I want to talk tonight about God's unusual ways of doing things in the Bible. God loves to do things in a way that seems foolish to men, but displays his glory more clearly. He has Noah build an ark in the desert. He leads Moses to Escape through, not around, the Red Sea. He tells Israel to speak to a rock when you need water, or have Joshua march around Jerico, a walled city and blow trumpets when you want to defeat it. How about we send David, a boy, with a slingshot when there is a giant in the land. Oh Wait lets pour water on the wood at Mount Carmel before you ask for fire to fall from heaven. As a matter of fact lets read that story tonight, If you have your bibles, 1 Kings 18:16-39
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire —he is God.”
Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
Are these stories in the Bible to encourage us to do things the way that the world does them? Or to do things the way God does them, even in ways that may look foolish?
Do you all remember the story of Gideon? He was one of the Judges in the old Testament. When the people sinned, God handed Israel over to the Midianites, according to Judges 6:1,
The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
Then the Lord came to rescue them from the very people whom he had appointed to judge them. He approaches Gideon in Judges 6:14 and says, "Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian." But Gideon says in verse 15, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house."But then the LORD said to him (in verse 16), "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man."So already God is planning to save Israel in an unusual way that highlights his power, not Gideon's ability.
That is the way God works in our life, its never about our ability, its always about our availability, are we open to be used by God. Are we willing to stand for injustice, are we willing to demonstrate our own weakness by allowing God to Shine.
So now we come to Judges 7. According to verse 3, Israel had about 32,000 troops. But according to verse 12, the Midianites and Amalekites "were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore."
In other words, the odds against Israel succeeding against the Midianites were already small. They were outnumbered.
What does God do now?
Verse 2: "The LORD said to Gideon, 'The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, "My own power has delivered me."'"
So the Lord pared down the 32,000 troops to 10,000 by sending all who were fainthearted home (verse 3). And he pared down the 10,000 by choosing only those who lapped water by putting their hands to their mouths without kneeling. That left three hundred men. So in verse 7, "The LORD said to Gideon, 'I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.'"
From Reading this, the Lord seems to be interested in a kind of person, not just the quantity of persons. God is telling us to become a kind of people, not just a number of persons.
I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE TO STRIVE TO BE SET APART!
We have to be different, and want to be used as a channel for God's extraordinary work.
Is it going to be hard? Yes, and if you are like me and sometimes need extra signs or encouragement that’s ok, God wants us to build relationships and develop trust to be able to get the Job done. Look at the incredible mercy that God shows Gideon, knowing that he is no warrior by nature.
Judges 7:9-11:
During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.”
For so many years our fears and misgivings have disqualified us from God's great work that he has set aside for us. I am telling you today that you do not have to fear. We all have a race to run, that one day every one of us will get to the finish line. The question I have for you is this, are you gonna win the race?
Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
To be successful in life, we must turn from a life that is lived and directed by fear of failure, to a life where we “Fear Not”.
In his mercy and patience, God is willing to give us remarkable dreams and visions to get us to a place of confidence. Lets go back to Judges. Look at verses 13-14: a remarkable timing of dream-telling in order to encourage Gideon that God was in this.
"When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend [not a coincidence, but a divine appointment]. And he said, 'Behold, I had a dream; a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.' His friend replied, 'This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand. '"
We have lost our way as Christians. We are allowing the world to keep us quiet, to manipulate us into not speaking out, because somehow we have come to believe that meek means week. We have forgotten how to win. We have forgotten that we are not fighting against flesh and blood but against principalities and strongholds of the enemy. We are not claiming the power of Gods Holy Spirit in our lives and Knowing that he is our deliverer. That he is the one that fights our battles when we remember to fight on our knees.
Romans 8:37-39
No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I do not care who you are, what you’ve done, what you haven’t done. Are you a pastor, a layman, or are you a sinner just like me. Today is a good day to remember that we are not made of stone, that we have an opportunity to love each other and do good things, that every day we can wake up and see a beautiful sunrise, and choose to have a relationship with the one that created it.
This is how we fight our battles, come on say it with me, this is how we fight our battles, again, this is how we fight our battles. It may look like I am surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you,
lets pray
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire —he is God.”
Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
Are these stories in the Bible to encourage us to do things the way that the world does them? Or to do things the way God does them, even in ways that may look foolish?
Do you all remember the story of Gideon? He was one of the Judges in the old Testament. When the people sinned, God handed Israel over to the Midianites, according to Judges 6:1,
The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
Then the Lord came to rescue them from the very people whom he had appointed to judge them. He approaches Gideon in Judges 6:14 and says, "Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian." But Gideon says in verse 15, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house."But then the LORD said to him (in verse 16), "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man."So already God is planning to save Israel in an unusual way that highlights his power, not Gideon's ability.
That is the way God works in our life, its never about our ability, its always about our availability, are we open to be used by God. Are we willing to stand for injustice, are we willing to demonstrate our own weakness by allowing God to Shine.
So now we come to Judges 7. According to verse 3, Israel had about 32,000 troops. But according to verse 12, the Midianites and Amalekites "were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore."
In other words, the odds against Israel succeeding against the Midianites were already small. They were outnumbered.
What does God do now?
Verse 2: "The LORD said to Gideon, 'The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, "My own power has delivered me."'"
So the Lord pared down the 32,000 troops to 10,000 by sending all who were fainthearted home (verse 3). And he pared down the 10,000 by choosing only those who lapped water by putting their hands to their mouths without kneeling. That left three hundred men. So in verse 7, "The LORD said to Gideon, 'I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.'"
From Reading this, the Lord seems to be interested in a kind of person, not just the quantity of persons. God is telling us to become a kind of people, not just a number of persons.
I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE TO STRIVE TO BE SET APART!
We have to be different, and want to be used as a channel for God's extraordinary work.
Is it going to be hard? Yes, and if you are like me and sometimes need extra signs or encouragement that’s ok, God wants us to build relationships and develop trust to be able to get the Job done. Look at the incredible mercy that God shows Gideon, knowing that he is no warrior by nature.
Judges 7:9-11:
During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.”
For so many years our fears and misgivings have disqualified us from God's great work that he has set aside for us. I am telling you today that you do not have to fear. We all have a race to run, that one day every one of us will get to the finish line. The question I have for you is this, are you gonna win the race?
Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
To be successful in life, we must turn from a life that is lived and directed by fear of failure, to a life where we “Fear Not”.
In his mercy and patience, God is willing to give us remarkable dreams and visions to get us to a place of confidence. Lets go back to Judges. Look at verses 13-14: a remarkable timing of dream-telling in order to encourage Gideon that God was in this.
"When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend [not a coincidence, but a divine appointment]. And he said, 'Behold, I had a dream; a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.' His friend replied, 'This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand. '"
We have lost our way as Christians. We are allowing the world to keep us quiet, to manipulate us into not speaking out, because somehow we have come to believe that meek means week. We have forgotten how to win. We have forgotten that we are not fighting against flesh and blood but against principalities and strongholds of the enemy. We are not claiming the power of Gods Holy Spirit in our lives and Knowing that he is our deliverer. That he is the one that fights our battles when we remember to fight on our knees.
Romans 8:37-39
No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I do not care who you are, what you’ve done, what you haven’t done. Are you a pastor, a layman, or are you a sinner just like me. Today is a good day to remember that we are not made of stone, that we have an opportunity to love each other and do good things, that every day we can wake up and see a beautiful sunrise, and choose to have a relationship with the one that created it.
This is how we fight our battles, come on say it with me, this is how we fight our battles, again, this is how we fight our battles. It may look like I am surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you,
lets pray
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