Messianic Perspectives

Liz Ayello: Stay tuned as we talk about Jehovah, God of the Valleys. Today, right here on Messianic Perspectives. Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Ayello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick will be talking about how we can trust the Lord not only when we're enjoying those mountain experiences but also when we're trying to find our way through the valleys of life. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. Now with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right, thank you. And welcome, listening friend. It's good to have you with us today as we continue this series of studies on Jehovah, God of the Valleys. What we're doing in this series of studies is looking at the seven valleys that are mentioned in scripture. What we're finding out is that each of these seven valleys represents some unique aspect of God's dealings with his people. So far we've seen the Valley of Eshkol, which we said was a place of plenty, and the Valley of Achor, which was a place of purging. On the last program, we had come to valley number three, the Valley of Jezreel, which was a place of power. It's found in Judges chapter six, and the Midianites had oppressed Israel for seven years.

Finally, in desperation, the Israelites cried out to the Lord. Isn't it too bad that prayer is often the last thing we think about when it should be one of the first things? But the Lord heard their cry, and he responded by raising up a man named Gideon to be the deliverer of his people from their oppressors. God wanted there to be no doubt in anyone's mind as to the supernatural nature of this deliverance. He told Gideon to cut down his army of 32,000 men. Even with 32,000 men, Israel was outnumbered by the Midianites four to one. The Midianites had a fighting force of 135,000. But Gideon didn't argue. He cut his army down from 32,000 to 10,000. Now the odds were 13 to one in favor of the Midianites.

The Lord said, "Gideon, you've still got too many men." He told Gideon to take them down to the river and watch the way they drank the water. He was to keep the ones who stayed on their feet and drank from their cupped hands, and the ones who knelt down to get a drink were eliminated. By this process of elimination, Gideon's army was narrowed down to just 300 men. Now the odds were 116 to one in favor of the Midianites. You might say that doesn't make any sense, and you're right. It doesn't make any sense, at least not from the standpoint of human reasoning. But the Lord wanted to make a point. He wanted to emphasize to the Israelites that this was going to be a supernatural victory.

He wanted to erase any possibility of the Israelites attributing this victory to their own prowess or power. God wanted his people to know that he gave them the victory. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. Sometimes God lets us get into those situations where our back is to the wall and there's no way out except by divine intervention. Years ago, our two-year-old church in Illinois signed a contract to buy a beautiful, wooded ten-acre tract of land right on the highway. The price tag was humongous. In fact, our total church budget for a whole year wouldn't even cover that amount of money back in those days. We didn't have any millionaires or rich people in our church, but we decided we were going to trust God for that land.

The building committee and I went out there and we walked from one end to the other, back and forth, and we prayed and we told God we weren't going to borrow any money because we were trusting him to give us the land, not the bank to give it to us. How could we stay in that community and preach about the power of God if our God wasn't powerful enough to give us a piece of land so we could build our building? We decided we were going to practice what we were preaching. It was amazing to watch God work. To this day, people in that little town still talk about it because there were even articles in the local newspaper, and nobody thought we could do it.

The church building sits on that ten-acre tract today, Liberty Bible Church in Eureka, Illinois, just off Highway 117. It was a miracle because we simply did not have the resources. Us buying that big ten-acre tract of land on the highway was about as crazy as Gideon going out with 300 men to fight an army of 135,000 Midianites and Amalekites. But God can do it because man's extremity is God's opportunity. The Lord used those 300 Israelites to send 135,000 Midianites and Amalekites running for their lives like scared rabbits. You can read about the ingenious plan the Lord devised in Judges chapter seven, verses nine through 23. Later in chapter eight, Gideon captured the Midianite and Amalekite kings and executed them.

It was an overwhelming victory, and the key is found back at the very beginning of this episode in chapter six. Verse 34 says, "But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon." The secret of Gideon's success down there in the Valley of Jezreel was that he was indwelt and empowered by the spirit of God, the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit. Remember this, my friend, God's appointing is always followed by his anointing. God will never call you to any task without first gifting and equipping you to accomplish that task successfully. There are two stages to this process: the calling or the appointing stage, and then the equipping or the anointing stage. Those two always go together.

Let me give you an example. D.L. Moody was one of the greatest Christian evangelists who ever lived. He's the one of whom it was said that he shook two continents for Christ with his powerful preaching. But where did that power come from? There's an interesting passage in the book entitled "The Life of D.L. Moody" by his son. On pages 146 and 147, Mr. Moody's son remembers these words of his father shortly after the Great Chicago Fire. He said, "Ever since that night of the great fire, I have determined as long as God spares my life to make more of Christ than in the past. I thank God that he is a thousand times more to me today than he was 22 years ago. I am not what I wish I was, but I am a good deal better than I was when Chicago was on fire."

Then his son says, "The year 1871 was a critical one in Mr. Moody's career. He realized more and more how little he was fitted by personal requirements for his work. An intense hunger and thirst for spiritual power were aroused in him by two women who used to attend the meetings and sit on the front seat. He could see by the expression on their faces that they were praying. At the close of the services, they would say to him, 'We have been praying for you.' 'Why don't you pray for the people?' Mr. Moody would ask. 'Because you need the power of the spirit,' they would say. 'I need the power,' said Mr. Moody in relating the incident years after. 'I thought I had power. I had the largest congregations in Chicago, and there were many conversions. I was in a sense satisfied.'"

"But right along those two godly women kept praying for me, and their earnest talk about anointing for special service set me to thinking. I asked them to come and talk with me, and they poured out their hearts in prayer that I might receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. There came a great hunger to my soul. I did not know what it was. I began to cry out as I never did before. I really felt that I did not want to live if I could not have this power for service." Later, Dr. Moody's associate, R.A. Torrey, wrote a book entitled "How to Obtain Fullness of Power." Here's what Torrey says: "All that belongs to us as our birthright in Christ becomes ours in actual possession through the Holy Spirit's work in us as individuals. Many in the church claim for themselves only a small part of that which God has made possible for them in Christ because they know so little of what the Holy Spirit can do and longs to do for us."

I am very sensitive to the fact that many unscriptural teachings are promoted in the name of the Holy Spirit. It's true that there are counterfeit manifestations of the spirit in the world today, and we need to be on our guard. But never forget, a counterfeit by its very definition must be based on something genuine. If there wasn't a genuine $100 bill, the counterfeits would be worthless. Counterfeits spring up when there's a scarcity of the original. The charismatic movement sprang from mainline denominations that had become cold and dead and lifeless. Lifeless liberalism had created a vacuum, and something always rushes in to fill a vacuum.

As the church of the Lord Jesus Christ forges ahead toward the 21st century, we need to realize that success in the work of the Lord will come only when we continue to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing of permanence, nothing truly worthwhile will be accomplished apart from him. In Zechariah 4:6, the word of the Lord came to Zerubbabel saying, "Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit," saith the Lord of hosts. We need to get back to the Valley of Jezreel, my friend. It's been good to have this time to share with you today. Thanks for joining us. We'll continue this next time. Remember to write to us and let us know you're listening. Give us the call letters of your radio station. Take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Ayello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. You've been listening to Messianic Perspectives, the Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Gary Hedrick and CJF Ministries. If you enjoyed today's study, you'll be glad to know that our special offer this week is the CD of this current series of studies on Jehovah: God of the Valleys by our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick. It's available for a suggested contribution of just $6 or more. The series is also available in booklet form. The title is Jehovah: God of the Valleys by our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick.

It's available for your gift of just $7 or more to help us keep this program here on your station. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas, 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397. Have you enjoyed this edition of Messianic Perspectives? Why not continue to learn about the Jewish roots of your Christian faith by inviting a speaker from CJF Ministries?

Call our toll-free number, 1-800-926-5397, and we'll be happy to handle all of the details. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Ayello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on Jehovah: God of the Valleys, right here on Messianic Perspectives.