I need help with this. And, and maybe in our mind it's like, this may seem silly and, and maybe I should be farther along in my faith that than, than where I am in this particular spot. But I need, I need help to.

They're further. And that's what Gideon is doing. I mean, he's asking God, I, I need, I hear what you're saying, God. Mm-hmm. I, I just, I need a little bit of help. And God was like, oh, okay. And then he's even like, I, I need a little bit more help. And he is like, okay. And, and you just see that. And I think that's a powerful lesson for us.

Yeah. Yeah. And, and the as comforting as that is, we, we see that throughout, as you say, throughout scriptures. We see that how many times with Jesus is he, is he so patient with his apostles or, or various people he encounters and, and kind of takes 'em from where they are in the moment and helps them get to that next step in their faith is huge.

Yeah. And, and God is, is never. One to say, okay, that's enough. You know, the help's over. Now you, you got, you gotta have it by now. One of the qualities of God is his patience and his long suffering with mankind. What he wants to see is. Are, are, are these requests Gideon, or are these questions Moses or the questions of the apostles to Jesus?

Are these questions leading you closer to me? Mm-hmm. Are, are these questions leading you deeper into your faith? Or are you trying to trick me that Jesus was always good about understanding the difference? Yeah. He could always tell is somebody asking a question to try to trick him or somebody asking a question because they sincerely wanna know the answer, right?

There's a big difference there, and Jesus was able to understand the differences. God is able to understand the differences, and we have to have confidence that the same is still true for us. If we're struggling through an understanding of something, God is there for us to help us with that. And he wants us to bring our questions to him and talk to him about our uncertainties and the difficulties that we're facing.

He wants to be patient with us and to work with us and to help us through those things. And he's never gonna cut us off and say, Nope, that's enough. You reached your maximum limit of questions. That's it. Yeah. God doesn't operate that way. But individually, we have to check ourselves and make sure, okay, are, are the questions that I'm having, the uncertainties that I'm having?

The struggles that I'm trying to work through, am I trying to work through those so that on the other side of that I'm closer to God? And if the answer to that question is yes, then we can move forward confidently knowing that God is gonna be patient with us through those times. Gideon's a great reminder of that because he seemingly goes to God.

I mean, just time and time again with, all right, one more time. God. One more time. God. One more time. God and God is always patient with him. I think that's why the parallel with Moses I think is so good here because it kind of solidifies the principle a little bit because we see that, you know, through Exodus three and four where he's got these concerns and God answers.

I've got, Hey, what about this? I got answers. Hey, what about this and got answers, or what about this? And God answers it. God is patient. God is loving. God is kind and and it, it isn't to tell Moses at the end of that story, it was like. I'm, I'm not gonna do it. I'm out. That God, he gets a little upset there.

But it is, it is all of these working through and with Gideon. You know, luckily, I guess for him, w we really don't see that point. There's always a, a pushing forward. And even when we get into chapter seven and, and you have this kind of winnowing down from 32,000 to God say that, that's too many. If you go into battle with 32,000, you know you're gonna think and you take some credit and even that is remarkable.

This is a quick aside. When you get into chapter eight and you learn that there was 120,000 of the enemy, 32,000 doesn't, it doesn't seem like that, you know that much, but he, he kind of, you know, pulls that down to, you know, 10, 22,000 and then he pulls it down to 300 and yeah, for sure 300. But even then God is helping Gideon, you know, all along the way.

But I don't think there's any question when you get into chapter seven for me. And, and maybe the focus, certainly in chapter six is God, but man, chapter seven, it is God. It, it is his power. It is who he is. It's the way he's able to operate of 300 people with, with lanterns and hammers. I, I mean, it's, and.

Hundred thousand of the enemy are, are put down in, in chapter seven. It is the power of God and his willingness to help his people. For me, that really comes out to the forefront. What about you, chapter seven? Yeah, absolutely. I, I think God's glory is at the forefront. I, I think what we really see in six also, but as you mentioned, it's hammered home in seven, how adversity is such an opportunity for God to be glorified.

And you mentioned, you know, what Gideon went through and, and what Moses went through in their questions in that and how it led them to God. And at the end of the day, they followed through on what God told them to do. Right. They took action. They, they didn't just question all day and then said, well, I don't like that answer, so, so I'm not gonna do it now.

They got answers they didn't like. Yeah. The, the, the 300. I don't think that's the answer Gideon was looking for when, when he is asking God about these things. But at the end of the day, all right, this is what God says to do. I asked, he gave my answer. You know, we, we find our answers through scripture today when, when we look for que questions.

And so when we find that answer. Now, what do I do with that? Mm-hmm. And sometimes I think we, we want all the, all the stars to align and everything to, to be just this easy, obvious solution for things. But when that's the case, it's, it's like, like you mentioned, his, his answer to Gideon, look, if. If you have, if too many things are going in your favor, no one's going to attribute this to me.

Mm-hmm. They're, they're not going to see my glory in that. And so when we face adversity, when we face those tough times and, and things don't look like they're in our favor, but we proceed in faith anyway, that's an opportunity for God's glory to come through that. And it's not about us. It's not about what we did, but it's about the way God helps us through.

Tho those times, it reminds me a little bit. Of Acts chapters three and four and really on into the early chapters of Acts when the church was seen growing. Yeah. It's also told to us how much the persecution of the Christians was growing as well, and that's where we saw the biggest boom of the church the world's ever seen is when that persecution was at its highest.

And, and I think it kind of speaks to the story of Gideon as well, and, and other aspects of this God. Intentionally uses times of persecution, times of conflict, times of challenge to allow his power to be seen because there's no scenario in which Gideon and his 300 men should have beaten the Mid Knights.

There's really no scenario in which Gideon and his 32,000 men should have beaten the Midianite, right? There's no scenario in which. The gospel message should have exploded the way that it did in the first century. That doesn't make sense because everything was going against it. Everything was going against Gideon and the Israelite people.

That's, that's, that's where God's gonna shine the brightest is when it looks like everything is going against him, because now his power is seen. No one's gonna be able to take credit for this victory other than God because of the circumstances. No one's gonna be able to take credit for the spread of the gospel except God, because of the circumstances.

It really is. It's just a beautiful picture of how God uses moments of conflict when humans feel inadequate and beaten. To really demonstrate his power and his glory in a situation like that. I mean, it's in, in our, our lives and I'm sure EE each of the three of us sitting at this table and anyone who's listening it can probably easily, you know, think of a, a time in, in their past when in the moment.

You were thinking, I mean, I'm in, I'm in big trouble here. Yeah. Or this is a huge, huge adversity that I'm coming up against, and now that we're looking back on it, you're like, I mean, that, that, that worked out pretty good. Right? I mean, all of us, I, I could do that multiple times and I'm sure you can as well, but I mean that, that's the point that's happening right here.

Mm-hmm. You look back and you're able then to say, man, I really, really thought that was something big, big, big. But man, God carried me right through that and it ended up. Not being as big as I thought. Well, why? Because God was right there, his hand was on it. Mm-hmm. And, and that's exactly where you are here in chapter seven.

You have 300 men going up against 120,000 Midianites warriors. Nasty Army. I mean, we talked about this, you know, several weeks ago in the beginning of judges six. It, it's a part of it that I miss sometimes, but when we're told that, you know, the Midianites are, they're coming in and stealing the food of the Israelites, not for themselves.

Just to throw in the garbage and destroy. I mean, doesn't get any more nastier than that. Right? It, it's, they're almost just doing it for fun. Yeah. If they don't need it, let's just do it for fun. And so this is the army that they're going up against and God was like. No, no prob no problem. Mm-hmm. No problem.

And, and that, that it puts an incredible victory. And so, you know, kind of a, as we, you know, transition into, you know, chapter eight, that that's ultimately where Gideon finds himself, where, you know the people are. Blown away by this and they, they begin to elevate, you know, Gideon into a place that is really only reserved for God.

And, you know, Gideon, you know, we talked last week, kinda gets himself into a good spot, at least words wise but maybe action wise, less than you. And I made mention, to use the word complicated, like 50,000 times. You know, last week, and I continue to think about that with judges chapter eight, and we've got a guest here with us.

And so I'm really interested to, you know, hear his take on Judges eight because I, I almost get more confused and, and just, I, I just, I don't know what to do with the chapter even more so every time that I read it. But it is no doubt kind of the end of this story un unless you want to throw in the ugliness of, you know, Gideon son.

Yeah. Maybe Justin, you know, with a chapter nine, maybe Dustin could come up with a better word than complicated for us. Oh, I mean, just a, it's a kind of a complicated ending and, you know, we were talking beforehand, and Dustin, you made the point, you know, our, our kids are taught. This story a lot, you know, and, but we shut the door at Judges seven.

Like this is the for them. You don't need to know anything else of what's happening because in a lot of ways, judges eight is not a great. Ending in any way to the story. And most certainly, if you wanna throw in judges nine, it, it is not a good way for this story to to end. So Dustin, help us, well tell us it's to see beginning to end make Judges eight less confusing and complicated for us.

Yeah. Well, good luck. Thanks. I struggle with the time, you know, I, I'm curious to know how much time plays out from, from chapter six up. You know, we know we have the 40 years of peace at the very end, but up until, you know, verse you know, 25, 26, where, where they're making that EO, that, that they had no business crafting.

We, we don't know, but, but what I think we see is kind of this full cycle and, and so I think it is a very useful warning to what we can do because here is a man in Gideon who has grown tremendously. You know, we see that faith grow before very eyes As we're reading through the pages of his story here I, I, I love verse four of.

Of chapter eight, you know, how they were weary, yet pursuing just that phrase of, you know, where they're, they're tired, but they keep on doing, you know, they keep on going about the task at hand. And I, I think the new King James phrase is that exhausted. Mm-hmm. Yet still in pursuit of, or something to that nature.

And I, I love that. And, and so we, we get this optimistic idea of, all right, he's got this, but there's a cruel irony. What he does because while they, in, in, you know, hunting down the Midianites, we're, we're still pursuing Gideon stops, pursuing God's will. And, and that's what we saw in chapter six especially, and as even in chapter seven when they go and spy out the camp.

But is, is what are all these tests about? Is this really what you want me to do? God is this really God's will that, that I go and deliver your people? And so. We see a man who is so set on discovering what God's will was for him, and then acting in faithful obedience, in accordance with his will. And even in verse 23, when he is like, no, no, no, the Lord shall rule over you.

You are like, okay, he still has got it. But then when he asks for the gold, he ask for the earrings and, and he begins fashioning that eod. Where, where is his? His wool? Mm-hmm. Where, where is his offering to go? Where is the moment where he stops and asks God? God, is this what you want? Mm-hmm. For me? Mm-hmm.

Is this what I should be doing? Mm-hmm. And so it's, it's a cruel irony that this man that starts off so intent on that abandons that, and, and that's where Christians get ourselves in a lot of trouble when. Maybe we've, we've had a time of, of faith and maybe we've seen our faith grow over the years, but if we get to a point where we think, well, I am, I'm so faithful now.

I'm so mature now that I just know what God's will is, and, and I have these great intentions, so I'm gonna go about this great plan that I have, and this is going to be you know, maybe we even think it's gonna be for God's glory. But man, that importance of pressing pause and just making sure is this God's will.

What did the scripture say about this? Hmm. One of the things, you know, we don't see, we don't see God saying, thou shalt not make a nefa, Gideon, he doesn't say that. Does that mean it's permission? Right? So we have the whole silence of the scriptures. What does that mean when, when God's silent about something, do we just have permission to do whatever we want?

Then obviously God had plenty to say about idolatry and things, but I just think that's a huge warning to us never to become so comfortable, never to become so confident that we stop looking to God. Mm-hmm. To make sure we know what his will is as he's revealed it to us. I love that. You know, sometimes.

We question Gideon's Faith because of all of these signs he wants to see and questions that he asks. When in reality, the moment that we really see his faith struggling is when he's no longer asking those questions. That's such a good point. And it's, it rings true for, for us as Christians today, when we stop questioning, when we stop asking God for help in certain situations or when we stop praying to God about decisions that we're facing, that's when we really turn to, okay, I've got it, like you said.

And that's the scariest place to be. And, and really where we want to be is where Gideon was in chapter six and seven, where he's. Pursuing God, like you said, he's, he's entirely reliant on God to make his very next decision every time. And, and that's where we need to be. God, I'm struggling with this decision.

I'm fully reliant on you to lead me in this, in this situation. That's where God wants us to be. And when Gideon left that, that's what we really see as downfall. Yeah, there's no doubt about it, and I think that's a good place for us to kind of stop here. Really, really good thoughts here at the end of the story of Gideon Desso and appreciate you being here with us.

Thank you guys. A powerful, powerful story and, and unique, even though we do get s Samson a little bit later on in the book, but a really unique in the length of this story, but lots of ups and downs and a lot of principles by way of application. Hopefully we've helped. With some and seeing some of those today, we'll close with the passage as we normally do.

In judges chapter seven, we'll go back to the middle of the story and a couple of verses where God will make a, a similar point when the men are, are, are kind of pulled down to 300. He says in verse seven the Lord said to Gideon by 300 men who lapped, I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand and then reiterates in verse nine.

And it happened on the same night the Lord said to him, arise, go down to the camp for I have delivered it into your hand. Thank you for listening this week. If you haven't already done so, we'd appreciate it if you would take just a second to subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you're listening, and rate and review the show so we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus as widely and effectively as possible.

Thanks again for joining us this week, and we'll talk to you again next week.