Judges 6 – Key Principles Of Christian Life In America

The current struggles faced by the Church and America—marked by spiritual intimidation and impoverishment—are not insurmountable. The Book of Judges, particularly the account of Gideon, provides principles of victory that prove God desires to forgive and restore rather than judge. True transformation begins when we recognize our spiritual position, surrender to God’s authority, and act with faith.

The ultimate key to victory is understanding that God is the Lighthouse of the universes, and He will not alter His course. When we find ourselves on a collision path with His immutable standard, the wise choice is to alter our course.

The Crisis of Relativism: Why America is in Spiritual Peril

America, like ancient Israel, has forgotten the Lord God and forsaken its Judeo-Christian ethic. This spiritual shift is rooted in four destructive steps that have resulted in moral confusion and societal decline:

1. From Authority to Relativism: The nation has lost its fixed standard of right and wrong. This lack of a moral benchmark means “every man did that which was right in his own eyes”. Morals are now chosen like items from a cafeteria line.
2. From Truth to Pragmatism: The focus has shifted from “is it true?” to “does it work?”. People now seek religion that makes them happy, healthy, and wealthy, making the entire system man-centered rather than God-centered. God’s true purpose, however, is to make us holy.
3. From Reason to Feeling: In this environment, psychology has replaced theology. Sin is no longer seen as the enemy; sadness is. The goal is to feel good about oneself.
4. From Convictions to Opinions: The end result is that people rarely hold strong convictions, believing that “what is truth for you may not be truth for me”. This leaves a generation morally confused, unsure of the rules or the boundaries of the game.

The “No-Fault” Society and the Rise of Victimization

This slide into relativism has created a “no-fault society” where guilt is considered outdated, and sin is a forgotten word. Wickedness is often renamed as sickness, weakness, or illness.

Examples of this societal reversal include:

• A burglar who was paralyzed after being shot successfully sued the store owner who defended himself, with the jury agreeing the criminal was a “victim of society”.
• A mugger who was paralyzed after beating an elderly man was awarded $4.8 million after suing the transit authority, while the victim continued to pay his own doctor bills.
• An FBI agent who embezzled $2,000 and gambled it away successfully sued his employer for discrimination, arguing that his gambling addiction was a disability.

This victim mindset is the code word of the day, reflecting a society that has lost its fixed standard of right and wrong.

4 Principles of Victory: Overcoming Defeat and Fear

When the children of Israel forgot God, He delivered them into the hands of their enemies, the Midianites, who oppressed them for seven years. They were impoverished because the Midianites destroyed all their harvest. The Israelites were so intimidated that they hid in dens, caves, and strongholds. God sent a prophet to remind them that the current bondage was the result of their disobedience and forgetting the Lord.

The sources center the principles of victory around the man named Gideon.

Principle 1: Vision (See God)

Gideon was first encountered hiding in a wine press, threshing wheat to conceal it from the Midianites. He was living in fear and defeat. The principle of Vision requires taking our eyes off the enemy and putting them one more time on God.

• The Almighty Encounter: An Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and called him a “mighty man of valor”. Gideon questioned why all the bad things had befallen them if God was with them.
• A Vision of Peace: When Gideon realized he had seen the Angel of the Lord, he was afraid, but God spoke: “Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die”. Gideon responded by building an altar called Jehovah Shalom, meaning “Jehovah Our Peace”.
• The Superiority of God’s Word: While Gideon saw an angel, believers today have something better: the Word of God and the Holy Spirit of God living in them.
• Required Vision: You will never have victory in your life until you get a vision of Almighty God—seeing God as big and strong and mighty. The Bible says, “where there is no vision, the people perish”.

Principle 2: Valor (Conquer Fear)

After seeing God, the second principle is Valor—the necessity of courage. God gathered Gideon an army of 32,000 men, but declared they were “too many”. The reason was that Israel might “vaunt themselves” and say their “own hand hath saved” them.

• Cowards Go Home: God instructed Gideon to tell anyone who was fearful and afraid to leave. A stampede occurred, and 22,000 men departed, leaving 10,000.
• Fear is Infectious: God cannot and will not use cowards. Fear suits you for failure and not for fighting. Fear is infectious; cowards must leave “lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart”.
• The Spirit of Power: God has not given us the “spirit of fear; but of love and of power, and of a sound mind”.
• Faith vs. Fear: Fear and faith don’t live in the same heart; one will conquer the other. People who are fearful are not fitted for victory. This applies to teaching, tithing, witnessing, or singing—fear can grip your throat and prevent you from using your gifts. We are in nothing to be terrified by our adversaries.

Principle 3: Vigilance (Watch and Be Sober)

God then told Gideon that the remaining 10,000 were “yet too many” and that they would be tested at the water. The principle of Vigilance requires balance—don’t be a coward, and don’t be careless.

• The Test of the Water: The soldiers were brought down to drink, and they did not know they were being tested. God watches in the small things.
• The Careless Drinkers: 9,700 men got down on all fours, putting their mouths in the stream, their belly in the slime and their snout in the water. This posture made them vulnerable to the enemy.
• The Vigilant Drinkers: The remaining 300 men knelt, taking the water to their mouths with their hands, watching for the enemy.
• The Balance: God is looking for people of Valor and people of Vigilance. We are commanded to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”.

Principle 4: Vitality (God in the Man)

The final principle is Vitality—the life of God in them. Gideon and his servant snuck down to the enemy camp, where they overheard a Midianite telling a dream. The dream involved a cake of barley bread tumbling into a tent, causing it to fall.

• The Dream’s Interpretation: The Midianite’s fellow soldier instantly interpreted the dream: “This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon… for into his hand hath God delivered Midian”.
• Gideon, the Barley Bread: Gideon was overjoyed and worshipped God. Gideon himself recognized he was the “barley bread”—the cheapest, coarsest, poorest bread. He saw himself as the least in his father’s house, belonging to the poorest family in Manasseh.
• God’s Choice: God deliberately chooses the foolish, weak things of the world to confound the wise and the mighty. It is not your scholarship, but your relationship; not your ability, but your availability; not your fame, but your faith.
• The Dread of Hell: The dread of hell is that believers will wake up to the power that God has given them.
• God Wears the Man: The power comes from the fact that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon”. This literally means “The Lord clothed Himself with Gideon”. God wore Gideon “like a suit of clothes”. It is not the man; it is God in the man.