Gideon’s Courage Changed Everything

Review: The Legal Framework

We’re in Judges 6, and I want to do a brief review with a specific thing in mind. From verse 32, Gideon is given the name Jerubbaal — Let Baal plead against him. The centre of that name is the Hebrew word rib or reb, which means a lawsuit, a legal case, a contention. This naming points us to something running through the whole passage: a series of lawsuits.

The first and most crucial is in verses 8 to 10, where the Lord sends a prophet to bring his case against Israel. God was operating within a law framework. Israel deserved what it received — Deuteronomy 28 outlines exactly what happens to a nation that departs from God. The realm of religion is the realm of law. This is something we have largely lost sight of. Previous generations understood clearly that each religion has its own law. The Viking-settled regions of England were called the Danelaw because pagan Danes naturally have a different law from Christian Englishmen. We are in a battle of law frameworks, and beneath every law framework is a religion.

The Trajectory of One Man

Now look at Gideon’s trajectory across just a few verses. He goes from total obscurity — least of his father’s household, threshing grain in a winepress — to becoming the commanding presence that all Israel wanted to follow. From verse 33 onward, the Midianites assemble in the Valley of Jezreel. And the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon.

He blew the trumpet. The men of his clan gathered behind him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh — and they gathered. He sent to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali — and they came up to meet him. He went from one man in a winepress to the head of a national movement. He did not go around grabbing men by the collar. He blew the trumpet of obedience and faith, and they came to him.

How It Happened: Step by Step

There is a clear pattern here worth tracing.

He accepted God’s identity for him. The Lord called him a mighty warrior. He didn’t argue. He didn’t say: that’s not really me. He accepted it. We too must accept the identity God gives us — a royal priesthood, kings and priests unto God. That is who we are. Let us embrace it.

He came into fellowship with God. He brought the fellowship offering, and it was accepted. God consumed it. The connection was real. And if you are holding on to known sin, that fellowship is broken — and you will not be able to fulfil your calling. No amount of YouTube or social media strategy will compensate for the absence of God’s empowering presence.

He consecrated his life with a burnt offering. Total dedication. Not a second blessing, not a special experience — simply the reasonable act of service that Romans 12 describes: offering your body as a living sacrifice. That is basic Christianity. That is what he did.

He obeyed the first commission. And it was never a one-man job. Even at the very beginning, he had ten men. God does not typically call us to work entirely alone. Ten people who are committed, who tithe, who are faithful — that is enough to begin something. The synagogue required ten men to establish a congregation. It is a good rule.

He blew the trumpet. This was not a spontaneous decision. Numbers 10:9 commanded it: When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. This was obedience to the law of God. And once that trumpet was blown, the outcome was not in question. God was not going to go back on his word.

It Starts at Home

The first act of obedience was not in a foreign field or a far-away city. It was in his father’s house, at the altar belonging to Joash. It is easier to appear godly when you are far away from people who know you. He was called to do the hardest thing in the hardest place — among people who would have killed him for it.

And note: when the Spirit of the Lord clothed himself with Gideon — for that is the meaning of lavash in verse 34, the Spirit wore Gideon like a garment — what followed was not internal experience. It was public action. He blew the trumpet. He sent messengers. He built a movement. The Holy Spirit is not present in your life primarily to give you feelings. He is there to make you effective in your calling.

Courage Draws People

Where had Manasseh been? Where had Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali been for seven years? Heads down. Worshipping Baal, most likely. Nowhere. No movement, nothing on the horizon.

Then one man acted with courage in his God-given field. And thousands came.

Courage is magnetic in an age of weakness. When a man shows real courage — genuine, costly, God-directed courage — people are drawn to him like a moth to flame. They were waiting for someone to lead. They were waiting for someone to demonstrate that God is real, that Baal is nothing, that the trumpet of God actually means something. Gideon showed them all three. And the nation moved.

This is Easter Monday as we record this. Christ gave his life for us. The response to that is not a quiet, careful, inoffensive Christian life that never disturbs anyone. The response is: my life is his. That is entry-level Christianity. It is why the early church turned the world upside down. And it is available to us.

God bless you. We’ll see you next time.