January 8, 2021
Rev. Daniel Poon
Gideon did not believe in God. He did not believe in God until he saw God had met his requirements. Our attitude toward our authority is often the same. We do not see God choosing our authority, but only listen to them after they have met our standards. God has been helping Gideon since he was chosen, but Gideon’s heart did not turn to God, and he did not see that all his victories came from God.
1. V1-21 Not Walking in the Calling of God
1A. V1-3 Not Letting the people of Ephraim see God
The tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of Manasseh, to which Gideon belonged, were brothers of the same family and of the same mother, but they did not fight together, thus seeing the distance between Gideon and his brothers. When facing Ephraim’s condemnation, Gideon did not testify before them and give glory to God – it was God who let the enemy kill each other to make Gideon triumph. Gideon did not exalt the Lord but exalt himself and others (v2 -“What have I done now in comparison with you?”). Gideon had done nothing for it was all done by God. He gave the credit to himself, he also brought God down and exalted the people of Ephraim. He used human methods, just like how we want to build a good relationship with others and praise others. We only see what people do and not what God does. Gideon did not bring people to God but to himself and make people think he was good.
1B. V4-17 Not Exalting God in front of the People of Succoth and Penuel
Gideon and his 300 people crossed the Jordan, “exhausted but still in pursuit” of the Midianites. Then he went to ask for food from the men of Succoth. People in Succoth were from the tribe of Gad of Israel. It seemed that Gideon had a bad relationship with other tribes, and his reputation was poor. He was not recognized in the group. When he went to the tribe of Gad, instead of witnessing the mighty power of God with them, he said that they were hungry. He let people know how hard he was working, and he needed help. God chose Gideon’s three hundred warriors to save all the twelve tribes of Israel, so that every tribe could see the Lord God, to show that the battle was not won by people. But Gideon did not testify to Ephraim and the tribes of Gad what God had done and the destiny God gave him. Facing the tribe of Gad, he said he was tired from all the hard work and needed food. Similarly, we often do not see God’s deeds, but only see how much we are doing, and we feel tired, wronged, and pitiful, so we did not exalt God and glorify Him.
V9, Gideon told those who did not support him that he would hurt them, and that he would tear down their tower when he came back. He was hurt when he was rejected by others. He felt that what he had done was not recognized, and people did not give him what he wanted. There was a lot of anger in him, so malicious words came out of his mouth. When we are doing our own things, we easily feel tired, be angry, and sin. But Jesus said that His burden is light. God wants us to trust in Him and exalt His work, not for people to see our weariness and needs. Are we proclaiming positive and encouraging words, or do we make people see we are tired and hungry when we follow God, and we need others’ approval, but when others disagree with us, we will be angry? Our need for people’s pity was Gideon’s problem, as much as ours.
V13-16, when Gideon returned from victory, he found out 77 elders of Succoth and punished them with thorns and briers. The reason for his revenge was his feeling of injustice. Gideon was hurt because he was not recognized, so he also hurt others. He cared about how he felt and whether he was recognized by others.
V17, Gideon did not come to witness how God used the three hundred warriors to win, so he used his own way to hurt others, and even killed the whole city of Penuel. How damaging are our feelings when we hold them high! We did not think it was our own fault, but we thought it was the fault of others. Are we grateful in the church and in the workplace, or do we radiate our bitterness and make people stumble? Only by proclaiming positive words of gratitude to others can we align with God and overcome our weakness. This is the true sacrifice.
3. V18-21 Not Exalting God before Children and Enemies
V19, The two Midian kings tried to get mercy from Gideon, so they described Gideon as “the son of a king”. The brothers of Gideon’s mother were from the tribe of Ephraim, not the Naphtali people who had been killed. However, Gideon made up a grand excuse that he had to kill the two kings for his brothers.
V20, He called his firstborn son, a boy, to kill the two kings, and the child was afraid. So Gideon was not a good father, he distorted the facts in order to make others respect him.
V 21, Even the two kings of the enemy could not bear to see what Gideon had done. We see the life of Gideon here – he did not exalt the Lord, did not walk in the calling of God, and could not do the work of judgment.
2. V22-35 Duplicity
V23, the Israelites wanted to make Gideon king. Gideon’s reply was that only the LORD could rule over them. He made it sound like he was exalting God.
V24-27, Gideon requested the Israelites to give him their plunder and made an ephod. This ephod was a sacred clothing worn by the high priest when he entered the sanctuary. It was attached with Urim and Thummim to inquire of God, who had told Moses that Joshua should come to Eleazar the priest to inquire of God about everything (Num 27:18-21). Gideon made an ephod to make people see a tangible thing to worship, hence they were misled to focus on the results that ephod can give, rather than to know that behind all this it is God who is giving people answers through ephod. Therefore, it is God that we should worship and get close to, not something tangible made by human hands.
V30, Gideon had many wives. Although he said he was not a king, he lived the life of a king.
V31, the son of his concubine was called Abimelech, which means “my father is king”. Gideon told people that he would not be king, but his child was called by this name. He was not a humble man who exalted God, but some one of duplicity.
V33-35, In those 40 years of peace he led in Israel, he did not make good use of the influence and honour God gave him. 40 years later, what he brought out was that people still did not know God but followed the people of Canaan to worship Baal. Let each of us magnify the Lord, exalt God, and glorify Him in the presence of people.
Response Prayer:
Thank You Lord for letting us see though Gideon experience great grace, power and gifts from God, his life gave us an alarming lesson. In our life we also value all our abilities, what we have, and the approval of others, the glory we get from the world, but we forget about God. We do not see grace, we only see our own hard work, pain, and hurts, giving glory to ourselves, leaving complaints to others, failing to make good testimonies, even turning testimonies into negative ones, and forgetting the mission given to us by the Lord and God’s calling. We pray that Lord You will help us remember the first love and Your calling for us, help us be grateful at all times, be grateful for being able to serve, and exalt God all our life!
2021年1月8日
士师记8 – 自以为是
潘锡安牧师
基甸不相信神，他要看到神达到他的要求后才相信神。我们对权柄的态度也常是如此，我们没有看到神对权柄的拣选，而是要他们达到我们的标准后才会去听。我们要开始明白，要与神对齐，要与神的话对齐。从开始被拣选，神就一直帮助基甸，但是基甸的心没有归向神，没有看到他得到的一切胜利都是从神而来。
一、V1-21 没有走在神的呼召
- V1-3 没有让以法莲人看见神
以法莲人与基甸所属的玛拿西支派是同一个家族、同一个母亲生的兄弟，但是没有一起争战，以此看到基甸和他兄弟们的关系疏远。面对以法莲人的责难，基甸没有在他们面前讲见证，把荣耀归于神 – 本来是神让仇敌自相残杀使基甸得胜，结果基甸没有高举耶和华，反而高举自己和别人（v2 – “我所行的”&“你们所行的”）。基甸并没有行过什么，是神行的。他归功于自己，他将神降下来，高举以法莲人。他用人的方法，就像我们想跟别人搞好关系，高举赞美别人一样，我们只看见人所做的，没有让人看见神做的。基甸没有将人带到神那里，而是带到他那里，让人觉得他不错而已。
2. V4-17 没有在疏割和毗努伊勒人面前高举神
基甸的300人过了约旦河，虽然疲乏还是追赶米甸人，跟随他的人疲倦了，就跟疏割人要食物吃。疏割人是以色列迦得支派的人，基甸与其他支派的关系并不好，人缘很差，他没有在团队中被认可。他去到迦得支派那里，没有跟他们见证耶和华的大能大力，反而跟人说他们饿了，他让人知道自己怎么辛苦，需要帮助。神拣选基甸的三百勇士是要拯救所有以色列十二支派，让每个支派都能看见耶和华神，说明争战不是靠人去得胜。但是基甸对以法莲和迦得支派没有说神的作为和神给他的命定。面对迦得支派，他说的是很疲倦、需要食物，我做得很多。就如我们一样，没有看到神的作为，只看见自己做得很多，觉得疲倦、委屈、可怜，就没有高举和荣耀神。
V9，基甸对不支持他的人说会打伤他们，说回来的时候会拆毁他们的城。他被别人拒绝就受伤了，觉得自己所做的不被认可，他要的人家都不给他，他里面有很大的怒气，口中就释放恶毒的话。我们做自己的事情疲倦、生气会犯罪。耶稣说我的担子是轻省的，神要我们去倚靠他，高举他的作为，不是要人看见我们的疲倦和需要。我们宣告出来的是不是正面和鼓励的话语，还是让人看见我们跟随神就疲倦、饿了、需要人的认同，别人不认同我们我们就生气？我们需要人的可怜，这是基甸的问题，与我们的问题一样。
V13-16，当基甸真的得胜回来的时候，找出了疏割77个长老，用藤条打他们，他报复的原因是觉得不公平。基甸因不被认可而受伤了，他也去伤害别人，他在意自己的感觉，在意是否被人认同。
V17，基甸没有来见证神如何用三百勇士得胜，就用自己的方式来伤害别人，甚至杀毗努伊勒全城的人。我们高举自己的感觉时，杀伤力有多大！我们做了还不觉得是自己的错，还以为是别人的错。我们在教会、职场，是否带着感恩的心，还是散发出我们的苦，让人跌倒。跟人宣讲正面积极感恩的话，才能与神对齐，跨越我们的软弱，这才是真正的牺牲。
3. V18-21 没有在儿子和仇敌面前高举神
V19这两个米甸的王尝试得到基甸的怜悯，所以形容基甸是“王子”。基甸同母的弟兄是以法莲人，被杀的拿弗他利人不是他同母的弟兄，但是基甸编造出冠冕堂皇的借口，说自己为了同母的弟兄不得不杀那两个王。
V20于是他就叫自己的长子，是个童子，也就是未成年人去杀人，孩子害怕。可见基甸不是一个好的父亲，他为了让别人尊重他，就歪曲事实。
V 21, 他这样做，连仇敌的两个王都看不下去了。我们看到基甸的生命光景，因为他没有高举耶和华，没有走在神的呼召中，无法去做判断的工作。
二、V22-35 口是心非
V23，以色列人要封基甸为王，基甸的回复是说只要耶和华来管他们，听起来好像是高举神。
V24-27，基甸对以色列人说，我有一件事“求”你们，“求”的圣经原文是“要”的意思。基甸要他们将他们的战利品拿出来，做了一个以弗得。这以弗得是大祭司进入圣所时所穿的服饰，里面装着乌凌和土明用以求问神，当年神曾对摩西说要让约书亚凡事来到祭司以利亚撒面前求问神（民27：18-21）。基甸做一个以弗得出来，使人能看到一个有形的东西来拜，以至于人们被误导，专注于以弗得所能给的结果，而不明白背后是神借着以弗得给人的答案，所以我们要来敬拜和亲近的是神，不是人手所制造出来有形的东西。
V30，基甸有很多的妻子，虽然说他不做国王，实际上过着王的生活。
V31，他的妾所生儿子叫亚比米勒，意思就是“我的父是王”。基甸在人面前说我不做王，但孩子却叫这样的名字，他并不是一个谦卑、尊主为大的人，而是口是心非的人。
V33-35, 他给以色列人40年太平的日子，没有好好运用神给他的影响力，没有运用神给他的尊荣。40年后，他带出来的是人不认识神，跟从迦南人拜巴力。让我们每个人都尊主为大，高举神，在人面前更加荣耀神。
回应：
看到基甸的生命经历了何等恩典，大有能力和恩赐，但是他的生命给我们很大的警醒，看到我们的生命看重自己所有的能力、得到的东西，别人的认可，从世人得到的荣耀，反而忘记神。我们看不到恩典，只看到自己的劳苦、委屈和受伤，将荣耀归于了自己，抱怨留给了别人，没有做出好的见证，把见证变成负面的，忘记了主给我们的使命和呼召。求主帮助回到起初的爱和呼召，时刻有感恩的心，为能够服侍而感恩，高举神，只有神是我们生命的主角。