Gideon: A Reluctant Hero – July 6, 2025

Pastor Ken Hart

WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT HEROES FROM GIDEON?

Judges 6:1 (NLT)

1 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. 

1. TEACH OUR KIDS TO KNOW THE REAL HERO.

Judges 2:10 (NLT)

10 After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. 

Judges 6:6 (NLT)

6 So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

Judges 6:13 (NLT)

13 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah… Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” 

2. HEROES ARE OFTEN DISCOVERED IN THE MUNDANE.

3. EVEN HEROES HAVE QUESTIONS.

Judges 6:13 (NLT)

13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

4. A HERO’S WEAKNESS IS OFTEN THE KEY TO UNLOCK GOD’S POWER.

Judges 6:14 (NLT)

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” 

Judges 6:15 (NLT)

15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” 

Judges 6:16 (NLT)

16 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” 

Judges 7:2 (NLT)

2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.” 

Judges 7:3 (NLT)

3 Therefore, tell the people, “Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight. 

Judges 7:7 (NLT)

7 The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.” 

Judges 8:28 (NLT)

28 That is the story of how the people of Israel defeated Midian, which never recovered. Throughout the rest of Gideon’s lifetime—about forty years—there was peace in the land. 

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