一個瓶子、一個火把和主的劍 - A Pitcher, a Torch and the Sword of the Lord

7/29/2019 - A Pitcher, a Torch and the Sword of the Lord

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A Pitcher, a Torch, and the Sword

of the Lord(Judges 6-8)


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It was a sad time for Israel. They

were already living in the

Promised Land, but the situation

had become almost unbearable as

they struggled to survive under the

constant onslaughts oftheir enemies.

Because of the sins of the

Israelites who worshipped idols,

God Himself sent the cruel

Midianites against them as a

scourge and a punishment for their

sins. (Psalm 78:62; Joshua 23:13)

The Israelites got desperate and

cried out to the Lord for help. God

in His everlasting love and mercy

sent a helper.And guess who he

was? He was the simple son of a

farmer, not some influential,

highly educated, esteemed man

of renown.

The Angel of the Lord appeared

unto Gideon while he threshed

wheat, saying, The Lord is with

you, mighty man of valor! Go in

this your might, and you will saveIsrael from the Midianites.

But Lord, Gideon answered, still

doubting that God could use him,

How can I save Israel? My family

is the poorest in the whole tribe of

Manasseh, and worse yet, I am the

least of all my family.

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78:62

2

1--

2

--


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But the Lord encouraged him,

saying, Surely I will be with you

and you will smite the Midianites as

quickly as one man.

God wanted Gideon to know, He

wanted all Israel to know that Hewould be with him and He would be

their strength. Gideon didnt have to

worry; of course his strength was

small, of course he was weak, but

God would do it all! And finally

Gideon consented to simply obey

and do as the Lord asked.

And the Spirit of the Lord came

upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet

and sent out messengers to rally the

men of Israel to do battle against

their evil enemies. From all quarters

men began to join the ranks until hehad a sizeable army of 32,000. The

next morning they set out toward the

North where the Midianites were

camped down in a valley beside the

hill of Moreh.

This is when the biggest test of faith

began for Gideon. He had raised astrong army and was headed for the

enemy camp, but suddenly the Lord

spoke to him, The people with you

are too many for Me to let win this

battle, otherwise Israel will boast,

saying, My own arm has saved

me.

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Announce to the people, the Lord

told Gideon, anyone who is fearful

and afraid, let him return home. And

after Gideon delivered his surprising

message, 22,000 men left, over two-

thirds of his forces!

But that was only the first test! Next,

the Lord said to Gideon, The people

are still too many; bring them down

to the waters edge and I will try

them there.

When the men went to drink beside

the water, the Lord told Gideon that

every man who knelt down and drank

with his mouth in the water should be

sent home. But those vigilant soldiers

who lifted the water in one hand to

drink would be chosen for battle.

Out of the 10,000 who passed the

first test, only 300 men passed the

second! Thats right, 31,700 of them

never made the grade. Young

Gideons faith got tested to the

maximum. Not only had he lost 99percent of all the troops hed

gathered, but the armies of the

Midianites were thousands and

thousands. In fact, They lay along

the valley like grasshoppers

formultitude.


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Gideon ordered all the 300 men to

gather the extra provisions and water

pots and all the trumpets from those

men who were sent home, and then they

moved to the highlands near the camp of

the Midianites who lay sleeping in thevalley below.

The Lord told Gideon to give each man

a trumpet, a torch, and an empty pitcher.

At the right moment the torch was to be

lighted and hidden inside the pitcher.

Under cover of darkness Gideon placedhis men in three companies surrounding

the camp of the Midianites. Then in the

middle of the night, at a signal from

him, each man broke his pitcher,

revealing the flaming torch. And every

man blew his trumpet, and they shouted

at the top of their voices, The sword ofthe Lord, and ofGideon!


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And did it work? Well, they made

an incredible racket with all those

trumpets blowing and all the

pitchers breaking, and when those

sleeping Midianites awoke and

suddenly saw all those lightsflashing, they thought the whole

World had attacked! They became

so excited in the dark that they

began smiting one another and they

fled frantically, deserting the camp.

Imagine, only 300 men with

nothing but trumpets, pitchers and

torches scared the living daylights

out of 135,000 men, and it says that

after the battle was over 120,000

had been slaughtered! A great

victory was won, as great as any in

Israels history.


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All through the Bible the

Lord miraculously

empowered and protected

His children who were just

weak humans like we are.

And the same miracles that

occurred back in Bible times

can happen now!

-

www.freekidstories.org

Art and story dramatization The Family International Background illustrations from various clipart sources
http://www.freekidstories.org/http://www.freekidstories.org/

一個瓶子、一個火把和主的劍 - A Pitcher, a Torch and the Sword of the Lord

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