← All outlines

Outline 045 of 100 · Judges

Gideon: Least of All

Judges 6:11-16, 7:1-22 — God's strength perfected in human weakness

Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.

Synopsis

Gideon threshed wheat in a winepress, hiding from Midianite raiders, when the angel of the Lord called him a mighty man of valour — an assessment that had nothing to do with what Gideon could see in himself. God's method throughout the account is to strip away every ground of human confidence: thirty-two thousand men become three hundred, chosen not by skill but by the way they drank at the water, so that Israel could never say 'mine own hand hath saved me.' Gideon's fleece is not a model for discerning God's will so much as a picture of a fearful man being patiently reassured by a God who does not despise weak faith. The trumpets, pitchers, and lamps of the final battle carry no military value; the victory is the Lord's, won before a sword is drawn, through vessels broken to let light shine — the same principle Paul later applies to the treasure carried in earthen vessels.

  1. I. A mighty man who cannot see it

    • Gideon hid in a winepress out of fear
    • God's call named what grace would make him, not what he was
    • Divine calling often contradicts present self-assessment

  2. II. The army reduced to three hundred

    • Thirty-two thousand shrank to three hundred by God's design
    • The reduction removed every ground for human boasting
    • 'Lest Israel vaunt themselves against me' explains the whole strategy

  3. III. The patience of God with a fearful man

    • The fleece requests were met without rebuke
    • God accommodates weak faith without excusing unbelief
    • Reassurance is given so faith can grow to obedience

  4. IV. Broken pitchers and shining light

    • Victory came through trumpets, empty pitchers, and torches
    • The vessels had to break for the light to be seen
    • Christ's treasure is still carried in earthen, breakable vessels
The appeal

If you feel like Gideon threshing wheat in a hiding place, hear the word that named him before it explained him: the Lord is with you, mighty man of valour. Let your weakness be reduced until only His strength can explain the victory, and let your vessel break so His light can shine.

Key points

  • God calls people by what grace will make them, not by present weakness
  • Reduced human resources magnify God's glory in victory
  • Weak faith is patiently strengthened, not despised, by God

Key passages

  • Judges 6:12
  • Judges 7:2
  • Judges 7:20
  • 2 Corinthians 4:7