Evangel
High School Class

Series: Biblical Lives to Live By
Genesis-II Samuel

Noah Abraham & Sarah Rebekah Jacob Joseph Moses Joshua Deborah & Jael Gideon Samson Hannah Samuel Naomi & Ruth David

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Gideon
This lesson is based on the following passages: (If you are online, you can look them up at Bible Gateway.)

Judges 6, 7, & 8:1-23

Discuss the following questions:

1. Why was Gideon threshing wheat in a wine press when the angel of the Lord first appeared to him?
2. What does the story about Gideon and the fleece tell you about Gideon?
3. What are the things Gideon is afraid of in these chapters, when you count them all up?
4. How does God deal with Gideon's uncertainty?
5. How does God deal with Gideon's fears?
6. It seems odd that God would tell such a fearful leader to trim down his army. Why do you think God kept asking Gideon to cut more people from his force?
7. How is Gideon's attitude in chapter 8 different from his attitude in chapter 6?
8. How are the fears and uncertainties in Gideon's life like those in our own lives? Can you think of examples?
9. What can we learn from Gideon's life and God's work with him?

When the angel of the Lord first comes to Gideon, he says, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." Gideon seemed to be anything but a mighty warrior. He was so afraid of the Midianites that he was threshing wheat in a place where the wind would not be able to help carry the chaff away. He evidently didn't think God was with him, or if he did think so, he wasn't very confident that God would take care of him. God spoke to him in a way more appropriate for the person he would become than for the person he was.

As we read about Gideon, we see that he has many fears and that he is not very confident. He has a poor self image. He's afraid of the Midianites; he's afraid of the men in his own village and so he destroys the altar to Baal at night. He is evidently afraid of the enemy's army when it gathers in a nearby valley.

He is uncertain as well as afraid. He isn't sure God is talking to him when the angel of the Lord first appears to him. He isn't sure he has understood God's instructions correctly, so he asks God for a sign. When God gives him the sign he asked for, he isn't sure that it is God speaking--he thinks it might be a coincidence--so he asks God for another sign, just the opposite of the first one.

God was patient with Gideon's weaknesses. God gave him the signs he needed to be confident that he understood God's direction. He showed him the fear of the enemy by letting him overhear the interpretation of a dream one of the enemy soldiers had had the night before.

Yet, God also asked Gideon to whittle down his army! He did this, even though Gideon was afraid, to teach Gideon, Israel, and us a lesson. Deliverance and power do not come from human numbers or wisdom. Instead, God has all the power, and He can send victory even when we seem to be overwhelmed by the enemy's power.

God has called us to do work for him. Two things keep us from doing it--fear and lack of understanding. If God was willing to work with Gideon, as He did, to give him courage and clarity, then He will work with us as well if we ask Him to and wait upon Him. Furthermore, we can be confident that nothing can harm us when it comes to the things that really count. Jesus told us not to fear the one who can kill the body but to fear the one who can throw our souls into hell. Who can do that? Only God. What has God done? He has sent His son to be a sacrifice for our sins so that our souls will be safe from destruction. Therefore, we have nothing to fear: neither life nor death, principalities nor powers, things present nor things to come can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (see Romans 8).