Strength Through Weakness

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 24
• Hymn — Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart (#528)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 1 (Questions 1–2)
• Hymn — The Grieved Soul (Hymn of the Month)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Hymn — The Lord Is My Shepherd (#223A)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: Strength Through Weakness

Scripture: Judges 6

I. The Circumstances of Weakness with Midian

A. Israel's oppression under Midian is described using the image of locusts (v. 5) — a devastating picture for an agrarian society, consuming everything in their path

B. Gideon beats wheat in the winepress in secret to hide it from the Midianites (v. 11), illustrating the depth of Israel's fear and subjugation

C. Brief history of Midian

1. Midian was a son of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:6); initially a friendly people (Moses married a Midianite; Jethro was a priest of Midian)
2. The relationship turned hostile when Midian joined Moab in employing Balaam against Israel (Numbers 25)
3. God commanded Moses to exact retribution on Midian (Numbers 31), yet Midian has now returned stronger

D. Sin produces a grand reversal — the land meant to flow with milk and honey is desolate; enemies once defeated return with greater intensity

1. 2 Peter 2:20 — those who escape the world's defilements and return are in a worse state than before
2. The progressive downward spiral in Judges: from abandoned highways (Judges 5:6) to hiding in the winepress

II. The Constitution of Weakness with Gideon

A. Gideon comes from the weakest clan of Manasseh and is the least in his father's house (Judges 6:15)

B. Gideon's weakness is displayed through his repeated need for signs

1. God declares his commission (v. 14) and his presence (v. 16), yet Gideon asks for a confirming sign — fire consuming the offering (resembling Leviticus 9)
2. Gideon tears down the Baal and Asherah in his father's house, but only at night out of fear (v. 27)
3. Gideon tests God with the fleece (vv. 36–40) — the verb "test" used with Yahweh as its object is never positive in Scripture; this occurs after the Spirit has already come upon Gideon

C. Gideon's accusation in verse 13 — blaming God for Israel's situation without acknowledging Israel's idolatry — echoes the grumblers in the wilderness

D. Yet Gideon appears in the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11:32), alongside Barack and others whose faith was weak and halting

1. Their commendation is not based on what rests in man but on the grace of God
2. Abraham Kuyper: the Spirit does not force a person as a stock or block, but by love and compassion energizes the feeble will — a process that is often exceedingly slow
3. God accommodates himself to our weakness so that timid, fearful believers can stand in the Hall of Faith

III. The Courage Amidst Weakness with the Holy Spirit

A. The "might" of Gideon rests entirely in God's presence with him — not in untapped human potential (vv. 14, 16)

B. The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon (v. 34), transforming him from a fearful man working in secret to one publicly sounding the trumpet to muster an army

C. The conflict is not merely military but spiritual — a battle of Yahweh against Baal

1. The second bull and the wood of the Asherah are used for a burnt offering to the Lord — a declaration that Yahweh is the true Lord
2. Gideon's new name, Jerubbaal ("Let Baal contend for himself"), signals that God will display his power over Baal through Gideon

D. Though the work is entirely God's by the power of the Spirit, it is nonetheless Gideon who is commended — God does not treat humans as programmed machines (hyper-Calvinism)

1. God sees Gideon not as he is in his weak constitution, but as he is in accordance with God's grace and Spirit
2. This is how God sees his people — chosen before the foundation of the world, hidden in Christ by the Spirit (Colossians 3:3)
3. Christian courage flows not from hidden human potential but from the Spirit hiding us in Christ — we are more than conquerors in him (Romans 8:37)