His Words Are Life

Judges 7:12 - Judges 9:19

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Kelly Mowrer

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Series Code: HWAL

Program Code: HWAL000514


00:15 Hi, and welcome to HIS WORDS ARE LIFE.
00:17 I'm Kelly Mowrer, and thank you for coming apart
00:20 with me to read the word of God together.
00:22 When we were last reading we were or are in the story
00:26 of Gideon. It's one of my favorite stories in the Bible
00:28 for several reasons. One of them is God's absolute patience
00:32 and love to reassure Gideon in his weak faith, over and over
00:37 again, God answers him and assures him of His peace
00:41 and His love, He says, I am with you. And when we last
00:44 left off, God is providing yet another assurance to Gideon.
00:49 He has met the test of the fleece that Gideon had asked
00:52 him to meet. And he has- God has directed Gideon
00:56 through a series of tests that have winnowed the men
00:59 in his army down to only 300. And God says to Gideon
01:03 I am going to deliver the Midianites into your hand.
01:06 And if you would like some reassurance, take your servant
01:09 and sneak into their camp tonight. And so this is where
01:12 we're going to pick up the story; but before we start,
01:14 let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for your love for us and for
01:20 your patience with us, and for all the signs of reassurance
01:24 that you send to each one of us. Open our hearts
01:27 and open our ears to hear your word and to find the peace that
01:32 it brings. We love you so much. And thank you for loving us.
01:35 Amen. We're reading in Judges, chapter 7 picking up in verse 12
01:42 as Gideon and his servant has sneaked into the camp
01:45 of the enemy. - And the Midianites and the Amalekites
01:50 and all the children of the east lay along in the valley
01:53 like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without
01:57 number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.
02:01 And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man
02:05 that told a dream unto his fellow, and said,
02:08 Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread
02:13 tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent,
02:17 and smote it that it fell, and overturned it,
02:20 that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said,
02:24 This is nothing else save the hand hath God delivered
02:30 hand hath God delivered: for into his hand hath God delivered
02:34 Midian, and all the host. And it was so, when Gideon
02:41 heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof,
02:43 that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel
02:48 and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand
02:51 the host of Midian. And he divided the 300 men
02:56 into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's
02:59 hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
03:03 And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise:
03:07 and behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be
03:11 that, as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a trumpet,
03:16 I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also
03:21 on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord,
03:25 and of Gideon. So Gideon, and the hundred men that were
03:29 with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning
03:32 of the middle watch: and they had but newly set the watch:
03:36 they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in
03:40 their hands. And the 3 companies blew the trumpets, and brake
03:44 the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands,
03:46 and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal:
03:49 and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.
03:53 And they stood every man in his place round about the camp:
03:57 and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. And the 300 blew
04:04 the trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against
04:08 his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled
04:14 to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of
04:17 Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath. And the men of Israel gathered
04:22 themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher,
04:25 and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midinaites.
04:28 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim,
04:33 saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them
04:36 the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan. Then all the men of
04:41 Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters
04:44 unto Beth-barah and Jordan. And they took two princes
04:48 of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb
04:52 upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress
04:56 of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads
05:00 of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.
05:04 We're continuing in the book of Judges, chapter 8,
05:07 and this is the King James Version.
05:09 And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served
05:14 us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest
05:18 to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him
05:21 sharply. And he said unto them, What have I done now
05:25 in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes
05:29 of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
05:32 God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian,
05:37 Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison
05:41 of you? Then their anger was abated toward him,
05:45 when he had said that. And Gideon came to Jordan,
05:48 and passed over, he, and the 300 men that were with him,
05:53 faint, yet pursuing them. And he said unto the men of Succoth,
05:58 Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people
06:01 that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after
06:05 Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.
06:08 And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah
06:13 and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread
06:15 unto thine army? And Gideon said, Therefore when the Lord
06:19 hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand,
06:22 then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness
06:25 and with briers. And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake
06:30 unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the
06:33 men of Succoth had answered him. And he spake also unto the men
06:37 of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break
06:41 down this tower. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor,
06:45 and their hosts with them, about 15,000 men,
06:48 all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the
06:51 east: for there fell 120,000 men that drew sword.
06:55 And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents
06:59 on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host:
07:03 for the host was secure. And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled,
07:07 he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian,
07:10 Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.
07:14 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before
07:19 the sun was up, and caught a young man of the men of Succoth,
07:23 and inquired of him: and he described unto him
07:26 the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof,
07:28 even threescore and seventeen men.
07:30 And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said,
07:33 Behold Zebah and Zalmunna with whom ye did upbraid me, saying,
07:37 Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand,
07:40 that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?
07:43 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the
07:47 wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men
07:51 of Succoth. And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew
07:54 the men of the city. Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna,
07:58 What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor?
08:02 And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one
08:06 resembled the children of a king. And he said, they were
08:10 my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the Lord liveth
08:14 if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
08:17 And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them.
08:23 But the youth drew not his sword, for he feared,
08:26 because he was yet a youth. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said,
08:31 Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is,
08:34 so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah
08:39 and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on
08:42 their camel's necks. Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon,
08:45 Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy son's son
08:50 also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.
08:52 And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you,
08:57 neither shall my son rule over you. The Lord shall rule
09:02 over you. And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request
09:08 of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings
09:11 of his prey. For they had golden earrings, because they were
09:14 Ishmaelites. And they answered, we will willingly give them.
09:18 And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man
09:22 the earrings of his prey. And the weight of the golden
09:26 earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred
09:30 shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars,
09:32 and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian,
09:35 and beside the chains that were about their camel's necks.
09:38 And Gideon made an ephod thereof and put it in his city, even in
09:43 Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a-whoring after it:
09:48 which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
09:54 Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that
09:58 they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in
10:02 quietness 40 years in the days of Gideon.
10:05 And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
10:10 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten:
10:15 for he had many wives. And his concubine that was in Shechem,
10:20 she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
10:23 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age,
10:28 and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah
10:32 of the Abiezrites. And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon
10:37 was dead, that the children of Israel turned again,
10:40 and went a-whoring after Baalim and made Baal-berith
10:44 their god. And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord
10:49 their God, who had delivered them out of the hands
10:51 of all their enemies on every side: Neither shewed they
10:54 kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon,
10:57 according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.
11:01 We're continuing in the book of Judges, chapter 9,
11:05 this is the King James Version.
11:07 And Abimelech the son of Jerub-baal went to Shechem
11:12 unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them,
11:15 and with all the family of the house of his mother's father,
11:18 saying, Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of
11:22 Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all
11:26 the sons of Jerub-baal, which are threescore and ten persons,
11:30 reign over you, or that one reign over you?
11:33 remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.
11:36 And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all
11:40 the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined
11:44 to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.
11:47 And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver
11:51 out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain
11:56 and light persons, which followed him.
11:59 And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew
12:03 his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being
12:07 threescore and ten persons, upon one stone:
12:11 Notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal
12:15 was left; for he hid himself. And all the men of Shechem
12:20 gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went,
12:23 and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in
12:27 Shechem. And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood
12:31 in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice,
12:35 and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me,
12:38 ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
12:41 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them;
12:46 and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
12:50 But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness,
12:54 wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted
12:58 over the trees? And the trees said unto the fig tree,
13:01 Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them,
13:06 Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit,
13:09 and go to be promoted over the trees?
13:11 Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou,
13:15 and reign over us. And the vine said unto them,
13:18 Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man,
13:21 and go to be promoted over the trees?
13:24 Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign
13:29 over us. And the Bramble said unto the trees,
13:32 If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put
13:36 your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of
13:40 the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
13:43 Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that
13:48 have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with
13:53 Jerub-baal and his house, and have done unto him according
13:56 to the deserving of his hands; For My father fought for you,
13:59 and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of
14:03 Midian: And ye are risen up against my father's house
14:06 this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons
14:10 upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his
14:14 maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he
14:16 is your brother; If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely
14:20 with Jerub-baal and with his house this day,
14:22 then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:
14:28 Thank you for joining me today. Until next time,
14:31 may God keep us all in His hands.


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Revised 2014-12-17