From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. Learn how to go from compromising to conquering in your Christian life.

Speaker 2

You know, this is a convicting passage of scripture. Convicting story in Scripture, true story. It's convicting because for all of us, as you get older, you can start to slow down and you can start to think about retirement and you can start to think about, you know, I've done it all, and now I just want to relax. I just want to enjoy myself.

There's nothing wrong with that, but you have to be careful with that because you never retire from serving the Lord. Hey, the time is now to honestly evaluate your life, to get yourself back in a position where you're yielded again to the Lord. He can heal every scar with real truth, real love, real from his heart.

Speaker 1

If you're familiar with the Bible, you know about Gideon. He was a coward when the Lord came to him in Judges, chapter six. But God took this coward of a man and made him a courageous conqueror.

But then this coward who became a conqueror became a compromiser. Could that describe your situation right now and your walk with the Lord?

This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. And thank you for joining us today as we'll hear part two of the lesson called From Conqueror to Compromiser and learn three lessons from the compromising of Gideon to help us honestly evaluate our lives and yield fully to God.

The message is from Pastor Jeff's series Before There were the Cost of Compromise. Open your Bible now, if you can, to the book of Judges, chapter seven. And here again is Pastor Jeff with part two of the message from Conqueror to Compromiser.

Speaker 2

Three lessons for today from the rest of the story concerning Gideon.

**Lesson number one.** Gideon exemplifies the right way to deal with angry people. Joseph's two boys, the first one named Manasseh and the second named Ephraim, became two tribes in Israel, with Ephraim being one of the biggest tribes. They get mad at Gideon, asking, "Why didn't you call us? Why didn't you have us help in the battle?" Well, it wouldn't have done any good anyway. God thinned him out to just 300 men. If the tribe of Ephraim had come, he would have just had to send them home. So he didn't call them; God didn't lead him to do that. But now they're angry. Angry criticism typically has a personal grievance behind it. There's a reason why someone is angry and criticizing you angrily.

But here's the question: How are you going to respond to angry criticism? Your response to angry criticism does one of two things: you can either smooth it over or stir it up. Proverbs 15:1 states, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." So what does Gideon say to the Ephraimites? He asks them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?" He is saying, "Hey, you guys, this stuff you don't even harvest, that you don't think is very good, that's better than the vintage that my family has." When he responded to them with a gentle answer, their anger subsided.

So what do we see in Gideon? A lesson for today: Gideon exemplifies the right way to deal with angry people. A gentle answer turns away wrath. This is a good lesson; this isn't part of his fall. This is a good lesson.

**Lesson number two.** Gideon exemplifies the right way to deal with rebellious people. So, angry people—the tribe of Ephraim—he smoothed that over. Then he deals with rebellious people. In verse 4, it says, "Then Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came to the Jordan and crossed over, weary, yet pursuing." He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zeba and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." The leaders of Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?"

Gideon replied, "All right. When the Lord has given Ziba and Zalmunna into my hands, then I will thrash your bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars." He went up from there to Penuel and spoke similarly to them, and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. So he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, "When I return safely, I will tear down this tower."

These two cities of the tribe of Gad were not going to help him. He then goes to Karkor and defeats the two kings of Midian, Zeba and Zalmunna. When he comes back, he took the elders of the city and thorns of the wilderness and briars, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with that. He tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

Here's the question: He dealt with the people of Ephraim in a gentle way, but he deals with the tribe of Gad in a seemingly harsh way. Some have said he never should have done that. You know what he did with Ephraim; he should have had that same spirit toward the tribe of Gad in those two cities. But this is a different instance. He's not dealing with angry criticism with the tribe of Gad; he's dealing with rebellious people. They had spurned hospitality and the leadership of the Lord. Gideon is not doing this on his own; the Lord sent him to do this. He sent him to deliver Israel. To spurn Gideon and his men was to say, "We're not going to follow the Lord." That was rebellion against the Lord.

Dealing with angry people is one thing; dealing with rebels is a totally different thing. That is a serious sin when you rebel against the Lord, when you are insubordinate, when you don't do what the Lord tells you to do, when you say, "I'm not going to follow the Lord. I'm going to hedge my bets here. I'm not going to help my brothers in battle because that could affect me down the road." Serious sin, and they deserve the consequences of the sin that they committed, the consequences of their actions.

Now, he disciplines the leaders—77 leaders of Succoth. He whips them with the briars and thorns, and he pulls down the tower at Penuel, killing some of them there. You might ask, "Is that beyond the pale?" Some commentators will say he went too far there. This is not Gideon acting on behalf of the Lord; this is Gideon's wounded pride. I don't know; you can make a case either way. But one of the things you have to remember is Gideon is now the leader in Israel. He's not the king, but he's the leader. He's the judge. He's the deliverer. He brought wrath on the people of Succoth and the people of Penuel. So he shows us the right way to deal with rebellion.

**Lesson number three.** This is where it gets into Gideon's compromise. Gideon exemplifies the challenges and potential pitfalls that come with success. He has had tremendous success, and he shows us that we need to be careful. If anyone thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. As Andrew Bonner says, "Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle," because success can go to your head, and pride can come in.

In chapter 8, verse 28, it says, "So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. The land was undisturbed for 40 years in the days of Gideon." Gideon had a great victory. Here's the thing that is mind-blowing about Gideon's victory: he doesn't mention anything about giving thanks to the Lord. So what does that tell us? It's an argument from silence, but I think it speaks to you and me that we must be mindful to give God the glory and the praise. Always give him the glory and the praise.

See, that helps you not get prideful and think you're really somebody, that you're something special. Because God has given you this ability to do X, Y, or Z, whatever that is. God's given you a great voice; he's given you a great mind. He's given you the ability to teach and preach the Scriptures. All that is a gift from God. The Bible says, "What do you have that you did not receive?" It's all a gift from the Lord. We need to give him praise. Hebrews 13:15 states, "Through him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name."

Gideon, as we see in this part of his life, after the victory, pride kind of set in, complacency set in, and he begins to compromise. So we need to be mindful to give God the glory and the praise. Secondly, we must work to make the right answer the real answer in our lives. Many of us know the right answer to give, but is that the real answer? Is that really where you are?

You might be thinking, "Jeff, I'm not really understanding what you're talking about—the right answer and the real answer." Well, let's look at verse 22. After he kills Ziba and Zalmunna, he wanted his son to do it, which was embarrassing for a king to be killed by a youth. They didn't want Gideon's son to do it; they said, "No, no, Gideon's son was afraid." They said to Gideon, "Well, if you're such a big tough guy, why don't you do it?" They wanted him to kill them because Gideon was going to be more skilled in war than his son.

So he kills those two guys. The men of Israel, in verse 22, said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son's son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian." But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you. The Lord shall rule over you." Right answer. But is that the real answer?

Gideon then requests, "I would request of you that each of you give me an earring from his spoil." They had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites. They said, "We will surely give them." So they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil. The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels' necks.

Then it says in verse 29, "Then Jerubaal," another name for Gideon, "the son of Joash, went and lived in his own house." Now Gideon had 70 sons who were his direct descendants, for he had many wives. His concubine, who was in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. Gideon gives the right answer: "Hey, we want you to be king. You and your sons and your son's sons. We want you guys to be king. You're the dynasty. Look what you did for us." He says, "No, the Lord is your king."

It's the right answer, but what was in his heart? I want to be king. How do you know? Because he names his son Abimelech. That name means "my father is king." That's a pretty dead giveaway when you name your kid that. "Oh, I'm not going to be a king. Hey honey, let's name him 'my father is king.'" Every time we say his name, it reminds him that I'm the king.

So he didn't take the title of king, but he began to live like a king. Now, Deuteronomy 17 gives specific instructions through Moses. He said, "When you come into the land, you're going to request to have a king. These are the parameters for the king: he's not to multiply wives to himself, he's not to multiply horses, military power, and he's not to multiply silver or gold." You have the three pitfalls of leadership that the Lord mentions in Deuteronomy 17: money, sex, and power.

Leaders have to watch out for money. The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Money, sex—that was the downfall of Solomon. His many wives turned his heart away. And power. We don't judge how strong we are. David wanted to number the people, and Joab said, "No, don't do that. The Lord, may he give you twice as many as you have. Why are you numbering the people?" David wanted to see how powerful he was.

Gideon has trouble in those three areas. He says, "I don't want you to make me king because the Lord is your king." But, "Hey, you know, we got a lot of spoil from the Midianites." They all had earrings, so he took out the earrings, and they threw them in a coat. When they counted it all up, it was 1,700 shekels of gold, which is about 43 pounds, which in today's money would be about $1.4 million.

"I don't want to be your king, but it would be sure nice if we could take up an offering for me." So he got that money. "I don't want to be a king, but man, I sure like to have a harem of wives." It mentions his concubine. His concubine in Shechem that he has the son with, and he names Abimelech, "My God is king."

What was the problem with Gideon? He gave the right answer, but it wasn't the real answer. He lived like a king, and he was powerful like a king. Seventy sons made him very, very powerful because he had this huge family. He was wealthy, and he had a harem of wives, and he caused Israel to fall into idolatry. This is so sad.

It says in verse 27 that with some of that gold that he took, "Gideon made it into an ephod and placed it in his city." He took that gold and made it into an ephod and placed it in his city, Ophrah. All Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. You might ask, "What is that?"

An ephod was what the high priest wore; it had precious stones on it. He had the urim and the thummim, if you remember that, which he would use for discerning the will of God. It was very ornate. Well, Gideon made one out of gold and set it up in Ophrah, his hometown. They began to worship that. It became an idol. Nowhere in Scripture does God tell him to do that. He just had this idea, "Well, we need to remember God's victory."

So he made this, not led to do it by the Lord. It became a snare to the Israelites, and it became a snare to his family. The word "snare" that is used means a noose for catching an animal, a hook for catching a fish. This is going to cause a lot of problems for Gideon—problems in his life, problems with the people, but close to home, problems with his family.

See, Gideon compromised, and it came with a great cost. He could have really done some amazing things—40 years of peace because of what Gideon did. We don't want to take that away from Gideon. They say, "Well, if you don't, you had a good run, but then you finished poorly." So I guess we'll take away your reward. No, he's in the hall of faith—Hebrews 11. You can read his name, Gideon. But there came a cost, see, because his 70 sons were watching him.

That little boy, Abimelech, "my father is king," is watching him. You know what happens when Gideon dies? Abimelech, "my father is king," declares himself to be king. What does he do to his brothers? They were half-brothers. What does he do to them? He kills them all in their hometown. He kills the 70 sons of Gideon and sets himself up as king. Just horrible. Awful.

So much of it is the outgrowth of the way Gideon finished his life. "Oh, I'm not going to be the king, but I sure want to be the king." So I'm going to give you the right answer, but it's not the real answer because there is stuff in my heart that's not right. You and I have to work hard to make sure that the right answer is the real answer.

You know what's very telling in the life of Gideon, as we talk about his compromise toward the end that makes Israel sin? As soon as he dies, they just go straight to the Baals because they had been conditioned that way as they began to play the harlot with his golden ephod. They worship Baal Berith, which means "the Lord of the Covenant."

But here's the telling thing about Gideon. Gideon is his Jewish name. Gideon means "hacker" or "hewer." He was the one that, "Hey, tear down your father's altar and hack that Asherah pole." He hacked it and brought deliverance. Because he did that, they gave him a pagan name. The people around called him Jerubaal, which means "Baal contends." He's a Baal fighter. Jerubaal—that's more of his pagan name.

After chapter eight, he's spoken of nine more times in the Book of Judges and one more time in the Old Testament. Never once is the name Gideon used; it's always the pagan name Jerubaal. That just shows that that's the note he ended on—not Gideon, the man of faith. From a coward to a conqueror, now he's known as a compromiser.

This is a convicting passage of Scripture—a convicting story in Scripture, a true story. It's convicting because for all of us, as you get older, you can start to slow down, and you can start to think about retirement. You can start to think, "I've done it all, and now I just want to relax. I just want to enjoy myself." There's nothing wrong with that, but you have to be careful with that because you never retire from serving the Lord.

Listen, I don't know where you are, but God knows where you are. Some of you have gone from coward to conqueror, and you're on the road to compromiser. Maybe you're angry because there's some kind of personal grievance in your heart. Or maybe you're rebellious, and you don't want to follow the Lord. You're mad at him because of something. To you, maybe you're just coasting.

Hey, the time is now to honestly evaluate your life, to see where you are, and to get yourself back in a position where you're yielded again to the Lord so that he can use you in great ways. If you're not on fire for Jesus Christ like you once were, you need to get back and say, "Lord, do a work in me. Set my soul on fire again for you. I need you, Jesus."

The right answer and the real answer—the challenge in the Christian life is to make the right answer the real answer.

Speaker 1

I hope these have been insightful insights for you. Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, you heard part two of the lesson called "From Conqueror to Compromiser." It's from his new 10-message series, "Before There Were Kings: The Cost of Compromise."

Now, if you missed any of the other five we've already aired this month, you can listen again online anytime at fromhisheart.org. You can also get the entire series, a chapter-by-chapter study of the Book of Judges.

And here's a reason why you should.

Speaker 2

Pastor, the Book of Judges is a sobering reminder of what happens when people reject God's truth in favor of their own desires. Now, during the time of the Judges, there was no king in Israel. Each man did what was right in his own eyes. In this book, we see a continuing cycle of sin, subjugation, and suffering that brought desperate cries for mercy and deliverance.

In response, God raised up judges to save His people. These judges were flawed, yet they were willing leaders who were used to call God's people back to faithfulness. In my new 10-message series, "Before There Were the Cost of Compromise," I'll unpack the important lessons from Judges, warnings about apathy, the dangers of compromise, and the hope of redemption.

You can get your copy in the format of your choice when you call or go online today with a gift of any amount. I hope you'll get your copy today.

Speaker 1

To get your copy on USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs, or MP3, download your choice. Make your gift of any amount from His Heart.

This month, you can simply call 866-40-BIBLE or go online to fromhisheart.org.

Well, I'm Larry Nobles, and we trust you'll be here on Friday for the next lesson in the Before There Were Kings series when Pastor Jeff Shreve will open up God's Word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from God's heart here on From His Heart.

Speaker 2

Heart there is treasure, there is blessing, there is hope that you always dream of. He can heal the every scars the truth Real love, real hope from his heart.

Speaker 1

From his heart is the listener supported broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Sri speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember that no matter what, God loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out about that. Go to promisheart.org.