Judges 6:1-14 – Israel vs. Midianites and Amalekites
Judges 6:1-14 Paraphrased: The children of Israel HAD DONE EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. THEREFORE, God turned them over into the hand of Midian (the Midianites) for seven (7) years. If having the Midianites come against them wasn’t enough, so did the Amalekites. (Note that both of these “ites” (Midianites and Amalekites) were nephilim and/or of nephilim descent.) The Amalekites destroyed Israel’s crops, leaving them without food or animals. It was ONLY AT THIS JUNCTURE that the Israelites took the time cry out to the Lord. God sent a prophet to remind them that it was God who had delivered them out of Egypt, bondage and oppression, and had driven their Enemy out as they watched and gave them the land. God’s message told them not to fear the gods of the Amorites while, at the same time, reminded them that THEY HAD NOT OBEYED HIS VOICE. [Oh boy, my message to the Israelites would have been, “See what happens when you don’t obey? . . . I told you so.” But God isn’t like that; He operates in LOVE, not in sarcasm and bitterness.]
An angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon under an oak tree while Gideon was threshing wheat, and delivered this message from God: “The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.” To which Gideon replied: “Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, “Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? But now the LORD hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” The LORD replied, “Go in this THY MIGHT and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have I not sent thee?”
SCRIPTURE:
Deuteronomy 26:17-19 “You have today declared the LORD to be your God, and that you would WALK IN HIS WAYS AND KEEP HIS STATUES, HIS COMMANDMENTS, HIS ORDINANCES AND LISTEN TO HIS VOICE. The LORD has today declared YOU to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that YOU SHOULD KEEP ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS AND THAT HE WILL SET YOU HIGH ABOVE ALL NATIONS which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that YOU SHALL BE A CONSECRATED PEOPLE to the LORD your God, as He has spoken.”
Hebrews 13:7-9a “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. 8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. 9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines”
2 Timothy 2:3-5 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
Brethren, we are grafted-in Israelites through Jesus. God’s Covenant with the Israelites is our Covenant too! A covenant (like any legal contract – yes, LEGAL AGAIN), has two parties. One party promises to do “his part” and the other party promises to do “their part.” A contract/covenant is not a one-sided endeavor. This, Warriors, is how we must look at our life in Christ. Jesus does not do it ALL. He does His part. Scripture does not tell us we are a new co-dependent creation.
JESUS: left all His Majesty in Heaven; was ridiculed and sentenced to death even though He was innocent; willingly went to the cross and gave His life . . . He died and rose again TO REDEEM US. Obedience to God’s commands is OUR PART in the Covenant – what we promise to do. Obedience is not an option as so many Enemy-driven false teachers would have us believe.
I had a brother just the other day in a comment saying that it wasn’t him who sinned, that it was “the sin” (i.e. the fault of the sin) that lived in his body. Brethren, we are given FREE WILL and that free will is controlled by our minds/choices (the Battlefield of our mind).
Jesus’ redemption has set us FREE – so we are no longer slaves to SIN (Romans 6:6), which means that through Christ, we are now ABLE TO CHOOSE OBEDIENCE; whereas, before Christ, we were slaves of Satan and sin! If we willfully choose disobedience, WE are sinning; not that the sin in our bodies is sinning. SIN is a CHOICE. The false doctrine this deceived brother was “pushing” is exactly what the Enemy PUSHES. DO NOT BE DECEIVED!
The above-scripture in 2 Timothy seems to bear witness of what happened with the Israelites and Gideon to us today. The Israelites were God’s chosen people, yet no matter how many times they were witness to God’s deliverance, His provision, His miracles . . . they still chose to DISOBEY God. As brother Paul Begley would say, “Whhhaaaaaaaatt?”
So, tell me, what was the consequence when the Israelites disobeyed God? God gave them over to “the Enemy.” What happens when Believers “willfully and continually” sin? God allows the Enemy LEGAL RIGHT to torment/demonize us AT WILL. The same scenario indeed.
I know the Enemy has been hard at work over the 100+ years, sowing his seed of false doctrine and doctrine of omission. My prayer is that we are not as stiff-necked and hard-hearted as Israel. For if God allowed his chosen people (and they are STILL his chosen people) to suffer as they did . . . we must expect the same consequences TODAY, as God does not change (see Hebrews 13 scripture above)!
Do not be fooled or deceived. I plead with all of you; stop believing that SIN is okay. Stop believing that because we are human it is okay. Stop believing that God is going to do it ALL for you. Stop believing that God is nothing but love – because He is also JUST and HOLY!! Stop falling into the same TRAP the Enemy has been using to defeat you time and time again!!! Stop living a defeated, sin-filled life as a Believer!!! You have been chosen by God and you are special to Him. Stop acting “as if” SIN doesn’t matter. It matters to God!
Is our reaction to God’s love, protection and miracles like the Israelites? Do we wait until we are so deep in the consequences of sin before we call on God? Do we think, like Gideon, “Where are you God?” and blame God for all of the consequences we have brought upon ourselves?
To those of you who have been swept away by FALSE DOCTRINE: Believers SUFFER CONSEQUENCES FOR SIN. Period. God does not change. Our redemption does not keep us from the consequences of sin. God, in His infinite mercy, not only offers salvation but also deliverance. God’s deliverance begins with REPENTANCE and RENUNCIATION OF SIN.
Leviticus 11:44 “For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves . . .”
PRAYER: Our most-high, most gracious, merciful Heavenly Father, we humbly come before You. We acknowledge our silence to our sin. We acknowledge our indifference. We acknowledge our sin to you, Oh God. You, who have delivered us from death and sin and from eternal damnation . . .You, O Father, who provided a “way out” because of your great love for us . . . You, who calls us “CHOSEN!!” Whose love is greater than any other! Your grandeur is displayed every morning. You see our sin and love us still! Father, forgive us . . . we repent and renounce ALL sin. We repent of breaking Covenant with You. We repent of not holding up our part of the Covenant. We repent of our DISOBEDIENCE to Your Word. Father, we stand as naked before You; nothing hidden from you . . . we lay every sin before you . . . we repent of and renounce every alliance with the Enemy. PLEASE DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON US ANY LONGER FATHER! Renew our LOVE for you . . . bring us back to our FIRST LOVE, and we promise to serve YOU and YOU ONLY the rest of our days. AMEN and AMEN!
Crying out in the wilderness,
Delann Conrad