A World Held Captive by Fear

Well, I know that we've been back from the feast, and as we've been probably watching the news again and involved a little bit and seeing what's going on in the country and knowing the big events that are going to be happening here in the next few weeks in our country, we've seen, we've gotten ourselves back immersed in the confusion and the, oh, chaos, if you will, that's in the world today. We see different, we see different spirits at work. You know, as I watched the debate the other night, I heard the commentators and a couple stations I listened to talking about how there are people going in two totally different directions, two totally different directions in this election, and we realized that when we listened to it because America is at a crossroads and America really has been at a different state really for the last seven or eight months. You know, we live in a different world today than we'd lived in even back in January of this year. You know, back in March we were hit with this COVID crisis and since then life has just not been the same. We've lived under an umbrella of of fear, if you will, as it's been foisted upon us. We've all had a lot of things come upon us. Our lives have taken twists and turns in our personal lives, in our church lives, in our professional lives in ways that we never could have seen coming before the first of March. And as I've been thinking about the times we live in and thinking about how it was in 2019 and how people yearn for things to go back to the way they were, I begin to realize it's never going to go back to the way it was. Too much has happened. I think since the feast and watching the Feast of Tabernacles and seeing how God miraculously allowed the Feast of Tabernacles to go on in locations all over the world really, not as many as locations in the past, but certainly in the United States and how we had to scramble to come up with even locations that several hundred people could stay in. It's a miracle in itself that cities allowed that many people to congregate and come together in the face of everything they've been hearing about and being told about. And yet the Feast went on just fine. There were a few issues here and there, but nothing major. God saw us through that. And I think as we enter the post-Feast era here in 2020, we're looking at a time that's going to be different and that God has really brought us into a time that leads up now, truly, to the return of Jesus Christ.

I mentioned the word fear, and as we were singing the songs here before services, I noticed how many times the last two hymns, especially the word fear, showed up. We really do. We really have begun to live in a age that is dominated by fear. You know, fear has gripped the nation since March, as people are afraid if they're going to get this coronavirus, will I die?

Will I catch it? The media has had an awfully important role in that and making sure that everyone is scared to death of what's going on. It's become a political weapon as well to get people to do what they want. I think we have entered a time when we're going to see more and more of that. You know, we know. We know what prophecy is. We know where the world is going. We can look down the road and what Jesus Christ said. We can look at the book of Revelation, and we know that the world ahead of us is dominated by fear.

When you look at the the beast power mentioned in Revelation 13, how does he rule? He rules by fear. If you don't do what I say, you die. You starve. You're cut off. Whatever it is, the little beast, the prophet, how does he rule? If you don't believe what I say to believe, if you don't do what I say, you know, we'll be drunk with your blood. If you don't take the mark, this is what's going to happen to you, and this is what's going to happen to your family.

One very powerful way to control people and to control nations and to control the world, because this is a unique event not only in America, but what we've gone through the last seven or eight months is a unique event, at least in our lifetimes in the world, that the whole world is in the grips of this fear that has been hoisted upon us that's called coronavirus or COVID-19. Now, nothing I say today should minimize or make you think that I don't think that this is a serious disease.

I do think it is. I have talked to a few people who have had it. I know that it can be very painful. I know people have died from it. I don't doubt anything about that. I know we should be cautious. I'm not saying anything like that, but it has been a tremendous opportunity for the world and the governments and the powers to be to exercise the role of fear and the weapon of fear on people. And it's something they won't forget. And it's something that does mark the future.

So even if the coronavirus magically disappears in six months or a year, will we ever go back to the time of a pre-fear mentality? I don't think so. I don't think so. When we look at prophecy, we see that fear will mark the world, and that will be the weapon used to make people bow down to idols, bow down to the beast, accept premises that they may not, and a fear of a weapon that will be used on you and me to cry to get us to do whatever it is that the government or a person or a group or whatever wants us to do.

It's something that's here with us, and I do believe that from here on out it'll mark our world in increasing fashion leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. You know, fear is a very powerful tool. It's a very powerful tool. It can make us do things that we would have never thought possible.

And fear is a dangerous tool, even more dangerous spiritually, because when we give into it or when it confronts us, it can cause us to lose our faith. It definitely causes us to lose our peace, right? Because even as we listen to these reports and see the daily scorecards of how many coronavirus cases have been reported in the last day, how many deaths have been there, and we kind of almost watch it like we watch a football score. How many deaths today? How many cases today?

You know, we all can sit back and there's really no peace because you really never know where you're going. You really know what's going to happen. And so it is something that steals from us our peace. It is something that can steal our faith if we don't watch it because God is very aware of what Satan's tool is. We have to be very aware that we do not over allow ourselves to fall prey to it. You know, Jesus Christ, back in Luke 8, he highlighted the importance of not giving into fear in our personal lives, in our church lives, in our national lives. But here in a personal way, down in Luke 8, as he's healing people, and he has the woman who's been, you know, been afflicted for 12 years. She's been to every doctor on earth. She's spent her, you know, fortune. None of them have made her well. She finally just relies on Jesus Christ. And if I can just touch his robe, I will be well. And she is. We find leading up to the verses in chapter 48, or the verse, yeah, Luke 8, we're leading up to verse 48. And in verse 48, Christ says to her, he says, Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. And I do think that she went in peace from then because her faith was properly placed. Verse 49, while he was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Your daughter is dead. Don't trouble the teacher. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him saying, Don't be afraid. Now imagine if you're this man, you're there waiting for Jesus Christ to heal your daughter, you're told she's dead. Jesus Christ heard it. He said, Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid is the first thing he said. Don't be afraid, only believe, and she will be made well.

Don't be afraid, only believe, and she will be made well. So he goes to the house. He's going to take his few of his disciples in with him. And it says in verse 52, All wept, all mourned for her, but Christ said, Don't weep. She's not dead, but sleeping. And they ridiculed him because they knew she was dead. She was laying there motionless. She was there, laying there without a pulse. But he put them all aside, tossed her by the, took her by the hand and called, saying, Little girl, arise, and she arose. Don't be afraid. Only believe, and she will be made well.

If the man had feared, if he had expected the worst, would God, would Christ been able to heal her? Or was it a lesson for him? But a very serious lesson for him as we face the fears that we might face of health diagnoses that we never expected to receive. Might we fear when we are faced with a financial challenge we never saw coming? Might we fear when something else happens in our life that threatens our existence, our homes, our family, or whatever it might be, why we fear, as normal human beings would do. But do we catch ourselves then, and do we say, Remember what Christ said? Don't be afraid. You know, as I was researching the sermon and putting it together, I looked into one of the Bible resources and it says that 110 times in the Bible, 110 times in the Bible, it says, Fear not, or don't be afraid. More than any other command in the Bible, it said, and I didn't go through and check it, more than any other command in the Bible, it says, Don't be afraid. Fear not. Isn't that interesting? If Christ said that many times, or the Bible says that many times, Don't be afraid. Fear not. I think it's probably something God wants us to pay attention to. And I think it's probably something that we need to overcome that fear. Because certainly, if we're going to go from here to the kingdom of God, we're going to face fear. I mean, we read it all in the Bible. We've talked about it as we've talked through Revelation. You've read about it as you studied prophecies over the years. We know that there will be fearful times ahead. Always through it, we have to learn how to overcome fear. And doesn't it make sense that if God is going to have us overcome fear, that He would give us the opportunity at times to learn how to overcome fear. And the only way we ever learn how to overcome fear is if we have fear foisted on us. If we have a thing like a coronavirus come that lasts and lasts, and that we're scared and scared and scared, we have to learn how to work through that and see God. Not to not be afraid, but believe.

God will give us more opportunities to learn how to overcome fear as well. He always did give his people opportunities to overcome fear. Let's go back to Exodus, because I'm thinking of rehearsing at the beginning of every Holy Day season. But here at the end of the Holy Day season for 2020, you know, let's look back at a very familiar story with ancient Israel. God miraculously brought them out of Egypt, the strongest power at that time. The Israelites saw His power. They knew through 10 plagues. It wasn't by their power. It wasn't there by their might that God delivered them. It was all about Him. And He brought them out with a high hand, and there they are, camping out in the wilderness. And when we hit chapter 14, we find that Pharaoh's army is bearing down on Him, on them. God has hardened Pharaoh's heart. He's coming. He's going to capture them. Whether He wants to kill them or just capture them and take them all back to slaves, you know, who knows? But either way, it wasn't a good result for Israel. What did the people do when they looked up with their backs to the Red Sea and see Pharaoh's army? You know the story. They panicked. They were afraid, as you and I would be, too, if we were there that day. As humans, we would look at this, and we would look at the power of the army. We'd look at ourselves and think, there's no way we can stand against them. So you know the story, but let's look at Exodus 14, verse 13. You know, as they're panicking there and saying, let's go back to the world. Forget this. We don't want to go up to the Promised Land. Forget what God has promised. Just put us back in the world of Egypt and let us be there. Verse 13, Moses said to the people, what's the first thing he said? Don't be afraid. Over and over and over we're told, don't be afraid. Because we have to be trained. Don't be afraid. We have to practice. Don't be afraid. We have to have it built into our character. Don't be afraid.

Well, they were afraid. Moses went on and said, you know, stand still. Yes, there will be times come that, you know, we're going to be kind of like stunned when something happens.

But we can't be people who panic. We can't be people that run around, you know, like crazy, like, well, just take us back there. Forget I ever did anything. Forget what God said. I just want to go back to the world and forget this all existed. We can't be that way. What does Moses say? Stand still. Catch yourself. Think about what you're doing. When you feel that fear, stand still. Ask God for the strength to not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. You know, when I read that verse, I think, will any of us see the salvation of God if we don't overcome fear? Don't be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. First step is don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid. Build that into our characters, into our character individually, also as church, as His people. Well, Israel did see God's hand there that day in verse 14, something we should always remember when we find ourselves in these situations. God will fight for you. He'll protect you. And you will hold your peace. And the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me, Tell Israel to go forward? You know, whatever faces you and I, whatever faces us, whatever faces the church, the church of God is always to go forward.

Always moving forward to the Promised Land in ancient Israel, to the kingdom of God that He has called us to be inheritors of today. We have to follow His principle. Let Him train us. Let Him make us and mold us into who He wants us to be. But we have to continue doing that.

We have to continue going forward and not let fear do what it so often does.

So often it just stops us flat. So often it just stops us in our tracks, and we are paralyzed. We do nothing. Our thoughts are no longer the way that we think they should be. We find ourselves doing things and maybe looking to the world and thinking, how do I do this? How do I save myself? How do I protect myself from this? Well, we should be thinking, I'm looking to God. I will follow Him. I will be with Him every step of the way. I won't be afraid. Not that we would ever be foolish. Not that we would ever be uncautious. Not that we would ever tempt God and flaunt it and say, hey, you said march forward and do this. We need to be never in a position where we're tempting God and that we're aware of what we're doing, but always trusting in Him and never putting what the fear would have us do in front of what God would have us do.

Because if our fear keeps us from doing what God tells us to do, then who is our God? Who is our God? If we follow one fear but forsake the fear of God that should always be before our eyes, as we talked about at the feast, the fear of God that we can never lose sight of and never should lose sight of, that should be part of everything that we do, it is a very important part of the spirit that God has given us. So God, as He brought Israel out of Egypt, He gave them this opportunity. They found themselves in an untenable situation and He taught them, don't fear, don't be afraid. And they saw His powerful hand. No, not one person there that day could have thought, God will open the Red Sea and we'll march through it. He knew it, they didn't. They should have learned a lesson for all time. Whatever happens to us again, we will always trust God because we can't even imagine how we can do what He can do in order to see us through. But we'll see in a few minutes that Israel didn't learn their lesson. And when they didn't learn their lesson, a number of them, well a good number of them, in fact all of the men that were there that came out of Egypt, not one of them ever saw the Promised Land because they didn't learn the lesson of overcoming fear and fearing God more than the circumstances around them. But before we go on to that, let's go forward to the book of Job. It's an interesting, several interesting verses in the book of Job.

A few that will apply to fear. I'll just reference Job 3 and verse 25. I'm going to Job 36 right now.

With Job 3.25, you know Job says, the thing that I feared has come upon me, that which I feared greatly has come upon me. And when you look at Job's life and you see how he lived his life and what he was doing for his children and how he was afraid they weren't obeying God and he was going to do everything right for them, you begin to understand what he says, what was his motivators. I mean, he was certainly a righteous, blameless man that God says, but what he feared most came upon him. Interesting thing to just contemplate. In Job 36, as he's going through his trial, his friend Elihu says this to him in verse 15 of Job 36. He says, he delivers, speaking of God, he delivers the poor in their affliction.

And we know what the poor are, the poor in spirit. He delivers the poor in their affliction, and he opens their ears in oppression. It's an interesting verse when you look at it. When you tear it apart, it does have some meaning, and sometimes you can look at verses in other Bible translations. And this is the way today's English version Bible translates that verse. It says, but God teaches men through suffering and uses distress to open their eyes. Isn't that interesting? God teaches men through suffering, and we learned that. I mean, Jesus Christ, it says, was made perfect by suffering. So to think that we're never going to have suffering is kind of a not wise thing to say. But he opens their ears, or through distress, he opens their eyes. What does he open their eyes to? Truth? How we should handle these situations as we go through them? What do we do? Maybe who are we really following? Are we really obeying God? Are we really putting him first? Or are we allowing fear or any other thing in our lives to maybe justify? Are in our minds, oh God's okay if I do this because this is happening?

You know, at the Bible study tonight, we talked about, I think it's Proverbs 17, that talks about justifying things. What do we do? What do we do? And when we go through a crisis like COVID-19, what is God opening our eyes to see about ourselves? And what do we need? What do we need as his people as we move forward to the ultimate return of Jesus Christ? Because you know this pandemic, while I'm not minimizing it in any way, shape, or form, years from now, maybe only months from now, we'll look back on this and say, that was pretty mild, pretty mild compared to what is happening now. Might be a worse, more severe virus.

Might be any other thing that might befall this country or the world. Might be what goes on in just fear. As people see how well fear works on people to get them to do whatever they want. And as we see those things happening around us, we may look back at coronavirus and say, our eyes were open during that time to see the way the world is going, the spirits that are there, that are different than they were there in 2019, 18, 17, and before, but a spirit that you don't really see when you look at the world ever leaving until Jesus Christ returns and removes all fear from the earth, except the right fear of God. Well, let's go back and let's look at let's look at Israel. They came through the Red Sea. They should have known better, but just a few months later, just a few months later, they found themselves in another test.

God was leading him to the Promised Land. He had promised them that land. He said he would give it to them. He told them it was a land flowing with milk and honey, and he said, I will put it in your hands. And when they got to the borders of the Promised Land, he said, pick a scout. Pick one from each tribe. Send those 12 scouts into that Promised Land. I want them to spend 40 days there. I want them to come back. I want them to look at the produce. I want them to look at the cities. I want them to look at the people. I want them to come back, and I want them to give a report to you about what that land is like. And so they did that. And the scouts went in, and they spent their 40 days there, knowing that God had promised them that land, knowing what God can do and what He was capable of. And in Numbers 14, I guess Numbers 13, we see the result of their adventure into the Promised Land, the land of Canaan. Now, Marketh, this wasn't 40 years after the time they left. They wandered in the desert 40 years because of this event, but this is only a few months, according to the commentaries, after this event at the Red Sea, that they found themselves on the border of the Promised Land. So Numbers 13, verse 28, you know, verse 27, you see, they come back and they say, you know what? It is a good land. It does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. And of course, they had the large grapes that they carried back there to show everyone. But in verse 28 says, but the people, nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. Wow, this is a tough land to conquer. There's a lot of big things in this land. Ah, the gist is, we don't know if we can do this. These people are kind of formidable. You know, maybe at this point they're kind of, you hope, gonna say, but you know, with God as our strength, with God as our, with God with us, we can conquer anything. But that isn't what they, that isn't obviously what the way the conversation was going, because in verse 30, Caleb, one of the two, Joshua being the other one, who did come back with a good report, we can do this. We are able to conquer this land. He had to quiet the people. So you can almost feel the uproar. What? We're gonna go in and we're going to conquer these people. We're gonna face these giants. We can't do that. We're scared to death.

The very same thing they felt back in Exodus 14. They didn't learn their lesson at all. Here they are feared again, and God's telling you, I'll give you the King or the promised land.

We're afraid. We're afraid. We're gonna let fear keep us back, because we're afraid of what might happen to us. Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, let's go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it. But the men who had gone up with them said, we are not able to go up against the people. They are stronger than us. And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land, which they had spied out, saying, the land through which we have gone is spies, is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. The people were in an uproar. Let us go back to Egypt. Why did God bring us out of Egypt? Why couldn't we have just stayed there? Who needs this promised land? We are afraid of the whole thing. God saw what was going on. Who did they fear?

They didn't fear God in the right type of fear. They feared men. They feared the circumstances. They feared that. They didn't follow the command of God. They followed the command of the fear that surrounded them. Down in chapter 14, verse 9, you see Joshua talking here, and he's trying to convince them that let's go up and take this land. And he calls it what it is. He goes, look, you're rebelling against God. He said to go take it. He said to go invade the land. He says, don't rebel against the Lord, nor fear, because he nailed it. This is what's going on. You're afraid. You're letting fear keep you back from what God has for you. You're keeping fear. Hold you back, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection has departed from them, and the eternal is with us. Don't fear them. Don't fear them. They didn't listen to Joshua. They didn't listen to Caleb. And look what they lost. How many of the men that left Egypt ever saw that promised land? Only two. Joshua and Caleb, who didn't let fear handcuff them. All the rest of those Israelite men, every single one of them died. Not one of them saw the land that God promised them.

Why? Because they let fear keep them from obeying and following and trusting in God.

What about us? What about us here in the 21st century as we look toward the rest of the time, however it is before long, before Jesus Christ returns?

Would fear be the thing that would keep us from being in the kingdom of God?

You know the mark of the beast? We talk about it, but it's a fearful thing.

And as we went through the book of Revelation, you remember the verses that we read in there, where God says, if anyone takes the mark of the beast, there won't be any excuses.

There won't be any justification. If anyone takes the mark of the beast, they will not be in his kingdom. It makes a flat-out statement. It's kind of exactly what happened to the ancient Israelites. You feared the people more than me. You won't see the promised land. You feared the beast more than me. You won't be in the kingdom.

I keep going back to a verse in Revelation 21. It's been on my mind for the last, well, I guess a month or two. Let's go back to Revelation 21 again. In Revelation 20, 21, 22, we see Jesus Christ returning to earth, Satan being bound, the kingdom being set up, in a picture of a world where there is no more, there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more crying, a world where Jesus Christ reigns, and there is peace on the earth.

But in verses 7 and 8 of chapter 21, I know that we all want to be there. We all want to be part of God's kingdom. Who wouldn't want to be part of God's kingdom when that door is open to you? Verse 7 says, he who overcomes, okay, overcomes what? Overcomes sin, overcomes attitudes, overcomes fear, the wrong kind of fear. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. And then in verse 8, which is very interesting to me, that as we look at the time right before the return of Jesus Christ, how God orders the people who will not be in that kingdom. He doesn't put murderers first. He doesn't put sexually immoral first.

What he puts first in that group that I think is telling of what are some of the problems in the people leading up to the return of Jesus Christ, the very first thing he says is, But thee cowardly. But thee cowardly will have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Isn't it interesting that he says it's the people who have never overcome fear, the people who let fear dictate their behavior, the people who let fear maybe think it's okay to not obey God in this case because, because I'm afraid of this or that or whatever, God will understand if I take the mark of the beast because my family's livelihood is at stake, my child's life is at stake, or whatever it might be. The very first thing he says there is cowardly. I think that in this age, God is looking to us to overcome fear, to be aware of it, to kind of see it, and as we've now entered into this period of time in human history where fear looks like it's going to be a part of our lives for a time, to learn how to overcome it. There was a very second, the very next one, but the cowardly and the unbelieving. Jesus Christ at one time said, you know, um, just a thought, sorry, Jesus Christ said, when he returns to earth, will he find faith? Remember what he said to the man whose daughter died? Two things.

Don't fear. Fear not. Only believe. And yet here in 21 verse 8, we have people who fear, and that fear we know is a tremendous tool in Satan's hands. It will, it will foster doubt.

It will destroy our faith. But the cowardly and the unbelieving and the abominable murders and so forth, none of them will have part, well, will have their part in the lake of fire.

It's very interesting, and so as we, as we, you know, go through our lives and as we look at ourselves and what we should learn from these times, we need to keep what the prospect of fear is alive and well in our minds, and when we have the opportunity to overcome it, to stop it, to stop it and do exactly what God said. Stand still. See the salvation of God. Let him show you what he can do. Or as Jesus Christ said, have faith. Or don't fear. Believe. Believe. Jesus Christ is returning. He's returning. I hope we all believe in his promise of his return and setting up his kingdom. And the time might be very short. It might be a decade down the road or more. We don't know. Whatever it is, but it's comparatively short because you know, just as I've learned over the last 20-30 years, how quickly time can fly. But God gives us time to get ready. He gives us time to be ready for Christ's return. These times we live in are part of that time to do what God wants us to do. And I'm reminded of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And as the nation was gripped after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and he could see that the nation was fearful. Here's this nation that's bombed us, you know. And he said, we have nothing to do and he said, we have nothing to fear. We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

That's something that we need to keep in mind, too. When we feel fear, turn to God. Turn to God and look to Him.

You can be turning over to judges. How do we overcome fear, then? You know, it's an easy thing to say that we need to overcome it. We need to use the spirit that God gave us. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7 says, it's the spirit of power and love and a sound mind.

It's not the spirit of fear. It's the spirit of power and love and a sound mind. And it's only by that spirit that we'll ever get to the point where we would be able to overcome fear and to handle it correctly. We could look at another example. We won't have to turn there as you're going to Judges 6, and we're going to look at an example there of how to overcome fear, what God does to help us overcome fear. You harken back to the man Joseph. He was his father's favorite. He was sold into slavery. He found himself in an untenable position as slave after he was a son of favor. And as he was there and he rose to the top of Potiphar's household, he was faced with something that could have caused him some fear. Potiphar's wife had eyes for him, and she was after him. And she made absolutely no secret that she wanted him in that way. And Joseph probably feared a little bit, if I don't give in, what happens? But if I do give in, what happens? And you can see as he did this, because it wasn't just one time she tried. She tried over and over and over again, I'm sure. But what Joseph came to the conclusion is, I don't want to disappoint God. I'm not going to fear what Potiphar's wife can do to me. He likely knew that he would either be thrown in prison, that his life might be taken if this came out. And if Potiphar's wife did what she did, and if Potiphar ever found out. But he didn't fear that. He said, I don't want to disappoint God.

You know, if we get to that point, or when we get to that point, when we are faced with things in our lives, and we say, you know what? I don't want to disappoint God. I don't want to disregard him. I don't want to disrespect him. I will do what he says, even if there's a risk over here in doing it.

When we get to that point, we're overcoming fear, and we're looking to God, and we're learning to trust him with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our souls. And even if something happens that isn't what we expect to happen, it's still God's will. He is still working with us to prepare us for who he wants us to be. There's nothing to be afraid of. He isn't looking at our 67th, the 80, 90, 100 years of physical life. He's looking at eternal life that he's preparing us for. We may still be looking at it in a very limited fashion. He is not. He wants all of us to be in the kingdom, and we have to go through the process. Well, if you're looking, if you're there in Judges, and I'll be there in just a minute, you see that we're going to talk here in chapter 6 about a man named Gideon. Now, Gideon is an unlikely hero in the Bible, but as you read through his story, you see that even though he started off pretty timid, he was living in a time of fear, Midianites had control over Israel, and they lorded it over Israel.

I'm sure it was an autocratic government, a government that would say, you'll do what I say or else. As we're introduced to Gideon, we see that that's the environment he lives in. Let's look at verse 10 first, because here it is. God, as he introduces this story of Gideon, he says in verse 10, I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell, but you have not obeyed my voice. So he introduces this with that very familiar command, do not fear other gods. Don't fear the gods of the world. Don't fear the gods of this society. Don't fear the gods or the things that we would hold up in place of God. Don't fear them. Verse 11, now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree, which was an ophra, which belonged to Joash the Abesrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites.

Very innocent verse. Very innocent verse there. And then God says in verse 12, or the angel of the Lord says to him, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. So you think, what was Gideon doing there? Why was threshing wheat? Why would that result in the response of the angel of the Lord? You know, God is with you, you mighty man of valor. So you can look in the commentaries and think, okay, what's the translation here? We must be missing something in the context. So if you look in the commentaries, including our UCG commentary, you see that this is kind of a humorous event. Let me read what it says from the UCG Bible commentary. It says, our introduction to Gideon is somewhat humorous. He is threshing wheat, not out in the open, on a threshing floor, as would normally be the case, but he is hidden in a wine press out of fear of the Midianites stealing the grain from him. So there he is. He's kind of in secret. I don't know what these Midianites are going to do. Everything I do, even if something as mundane is threshing the wheat, I've got to hide from them. I can't let them see me. I've got to keep it away from them. And so you'll see the environment that he's in. And he's afraid. He's afraid of the Midianites. People down through the ages have been afraid of their kings, afraid of their government. We could look ahead and say, you know, there's a time coming when people will fear their government, their beast power, and their religion because they exact the power of life and death over them if you don't do what they say. This is the situation that Gideon was in. So we see him as a kind of a, you know, he's in a fearful state what he's doing right here. But then you look at verse 12 where God says, you know, or the angel of the Lord says, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. What is he telling Gideon? Is he kind of like mocking him a little bit? Like, you know, here you are sitting down here where no one can see you. You're through your threshing wheat. Is he kind of mocking him? You know, some commentaries will indicate that God is doing that. I don't know that he's doing that.

I think God is looking at Gideon and I think he sees him. You're the one I choose to deliver this people, my people, from under the hand of the Midianites. And so he's telling Gideon, you will be, you're a mighty man of valor. You know, God doesn't mock God, doesn't, God doesn't mock God, doesn't make fun of us. Look what he's done to us, right? In 1 Corinthians 1, 26, what are we told about you and me? We're told God has chosen the weak and base things of the earth, right? We're not the people that look up, that people look up to in the world and say, oh, they're the mighty ones. They're the most wealthy ones. They've got all the great ideas. Everyone should look at them. We're nobodies. We're nobodies. Gideon was a nobody in Israel. Here he was, threshing wheat, in hiding. And what did God tell him? You're a mighty man of valor. What does he tell to people, the weak and base things of the earth today?

Follow me and I will make you kings and priests. Isn't that the same thing he was telling Gideon? I will make you kings and priests. What? Me? What? Us?

And yet, God does just that. He takes unlikely Gideon and turns him into a man of valor. The same thing he'll do for you and me. Gideon learns to overcome his fear. Gideon learns to have confidence in God. Gideon does, of course, through God's help, and not without God's help, he does deliver Israel from the Midianites. Let's see how he does it, because the rest of the chapter here in chapter 6 tells us how God worked with Gideon, how he will work with us. So let's go right down through here. Verse 13. Gideon says in reply when God says, you mighty man of valor, oh my Lord, if the eternal is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, didn't he bring us up from Egypt? But now he's forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Where's the miracles? Where's God's hands? If he's with us, why isn't he doing great things with us? Why don't we see his hand evident among us?

Well, maybe the Israelites didn't see it at that time, but you know what? Gideon and the people saw it from that time forward.

You know, I mentioned that it was no accident that the Feast of Tabernacles occurred this year, and that it was a miracle of sorts that we had feast sites all over the world. We talked a little bit about things that happened at Daytona Beach, so you could see God's hands. Wherever you were at the Feast, you saw God's hand. I believe we will see God's hand more and more as we march forward, if we are following him and as he leads us to his kingdom. So Gideon asked the same question we might ask, how come? How come we don't see God doing these great things if he's with us?

Then the Lord turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Haven't I sent you? This is your calling, Gideon. This is your calling, 21st Century Church of God. This is your calling. Put your name in the blank. This is God called us. This is what he's called us to do. He wants us to be part of his kingdom. He will give us what we need to have that happen. If we let him, if we're willing to overcome, if we're determined, committed. So Gideon said to him in verse 15, Oh, my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. Look at Gideon's attitude. Exactly the attitude that God can work with. Very humble. Very contrite. No pride in this young man. Really? How can you use me at all, God? I'm the weakest. And not only that, but my clan is the weakest in our whole tribe. God can work with people who are of a humble heart, who learn to rely on him. And who don't rely on their own resources, who don't look into the world they left behind and say, I want to go back to Egypt and take this God out with me and take this God out with me. And just in case, I'll do this one as well. Those are the people God can work with. And God assured him, verse 16, surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man. You, Gideon, the strength I give you, you will bring down that entire nation and deliver Israel. And of course, he had others with him as well. But God is saying it'll be with what I do for you, the same thing he will do for you and I as we face our battles as we go to the kingdom. And Gideon said to him, okay, if now I found favor in your sight, show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. So Gideon says, okay, okay, I'm listening to you, kind of prove to me it's you. Show me something that I know this is really you. And so, you know, he says, you know, Gideon says to the angel of the Lord, don't depart from here until I come and bring you out an offering and set it before you. So he goes and prepares it. And in verse 20, says, the angel of God said to him, take that meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock and pour out the broth. And Gideon did exactly what the angel commanded him to do. And the angel of Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand, touched the meat of the unleavened bread, and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread.

And the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.

No doubt this was of God. This wasn't a coincidence. This isn't some magic trick. This was clearly God. Gideon saw the answer to his prayer. Gideon saw God's hands. Now he knows God is with me. This is God that is working with me. He's the one that is calling me. He's the one that's leading me. He's the one that says he'll prepare me. He's the one who's saying these things about me. And there's no, you know, there's no discussion. The angel of the Lord just disappears. So Gideon has time to absorb all this and put it in his mind. Yes, God is working. I see his hand. I see him leading. Verse 20, too, Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, Alas, Lord God, I've seen the angel of the Lord face to face. And notice what God said to him.

Peace be with you. Don't fear. Don't fear you shall not die.

Of all the things that God could have said, he said, peace be with you. Don't fear. His hand is with him. But what Gideon was going and what God was going to teach him through this process was going to be somewhat fearful in human eyes. His life would be at stake, as we'll see here in a minute. And God said, Don't fear. You won't die. So Gideon built an altar. He said, Don't fear. So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, called it the Lord is peace, and to this day it still stands an oafer of the of these rites. And it came to pass the same night, verse 25, that the eternal said to him, Take your father's young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it.

And build an altar to the eternal your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement. And take the second bull, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image, which you shall cut down. Okay. What I want you to do, Gideon, here's this altar to this Baal, this false god. Get rid of it. Put up an altar in the proper arrangement that I give you there, and their sacrifice on it. Now, in the land of the Midianites, that was a death sentence, right?

You do that, you tear down Baal's altar, and confront them in that way, you are asking for death. And sure enough, that was what was the going to be the edict here on Gideon. But Gideon, armed with the knowledge that God is with him to his credit, he obeyed. He obeyed. He didn't say, but what if? But what if? And what about this? Okay, I'll do it. But he did it in an interesting way that kind of shows there's still a little bit of fear, because fear doesn't leave us all over. It's a lifetime process to have fear leave us and have God's spirit guide us. Verse 27. So Gideon took men from among his servants, and he did, as the Lord had said to him, but because he feared, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much, but because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. Okay? God said, do it, but you know what? I think I'll just do it at night, and maybe no one will see who is doing all this. Kind of see Gideon's thought process, right? Kind of what? Kind of clever. I'll do what God says, and God didn't say do it during the day, but there was still that fear in him. And maybe, maybe I can kind of do God's will and still keep it under wraps. Well, I was going to stay under wraps. In verse 28, when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal torn down, and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. So they said to one another, who did this? And when they had inquired and asked, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this thing. Now, whether Gideon was there or not, but probably his blood ran a little bit cold at that point when he heard Gideon did it. Gideon did it, right? Then the men of the city said to Joash, his father, bring out your son that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal and because he has cut down the woman image that was beside it. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Here's something to fear. I could actually be executed this day for what I did. Joash, his father, you know, what do I do? You know, God is with us in ways we can't even imagine, right? What Joash says to the men, to stop that is nothing other than divine intervention and God putting the words into his mouth, because Joash wasn't prepared. He may not have even known that Gideon did this, but he said exactly the right words in exactly the right way, and God was there to stop this threat of death. Joash, verse 31, said to all who stood against him, would you plead for Baal?

Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning. What he's saying is, does Baal need you to stand up for him? If Baal is so offended, let him kill Gideon. If Baal is so offended, let him go out and find the person who did this. Let him, exact vengeance, on Gideon. Does he need you to do that? Is that how powerless he is?

That's what he's saying in this verse. Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because this altar has been torn down.

And you know what? Apparently they couldn't answer. There's no more written about it. They kind of shut them up. Gideon continued to live. No more conversation. Exactly the right words at exactly the right time, and with God giving favor with those, the threat of death is gone. Joe Ash saw what was going on. Gideon saw what was going on. Verse 33, All the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the east, gathered together, and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. Something's going on in Israel.

Verse 34, But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. Spirit of the Lord, that spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. That spirit that is not of fear. It came on Gideon.

God put it on him. And Gideon stood up and did something that he wouldn't have done back several verses ago. He blew the trumpet, and the Abiserites gathered behind him.

Okay. Now I have confidence in God. Now I know he stands with me. Now I am okay with standing up and blowing the trumpet and letting our enemies know what is happening. Keep your finger there in Judges 7. Let's go forward to Psalm 27. Psalm 27 and verse 1.

The Lord, the Lord is my light and my salvation. If we believe that, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.

Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. Not in self, not in my armaments, not in my weapons, not in the things of the world. I will be confident in God. He will see me through. He will be the one to deliver. So in verse 34 we begin, we see the progress of Gideon, this timid young man, threshing wheat in a hole in the ground to keep himself from being discovered by the Midianites. To in verse 34, he's willing to stand up and blow the trumpet and have people gather behind him, even as the Midianites and the people of the east gather. He's developed the confidence in God. He's no longer afraid in the same sense he was then, but he still has a way to go. There's still more things that he has to do in order to win the final battle that God had called him to.

Let's drop down to verse 36. Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, look, I'll put a fleece of wool in the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it's dry on the ground, I'll know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.

Okay, I'm getting there, but God, one more thing. Show me that you're really with me. Show me that you will never leave or forsake me, as you promise. And he asked God this miracle. God does it exactly the way Gideon said.

Gideon was believing he just needed some assurance. Even the next night then, Gideon says, okay, just one more thing. Do it the opposite. Do it the opposite this time. God did it.

God will be with us. God will show us the way to go. He will show us what we need to do.

But if we fear, if we fear, if we choose something other than him, then it won't be the end that we look for. So you know the rest of the story here, but as we get into chapter 7, I'm not going to read all of that, of course, but you see that here now Israel is beginning to muster up an army. They're going to fight against the Midianites. Apparently 32,000 come to do that. And God says to Gideon, you know, that's too many people. You don't need 32,000. Gideon, you need less than that. So in verse 3, he says, whoever is fearful, anyone who's afraid of the Midianites, whoever's afraid, let them turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead. So 22,000 of the people returned, only 10,000 remained. To God even that was too many. Now remember the Midianites and the people of the Middle East and all these people were gathered. Now they're down to 10,000. God says, that's too many. And then you remember what he does. He takes into the river by the people who lapped up the water with their hands. Those, that's all you need with you, Gideon. Turns out to be 300 people. So there they are. They're encamped by the Midianites. Gideon and his 300 men. God says, I'm going to deliver the Midianites into your hand. Sounds like an awfully thing, man. If we're trusting in numbers, that is not going to be the numbers we would want, right? 300 against however many hundreds or thousands or whatever the Midianites had. So Gideon, you know, one more time asks God, well actually God appears, just kind of does it for Gideon when we look down at chapter 7 verse 10. We'll look at verse 9 says, it happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, go down against the camp for I have delivered it into your hand. It's yours, Gideon. Just do what I say, and it's yours. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with purer your servant and listen to what they say. Listen to what they say. So Gideon does go down. Verse 13. When Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, I've had a dream. To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian. It came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned and the tent collapsed. Then his companion answered and said, this is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand, God has delivered Midian and the whole camp. Coincidence? No. God knew exactly what Gideon was going to hear. Gideon knew exactly that this was from God. We need to see God in our life. We need to pay more attention to what God does and not just cast it off to coincidence or with this or that or whatever. We need to see his hand, and I believe we're going to see it more and more as we go forward toward the kingdom of God.

He is with us. He will be with us, and he will strengthen us just as he strengthened Gideon. He's called each and every one of us to be a king and priest, but we have to go through the process. We have to engage him. We have to ask him, how? What do we need? How do I get to be a king and priest? Teach me what it is you will. Teach me what I don't even know that I need to know. Ask him those questions because he is our teacher. He is our mentor. He will answer those questions when he sees that we're interested in what do I need to do? What do I need to learn? How do I even ask you what your will is? God will show. You'll get the answers just like Gideon got the answers. But you have to ask. You have to believe. You have to be focused. You have to be determined to not let fear kill your faith, kill your peace, kill your commitment to God.

So we know that God... Let me see. Let's go to Isaiah 41 as well here.

And just one little section after this, then will Isaiah 41. Now, God is writing this to Israel, his servant. He would write it to Gideon. He'll write it. He would write it to you and me. Isaiah 41, verse 10. Fear not. Fear not, for I am with you.

Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all those who are incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced. They will be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them, those who contended with you. Those who warred against you shall be as nothing, as a non-existent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, fear not. I will help you. Don't fear. Believe. Don't fear. Look to God.

Don't fear. He will help, and He will always be there. Now, that's one thing of Gideon. Shortly, one more thing that we need to do. You know, when you read through the story of Gideon, he did everything God asked him to do. Yes, we can look at it and say, well, he was afraid here, and he was afraid there, but you know what? He did everything God asked him to do.

He didn't refuse and say, no, no, I'm not going to tear down that ultra-bail. He did it. He might have done it at night instead of the day, but he did it, and he did it exactly the way God said.

And he did. He did follow God's commands and get his army down to 300. He did follow what God said, and God worked it through him. He obeyed. When Israel had their backs against the Red Sea, and God delivered them through the Red Sea, it wasn't too long later that he had them at the base of Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 and 20. And there in Mount Sinai, he gave them his law. And he said, you follow this law explicitly over and over in the Old Testament, over and over in the New. We're told, listen to God's law. Obey him. Follow him. De-diligent and carefully listen to him. Put your trust in him. You know, Jesus Christ summarized all those commandments that Israel gave, and God told Israel, if you do it, I'll be with you. But if you don't, I'm going to disappear. You know, you're going to lose your land. Jesus Christ in the New Testament summarized them this way. He said, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. You know that word, love, and love the Lord your God with all your mind? That's the word of God.

You know, we've talked about it before, that that is a choice. We choose to obey God. It isn't just the emotional love, oh, I love God. It's, I choose to obey God. I choose to do His will over mind, over fears, over the gods of this world, over whatever else, I choose to do His will. And we practice that the rest of our lives. And the second command is like that. He says, love your neighbor as yourself. Agape your neighbor as yourself. Build the love between you. Love each other as I love you. Be one as I love you. Do those things. Build that.

Build that. And that is a lifelong process to build that agape, to build that love that God wants us to have. But when we do, and when it's mature, it is a key, key tool in fear being gone. 1 John 4 verse 18. 1 John 4 verse 18, there is no fear. There is no fear in love.

But perfect love, mature love, spiritually mature agape, but perfect love casts out fear.

Because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

Not one of us is perfect in love yet. All of us have a ways to go. But we have time now that God is giving us between now and the return of Jesus Christ to become and to grow in love and agape, to become the mature people that He wants, that fear no longer will dictate our actions, except that it will turn us to God. We have to take that time. We have to use that time. We have to be aware of that time and not waste it. Finally, in Luke 12. Luke 12 verse 32.

To God's little flock here in Orlando, God's little flock in Jacksonville, God's little flock of believers, the people that follow Him, that trust in Him, that are growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, He says this. Luke 12 verse 32. Don't fear. Don't fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.