Graphic representation of the amounts 300 and 135,000
At first Gideon's army of Israelites numbered 32,000 to combat the enemy's 135,000 men - roughly 1 Israelite for every 4 of the Midanites.
The God of Israel said, "Gideon, people will be tempted to say you and your army won the victory in your own strength. I'm going to show you how to get your numbers down."
Gideon obeyed and gave up over 99% of his army, sending them home.
Left with 300, or roughtly 1 Israelite for every 450 men in the Midianite army, God said, "Alright ... NOW if you win, everybody will know it was Me! Let's go!!!"
The Interesting Thing about Tithe
Most of the time we think about "tithe" as the "tenth" or 10% we GIVE to our local worship and discipling community.
But take a moment to think - FROM where that ten percent come ?!?
Even if we work and earn the "increase" in our finances, most followers of Yeshua recognize that our supply comes from Yehovah Jireh - The God Who Provides. The increase FROM which we tithe is a gift from The God of Israel!
Do you see what is happening here?
God blesses us, gives us provision ... He uses HIS power (sometimes MIRACLE WORKING POWER) to get this good into our hands! (Leviticus 26:4 - "I - Yehovah - will give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.")
And then He says, "Alright, you have trusted me and you see I have put [whatever] into your hands. I have blessed you with that. NOW, I want you to trust me on a an even DEEPER level ... give back to Me part of the blessing I have given you."
The good [ANY good] that Abba has put into our hands doesn't reach its full potential in His Kingdom economy until we give it back to Him. And Abba encourages us to go deeper in this trust of Him with these words -
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows." - Malachi 3:10
THAT'S the Kingdom of Yeshua's pattern - good comes from Him, we willingly offer back Him what He gave us (it is HIS, anyway)... and then HE does something incredible for our good and the good of those around us ... and HE ALONE gets the glory!
Did You Catch Where Gideon Laid Down His Life?
Going with 300 men to conquer on army of 135,000 sounds like a sure way to get yourself dead.
But Gideon had already died... at least twice.
First, when "The Angel of the Lord" - a Biblical term for The God Of Israel taking on phyiscal form for people to see and interact with Him - introduced Himself to Gideon, Gideon eventually caught on that he was NOT talking to a regular person, or even "regular" angel. He asked if he could bring The Angel Of The Lord an offering as an act of worship. Upon being told "yes, and laying the offering before Him, fire erupted from the rock on which the offering was placed and consumed the offering. Now Gideon was sure - He had been talking with Yehovah Himself.
YIKES!!!
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU EXPOSED TO THE FACE OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL???
In Exodus 33:20 Yehovah says, "No man can see Me and live!"
Seeing God's face means it is guarunteed - YOU DIE!
Notice the assurance the Yehovah gives after fire consumes Gideon's offering - Judges 6:23 - Do not fear, you shall not die." Why would Yehovah comfort Gideon, telling him he would not die unless Gideon was worrying about that particular thing in that particular moment?
So Gideon knows he deserves to be dead because He had seen God's face (and was talking with Him "face to face" (like Moses did).
But Gideon also recognizes that Yehovah has given him life to continue on (can we call it "New Life"?). Gideon knows this life he does not deserve must be given back to God - used to relate to and follow The One who gave him this life.
Did You Catch Where Gideon Laid Down His Life...Again?
(And here comes the part about WAR!)
Yehovah's first instruction to Gideon is to pull down the idol his family and neighbors have been worshipping.
YIKES!!!
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TAKE SOMEONE'S "GOD" AWAY FROM THEM???
They get upset and want to kill you!
But Gideon knew he already deserved to be dead and must give his new life back to Yehovah so ... albeit at night (so hopefully no one sees him do it) ... Gideon does as Yehovah instructed and pulled down the altar to the false "god" Baal.
Sure enough, once the neighbors see what was done they knew it was Gideon and they wanted him DEAD (Judges 6:30). But Yehovah works a miracle, changes Gideon's dad's heart (he had been an idol worshipper as well), and has him defend his son... Gideon lives on to carry out the story most of us know -
Having recognized at least twice that he is living "New Life" granted him after he should be dead, he is already in a pattern of surrendering all for the glory of The God of Israel.
32,000 Israelites were willing to serve in an army led by Gideon to defeat the Mideanites that had taken over the land and made life miserable for Yehovah's people.
But this was 1 man to every 4 in the Midianite army. Would you make a bet when there is only a 25% chance of winning? Not likely.
But these odds were too good in Yehovah's mind. If Gideon and his 32,000 won the battle, they might think they did it in their own strength.
God got the number down to just 300 men left in Gideon's army to opposed 135,000 Midianite warriors.
Gideon had now surrendered 99% of the army God had initially raised up from among the Israelites.
[Are we ready to surrender 99% of God's provision as we go into battle? Is Yeshua ALONE receiving the glory worth it - in our minds and hearts - to surrender all?!?]
Now... 1 Israelite needed to defeat 450 men in the enemy's army. There is a theological term for these odds ... "FAT CHANCE!"
NOW if Gideon and his 300 won the battle, there could be no doubt that Yehovah ALONE had brought the victory.
Yehovah Wants Us to Have Victory, but He ALONE Deserves the Glory
Yeshua said, "If any person would follow Me, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and then follow Me - Matthew 16:24."
And Paul reports in 1 Corinthians 15:31, "I die daily."
Yeshua is a GOOD SHEPHERD, He wants us to be blessed with "green pastures" and "still waters" and be victorious as we follow Him in "paths of righteousness."
But it is HE who conquered sin and death and hell!
We can't use our own strength to be the "more than conquerors" Yeshua has in mind for us to be.
We can't even simply use all the good He puts into our life - spouse, friends, provision, skills, whatever! - to win battles for the Kingdom of Heaven!
No, it all must be placed - like the loaves and fishes by Galilee - into our Good Shepherd's hands.
THEN, He will bring the good, bring the victory and assure the glory will go to Him ALONE!
PRAY - FATHER IN HEAVEN - I WANT TO BE WILLING TO SURRENDER MY ALL TO YOU LIKE GIDEON. BUT IT'S SO HARD WHEN I DO NOT KNOW HOW THINGS WILL GO. HELP ME REMEMBER IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO KNOW YOU - THE ONE WHO KNOWS THE ROAD AHEAD - THAN IT IS FOR ME TO KNOW THE ROAD FOR MYSELF.
I WANT TO SEE YOUR KINGDOM COME, AND YOUR WILL BE DONE IN MY LIFE SO PEOPLE CAN SEE YOUR LOVE AND POWER IN ME. I WANT TO SEE YOUR RIVER OF LIFE FLOW IN ME AND THROUGH ME SO OTHERS CAN BE OFFERED AND RECEIVE YOU AND YOUR LOVE AND CARE AND POWER.
YESHUA, PLEASE DO THIS WORK IN ME SO THAT YOU ALONE ARE GLORIFIED BY MY LIFE, EXALTED SO THAT ALL MEN - JEWISH AND GENTILE - CAN BE DRAWN TO YESHUA, FOR IT IS YOUR NAME I PRAY. AMEN !!!
To be perfectly frank, I remember very little of what I was taught at Bible College as I prepared for ministry. But at that school in Canada the Canadians introduced me to what could be called the Canadian version of Rezurrection Band, a group called "Servant".
Their song "Surrender" says, "Let white flags fly, for I surrender all ... all, ALL to Jesus, I must surrender all" ... is one of the most impassioned pleas I have ever experienced - prayer set to music - asking Yeshua to have HIS way in us ... Perhaps it will help you meditate on this cruical Kingdom pattern, so very necessary if we are going to be fruitful in spritual war.
The album is called "Light Maneuvers" and the album cover (yes, I had the vinyl LP!) shows a paratrooper who has landed and is on the march to engage in the battle and see victory for Yeshua and HIs Kingdom of LIght!
Play "Surrender" by clicking PLAY arrow below.
SURRENDER lyrics:
Please hear me, draw near me,
Where's the joy I carried so long ago?
I'm lonely; I only wear your name to cover my empty soul.
It's not worth the agony,
No one's born to live alone,
Transform this tragedy,
Let white flags fly, for I surrender all.
All, all to Jesus,
I must surrender all,
All, all to Jesus,
I must surrender all.
Please hear me, draw near me,
Touch my heart and shatter my selfish pride,
Forgive me, live in me,
Honesties are nothing that I should hide.
The one who cried for all the world so very long ago,
Let the banners be unfurled,
Let white flags fly, for I surrender all.
All, all to Jesus,
I must surrender all,
All, all to Jesus,
I must surrender all.
It's not worth the agony,
No one's born to live alone,
Transform this tragedy,
Let white flags fly, for I surrender all.
All, all to Jesus,
I must surrender all,
All, all to Jesus,
I must surrender all,
All, all to Jesus,
I must surrender all,
All, all to Jesus,
I must surrender all.