Monday, May 25, 2015

A Happening in the Winepress


Are we hiding away like Gideon? Do we do the daily things we need to do, but do it in the dark, at night, when no one is around?
When the Angel of the LORD appears, Gideon speaks. He declares what is in his heart. "If YOU the Lord are with us, why has all this happened to us?
Ever wonder sometimes why some things continue to occur in our lives, and there are no miracles?


Interesting to note in the passage below, Gideon ventures to ask if God is with them, then why has this all happened to us, but clearly God is with them. He came to give correction and to find Gideon hiding away in the "winepress" threshing wheat! What?
Are we actively doing our job, doing ministry, and not in the right place to be effective and a producer of what God desires for our part in His kingdom?
Was Gideon meditating on the fact that he was following a course set by the nation itself?



Judges 6:11-33,.............11 Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!" 13 Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."

14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?" 15 So he said to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." 16 And the LORD said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man." 17 Then he said to Him, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You." And He said, "I will wait until you come back."

In verse 14, the LORD tells Gideon, that he is sent to do something. "Have I not sent you?" Gideon responds, "how can I save Israel?" That would be like us responding today, "how can I save the United States of America?" The LORD tells him that Gideon will defeat the enemy, the Midianites as one man. UNITY! And then it is Gideon who wants a sign that it is God who speaks! Gideon makes the plans to worship the LORD with his offering and  to set it before HIM! The LORD said He would wait for his return with the offering. In reading this passage I am prompted to think of how many times the Lord comes, and He says "I will wait here for your offering" and how times do we not bring it to Him? For preparation takes some time, right, and it must be done to bring honor to God Himself, so how long does the LORD wait on us to make a move when He first speaks?
I believe that the LORD heard Gideon's heart while he worked at threshing wheat in the "winepress".

19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. 20 The Angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.

Gideon made ready the offering of meat and the unleavened bread. When consumed, the LORD had departed. Gideon was now sanctified to do what the LORD asked him to do.

21 Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. 22 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face." 23 Then the LORD said to him, "Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die." 24 So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 

Now in verse 25, we still find the LORD speaking to Gideon. Even though Gideon saw Him depart out of his sight in verse 21, Gideon is made aware  by His speaking to him about what was next in the instructions to him!


25 Now
it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, "Take your father's young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down." 27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. 


Following instructions: "OH no, take the father's young bull. SECOND bull of seven years old. Take down the altar of Baal, cut down the wooden image that is beside the altar. BUILD: an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this rock in proper arrangement. TAKE SECOND BULL AND OFFER IT AS BURNT SACRIFICE WITH THE WOODEN IMAGE YOU SHALL CUT DOWN.

Taking ten men with him, the work was done as to the LORD'S command, but done at night!
Instruction was clear: cut down those idols in your life!

28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. 29 So they said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And when they had inquired and asked, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing." 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it." 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!" 32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, "Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar."


The city men rose early and saw what had been done to the altar to Baal. Seems like many had the character of following the Baal god. They had the bent toward worshiping idols of such. The right spirit did not exist in Israel at the time. These men were leading their families down the path of being carnal and bent toward the things to be worshiped as in false gods, and not in God Himself. When Gideon obeyed, he moved out of the river of deception into the river that produces life and that is by God and in Him as well. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being.
Acts 17:28.................28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' NKJV

In this instance, we certainly see man choosing as Adam and Eve had chosen. In the garden we saw two people who chose to serve the false gods and the false idols of that day.  Gideon's obedience brought to him and those who wanted change, to a new day, and a new way, that God was wanting that "open door" to do His thing in a "miracle".  God desired for the Israelites to be enslaved no more by the Midianites.  A seven year.curse is a long one dealing with worshiping idols. It certainly sent Gideon into the winepress for threshing wheat! For whatever surplus of any crop, the Midianites would soon take it from the Israelites, so threshing wheat at the winepress kept it a secret.
In verse 31, we see Joash being inspired by his son Gideon, to act in way representing courage. He told the men of the city, if Baal had a problem with it, for Baal to take care of the matter. For if Baal were God, then he would be expected to avenge that which had been done to him. Simple and direct that if Baal had a problem with his altar being destroyed, now was the time to speak for himself!


33 Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

Being instructed and moving, Gideon blew the trumpet......when the Spirit of the LORD is there, as He is within us, He will clothe you where you are going. He anoints You to do the SPECIFIC THING HE DESIRES FOR YOU IN HIS PLAN!

When God does this, it is He who qualifies you to do that thing to where He is sending you.
I knew the day that He was clothing me, qualifying me to do something in Outreach Ministry. I knew the hour it all changed and that He was lining things up for me to move into position to minister at the jail and the Women's shelter. God certainly knows what He has planned and will see it done for your life. Another thing I noticed, was I had this confidence that God was with me no matter what,and that He was directing me as an orchestra and making the most beautiful music to display His glory at the jail and the women's shelter. Truly God is good, and He gives His children courage to move out in faith and see His will accomplished on earth!

When Gideon blew the trumpet, too many men came to help. Awesome that so many showed up and had a vote for change from serving the Midianites, but God wanted those who "would qualify". Read below!


Judges 7:4-18......................4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' the same shall not go." 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, "Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink." 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. 7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place." 8 So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. 


9 It happened on the same night that the LORD said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, 11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. 13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, "I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed." 14 Then his companion answered and said, "This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp." 

15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, "Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand." 16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. 17 And he said to them, "Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, 'The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!' " NKJV


Now there is much more to the story, but the point here today, is that the Lord will direct us out of hiding when He desires to clothe us and anoint for the ministry where we are going. There is a time for such study in the Word of God and prayer. And there is time where qualifying is now and you move to the place God has planned. God does not make mistakes.
Though the people of  Midian could be numbered as locust, all God needed was three hundred men with the same "heart". One heart with God is important to us! All God needed was those saying "yes" and compassionate to move out of idol worship and give God what He asks... for one........to be "willing and obedient to eat the good of the land".
Isaiah 1:19-20................19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land; 20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword";.For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. NKJV


Father, today, we pray for the willing heart to move when YOU speak to our hearts. We desire to be those who have set life before us. That is our desire Lord to Keep YOUR ways and Keep Your commands for You say that You will bless and multiply us in the land which we go to possess. According to Deuteronomy 30 and verses 15-20....we pray to not have hearts to turn from YOU But to TURN to YOU that we may live with life that came through Jesus and His shed Blood at Calvary. We know that YOU told us to choose life and not death. Choosing YOUR life, our descendants have life. We desire to be directed by YOUR Holy Spirit and to hear YOUR voice speak and show us the way to walk.
Father, today we pray in Jesus' name to be those who will continually wash in YOUR word and choose to put evil away from us. Help us Lord to see what needs to be changed in our lives. We require Your wisdom, and today we submit to Your leading for good that leads us to justice in our land. Father, we desire to not put anything in Your place, to worship it as if it can give life, but only takes us further away from You and Your plan for our lives. We understand the idol to be anything that takes up more time away from YOU our treasure, our life. We ask You to show us those things that take up quality time that we could be having with You!

 Father, our yard does not bring us life, we ask only to do it in timely manner each time the lawn mower comes out of the garage. We pray for friends, but those who will encourage in the way we are walking with YOU and not distract us to do things out of Your will for our lives. We pray if there is a hobby taking too much of our time, we pray it to be removed from our heart and only have a hobby which will add to someone else's life for good. If we devote all our time to music and the band, then are we  missing the call You have for set for our lives? This we know, that in just singing one song for two hours will certainly bring the glory in and see the Holy Spirit move over the WHOLE OF THE CROWD FOR MIRACLES because our hearts can see what YOU have done in just one "praise" song to YOU!  We know it is not about the lawn, the hobby, or friends but IT is seeing our hearts kneel before YOU in worship! YOU are more interested in what holds "a place" our "hearts'! In 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10......our faith is toward God and turned from any idols to serve the living and true God. We are those who wait for His Son (Jesus) from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.  Father, in   Revelation 3:11-13....We are told to.....Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." ' ( NKJV )  Father thank YOU for hearing and we believe we receive the answer of our expectancy to hold on through Your Holy Spirit. Amen.



You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Quality Faith

  The Object of faith is the crucified Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ….Romans 3:21-26 NKJV But now the righteousness of God apart  from the l...