Gideon’s Battle and Christ’s Greater Victory.

Gideon’s battle was really God’s battle. Of course, Jesus had an even greater victory than Gideon. Learn how from Brian Stapley.

Gideon’s Victory

In the Bible book of Judges, Gideon defeats an army 450 times bigger than his. It is pretty dramatic. The pitchers break. Lights flash on three sides of the camp. Perhaps the camels get spooked and start to stampede. In the midnight darkness, soldiers bump into one another and take the other soldier for the enemy. 

They are an army of mixed languages – Midianites, Amalekites, Arabians – and perhaps hearing words they don’t understand, mistake them for Israelites. Swords flash. Men fall … by the 1000’s … 120,000.  Psychologists could explain why the Midianites might be in such a panic, but the bottom-line explanation is not psychology, but God:

“The Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army.” (Judges 7:22)

Gideon’s Victory Compared to Christ’s

As great as Gideon’s victory was, the victory of Jesus Christ goes far beyond it. Gideon did battle with 300 men; Christ went to war against sin … alone. Gideon fought 135,000 Midianites. While pinned to a Roman cross, he acted as a champion for you and me, not against a single, other champion, like David against Goliath, but one against the strongest battle force ever assembled – Lucifer, human beings, death itself, sin, the Law and even Jehovah God. Yes, even God brought his sword against Jesus so that he might not bring the sword of justice against you and me.

The Main Lesson in Gideon’s Life

What is the main lesson of Gideon’s life? He starts out scared, hiding in a winepress so the Midianites won’t steal his grain. When an angel calls him “A mighty man of valor”, he says,

“Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (Judges 6:15).

His view of himself isn’t God’s view. And his view of God is badly messed up. He complains,

“If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” (Judges 6:13)

His life has a big impact only when he straightens out his view of himself and of God.

Our Lives Can Have Significance

That’s the lesson of Gideon’s life: Our lives can have significance when we have the right view of God and of ourselves. You can become a Christian today and your life will have eternal significance, if you view yourself as a sinner, and view Jesus as the Savior who loved you and died for you.”

When someone tells you he has good news and bad news for you, which one do you want to hear first? Here is the good news first, then the bad:

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36).

If you want to hear the bad news first and then the good, here it is:

“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

Someone summed it up this way:

“You are more sinful than you could dare imagine and you are more loved and accepted than you could ever dare hope.”

How has God given you a victory? Share with us. Contact us at HopeStreamRadio,  or comment below.