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All right, we are in Judges chapter 8 and we're continuing with the series that we've been doing for the last couple Thursdays and being that I wasn't here on Thursday, we're going to continue with the book of Judges in chapter number 8. Now we're continuing with the story of Gideon and it's quite a fascinating story. It's very interesting that God would choose to dedicate these four entire chapters to this man and we obviously see that through his life or through his so-called ministry that God used him greatly. He had a lot of faith and in chapter 7 we saw him stepping out in faith by just going to war with only 300 men. God reduces his army from 32,000 to 300 and with those 300 men, they were going to go against the Medianites. They put him to flight. He put to flight the armies of the aliens as Hebrews chapter 11 tells us and he does a great work. Well, chapter 8 is a continuation of Gideon putting to flight the armies of the aliens because in chapter 7 verse 22 you see them basically confronting the camp there and they put them to flight and then they catch two of the princes in verse 25 of chapter 7. It says, and they took two princes of the Medianites, Orib and Zeb and they slew Orib upon the rock Orib and Zeb they slew at the winepress of Zeb and pursued Midian and brought the heads of Orib and Zeb and Gideon on the other side of Jordan. So we see that they're pursuing the Medianites here and they are trying to capture them. They're trying to get Zeba and Zamana but what we see is that instead they get the princes, right? The princes, they ended up giving them into the hands of the tribe of Ephraim and they basically give them to them so they can basically slay them, take care of them there and do that. But look at verse number 1 of chapter 8. It says here, and the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus that thou callest not when thou wentest to fight with the Medianites? And they did chide with him sharply. So what do we see here? We see a bunch of complainers. So there's Victor in being one, you know, you see that Gideon is doing a great work, he only has 300 guys and then Ephraim comes and starts complaining and says, Why didn't you call us to go with you guys? You know? Well, you'll see later on his response but really if we were to answer that question for Gideon, it's basically, well, don't you realize that God actually reduced my army from 32,000 to 300? You probably wouldn't have been included in that army because of the fact there's only 300 men that I'm supposed to go up with. Now could be that Ephraim would have been that tribe that lapped with the water like a dog. That's probably the reason why, right? So these guys are complaining, you know, instead of saying, hey, this is a great victory, thanks for delivering these people into our hands, you're doing a great work, pursue them, God is with you, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, they're like, Why didn't you invite us? Why aren't we on the roster? You know, instead they have this complaining spirit. Now before I get into that, just let me give you an overview of what chapter 8 really includes. Really, this is the capture of the two kings of Midian, but it really details the persistence of a people who are basically fatigued, they're weary, and it really shows how determined they are to get something done in spite of that. You know, when we're tired, when we are weary, when we're hot, when we're warm, when we're boring, sorry, I'm just kind of, you know, expressing that, you know, it's a little more difficult to actually go forward and do that, which is right in the sight of the Lord, or just be faithful in the little things. And at that point, we need strength, right? Because the Bible says, if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. And adversity comes in seasons, obviously. And so we need strength, we need determination, we need persistence in the face of adversity, and just have this attitude that we're just going to get it done. You know, they could have just caused them to leave and take off and go hide. You know, Gideon was like, no, we're going to chase after them, okay? We're going to chase after them until we get them, we're going to get the job done. Now, so they complain in verse number one, because they're not part of the roster. Look at verse two, and he said unto them, why have I done, what have I done now in comparison of you? It's not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim, better than the vintage of Abiezer. So what is he saying here? He's basically given them a soft answer to turn away wrath, because he simply could have just said, you're not part of the 300, sorry. This is not my choice. This was God's choice. This is what he wanted to do, take it up with him. But instead what he does is he basically says, well, you guys are better than us. What am I in comparison to you? You know, you guys have the Orev and Ziv to execute, you guys are great. And you know, that's just the way it is. And so it's not because I'm better than you. It's not because I have more skills than you. It's definitely not because we have more men than you, because I only have 300. Now I've already guessed why they're saying this is because of the fact that part of those 300, who was involved in that? Well, you have, you have Neftali, Asher, and those of Manasseh. And Manasseh, both Manasseh and Ephraim make up the house of Joseph. So half of that house was invited and half was not. Okay, so maybe that's why they're offended. I don't know. In verse three, God had delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Orev and Ziv. And what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that. Now here's a good principle to learn from this is that if you come into an organization or you come into a church, or even children, when they come into a family, they grow up, you know, be thankful for the work that was put into it prior to you being here, amen? Don't take for granted that work which was done prior to you being in that organization, that congregation, that local church, that family. Why is that? Well, because you know, you benefit from the fact that you came later after the work was already done. And you should have the attitude that well, some of the work is already done, but you know, there's more work to do. There's obviously more ministry to do, more souls to win, more things to do for the Lord. Don't be like Ephraim and just complain, well, how come we weren't invited? You know, and look, I don't want to hear that on Sunday after the San Bernardino trip. How come I wasn't invited? It's like, I made the announcement, man, you know, that was your fault, okay? I'm just kidding. Look at verse four, Gideon came to Jordan and passed over he and the 300 men that were with him. And look what it says, faint yet pursuing them. They're tired. Now think about this, you say, well, I mean, what's so tiring? They're not even fighting that much. There's 300. You know what that means? There's no substitutes. So whoever's fighting is fighting for both shifts. It's not like, all right, man, I'm tired, I got to take a rest, all right, you sit down and I've been resting and I go out and fight. No, those 300 are doing both shifts, the graveyard shift, the morning shift, the afternoon shift, they're doing all the shifts. So they're tired. They're faint, but it says here that they're faint, yet they're still pursuing. You know what, there's going to be times in our lives as Christians when we're just tired, right? Whether you're physically tired or you're spiritually tired, you're emotionally fatigued, you're mentally weary, and you know what, during those times, you got to keep pursuing. This is not a time to sit out of church. Now when you just had a baby, sit out of church. That's a time when you need to, when you're weary, yes, you're tired, yes, and guess what, you need to recover. But you know, don't just, well, you know, I'm just discouraged, so I'm not going to come to church. Bad reason. Bad reason. Well, you know, I'm just offended, things are going well in my finances, and here's my list of excuses that I have why I'm not in church. That's not a good reason. When you're fatigued, when you are tired, when you are faint, that's the time when you're supposed to be in church the most, exhorting one another daily. Why? Because once you come to church, you receive that exhortation, you receive the instruction, and what happens? You actually get the strength to keep going on. You get some preaching in, you get some fellowship in, you have your daily vitamins, spiritual vitamins in, you get what you need to keep going forward. You know? And look, I know if you're sick, you go to YouTube Baptist Church. Got to get the sermons online, amen? But if you're not sick, if you're just discouraged, just come to the real deal. The real deal is better than YouTube, by the way, just to let you know that. The real deal is always better than YouTube. Thank God for YouTube, but the real deal is always better, okay? If you're faint, keep pursuing. Turn with me if you would, go to Hebrews chapter 12. I'm sorry, go to Isaiah chapter 40. I'm going to read to you from Proverbs 24. Go to Isaiah chapter number 40. When you are faint, we've got to continue to pursue. Proverbs 24, I read this, I quoted it earlier, but let me say it again. It says, if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Isaiah chapter 40, let me look at the verse here. Verse 29. Look at verse 29. Well, let's start in verse 28. It says, hast thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, it says, and to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. You see, the Bible tells us that the glory of young men is their strength, right? You got a young guy who's got that vinegar, amen, and they're strong. They have vitality in them, and they're strong, but even those guys will get weary. Even those guys will faint. God will not. It says in verse number 30, even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. So what is our strength based upon? Is it based upon how physically strong we are? No, and I'm not against men being strong because we're supposed to be strong physically, amen. You know, it's not based on our physical strength, our physical prowess, our physical ability to, you know, whatever may be physically. What it's based upon is when we wait upon the Lord, he'll renew our strength. You see, you know, I know a lot of guys in times past, they were physically strong, but they're emotionally weak. Bunch of emotionally, mentally weak men. Oh yeah, they could lift weights. They were strong. They had, you know, the muscles and all these things, but they were spiritually, emotionally, and mentally weak, weaklings. In fact, most of those guys who just do a lot of bodybuilding, you know how they do it? It's regular, you know, weightlifting. I'm talking about like when you just, you look like you just got attacked by like a thousand bees or something. It's like mostly, yeah, the veins are just popping out. The Arnold Schwarzenegger's of this world, they have a complex is what they have. That's what it is. You know, our strength is not based upon how we look or how physically strong we are. It's based upon us being able to wait upon the Lord. And by the way, that requires strength. Why? Because being patient requires strength, does it not? You know, waiting requires strength instead of being hasty, right? Being able to be patient and to wait when you can't change a circumstance, when you can't change your situation and you're required and you're forced to wait and you do it patiently, you wait upon the Lord, then your strength is renewed. It says, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. So they'll be able to do the most arduous spiritual tasks and not grow weary. They may not be able to lift all kinds of crazy heavy weights, but you know what? They can withstand persecution. They can run the race that is set before them. They can walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. This is what I'm seeing here, right? They shall run and not be weary. Run the race that is set before you. That requires endurance, amen? They shall not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. You know, the Bible tells us, be not weary in well doing for if we faint not, we shall receive a reward if we faint not, is what it's talking about in Galatians chapter number five, I believe it is, okay? Be not weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. That's what the Bible says. You know, if we want to receive a reward at the end of our life, we got to make sure we keep pressing forward, amen? Taking advantage of the good momentum, but also as individuals, not burning out, pacing ourselves. You know, doing that is required of you, which is to be in church, to read your Bible, to pray to someone, doing those things in a balanced way so that you don't burn out. But we see here that, you know, when you're tired, when you're weary spiritually speaking, you got to wait on the Lord. Now what's a couple ways you can do that? Well, how about just spending time in the Bible in the mornings or in the evenings? Turn off the YouTube, turn off the television, turn off the radio, turn off the music, turn off the kids, you know, and just read the Bible. Spend time at the Savior's feet, right? Hearing his word and just getting a good meal in by yourself, learning, not giving yourself a time limit to read your Bible, right? Just enjoying reading the word of God, that helps. Or just in this matter of prayer, you know, spend some time in prayer. Go take a walk around the block, typically sometimes when I go pray, I just go around the block and I walk. I don't, you know, pray like a charismatic, like, you know, just under your breath, just go take a walk and spend time meditating on his word. Spend time just thanking God, praying for your needs. These are things that you can do to wait upon the Lord so you can renew your strength. When you have a bad day, you know, sometimes you just need to go take a walk, right? Go take a walk, go pray, and then when you come back, you'll feel like your strength was renewed, right? So we see here that that's exactly, go to Hebrews chapter number 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter number 12. Hebrews chapter number 12, look at verse number 1, it says, Wherefore, we read this earlier this morning, it says, Wherefore, seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him, consider him that endured such contradictions of sinners against himself, lest he be wearied and faint in your minds. You see, sometimes when you see someone backslide, they get out of church, just keep this in mind, they backslid while they're in church. It's a backsliding that took place in their mind first. It's a fainting that took place in their minds. And more than just keeping ourselves in church, we need to make sure we keep our hearts right and make sure that we don't faint in our minds. And when we're tempted to faint, when we're tempted to just throw in the towel, spiritually speaking, you know, we need to consider him who endured such contradictions. Oh, I'm just, my family's giving me a hard time, I'm not making any money right now, I'm just going through a difficult time, consider him who endured such contradictions. And when that happens, you know, often you can make your situation look a lot better when you look at someone who has it a lot worse. Right? Then you look at someone who's a lot worse and say, wow, you know what, I guess I don't have it that bad. And if you don't know anybody like that, then look at Jesus. Because he had it worse than anybody. But it's important. I like this example of Gideon and his 300, they're tired, they're weary, but they're still pursuing. And as a church, you know, as individuals, we're going to grow weary, we're going to grow tired. Hey, the newness will wear off. You know, the newness will wear off. At that point, keep pursuing. Because they're right around the corner from Zeba and Zalmunna. They're right around the corner from these two kings to get them and slay them. They're almost there. Go back to Judges chapter number eight, Judges chapter number eight. So it says there, they were faint yet pursuing them. These are men of character. It's no wonder that God chose these 300. These guys are solid. They're hungry, they're tired, but they're still going to get the job done no matter what. Verse five says, and he said unto the men of Sukkoth, give I pray you loaves of bread unto the people that follow me, for they be faint. And I am pursuing after Zeba and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. So look, this is just a cordial thing to do for someone, right? You know, this is something of courtesy that you can do for someone. Midian comes to these people of Sukkoth, and he tells them, hey, can we have some bread? My guys are tired. They're weary. We're trying to capture these kings to liberate Israel from the oppression of the Midianites. You know, God has allowed us to do this. We're all going to be free. Can you please just give us some bread? And look, any normal person will say, yeah, man, I mean, you've run into unsafe people outsold many who maybe don't get saved, but they still wouldn't offer you water, right? Hey, you guys need some water? Hey, you know, you guys need a Gatorade? Even if they reject the gospel, even if they don't want it, that's just like common courtesy, right? Look at verse six, and the princes of Sukkoth said, are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunna in thine hand, now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? Jerks. What does that mean? He's like, well, do you guys have them? So I can give you bread in your hand? So they give them this really crass, just sarcastic, rude response. Instead of just saying, hey, here's the bread, go for it. You know, you came and you're helping us. Here's the bread, take it, strengthen yourself and go do that great work. Instead of like, well, where's Zeba and Zalmunna? I don't see that in your hand. You know, so basically what he's saying is we'll give it to you when we see them in your hand, even though they're not doing anything about it. They're not going after the kings of Midian, right? What they're doing is they're basically just being crass and rude about it. Okay. Now I like Gideon's response. Look at verse seven, and Gideon said, therefore, when the Lord had delivered Zeba and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars. That's a weird way to kind of respond like, well, therefore, right? So he's not saying, okay, well, because you said this, no, he's just saying, okay, well, therefore, when I come back, I'm going to whoop you. And look, when you start getting descriptive like that, the guy's mad. Gideon's pretty mad. When he, when he's like, I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars, that's pretty descriptive. Notice that Gideon is a man who is slow to anger though, because he could have said that to Ephraim, right? Bunch of losers, just because you weren't counted, you know, into the army. He was slow to anger. He gave him a soft answer to turn away wrath. But you know what? Every man has a limit, right? Has a limit. And he's just like, I just want bread. You're not willing to give me bread. Okay. When I come back, I'm going to, I'm going to tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars. That's what I'm going to do you. And by the way, he does do that. Look at verse eight. And he went up thence unto, to Penuel and spake unto them likewise. So he basically asked for the same thing. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Sukkoth had answered him. Good night. So he goes to this other city, Penuel, and he says, Hey, can we have some bread? And they basically follow suit with Sukkoth and respond the same exact way. Like, what in the world is wrong with you guys? Where's the sympathy? Where's the help, right? Verse nine says, and he spake also unto the men of Penuel saying, when I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. Now that seems like an oxymoron, right? Because he's coming in peace, but he's breaking down their tower. And basically what this shows is that Gideon has just had it. He's like, I've had enough. He says, when I come in peace, I'm going to break down your tower. And by the way, that is how you have peace. Peace is not this ecumenical, Kumbaya, Rodney King ministry of, can we all just get along type of perspective and outlook peace according to God, first of all, is peace with God. Yeah. Right. By salvation. Then we have the peace of God, the past with understanding, but peace on this earth will not be obtained until the millennial reign when Jesus Christ removes unbelievers, right? Bring them before me that I may slay them. Unbelieving Israel, for example, right? The Bible says, take away the draws from the silver and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Take the wicked from before the king and his kingdom shall be established in righteousness, which is exactly what takes place in the millennial reign in the book of Revelation. When that millennial reign is set up, guess what? There's still a lot of people dying. And in order to maintain the law of God and peace within that millennial reign, the law of Moses is going to be implemented at that time. So this is not an oxymoron. He's just saying, look, when I come and get in peace, I'm going to come down and I'm a tear your tower down and look, this is an attitude that God actually has as well. We're not going to go through there, but in Deuteronomy 23, we see that God tells the children of Israel. He says to them, Hey, when you see the Amalekites, make sure you slay them because they met you not in the way with bread and water, right? It's supposed to show you that God is a vengeful God, especially when it comes to his people, right? If you mistreat his people, judgment can come upon you for the mistreatment of his people. Now what is, what is some principles that we can learn from this? Well, I just think it's a cool story that just his response is great. So they get no bread, but it's like, all right, I'm gonna remember that. You ever heard someone tell you that? I'll remember that. All right. And yeah, he did remember those, okay? Some principles we can learn from this is that, Hey, if someone is doing a great work, let's be a blessing to them because one day when we're in trouble or when we need them, we're going to need their blessing. And guess what? They're going to remember that which we did unto them, right? You know, if a new church starts out here, that's not maybe new IFB, but it's an independent fundamental Baptist church, they got everything right. And maybe it's a pastor who needs help, soul winning. We're going to help them, right? We're going to help them. We're going to be a blessing to them because you never know. And it'd be nice if people had that same attitude towards us. You know, when we take a stand for doctrine, for the Bible, if there'd be some pastors and some churches out there that would actually stand with us instead of having this Sukkot and penuel, you know, attitude that they don't want to help Gideon and his 300 men. It's like, I'm sorry Sukkot, I'm sorry penuel, I don't see your 300 men going out there and pursuing after these oppressors, but yet you're expecting us to go above and beyond even what you are willing to do, right? And not even help. And there's a lot of independent fundamental Baptist churches that have that attitude even towards us. You know, they don't want to touch us with a 10 foot pole. They hate our guts. They think we're a cult. They say all men are of evil against us. They're not willing to even extend a lending hand. Now, fortunately, we don't need it. We have enough friends in our movement, amen, and thank God for that. You know, we have enough friends, we have enough pastor friends in churches who are backing us up, but it would be nice even in LA, right? I mean, we have a very Baptist church up north, but what about in LA? We don't really have churches that are necessarily for us. That's a sad thing. But another application that we see here, this could kind of picture Jesus Christ, could it not? Because the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ came into his own and in his own received him not. And go with me if you went to Matthew 25, Matthew chapter 25, Matthew 25, and we see that when Gideon came, he came peaceably, did he not? And when they rejected him, what did he say? Okay, well, the next time I come, I'm not going to come peaceably. That's like Jesus Christ. When he came into his own, his own received him not. You know, he came peacefully on the Ass's colt, but the next time he comes on a white horse, right? The next time he even comes even in the clouds to mark off the three years of wrath, three and a half years of wrath, he's not coming peaceably. He's coming to whoop. He's coming to destroy. He's coming to destroy the tower. He's coming to tear the flesh. He's not coming as lowly as he came the first time. I mean, in fact, both times that he's coming, he's not coming that way. You know, the day of the Lord marks the wrath of God, but how about Revelation 19 when he comes on his white horse and just destroys the armies, right? Sermon for another day. Look at Matthew 25 and verse 34 says, Then shall the king stand to them on his right hand, coming, blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was in hungered and he gave me meat. I was thirsty and he gave me drink. I was a stranger and he took me in naked and he clothed me. I was sick and he visited me. I was in prison. He came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we the unhungred and fed thee or thirsty and gave the drink? When saw we the a stranger and took the end or naked and clothe thee? Or when saw we the sick or in prison and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, barely I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was in hunger, right? Just like the 300 who were faint, they were hungered, they needed bread and he gave me no meat. I was thirsty and he gave me no drink. I was a stranger. This is Sukkoth and Penuel and this is Asher, Neftali, and Manasseh. They were strangers from one another, right? I was a stranger and he took me not in. Naked and he clothed me not, sick and in prison he visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw thee we the hungered or a thirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, barely I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it excuse me, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, like his 300, ye did it not unto me and these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into eternal life. So what do we see with Gideon? What is the parallel though? Well, with Gideon, he took, he took the denial of bread for the 300 as a, as a diss on him. He's like, because you didn't do it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it not unto me. Therefore, Gideon would come back and destroy them just as Jesus Christ is going to do the same thing when he comes back, okay? Go back to Judges, chapter number eight. So you know, it sucks for Penuel and Sukkoth, but hey, they get, that's what they get. Just come and Curtis would say, here's bread, man, you're doing a great work. Thank you for everything you're doing. Do you need anything else? I know God said only 300, but if you need me, I'm there. No, they instead, they mocked them. They were crass. They were just rude. They were, uh, their response was very sarcastic and not right. Verse 10, now Ziba and Zamana were in Karkor and their host with them, about 15,000 men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the east for their fellow 120,000 men that drew sword. And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in the tents on the east of Noba and Jogibah and smote the host for the host was secure. And when Ziba and Zamana fled, he pursued after them and took the two kings of Midian and Ziba and Zamana and disconfited all the hosts. And Gideon, the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up and caught a young man of the men of Sukkoth and inquired of him. And he described them to him, the princes of Sukkoth and the elders are of even three score and 17 men. So what do we see here? So he gets these two Midianite kings, right? And Gideon has not forgotten. So he comes back and sees this guy of Sukkoth and he says, Hey, come here real quick. Can you describe what the guys of Sukkoth look like? And Penuel, can you, can you describe them for me? You know, and he's probably the guy's like, Oh, you know, he's like, you know, five foot six or something. They wear this. And he just giving that description because he's not done yet. He's going to go take care of them. Verse 15, he came into the man of Sukkoth and said, behold Zeban and Zalmana with whom ye did abrade me, saying, are the hands of Zeban and Zalmana now in thine hand that we should give bread unto the men that are weary. And so he comes back and he says, Hey guys, remember those guys you wanted, I got them. This is it. Here are the kings. Now the funniest verse in this entire chapter had me rolling when I was reading this is verse 16 and he took the elders of the city and thorns of the wilderness and briars and with them, he taught the men of Sukkoth and let me just let you know, he's not teaching them the Bible. He's teaching them the execution of the Bible, but he's not teaching them the word of God. What he's basically doing is like, yeah, I remember that. Okay. I wasn't joking when I was saying that I was going to come back for you. Let me teach you a lesson is what he's telling them. Time to teach you a lesson. And you know what? It's at that moment that they knew that they messed up. It was at that moment that Sukkoth and Penuel knew that they messed up cause they got it. What shows the beginning is a man of integrity, you know, and by the way, this also is reminiscent of Jesus Christ because of the fact that Jesus Christ will not forget those unsaved people, atheists, fagnostics, haters of the Lord and how they mistreated Christians and how they persecuted them. You think God is going to forget that God is not going to forget that. So what is he going to do when he comes back? He's going to teach them a lesson. He's going to teach them a lesson. He's going to go after the, the reprobates and the homos and all these people are persecuted. They're just basically treasuring up wrath until the day of wrath is what they're doing. And Jesus Christ has a good memory. He has right now 2000 years worth of memory and then some that he's going to repent to the reprobates, the infiltrators, the haters of God, those who have mistreated, persecuted and afflicted Christians. Oh yeah. He's going to teach the men of Sukkoth just as Gideon did. I love that verse though. So good how the King James puts it, does not, and he taught them. He taught them, you know, and, and praise God for that. You know, good thing I'm thankful that we don't serve this God who's just like, you know, limp-wristed, just really soft and you know, not willing to take vengeance. No, vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord. I will repay. You know, we're made in the image of God. We have God's anger. We have that anger towards sin, towards people who hate the Lord and you know, within us there's a desire for vengeance as well. But at that point God says, Hey, be angry and sin not. You know, the wrath of God or the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Vengeance is mine referring to God sayeth the Lord. I will repay. God is angry with the wicked every day and he will teach them a lesson one day and boy, what a lesson that will be. Look at verse 17. He's not done yet. And he beat down the tower of Penua and slew the men of the city. So after he was done with them, Penua was like, man, we're next. Came back, tore down their tower and slew them. Then verse 18, that was a great part of the chapter, was it not? Man said he unto Ziba and Zamanah, what manner of men were they whom he slew at Tabor? And they answered, as thou art, so were they, each one resembled the children of a king. And he said, they were my brethren, even the sons of my mother, as the Lord liveth. If he had saved them alive, I would not slay you. So these guys are responsible for taking the lives of the brethren of Gideon. And he, and so it's almost like a, he's just kind of messing with them because obviously he knew this. He's like, what manner of men were the people that you slew? And he explains that it was these people, his brothers. Verse 20. So Gideon takes vengeance, verse 20 says, and he said unto Jethur, his firstborn, up and slay them. And now look what it says, but the youth drew not his sword for he feared because he was yet a youth. Now this is a very sad statement in this chapter, is it not? You have Jethur, who's one of the 70 sons of Gideon. There's this like epic scene going on here, you know, where Gideon is just like, who are those guys? And he says, your brother is just like, now I'm going to kill you. And he says, Jethur up and slay them. And Jethur doesn't even move. He doesn't even obey his dad. He doesn't get up and slay them. Why? Because he was afraid for he was yet a youth. And the spiritual application there is that, hey dad, we need to teach our children how to use the sword, right? We need to make sure that we teach our children boldness. And obviously we're not referring to a physical sword. I'm talking about taking up the word of God, the sword of the spirit to take it up, up and slay when, when something needs to be slain. When a doctrine needs to be fought against, when in false ideology needs to be torn down, we need to teach our children, Hey, take up the sword and slay that thing. Hey, when a heretic, a false teacher, some so-called Baptist out there, who's not doing the work of the Lord, who's a reprobate, a heretic is doing that. We need to teach our children, Hey, these are the kinds of people we have to call out and not have this, Oh, I'm just offended because you know, this guy was called out. You shouldn't have called them out because you're going to instill that within your children and your children are going to grow up to be like Jethur. They will not drop out the sword. Why? Because they're afraid, but they're yet a youth. Hey, cowardice in the father will be implemented that the law of conservation of momentum is going to be passed on to your son. If you get offended at that, then guess what? Your sons will be offended at that as well. We need to make sure that we teach our children, Hey, learn how to use this sword. By the way, don't give them any, you know, a picture Bible story or NIV picture Bible story or ESV, you know, easy to read Bible. That's not a Bible. You know, that's kind of weird, isn't it? If you were to use a King James Bible, but you give some false version to your child because you think it's easier to read. It's like pastors out there who read from the Gomez 19, the Spanish Bible Gomez, but yet they still preach from the 1960. That's like me reading from the King James, but I preach from the new King James. Hello? Give them actual sword. Give your son an actual sword. So when the time comes that Ziba and Zalmana need to be slain, when you tell your son up and slay them, they're like, yes, sir, dad. Just slay them up, mortify them. And it's just like, good job, son. Good job, Jeter. It's important that we teach the next generation how to use a sword even while they're young, you know? And I'm not saying when I say, look, when I say teacher children, obviously there's a verbal teaching. But what literally I'm referring to is teach them by your example. That's what I mean. You know, you don't have to make them do things. This is how it works. Children are like a sponge and they'll just emulate you. They'll just emulate you. They will copy what you do. They will become who you are because of your example. You know, when he says, when the verse, the funny verse where he says that he taught them, you know what that also means? He made an example out of them is what he did, right? That's basically what he did. And the way we teach our children, obviously there's a verbal teaching. Obviously we teach doctrine, we teach the Bible, but the vast majority of our teaching is that we are our epistles and our hearts known and read of our children. We live a certain life. They view us, they see us, and they emulate that. That's how you teach them. And by the way, so how does that apply to this? Well, if you want them to learn how to use a sword, that means you got to learn how to use the sword too. You got to learn how to take it out of his sheath. You got to learn how to sharpen it. You got to learn how to wield it and use it and use it to tear down strongholds, to preach the Bible, to sow in. All across the board, just learn how to use it to be an example unto them. Don't let your children be like Jethur because he's afraid. You know, tell, tell your children to put down the Xbox controller and pick up the sword. They can wield the sword on Xbox, right? I mean, I don't know if there's a game out there that does that. Or maybe there's just guns now. You know, they know how to do that. But how about the actual sword itself? Okay. That's a sermon for another day. But it's important. Look at verse 21. Then Ziba and Zalmana said, rise down and fall upon us. For as the man is, so is the strength, and Gideon arose and slew Ziba and Zalmana and took away the ornaments that were on the camel's necks. So basically, Ziba and Zalmana said, you kill us. You give us that, that honorary death by you killing us. Okay. So this could have been dishonoring for a young child to kill, you know, these kings. They probably wanted an honorable death and therefore they requested that Gideon would do that for them. Verse 22, then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, rule thou over us, both thou and thy son and thy son's son also, for thou has delivered us from the hand of Midian. Now this is the, the, the common response that a people will have when they have a strong leader. Right? They'll be like, man, this guy took care of business with only 300 men. Did you see what he did to Sukkoth? Did you see what he did to Penuel? This is not a guy who should be messed with. He took care of business. He got the job done. Why don't you rule over us? Now obviously because Gideon is a judge, that's not his role. That's not his responsibility. A judge in the book of Judges is meant to do just that, to judge the children of Israel. What does that mean? Because you can tell them that they're wrong. Say hey, you're into idolatry, you're wicked. You need to turn back unto the Lord. I'm judging you according to the law of God. This is what you're doing. This is what's wrong. I'm here to deliver you as well. Because they were both judge and deliver, so they would judge the people and they would deliver them out of the hand of the oppressors. But they're asking him, hey, be over us. In other words, they're asking for him to be their king. But remember this, is that the institution of kings has not even been instituted as of yet, right? We don't have that until Saul, until the people start actually requesting for a king at Samuel and Samuel talks to God. He says, all right, I'm going to pick out a king for them and obviously he gave the prerequisites over in the book of Deuteronomy. But from then up until Joshua, they're still under what's called a theocracy. So their king is still God. They're just not behaving very well, okay? And he says there, verse 23, and Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, the Lord shall rule over you. Now it should have been that he just stopped right there because that would have been a good note to finish off on. It was like, man, Gideon is awesome and he is awesome. But then he starts making some mistakes here. Verse 24 says, and Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you that you would give me every man the earrings of his prey, for they had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites, and they answered, we will willingly give them. And they spread a garment and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. And the weight of the golden earring that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold beside ornaments and collars and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian and beside the chains that were about their camel's necks. And Gideon made an e-father of and put it in the city, even in Orphah, and all of Israel went thither, a whoring after it, which thing became a snare unto Gideon and to his house. You see, it wasn't Gideon's responsibility to make that ephod. That was actually the responsibility of even the priest of Israel. But obviously you've got to take into account that the book of Judges is a time period when every man is doing that which is right in their own eyes. And you will see the decline of leadership as we move on into the other judges in the book of Judges. They just get worse. You know, I mean, you think that's bad. What about prior when you have Deborah judging the children of Israel? Not good, right? And he's making this ephod, he's just kind of, we don't know why he's doing this. Maybe he felt that he just wanted to do one more great exploit. The ephod was that which the priest would use to basically communicate with God. It had the stones of the children of Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel. And he made one just out of gold just because that was an invention out of his own heart. But the Bible says that they went whoring after it. So it's not good to introduce something like that to the children of Israel during this time period. Why? Because they have a propensity for idolatry. You just need to get them back to the law of God, teach them the basics and maybe they can handle something like that when the priesthood can be reestablished once again and that can be taken care of. But he brought it to a city which is not supposed to be like in a particular city. And all Israel went thither whoring after it and then it ended up becoming a snare unto him and his household. Verse 28, thus was Midium subdued before the children of Israel so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness 40 years in the days of Gideon. Now here's what's interesting, remember the cycle that we see in the book of Judges? You have a judge that rises up, delivers them, they have peace. And then what happens thereafter? Yeah, the next generation after what? After the judge dies, then that following generation goes into idolatry. Well Gideon's the only one who actually they got into idolatry prior to him dying. That's pretty bad. So he created this stumbling block where even, they didn't even have to wait till he died. They were actually a whoring after you know this Ephod and committing idolatry even before he passed away. Now look what it says in verse 29, it says in Jeroboel, the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house and Gideon had three score and ten sons of his body begotten for he had many wives. So he had 70 sons, good night. He fit in with the Hispanics, amen. Man, 31, and his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son whose name is called Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father in Orphah of the ABA Zorites. And it came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel turned again and went a whoring after Balaam and made Baal-bereth their god. And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side. Neither showed they kindness to the house of Jeroboel, namely Gideon according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel. And really the principle that we can learn from this chapter is this. We want to be able to finish our lives well. And he should have finished at verse 23. He should have just left it at that, right? And just remember this is that we can start off good but sometimes we cannot finish off well. You know, just because you started off well or you had a good run, it doesn't necessarily mean that that's how it's going to end. You know, that's why we need to make sure that we are sober, we're vigilant, we're steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord until the Lord comes or until we go home. We need to make sure we take this time period and never put it on cruise control towards the end. You know, never try to veer off towards the end. I'm thankful for pastors out there who just stayed right all the way through their ministry. You know, obviously maybe they may have been out doctrine in certain areas whether it's, you know, the end times or whatever but you know what, far and wide as far as like the grand scope of their ministry, they were good men. They were men of integrity, they loved the Lord, they stood up for righteousness and they did it from the beginning of their ministry to the very end of their ministry and that's the kind of Christians we want to be because there's a lot of people, there's a lot of pastors who start off well and then they just deteriorate, they atrophy towards the end of their life, raising up a bunch of Jethers, wicked Jethers out there who are just wicked people and they just end up destroying the ministry because of themselves. The principle we can learn here is, hey, we need to finish well, okay. And then another thing that we can learn from this chapter is that we do have to remember those who came before, should we not? We don't want to live in the past and be like the old IFB where it's just like their only success stories are from like 50 years ago when they weren't even born. I'm like, oh, independent fundamental battle, J. Frank Norris and all this stuff. It's like, yeah, I'm all for J. Frank Norris, but hey, what about you? What are you doing? You know, our success stories are not in the past. You want to know where our success story is? It's next week and then when next week comes, it's the week after that because we're pressing on the upward way, man, but that's not to say we shouldn't remember those who have come before us because Israel did. They forgot. They didn't show kindness to the house of Jerobo, namely Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel. You say, what does that mean that they didn't show good kindness or a kindness towards Gideon or Israel, you know, according to what Gideon had done? Basically what they should have just done is just lived righteously because Gideon went through all that trouble, stepping out in faith, going with this 300, capturing these kings and they just go right back to the, to the miry pit. They didn't show kindness because they didn't take advantage of that which was given before and built upon that, which is exactly what they should have done. So great story here and we're almost done with the story of Gideon. Chapter nine doesn't deal with Gideon directly, but it does deal with his descendant Abimelech and we'll get into that on Thursday. All right, let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you for Gideon's example in the faith that he had, Lord, and that's why he's in Hebrews chapter 11 in the hall of faith. I pray that you'd help us to be strong leaders like him and I pray, Lord, that you'd help us that when there's someone out there who's faint yet pursuing, maybe they're doing the work of God, that we would lend an extending hand. If it's in the power of our hand to do it, that we should do it. And I pray that you'd also help us to be like those 300 men that when we're faint, we're still pursuing. We're not. Lord, we're tired and weary. We wait upon the Lord and then also, Lord, help us to finish well in our personal lives and as a church, help our church to finish well. I pray, Lord, that we'd also remember those who came before us who were righteous, holy, who just did right, did right to the stars, Lord, and I pray, God, that you'd help us to do so. We love you so much. We thank you. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen.