Rev. Daniel Poon
Introduction: Be grateful for our identity, wealth, and family, and do not take them for granted. It is all God’s grace that we have everything. We feel dissatisfied and hurt because we think we should have these things, that is why we easily feel lost and offended. During the 40 years of “rest” (chapter 5), Israel did not learn from the problems of the past. Even though the judge Deborah was raised up, people were still stubborn and continued to indulge their desires. The most common mistake we make is to indulge in our own desires – venting our emotions. Have we learned to discipline our body and bring it into subjection in the presence of the Holy Spirit?
1. V1-10 People fall, and God Speaks
V1, the Israelites “did evil in the sight of the LORD”, and the same pattern appeared. People were not vigilant and did not know their own problems, nor did they have gratitude, so they suffered another seven years.
V2-3, during the 7 years that the Israelites were oppressed, they took refuge in the mountains and made dens and caves for themselves. When we encounter difficulties, it is easy to make a cave and hide inside, but God can find us from the cave. David once hid in a cave, where Saul went to attend to his needs. We feel safe to hide in the cave, but the world looks at it as a latrine. When we became cavemen, we felt safe and protected, but the cave is a smelly, dark, and humid place where bacteria thrived. We cannot see clearly in the dark, and we can only explore by feeling. The easiest thing for us to do is to dig a hole. The Israelites forgot that they had peace in their land for forty years not because of hiding in caves, but because God raised up judges and God protected them.
V4-6, when the Israelites wanted to improve the quality of their lives, people in the world came, the enemy would “encamp against them,” and the people were even more powerful. They prevailed the Israelites and left them no food. They brought their way of life to the Israelites because the Israelites had a different way of life. Their people and livestock were so numerous that they even entered and destroy the land of the Israelites. This is our situation. We want to have a share in this world in the end time, but we are robbed, oppressed, and there is no food left. “Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites”. It took them 7 years from the having everything to losing everything. They were blessed by God for the first 40 years, and the things they had helped them go for 7 years, but 7 years later they were utterly exhausted, so they cried out to the Lord. The same is true for us. We only call on God when we are desperate and helpless. “Crying out” means to pray fervently and bow down, but do we need to get to this extreme before thinking of God? In other times, we may just put God aside and see Him as the God that just existed many years ago. Have we forgotten how God has led our lives to victory? Do not forget how God has guided us to walk through high mountains and low valleys.
V7-10, when the children of Israel cried out for help, God sent a prophet to speak to them and let them see their problems. Many times when we come to church to pray, God does not immediately solve the problem, but He wants us to know the truth, so He shines His light in to make us see the darkness of our lives, so we can go out of the darkness into the light. God sent a prophet to speak to the Israelites saying, The LORD is your God, and you shall not worship other gods, but you have not obeyed God’s voice. This is our situation. There are so many problems and confusion in our lives because we do not listen to God, and we want to do things in the kingdom of God using our own way. Therefore, when we fall and cry for help, God will to us.
2. V11-27 God Calls but People Question
God came to speak to Gideon.
V12, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” When God tells us that He is with us, we should naturally feel extremely excited. However, we are not satisfied and happy when we are with our authority. I like to be with my authority, to listen to them, and work with them, because I cherish the fellowship with them, even if I just watch them how to handle things I am still satisfied. But many people feel uncomfortable with their authorities and do not think this is a grace. The Angel of the Lord called Gideon ” mighty man of valor “, telling him how God would see him. When our authority spends time with us nowadays, do we just feel that we are to be criticized, and fail to see God values us? God saw Gideon as potential and capable, a chosen man, whereas what Gideon saw was, “… if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?…” God was just talking to Gideon, no one else, but Gideon was talking about all the Israelites and asked God why they suffered like that. He blamed God for the problems they had encountered. He did not think he was a warrior or God had chosen him. All he saw were problems. Today, when we are with our authority, we must realize that we are chosen. We do not value what God and our authority have said to us, but we just feel that we have been criticised. All we saw was “waste”. We have not seen that God and our authority value us.
Gideon’s parents and ancestors told them, the Lord brought us up from Egypt, and now he has abandoned us. It seems that what the Israelites gave to the next generation was only a story from the past. They did not teach their children not to fear the gods in the land of Canaan, but to worship the LORD only. The Israelites not only refused to listen, but they also did not teach. We have the similar problems because we are afraid that people will not like us when we teach and fear that they will leave. The result was that the people of Israel gradually fell in the 40 years.
From Gideon’s response to God, we saw that he was not taught properly. He could not see why the Israelites had been suppressed. He only saw that the Lord had ignored them. They only regarded the Lord as their national God and did not have an intimate relationship with God. We often do the same with God and our authority. We may be like Gideon, with great power and gifts, but we do not really know God or our authority.
V14-16, when Gideon questioned God, God did not argue with him, for His way was different. God turned to Gideon and spoke of his potential-it is a miracle that you can attack the Midianites like this because I am with you. God constantly confirmed what His Angel had said in verse 12, ” The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor”-You do not see yourself as powerful, but I see you are powerful. You cannot defeat the Midianites, but I am with you. God saw Gideon as a mighty warrior with God’s presence, but Gideon saw only himself in the cave, only seeing the impossible. When our authority asks us to do something, our first reaction is often “no way”. In fact, it is not that authority is making mistakes, but that we need to learn to believe our authority. Our vision in 2021 is to align and cross over. Only when we have love and trust in our authority and see the same vision can we cross over all the impossible that the world and we say to ourselves. If we do not have love and trust in God and our authority, we will not be able to cross. Only with love will we be willing to sacrifice our desires and be willing to cross. When Gideon said that he was weak and insignificant, God did not directly comment on his words, instead He just said “I am with you” to bring him the truth. When others throw questions to us, we should not be misguided but bring the truth out and preach it to others.
V17-24, Gideon asked God for a lot of confirmation because he did not know God and had not experienced God. He even asked God where all His miracles were? If we already experience God in morning prayer every day and still go to ask for confirmation like Gideon, it means that you do not know God at all, and you have not experienced God’s presence and truth. We need to see God in a world full of hurt. Gideon has always relied on visible confirmation, but our Pastor has taught us to learn to find gold in the waste, seeing the possible from the impossible. Do we have fresh testimonies of signs and wonders to share with others? God is love, and His wonderful works are with us every day. Where are your miracles? When God calls us, we must believe and draw close to God every day. When our authority asks us to do things and we still ask for confirmation, it means that we have not yet known God, just like Gideon and the Israelites.
V25, God wanted Gideon to do things that he thought was impossible, which he did not believe that he had the ability to do. However, when Gideon was willing to follow, he could walk together with God and attack the Midianites. Sometimes we question our authority and do not understand why they want us to do certain things, but we must see that behind all this is the opportunity for ourselves to be raised up
3. V27- 40 People Respond with Doubt
Gideon did what God wanted him to do, but his faith was little, so he hid in fear. Later, instead of blaming him, his father spoke up for him.
V34, Gideon was no longer the Gideon he used to be. He tore down the altar of Baal, so the Spirit of God came upon him and he blew the trumpet. When we have the courage and power, are we willing to blow trumpets for God to gather people and attack the enemy?
V36, this is our situation. Although we have seen many testimonies, we still have many excuses for not believing that God will use us to fight. Even when we have done so, we may still be afraid and worried, then turn back to our old self. When God has chosen us and our authority elevates us, do we believe that God will use us to be fishers of men? When we step out to respond to His calling, God will be with us.
Response Prayer:
We should be grateful and not take our daily experience for granted. We don’t want to be like the Israelites to go through a peaceful and prosperous world and then forget about God’s deeds and enter a situation of oppression. Everything is the grace of God that we can be here today, and we are willing to see how God’s hand leads us in our life, relationships, family, and work through mountains and valleys. God sees us as mighty warriors, but we make many excuses and see the impossible and negative environment. We still don’t know God, so we try to find confirmation from our environment and the visible things. We pray that the Lord will help us get out of the immature stage, open our hearts, and humble ourselves, let the true light and truth shine into us, drive out the darkness inside, and when the authority speaks to us, we can feel the love from God. Let us not be afraid to respond to God’s calling to us through our authority, and willing to respond to God’s love with actions.
2021年1月6日
士师记 6 – 人虽软弱，神不放弃
潘锡安牧师
引言：以感恩的心看待我们所拥有的身份、财富、家庭，不要当作理所当然，一切都是神的恩典。我们觉得不满足、受伤，是因为我们觉得我们应该拥有，所以会认为失去、被冒犯。在太平的40年，以色列从没有过去的问题学习。即使士师底波拉被兴起，人依然冥顽不灵，继续放纵自己的情欲。我们最容易犯的错误就是放纵自己的情欲——喜怒哀乐，宣泄自己的情绪，我们有没有在圣灵的同在中学习克服己身叫身服我？
一、V1-10人跌倒，神说话
V1，以色列人行耶和华眼中看为恶的事情，同样的模式出现。人没有警醒、不知道自己的问题，不懂感恩，所以他们又吃苦7年。
V2-3，以色列人被欺压的7年中，在山中躲避，挖穴挖洞。我们遇到困难很容易挖洞，躲起来，但是神能够在洞里找到我们。大卫躲在山洞，他的洞是扫罗来方便的地方。我们觉得躲在洞里安全，但是世人看来如同茅厕一般。当我们成为山洞人的时候，觉得安全、被保护，但是实际上是又臭、又黑、又潮湿的地方，细菌滋生。在黑暗中我们看不清，只能凭着感觉摸索。我们最容易做的是挖洞，以色列人忘记了四十年国中太平不是因为躲在山洞，而是因为神兴起士师，神保护了他们。
V4-6，当以色列人想翻转自己生活质量的时候，世界上的人就来了，敌人“对着他们安营”，人马更厉害。他们压制以色列人，不给他们留下食物。他们带着他们的生活方式来面对以色列人，因为以色列人生活方式与他们不同。他们的牲畜就大过以色列人的境界，侵占他们的土地，他们撒种的土地都被破坏了。这就是我们的光景，我们想要在这个末世拥有自己的一份，却被抢夺、欺压，没有食物留下。以色列人因为米甸人的缘故，极其穷乏，从本来有到完全没有，经过了7年。之前40年他们被神祝福，他们拥有的东西帮助他们走了7年，但7年后极其困乏，他们就 呼求耶和华。我们也是如此，只有到山穷水尽、走投无路才呼求神。呼求是迫切、俯伏的意思，人要走到这样才想起神。否则，神只是放在一边，是过去多年前曾经有过的耶和华神。我们是否忘记了神如何带领我们的人生得胜有余？不要忘记神如何让我们走过流泪谷、高山低谷。
V7-10，人呼求，神就差遣先知来对他们说话，让他们看到自己的问题。很多时候我们来到教会祷告，神没有马上解决问题，而是要我们知道真理，让光进入，认识到自己生命的黑暗，出黑暗入光明。所以神差遣先知来跟以色列人说话。神跟你们说神是你们的神，不可敬拜别神，但是你们不听从神的话。这就是我们的光景。我们的生命有如此多的混乱和问题，是因为我们不听，我们想用自己的方式做神国的事情。人跌倒呼求，神就跟我们说话。
二、V11-27 神呼召，人质疑
神亲自跟人说话，神来到基甸那里。
V12，“大能的勇士，耶和华与你同在。” 当神跟我们说他与我们同在时，我们应该很兴奋。我们却没有满足和快乐的心与我们的权柄同在，我很喜欢跟我的权柄同在，听他们讲话，与他们一起工作，因为我很珍惜与他们的团契，哪怕只是听他处理事情，我就是很满足。但是，人不是这样，很多人跟权柄一起会浑身不自在，不觉得是恩典。耶和华的使者跟基甸说”大能的勇士“，神告诉他神如何看他。今天权柄花时间跟我们在一起时，我们是不是觉得自己被批评，没有看到神看重我们？然而神看基甸是有潜力的、有能力的、你是被拣选的。基甸看的是，”主啊，耶和华若与我们同在。。。“ 神只是与基甸相遇，没有其他人，但是基甸将所有的以色列人拉进来，问神为什么我们遭遇这一切的事情。他将遇到的问题怪罪于神，他不觉得自己是勇士，不觉得神拣选他，他看到的都是问题。今天我们与权柄在一起，要意识到我们是被拣选的。我们没有看重神和权柄跟我们说的话，却觉得被批评、被教训，我们看到的都是大便，没有看到原来神和权柄都看重我们。
基甸的父母和祖先跟他们说，耶和华领我们从埃及上来，现在他丢弃我们了。原来以色列人给下一代的只是一个过去发生的故事，他们没有教导孩子们不可敬畏迦南地的神，唯有敬拜耶和华。以色列人不仅不听，而且不教。因为当教导的时候，我们害怕人不喜欢我们，会离开，结果就是让人慢慢放荡40年。
我们从基甸对神的回应，看到他没有被教导，他看不到以色列人被压制的原因，他只看到耶和华不理他们。他们只当耶和华是 民族的神, 没有与神建立亲密关系。我们与神、与权柄也常常如此。我们可能好像基甸，有能力、恩赐，但我们不认识神，不认识我们的权柄。
V14-16，当基甸质疑神的时候，神没有跟他辩论，神的方法是不一样的。神看基甸，说出了他的潜力 – 你这样还能够攻打米甸人，是神迹，是因为我与你同在。神不断确认第12节使者讲的话，“大能的勇士啊，耶和华与你同在。” – 你不是大能的，但是我看你大能。你不能打败米甸人，但是我与你同在。神看基甸是有神同在的大能勇士，基甸看到的却只是那个在山洞里的自己，只看到不可能。当权柄要我们做事情，我们往往第一个反应就是不行。其实不是权柄看错了，是我们要学习相信权柄。2021年我们的异象是对齐与跨越，唯有我们对权柄有爱和信任，看到一样的东西，我们才能跨越世界和我们跟我们自己说的不可能。我们若对神对权柄没有爱和信任，就没有跨越。有爱我们才会愿意牺牲自己得的欲望，才会愿意跨越。基甸说自己的软弱和渺小时，神没有去直接评论基甸的话，只说”我与你同在“，将真理带给他。当别人给我们丢问题的时候，我们不要被打乱，要将真理带出来，传讲给人听。
V17-24，基甸跟神求很多的确据，是因为他不认识神，没有经历神，他甚至问神“你的奇妙作为在哪里？” 若我们每天都晨祷都经历神，还要去问确据的话，证明你根本没有认识神，没有领受神的同在和真实。我们要在充满伤害的世界里看到神。基甸一直靠的是确据，但牧师一直跟大家说在大便里面找到黄金，从不可能中看到可能。我们是否有新鲜的神迹奇事见证跟人分享？神是爱，神的奇妙作为每天与我们同在。你们的神迹在哪里？当神呼召我们的时候，我们要相信，每一天都亲近神。当权柄让我们做事情我们还要求印证，就说明我们还不认识神，就好像基甸和以色列人一样。
V25，神要基甸做的事情，是他觉得不可能的，不相信自己有能力去做的。当基甸愿意的时候他才能与神同行，攻打米甸人。有时候我们质疑我们的权柄，不明白为什么他们要我们做一些事情，但我们要看到这一切的背后都是自己被提升的机会。
三、V27- 40人的回应，半信半疑
基甸做了神要他做的事情，但是他半信半疑，害怕地躲起来。后来他父亲不但没有怪罪他，反而替他说话。
V34，基甸再不是以前的基甸了，他拆毁了巴力的祭坛，所以神的灵就降在他身上，他就吹角。我们有勇气、能力进入学房，我们是否为神吹角、招聚人，去攻打仇敌？
V36，这就是我们的光景，虽然看见了很多见证，我们还是有很多借口，还不相信神使用我们去打仗。我们去做，但是还是害怕担心，仍然回到自己的老我。当神拣选我们，我们的权柄提升我们时，我们是否相信神会使用我们得人如得鱼？当我们回应呼召走出去的时候，神就与我们同在。
回应：
感恩每天的经历不是理所当然，不要像以色列人一样经过太平盛世，就忘记神的作为，又进入被欺压的光景。知道我们走到今日，一切都是神的恩典，愿意在生活、人际关系、家庭、工作中看见神的恩手如何带领我们走过高山低谷。神看我们是大能的勇士，我们却找很多借口，看到的是不可能和负面的环境。我们还是不认识神，所以尝试用环境和可见的事情寻求印证。求主帮助我们脱离吃奶的阶段，敞开自己的心谦卑自己，让真光真理照进我们里面，驱除我们里面的黑暗，当权柄对我们说话的时候，我们可以感受到从神而来的爱，不害怕回应神借着权柄给我们的呼召，愿意用行动回应神的爱。