Posted: 06/02/2010 at 8:08am | IP Logged

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Mighty Men Emerging – part 4

On fellowshipping with someone who had read the other three parts of this series, he remarked that he didn't feel like a mighty man even though he identified with much of the intense preparation and enemy attack which I had described. I went home and began to ask the Lord to show me just what these mighty men of His looked like. He led me to the story of Gideon!

Jdg 6:11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. Jdg 6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.

Here Gideon is called a mighty man of valor. Yet, if one reads the beginning of the chapter, one discovers that the Israelites had been under siege from the Midianites for seven years. Every time they planted seed, the Midianites would come and totally destroy their crops. The Word describes them as being like a bunch of grasshoppers or locusts! This is why Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress. He was hiding his own small harvest from the enemy so that it would not be stolen from him. He was busy on a secret mission but he certainly had not done any deeds worthy of being called a 'mighty man of valor'! He did not feel like a mighty man and certainly did not look like one.

So Beloved, here is the first thing to remember. You are marked as one of God's mighty men, not because of anything you have done in the past but because of what God intends to do through you in the future. It has absolutely nothing to do with the outward appearance of what your life has produced. You may feel fruitless and unworthy and 'greatly impoverished' just as Judges 6:6 describes. That does not disqualify you from being one of God's mighty men because He names you according to His intentions for your life, not your track record! This is exactly opposite to the way the world functions. Normally we receive honor and acclaim on account of what we have achieved in the past – except in the case of the present president of the United States who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his good intentions alone, but that is another story!

Just as the vineyard of Naboth was stolen from his family by the wiles of the enemy, so too Gideon's family had been rendered impoverished by the seven-year assault of the Midianites. Remember my dream of the mighty men within the hold of the airCRAFT? In the same way, Gideon tells the Lord that their lives do not display the fact that God is with them. From the present state of affairs, it looks like God has deserted them. However, the Lord is not interested on focusing on the past. He is interested in deliverance, now that the seven year season of trial is complete and declares His plan in and through Gideon:

Jdg 6:13 And Gideon said to him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this befallen us? and where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of, 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. Jdg 6:14 And the LORD looked at him, and said, Go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent you? Jdg 6:15 And he said to him, Oh my Lord, how shall I save Israel? my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. Jdg 6:16 And the LORD said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man.

The thing that makes Gideon a mighty man of valor is not his own strength or bravery but that the Lord is with him. It is the same with you – what makes you one of God's mighty men is the fact that your life has the hallmark of His presence! This is the source of your strength and ability – that God is with you. Did Paul not say that he gloried in his own weakness because it ensured that the power of God rested upon him?:

2Co 12:9 And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me.

This is why God chose Gideon, the smallest member of a poor family to spearhead His plan. This is also why God chooses you – He wants all the glory to go to Him alone for what He is about to do. Until the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon at that winepress, Gideon had absolutely no idea that anything awesome would be accomplished through his life. He was just trying to survive the daily troubles and get enough to eat. God interrupted the ordinary to do something extraordinary through a most improbable vessel! God uses the weak and the foolish things of this world to confound the wise! Hallelujah!

Gideon is not sure whether he is dreaming and asks for a sign to confirm he has really had this encounter and is receiving this assignment. When his sacrifice is consumed by fire from heaven, He builds an altar and calls it Jehovah-Shalom. Why does he call it this? Because now he knows that no matter what the enemy has done to him and his family, God is the One who delivers, heals and restores. The word 'shalom' means 'safe, happy, welfare, peace, prosperity' and significantly comes from the root word, Strongs number H7999, which means 'make amends, (make an) end, finish, complete, give again, make good, repay, to be at peace , that is perfect, perform, prosper, recompense, render, requite, make restitution, restore, reward'! Doesn't that sound like the kind of God to belong to?! Well, Beloved, He is your Jehovah-Shalom as well!

It seems Gideon began to see the whole situation through God's eyes and recognize God's ability to transform the situation. Faith began to arise in his heart. However, throughout the whole operation we find Gideon very aware of his own inability and constantly looking to God for guidance. He did not lean on his own understanding at all because the assignment given him was so big that he knew only God could accomplish it through him. He also battled fear continually. The first thing God told him to do was destroy all the idol altars that belonged to his own father plus the grove for Asherah worship. Gideon did this in the middle of the night because he was so scared of the reaction of the people! This is God's mighty man of valor!

Next, the Spirit of the Lord empowers him to call for troops to stand with him and the fighting men of four tribes come to join him! Once again, he is plagued with doubt and fear that he has heard right and he asks God to confirm it to him again. The dew on the fleece episode then happens. This takes two days and finally confirms to Gideon that he has heard right and then on the third day he moves with the men following him to the place where God's plan will be executed.

Dew is symbolic of revelation (Isaiah 26:19 'your dew is the dew of sparkling light'). It falls silently in the night season and is visible in the early morning. It was dew that brought the manna to the Israelites in the wilderness. So what does the dew on the fleece symbolize? The fleece is a picture of sacrifice, a dying to self; in essence it depicts Gideon's own laying down of his life for the purposes of God. In the morning of the first day that we seek understanding, God sends revelation to help understand our own suffering and our becoming conformed to His death in order to embrace the purposes of God. We need to see things from God's perspective. Why has He allowed us to undergo all that has befallen us?Do you remember Joseph when he came face to face with the brothers who had sold him into slavery? He told then God had sent him ahead to prepare the way. He had God's perspective on the reasons for his own suffering. Gideon wrings out that fleece and gets a whole bowl of water – enough to quench His thirst! Beloved, God will send enough revelation to quench your thirst for understanding of the way you have come. When your whole world feels like it is without form and void, the Spirit of the Lord broods over you and God says 'let there be light'. Then He separates light from darkness in your thinking, to give you understanding.

On the second day, the dew is upon the ground and the fleece is dry. God has sent revelation of the surroundings in which the fleece is laid. Without this we cannot see the whole picture. Once we have closed the chapter on the why's of our own suffering (hence the dry fleece on the second morning), it is necessary to get the broader picture. We must see our lives in context and then we are able to move on to carry out God's instructions. On the second day of creation, God separated the waters below from the waters above. He separates soulish or earthly revelation and wisdom from heavenly revelation and true wisdom.

So Gideon and his 32 000 warriors move to a spot called 'the well of Harod'. This word 'Harod' means 'fountain of trembling'! What an appropriate name! Here they had a view of the size of the problem they were facing!

Jdg 7:12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

Then God springs another surprise of Gideon. Having shown him 32000 men who were willing to fight with him, He begins to weed out those who who though outwardly appearing to be warriors, are inwardly fearful! A huge 22 000 go home! God's reasoning is that He doesn't want the army to take the credit for defeating the enemy. Beloved, God is so intent on receiving all the glory that after choosing the smallest member of a poor family, he whittles Gideon's chances in the natural even further by drastically reducing his MANpower. In other words, God ensures that the power of man can not possibly be given the credit for the victory He is planning.

Not content with the odds, He then reduces the army even further using the water-drinking style of the remaining warriors. The men who drank on all fours were sent home while those who drank while still crouching on their feet remained. I have heard many explanations of the reasons for this sifting method but here is what the Spirit showed me: the only time a human being moves on all fours is in infancy. Once adulthood is reached, the man walks on his feet and uses his hands to both meet his needs and work. A man who drinks on all fours shows immaturity and self-centeredness, being totally absorbed with meeting his own needs (he is vulnerable to the enemy); while a man who crouches and cups one hand to drink is still able to keep an eye on the enemy and be upright and reach his sword at a moment's notice. Paul writes that when he was a child, he spoke and reasoned like a child but on reaching maturity, he put away childish ways. This refining and reduction speaks of the removing of immaturity and childish ways which make us vulnerable to the enemy.

This left Gideon with only 300 men. Interestingly, the phrase 'the Spirit of the Lord' in Hebrew has a numeric value of 300. Truly, it is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord that victory is achieved for God's mighty men of valor! (Zech 4:6). God will remove from you all that does not originate from the Spirit of the Lord. When the odds seem completely overwhelming in the enemy's favor, God tells Gideon it is time to attack the crowd camped out like locusts before him. Knowing that fear is one of Gideon's main internal enemies, the Lord tells him to go and eavesdrop on the enemy camp. This, He says, will give Gideon strength to complete the assignment.

Jdg 7:9 And it happened on that night, the Lord said to him, Arise, go down to the army, for I have delivered it into your hand. Jdg 7:10 But if you fear to go down, go with Phurah your servant down to the army. Jdg 7:11 And you shall hear what they shall say. And afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down to the army. Then he went down with Phurah his servant to the edge of the ranks in the army.

'Phurah' means ' the branch'. So God telling Gideon to go down and eavesdrop with his servant, the branch. We find this BRANCH mentioned in a number of prophetic scriptures:

Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Isa 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

Zec 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows that sit before you; for they are men that are a sign: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch. Zec 3:9 For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; upon one stone are seven eyes...

Zec 6:11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; Zec 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Zec 6:13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace (SHALOM) shall be between them both.

We see the Branch mentioned in connection with the seven Spirits of God and also in reference to the moment when Joshua the high priest is crowned king. In other words, 'my servant the BRANCH' is a reference to the Melchizedek priesthood, those who operate as both kings and priests in the earth, As it says in Zech 6:13. So we see that Gideon and his servant, the branch (or Gideon and those 300 men who have come to serve him) are a type of that servant-priesthood released to rule from a seated place as kings in the earth.

Interestingly the place where this defeat of the enemy takes place is called Moreh, which means 'early rain, teaching'! So Gideon overhears a conversation between two enemy soldiers:

Judg 7:13 and when Gideon had come, a man told a dream to his fellow and said, I dreamed a dream and a cake of barley bread tumbled down into the host of Midian, and came to a tent and struck it so that it fell, and overturned it so that the tent lay flat.And his fellow answered and said, this is nothing else except the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a son of Israel. For into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole army.

In essence, what does this show us? God did not give Gideon this dream and interpretation. He sent it to the enemy camp. Why? So Gideon could hear that God had announced their own defeat to the Midianites! Right in the midst of the enemy hordes, the throne of God decreed the judgment written. Then all Gideon had to do was execute that judgment. Hearing this caused every last vestige of fear to leave his heart because once God has decreed and written a judgment, nothing can overturn it! Gideon could carry out any remaining instruction from a place of total rest in the finished works. According to heaven, the defeat was an accomplished fact and they even played the newsreel of the event for the enemy to see!

Psa 149:5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.(FROM A PLACE OF REST) Psa 149:6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; Psa 149:7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; Psa 149:8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; Psa 149:9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.

The fact that Gideon is portrayed in the dream as a barley cake is a reference to the OMER of firstfruits barley that is offered at Passover. We also know that Gideon was threshing wheat which places these events round Shavuot or Pentecost which is at the time of wheat harvest. In the dream the omer of barley was in the form of a cake, in other words, it was in a prepared state and had passed through the fire before release. Remember that the OMER of barley flour was obtained from ten omers of harvested barley. All God's dealings from the time of seven years of enemy assault to His finding Gideon in the winepress, greatly impoverished, until he finally stood with only three hundred soldiers to face the enemy, speak of the sifting and whittling down and the refining fire, the preparation which goes into making a barley cake that can be tumbled into the enemy camp with devastating results. I will wager that in the natural at this point Gideon felt the least capable of carrying out any exploit for God UNTIL he heard the announcement of the judgment written - straight from the enemy's mouth!

Something else to remember is that a barley cake is completely unable to launch itself down a hill. It can only lie where it is placed - until the hand of God empowers it by setting it in motion and then gravity takes care of the rest! In other words, you have only to step into your appointed place under the power and direction of the Spirit of God and the rest follows supernaturally!

Jdg 7:15 And it happened, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the meaning of it, he worshiped. And he returned to the army of Israel, and said, Arise! For the Lord has delivered the host of Midian into your hand.

Notice that when Gideon heard the interpretation of the dream, he worshipped, just like the saints upon their beds in psalm 149! Then He got up and decreed to his waiting men the judgments written. His statement to them is not in the future tense but in the past tense – announcing it as an accomplished fact. His thinking is aligned to God's thinking. Beloved, as the Lord does the final stages of preparation in you, He will cause you to hear the unfolding conversation of the enemy camped against you decreeing their own defeat and THIS will empower you to arise and release you to tumble down the hill and flatten the enemy as a prepared barley cake!

Jdg 7:16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies. And he put a ram's horn (SHOFAR) in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers.

Gideon divides the men into a threefold company, all bearing the same weapons. The shofar or ram's horn releases the sound of sacrifice, the sound of the Blood (remember Abraham finding a ram in a thicket for the sacrifice). The pitchers with the torches inside represent earthen vessels:

2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

The torches represent the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Until those pitchers are broken the light is dim and largely hidden. However, at the appointed moment the enemy camp is subjected to a threefold assault of the sound of the Blood and the light of the knowledge of God., accompanied by a shout 'the sword of the Lord and of Gideon'! This is all it takes to throw the whole camp into confusion and causes them to destroy one another. How glorious!

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

'The word of their testimony' – what does this mean? We find a key in the dream interpretation and the shout of the 300 men. The enemy soldier declared that the barley cake WAS the sword of Gideon. So firstly, the man Gideon had become in the refining and testing WAS the weapon God used to flatten the enemy camp. Secondly the shout they gave declared the sword of the Lord and of Gideon to be one and the same. We find the sword of the Lord in Rev 19:

Rev 19:11 And I saw Heaven opened. And behold, a white horse! And He sitting on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war. Rev 19:12 And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head many crowns. And He had a name written, one that no one knew except Himself. Rev 19:13 And He had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. Rev 19:14 And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Rev 19:15 And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it He should strike the nations. And He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the winepress of the wine of the anger and of the wrath of Almighty God.

The sword of the Lord is none other than the Word of God, who wages war in righteousness and justice. Gideon's life has become conformed to the Word of God. What God decrees, he decrees. No longer is fear an issue. The word has become flesh in him and he is one with the Word, completely aligned. He no longer sees according to the natural eye. He sees the finished works of Christ and the victory and this is the word of his testimony. The enemy camp is treated to a threefold assault of the Blood, the light and the Word and their tent is flattened!

Jdg 7:21 And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.

They stood in their appointed place and the enemy fled (having done all, stand). There was no need to enter the enemy camp or engage in hand-to-hand combat. The weapons of their warfare were not carnal. There was not a sword in sight in Gideon's army, yet Gideon himself was a sword, totally defeating the enemy. In the days we are entering God's mighty men of valor will overcome the enemy with the high praises of God in their mouths and the two-edged sword of the light of the Word in their hands. They will execute the judgments written from a place of rest, standing in their allotted places surrounding the enemy camp. The sound of the Blood is the sound of victory. It is the decree of all Christ accomplished on the cross. It is the sound of a battle already won – IT IS FINISHED!

Beloved, when we receive a revelation of the judgments already written over the enemy before us, the shout of a king rises up within us. We decree that which is already settled in the courts of heaven – therefore we decree with authority, not desperate hope. Do you recall these verses:

Dan 7:21 I watched, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given in favor of the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Have you, like Gideon been through a long season when the enemy has been warring and prevailing against you? Well, we are entering the time of hearing the judgment given in our favor. The execution of that judgment causes us to POSSESS the kingdom, not just speak about it - but experience it. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That peace is the SHALOM of God, which brings recompense, restoration and wholeness. All this is accomplished not by might, nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord operating through God's barley cake, His mighty men of valor who are small in their own eyes!

selah

Part Three

Part Two

Part One