Mark 8:36

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

From Background Notes [BN] for February 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

God introduced Gideon to “his own soul” one day by calling him a “mighty warrior.” But Gideon could not see this soul inside him. Was he not, after all, the man threshing wheat in a winepress, fearful of the marauding Canaanites who preyed on his countrymen?

Judges 7:7

The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”

From Background Notes [BN] for February 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Such a persistent God was new to Gideon: he could not guard his soul from the persistent purpose of this God.

Isaiah 43:1-2

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The journey of the darkened soul is portrayed here as passing “through the waters, through the rivers, through the fire, through the flame.”

Judges 6:36-37

Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—  look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.”

From Background Notes [BN] for February 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Readers sometimes see a delaying tactic in what Gideon asked from the Lord, an effort to weasel out of his assignment. More serious are suggestions that he was manipulating God.

Judges 6:34-35

Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Gideon, and he blew the trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.  He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulon and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

As Boling observes, “Gideon was regularly slow to respond and characteristically overreacted.” That is why the presence of the Spirit is crucial.

Matthew 6:24

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

From Background Notes [BN] for January 25^th & 26^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Sound familiar? The words echo what we heard from Moses, Joshua, Elijah, and in the deeds of Gideon. Put differently, Jesus is saying, “You can’t have life on your own terms; you can’t live in two narratives; you can’t serve God and Baal.”

1 Peter 1:17

Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

From Background Notes [BN] for January 25^th & 26^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The concept of “fear” is a tricky one throughout Scripture. When the Bible uses the word in a positive sense, it refers to the reverent awe we experience before God. The statement, “fear the Lord,” isn’t an invitation to run away from God because His greatness overwhelms us.

Psalm 115:3-4

Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.  But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.

From Background Notes [BN] for January 25^th & 26^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

When Israelites voice deep concern about the loss of Baal’s altar, they implicitly raise questions about his adequacy, as the Psalmist suggests in his artistic portrait of gods that acquire value from gold and silver but who are crafted by the hands of human beings.

Judges 6:28

In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

From Background Notes [BN] for January 25^th & 26^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

And so, when Gideon hears the command of Lord Yahweh and agrees to obey it, he takes on a whole world of self-serving religion that has overwhelmed his nation. Before he can possibly defeat the Midianite servants of Baal, he needs to defeat Baal in his midst and in his heart.

Judges 6:25

That same night the LORD said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

From Background Notes [BN] for January 25^th & 26^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Before Gideon could step a single foot on the battlefield, he needed to put his own house in order, and in so doing clarify the loyalty of his own heart.

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

From Background Notes [BN] for January 18^th & 19^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

For us Jesus, God’s Son, is the revelation of God, the explainer of God, and the one who makes God visible. Jesus is the ultimate sign of God’s direction and guidance: he doesn’t just show the way, he is the way (John 14:6).

 

Judges 6:17

Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.

 

From Background Notes [BN] for January 18^th & 19^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

Like Gideon, early Christians asked for a sign of truth and authenticity, and they found it in the Gospel and its messengers which confessed that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh…” and…

 

Judges 6:24

So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

 

From Background Notes [BN] for January 18^th & 19^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

By including the phrase “to this day,” the writer invests the Gideon story with enduring importance, suggesting that what happened in ancient times is worth remembering.  Indeed, the biblical text often invites the listener “to remember” and from this lively memory to gain assurance and increase obedience.

Judges 6:17

Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 

From Background Notes [BN] for January 18^th & 19^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

In this week’s study we watch Gideon come to terms with God’s call. He is a cautious man, not easily given to easy certitudes, but operating with what Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) called “the hermeneutic of suspicion.”

 

Judges 6:12

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

 

From Background Notes [BN] for January 11^th & 12^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

Think of what you were when you were called?  Or more correctly, “Think of what you thought about yourself when you were called”!  Gideon brought no boast of his ability to God in response to his call, but instead confessed his utter inability to be the one “to strike down all the Midianites together.”

 

Judges 6:9-10

I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

 

From Background Notes [BN] for January 11^th & 12^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

While God placed before them life and death, they chose death. When they cry to God, His response was first to send the prophet to interpret the chaos of their otherwise deconstructed lives, and tell them why things have gotten so bad.

 

Judges 6:1

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.

From Background Notes [BN] for January 11^th & 12^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

Southeast of Canaan, on the northwest Arabian Peninsula (see William G. Dever2), Midian is located on the Gulf of Aqaba. Midianites, according to Genesis 25:2-4, descended from Abraham through his wife Keturah (also, 1 Chronicles 1:32-33). They would later lose at least one battle with their distant cousins who descended from Esau (Genesis 36:35).

Judges 6:34

Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.

 

From Background Notes [BN] for January 11^th & 12^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

Since there was “no king in Israel” during this period (as the text reminds us several times: 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25!), the people were governed by local tribal leaders who proved unable to always secure their families from enemy attack or civil disturbance. When a crisis loomed large and no local help was effectual…

 

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?

From Background Notes [BN] for January 11^th & 12^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

“Caught in a loop.” “Catch-22.” “Revolving door.” “Stuck in a rut.” These are all common ways to describe the hopelessness of going nowhere while expending a great deal of energy. The Greeks told the story of a king named Sisyphus…

Proverbs 13:1-2

A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.

From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things, but the unfaithful have an appetite for violence.

Proverbs 12:11

Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.