This coming Lord’s Day morning, as we continue our study of the major characters in the book of Judges, we will take our final look at the man named “Gideon.” And we have arrived at what is, perhaps, the most famous episode from his life—the amazing story of the Lord’s reduction of his army to just a fraction of its original size, from 32,000 to just 300 men, and the ultimate defeat of the Midianites.

But, as we have also observed along the way, the story of Gideon’s life and times is much more than just an interesting and even entertaining episode from the Old testament. It is an example for us. By looking at this story, and all of the others that we find in the Old Testament, we learn something very important about God’s plan of salvation, how He redeems His people, and how they serve Him and His kingdom in this world. This is why we are not at all surprised to find Gideon among those Old Testament men and women of faith mentioned in the Epistle of Hebrews in the New Testament. In the life and times of Gideon we see the one, eternal plan of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ—and the life of Spirit-empowered and God-glorifying service that it inaugurates—unfolding most beautifully before our eyes. And this will be especially true as we investigate this most well-known event recorded in Judges 7. Our focus for Sunday’s sermon will be upon verses 1-9, but you will need to be familiar with the remainder of the story found in 7:10-8:35 to more fully benefit from the message.

The overall theme of this colorful event is discovered in Judges 7:2 where the Lord explains to Gideon why his forces must be significantly downsized before they go and confront the Midianites: “lest Israel become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’” I believe you can see the immediate relevance to us and to our salvation in Christ, and the presence of the very same danger we also face as we serve our Lord in this world. So take another good look at this amazing episode from the life of Gideon, and join me in prayer that the Lord will speak to us most powerfully on Sunday.