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18 There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men on the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. 19 The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent, came down out of the sky on people. People blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for this plague is exceedingly severe.
was divided into three parts
This word divide is the last in a string of repeats of this word ginomai in the Greek. This is significant, for as we previously studied, it means the finishing of a number of things that were set to be accomplished by the work of God, using light and truth to press against the forces of darkness. Yet part of this definition also means to divide. That is what is happening in this passage. The old maxim of divide and conquer possibly finds its greatest fulfillment here in this chapter.
The great city that experiences being divided here – Babylon the great – is not merely some remote and even extinct city in some far-off location; rather it references a cosmic perspective of the this war initiated in heaven that we learned in chapter 12. This great city then refers to the spiritual headquarters of all the forces of darkness that came to be concentrated on this planet.
While it is quite possible this spiritual division may also be manifested in physical phenomenons likely occurring where forces of darkness become most concentrated, I believe this primarily refers to the critical mass effect of the cumulative spiritual pressure that has been intensified by each one of these bowls pouring out one after the other until the matrix of lies and deceptions that have for so long masked the corruption in this world’s systems, no longer can avoid the intensity of the light of truth.
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. (Mark 3:24-25)
While the context of this statement by Jesus involved being accused of using the power of Satan to cast out demons, as is often the case, Jesus responds by stating a principle of creation design in order to clarify and divide truth from falsehood. This also should alert us to the many incongruities taught in religion insisting God overcomes evil through use of force instead of relying only on the methods used by the Lamb. This is what comes to a climax in this passage we are studying now.
There are other events in Scripture alerting us to this pattern of how God overcomes His enemies without directly assaulting them with violence. Some of these include the element of 3 parts that become united but later turn against each other and end up causing their own destruction. One of these is the story of Gideon where 3 enemies league together to attack Israel. Yet despite overwhelming odds that should have produced an easy victory, they ended up turning their weapons against each other in terror and confusion instead of crushing their intended victims.
The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.
So it was, when Israel had sown, that the (1) Midianites came up, and the (2) Amalekites, and the (3) children of the east; they came up against them; and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. For they came up with their livestock and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it. Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh. (Judges 6:1-6)
The context of this story must be kept in mind to appreciate the implications of what we find here. God’s people were doing that which is evil. That means God was being forced to deliver them up, hand them over, release them into the power of their enemies. This is a classic illustration of God’s wrath as defined in Romans 1. His wrath is not about imposed punishments but rather being forced to withdraw His merciful protection. Because of this loss of protection they are left vulnerable to natural and/or supernatural consequences from choosing to worship other gods ahead of their Creator. They chose self-indulgence and turned away from a trusting obedient relationship with God, thus He was compelled to leave them open to be subjugated by surrounding pagan nations. Here we find them listed as a tripartite coalition who exploited the Israelites mercilessly.
Crying out to Yahweh is certainly the best option under such circumstances. However, what we too often have in mind for God to do when we cry out to Him is often not for our best good. We usually want immediate relief from our discomfort, restored freedom from oppression and external peace. And while God is indeed our source of hope, because of how true authority operates, God will not simply supply force to fulfill our agenda or our demanded solutions; that would only lead to more problems. What we need most is an awareness of the actual cause of our dilemma which is often our own sin and rebellion causing us to be entangled by circumstances. This is how authority works and what must be addressed before God can deliver us from the deeper bondage.
It is important to parallel this story with our present circumstances and what we have been learning from our study of Revelation. We too live under oppression, yet often imagine we are not really that oppressed or in need of deliverance. Yet isn’t that exactly what Jesus said we would think? We may be in even worse distress and in need of help than the Israelites in Gideon’s day who at least realized their desperate situation and felt compelled to cry out for God’s mercy and deliverance.
...you say, 'I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;' and don't know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; (Revelation 3:17)
Another important parallel I see here involves the number 3 we have been encountering in the passage here in Revelation. There are 3 demonic spirits assembling kings of the earth for an impending battle. In this story we find 3 pagan groups conspiring together to exploit God’s people.
What did they have in mind when they cried out to Yahweh? Did they expect God to send a more powerful army to drive back their enemies? That is actually a popular idea today and one that has captured people’s hopes throughout history. Or did they simply want divine intervention to inhibit their enemies from interfering in their personal lives? Possibly. But most likely what they did not have in mind was a confrontation by God to them in regards to the real source of their problem – their own forsaking of God and His ways to pursue lusts of the flesh, to seek their own pleasure while ignoring instructions provided for their best good.
It happened, when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh because of Midian, that Yahweh sent a prophet to the children of Israel: and he said to them, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land; and I said to you, I am Yahweh your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to my voice. (Judges 6:7-10)
We have no record of who this prophet was, but his message is clear and is repeated throughout Scripture. The problem isn’t that God is not powerful, or that God demands appeasement or payoff. Rather the problem is in our choices that block access to God’s Spirit because we pursue other gods of self-indulgence or self-gratification. God respects the freedom of each person to insist on following their own agenda, but He also allows them to experience the tyranny of the gods they worship until maybe they learn it is sin that pays its wages of suffering and death, not God. When we refuse to listen to God’s voice, He will not force Himself on us like Satan, but leaves us to suffer increasing anxiety and consequences of sin hoping we will come to our senses and turn back to Him.
The angel of Yahweh came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor. Gideon said to him, Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt? but now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.
Yahweh looked at him, and said, Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent you?
He said to him, Oh, Lord, with which shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
Yahweh said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. (Judges 6:11-16)
Gideon was so upset with God that it didn’t cross his mind this one invading his privacy might be a messenger from heaven. Notice how God relates to Gideon’s outburst.
Notice the nature of the greeting this messenger of heaven uses to identify Gideon. Unlike many other angel visitations that usually open with ‘Don’t be afraid,’ this messenger declares the truth about Gideon’s true identity, yet opposite to what most people would assume (including Gideon himself). Gideon seemed to find this irritating.
Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!
I invite you to ponder this personally for as long as is needed to let it sink in deeply. How would I react if God suddenly appeared visibly in front of me and stated categorically, ‘the Almighty God of the universe is with you already. You are a mighty man of courage; you are a woman of strong faith, a reflector of God’s heart!’ Yet when I check my feelings and my circumstances, I only see confusion, darkness, depression, weakness and fear. Such words of God seem almost mocking and certainly don’t feel true. I am often tempted to challenge the trustworthiness of such assertions, yet
What makes such a statement factual? That is the question we each grapple with when it comes right down to it. If we base our identity on our internal condition, our circumstances, our feelings or our past history – good or bad, we will likely react with skepticism at such statements and challenge God and question His integrity. Yet this brings us to the real battle, for our warfare is not against flesh and blood enemies but is fought deep inside us. The weapons of heaven involve tearing down imaginations, disarming memories that defy what God says about us. exposing thoughts that constantly incriminate and condemn us.
We can be challenged by this story of a man so timid he is nowhere to be found while his dad faces down a mob of incensed people bent on revenge. But do we believe and take at face value what God declares is true about our identity, or do we succumb to our fears, fall back to reasoning in the flesh and imagine God must not know what He’s talking about.
Where Gideon viewed his circumstances as proof that God had abandoned His people, God saw just the opposite, declaring that Yahweh was with Gideon presently.
Where Gideon saw himself as a coward hiding out to escape detection by his enemies, threshing wheat in a grape press, God saw a man who inside had untapped courage that would follow conviction rather than simply going along with the crowd.
This is the identity war each of us is involved with and have to fight every day. This is what Paul refers to as the fight of faith, and it is a good fight for it focuses our energy and attention on the real enemy instead of being distracted by myriads of decoy enemies Satan uses to scare us. If these angels pouring out these bowls full of prayers, praises, gratitude to God, and who demonstrate love for their enemies are the 144,000, it means they have come to live solely by what God says about their identity. They have put on the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in what He says alone as their true and authentic identity. They have consented and keep consenting, to be sanctified by the indwelling Holy Spirit who empowers them, energizes them and propels them against all odds, denying their old identity as having no credibility. They are transformed into passionate reflectors of the true glory of God and reflect their hero the Lamb who has already won this war for them.
Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Yahweh! because I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.
Yahweh said to him, Peace be to you; don't be afraid: you shall not die. Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it Yahweh is Peace: to this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (This is so beautiful and powerful we must not miss it. Gideon catches a glimpse of reality, and his reaction exposes assumptions that plague us. Maybe God might get upset if I know too much, see too much or get too close to Him. This could come from misinterpreting why God told Moses no man could see His face and live. That was not a threat but a warning of the need to be brought into harmony with the principle of love so one can thrive in His fire rather than be consumed by it.
God here addresses assumptions so many of us have about Him. He wanted Gideon to realize God wanted to save him from his bondage to fear, to correct his misperceptions that prevented him from living in harmony with God’s passionate love. Like so many of us, what Gideon really lacked was peace, and his misapprehensions about God fueled the fears that were stealing his peace.)
It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it; and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down. (Judges 6:22-26)
Though God had already informed Gideon of his mission to deliver his people from their enemies, there was vital preparation that needed to take place first before that could be done. It had to do with realignment with supernatural forces and involves permission given from human beings. So long as dark forces continue to receive authority through choices and actions of people, delivering them from demonic power remains difficult at best. The issue of dominion and how authority operates are key to understanding how this war actually will be won.
The Asherah pole was a symbol of sexual perversion. Baal worship involved a deity who provided for needs, but required payment in exchange and demanded appeasement whenever he became offended. Baal was a counterfeit of the true God and is still in place yet today, only not with that title. Yet when we insist that God demands punishment for every sin, that He is arbitrary or harsh, all these and much more give credence to Satan’s distortions of the heart of God. This is what gives him authority to access our lives. Israel was suffering under exploitation by 3 pagan forces, yet their authority was rooted in Israel’s practices of sexual gratification and Baal worship that was so appealing to them. By giving themselves over to sensual pleasures and clinging to lies about God’s disposition towards them, they were forcing God to give them over to Satan’s agencies he uses to enforce his penalties on them as his subjects. At the same time he leads them to imagine God was the one punishing them.
Before God can intervene to rescue His people from oppression by their enemies, a work of reform and internal cleansing needs to take place in their lives to radically alter their way of thinking and capture their hearts to be restored and sanctified to be His temple again. Their whole way of thinking and living needs complete transformation so they can appreciate and participate in the high calling for which they were chosen by God. This is a key principle that God does not circumvent and that requires our participation. The Spirit is sent to bring conviction of how we compromise with sin and thus give place to the devil, in order that we may be restored into God’s favor.
The principle is eternal. Many complain God is not doing mighty works like He did in the past. Yet how many areas of our life are given over to self-indulgent practices, compromising God’s principles and guidelines meant to keep us in sync with His design. Then we imagine it is all God’s fault. This is just as the enemy would have it, blaming God for the outcomes of our choices and wondering why God seems so indifferent to our dilemma. There is a work of reform for us to do before God can be given access once again to coordinate us with His plan of salvation for the world. We have to be willing to honestly face what we are doing that gives authority to Satan to access our lives. We must repent of our sins brought to our attention by the Holy Spirit, and get rid of the paraphernalia involved if we seriously desire to be used by God and follow the Lamb in victory.
We will be required to sacrifice things and activities that have hijacked our priorities, even things inherited from our ancestors, in order to break the spell of bondage that oppresses us. Before God could deliver Israel, the true cause of their oppression needed to be exposed and dealt with so He could receive authority to deliver them. Before God can deliver us from cruel bondage, we too must confess and repent of the addictions we rely on to medicate ourselves, and every dependence we have on other sources to gratify our cravings more than trust and total dependence on God.
Notice that the altar to be built for God needed to be located on top of the stronghold where Baal and Asherah had been. It is not enough to simply pull back a bit from sinful indulgences so we can get access to God’s power so life can be more tolerable. The strongholds in our heart must be torn down, dismantled, destroyed and in the very place where our former priorities enslaved us to our lower passions of lust, pride, shame or whatever, new patterns of thinking, living and worship must replace them. God must have victory in our own home and in our own heart before He can have access and authority to bring deliverance and victory on a larger scale.
Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him: and it happened, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built. They said one to another, Who has done this thing?
When they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.
Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? he who will contend for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one has broken down his altar.
Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar. (Judges 6:27-32)
One of Gideon’s strongholds was fear – fear of his family, fear of what others might think of him or do to him. Despite God’s assurances and instructions, Gideon adjusted the timing to carry out God’s instructions so as to avoid potential recrimination. Obviously that didn’t work as planned, for it only postponed the reactions to the next day. Yet these stories help us see our own weaknesses and fears so we may choose differently. Part of deliverance, in fact a main part, is deliverance from the grip of fear, and that needs to happen first on the inside so we can have boldness to face what is outside.
How might this story have been different had Gideon chosen to act boldly and publicly without giving control to fear? He could have executed his work of spiritual reform openly, trusting in what God had already told him. God said he did not need to fear because God was with him and had appointed him to be the deliverer to save his people from oppression. The story could have been very different, and I think it is helpful to explore such scenarios. We do not have to the repeat mistakes of others with wobbly faith. The reason these stories are preserved is so we can learn to do things differently than our predecessors if we will simply be willing.
Notice how Gideon’s fear of what his father would think or react proved to be false. It was his father, the very one whose second bull he took to pull down the altar of Baal and then killed as a sacrifice to God – it was his father who stood up against angry mobs upset that their paraphernalia had been ruined. This speaks to an important element in the story often overlooked, how God saw in Gideon potential for leadership, one willing to stand out from the crowd. Yet this mindset likely come from his father who likely had been frustrated yet felt paralyzed to do anything about it.
Maybe his father was an old man by this time and felt helpless to take a public stand against the sex and idol worship. Ironically he was the one who owned the altar built for Baal. Yet suddenly he is willing to stand against Baal and defend his son and God. Gideon must not have known his father as well as he thought, for while Gideon was again hiding out somewhere for fear of violent neighbors furious over what God told him to do, his father now stood up for his convictions, encouraged by Gideon’s obedience to God. His father risked his life to defend what his son had done, facing down the angry mob intent on revenge at the loss of their source of pleasure. His father likely took courage from Gideon’s example and chose to side with his son to stand for truth, for the honor of God against strong social resistance. He even pushed back, challenging the illogic of defending a god. Exposing the irrationality of their actions finally brought a halt to their murderous intentions.
Gideon’s father displayed surprising courage in the face of mob fervor. It was the father who stood against the tide of those seeking a scapegoat by insisting that if anyone deserved to be killed, it ought be those who felt compelled to defend a helpless idol. It was the father who finally had the nerve to state the obvious that was being ignored by popular opinion.
We need to understand that this was the real cause of the severe oppression they were experiencing at the hands of their enemies. Worshiping the gods of their enemies gave demons access to authority over those who were supposed to worship only the true God. God’s people had so atrophied their capacity to reason from cause to effect that they came to believe they were helpless. All that mattered to them was to preserve their emotional fix, their escape in indulgence of their lower passions.
Self-indulgence and sin is corrosive to one’s capacity to reason from cause to effect. Maybe this brings perspective to why God invites us to come and reason together with Him. We too live in an age where loss of sane reasoning is pervasive the world over. Blame, shame, accusation, pride, sordid indulgences of all kinds are becoming rampant. Anyone daring to expose the actual underlying cause of the chaos in this world is labeled a fanatic or hypocrite. Godliness is viewed as antiquated and irrelevant, while anything the brings temporary pleasure or sensual gratification or feeds pride is given priority. This happens not only in individuals but with nations, churches, political parties and permeates the whole world. This resonates with a phrase repeated throughout Revelation – all those who dwell on the earth.
Before deliverance can come, God needs a people who are willing to allow Him to transform the way they think, live and reason, to bring them to reflect the truth of God’s heart and who can bear witness to the truth in how they relate to others. When people give God’s words highest priority and allow His love to transform and displace their desires with His plans, then God can assemble a people similar to Gideon’s army – special ops forces of the Lamb.
Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of Yahweh came on Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him. (Judges 6:33-34)
Note the sequence in this story. First Gideon exposed and took a stand against the immorality and false worship of his own people. In reaction, a trilateral coalition of forces suddenly prepared to attack. Why this sudden reaction since they already controlled Israel’s territories, exploiting, stealing and extorting people mercilessly and with little resistance. Why this sudden alarm to amass forces to defeat people who were already despairing, defeated and helpless?
What we observe in this story is wave after wave of supernatural power struggles outside mere physical activity. These enemies perceived that so long as their victims worshiped idols and indulged their sexual lusts, there was little danger they could resist their exploiters. But when even one person took a bold stand against the spell of fear and demonstrated allegiance to a greater Authority than the pagans relied on to be in control, they realized they had to act quickly to increase the level of fear in order to squelch any potential insurrection to their domination.
Satan’s primary means of keeping control over us is through use of fear. So long as we allow fear to dictate our choices, there is little danger of him losing access to exploit us for his agenda. So long as we rely on false sources to define our identity, we give Satan authority in our lives, whether things appear good or when we are in desperate situations. This is the nature of the war. It is when Satan sees we are willing to give God access to our heart – the control center of our lives – instead of indulging our lusts or fears or to numb our senses in addictions, then he scrambles his forces to increase the fear ambience in a desperate attempt to put us back ‘where we belong.’ In this story this involved inciting Gideon’s own people to seek revenge against him. When that failed, their enemies assembled a military coalition to secure the status quo to maintain their despotic control. The power Satan relies on comes from our cooperation and through our worship of false gods. He always seeks to rob us of hope in order to regain our submission to our dark familiar spirits.
I keep coming back to how this is relevant to what we are studying here in Revelation 16. While not overtly referenced, we find something definitely relevant here. If these angels represent people identified in chapter 14 and 15 as the ardent followers of the Lamb standing with Him on Mt. Zion, who rely solely on His strategic weapon of the New Song to defeat every opposing power and to dismantle every stronghold of the enemy, then Gideon’s story is of extreme relevance for us to learn how we too may align ourselves for God to be glorified through our lives.
He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken,... (Judges 6:35-36)
While we admire the courage of Gideon, we must not gloss over his weaknesses, not to be critical but rather to appreciate how we can be tempted to lean on our own understanding instead of leaning fully on God’s word alone. The previous verse said that when Gideon blew the trumpet, Abiezer was gathered together after him. Gideon did this because the Spirit of Yahweh had come on him. I wonder if these who initially responded might have been the 300 left after the culling process God took him through to reverse what Gideon added by sending messengers out begging for more help. Abiezer was the ancestor of the family of Gideon within the tribe of Manasseh. The rest who came from Manasseh in response to Gideon’s messengers are identified as ‘they also.’ This could indicate that those most closely related to him may have responded to the Spirit while the rest were less committed.
This little word if here exposes Gideon’s wobbly faith. It is not uncommon, yet this word can be terribly debilitating. When Abram simply believed God’s promise to make of him a great nation, he was considered righteous. But when God similarly promised to give him all the surrounding land, Abram began to question. As a result God was compelled to cut a covenant. Gideon questions how God could possibly use him to achieve victory against overwhelming odds when so few people had showed up in response to his trumpet call. Instead of resting his confidence in what God had already declared as fact, he wanted to supplement the few who had initially responded to the Spirit’s urging, assembling a larger force but prompted by lesser motives. Yet his efforts still fell far short of what he believed would give him a fighting chance of victory, so he expressed his doubt by challenging God with this word if, as if God’s power needs supplementation by assistance from humans. In this context, if actually was giving authority for the enemy to retain his stronghold, so God had to reverse Gideon’s agenda through a culling process before He could be free to work.
I’m aware this if statement is linked to the next verses involving Gideon’s fleece experiment, but that is another issue. The underlying problem was that, like Abram and so many others, doubts given expression through this word if is one of the most effective ways Satan uses to retain authority in our lives. This often forces God to wait much longer to accomplish what He longs to do without all the detours we throw in the way. Yet God patiently works with us where we are. But today we could respond differently to allow God more immediate access to work in and through us to accomplish His good pleasure instead of throwing up so many detours before we will cooperate in accomplishing what He originally intends for us.
Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod: and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. Yahweh said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand has saved me. (Judges 7:1-2)
This is a key part of this story, though it is seldom dwelt on our our eagerness to get to the exciting end. God informs Gideon that his plans do not align with God’s methods and motives. This is what we keep finding time and again in our study of Revelation. God’s ways are not like our ways, and His thoughts are not the way we typically think and reason. This is why it is so important we come to God to reason together to learn His way of thinking instead of figuring things out for ourselves and then presenting our conclusions for God to bless our plans and provide power to back up our ideas.
I don’t believe it is incidental that Gideon’s nickname is here repeated. I wonder if God is trying to make a point that is too easily overlooked. Many prophets quoted God’s reproofs to His people for worshiping idols because of their incapacity to do or say anything. Our worship gives authority to such incompetent gods, while worshiping them defaces the image of God in our souls distorting our reflection of Him. Such worship degrades our value to what these gods represent. We also give worship to demons whenever we rely on sources other than God to define our identity instead of believing what God says to us. This can all be found in the meaning of Gideon’s name Jerubbaal, meaning leave Baal to defend himself. Every false god is actually helpless without receiving worship.
Baal worship is central in this story. Ironically Baal worship remains even in our day, though it seldom by that label. This mindset is what permeates much of mainstream Christianity and is deeply embedded in our human psyche. Baal worship is the religion of this world originating in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It defines our economic, judicial and social constructs. Baal represents the god of power, one who can appear generous, loving, caring and protective – so long as we remain on his good side. But if we offend him, restoration of a good relationship requires appeasement through sufficient payment of one sort or another in order to regain favor.
We live in a world modeled on Baal in many ways. Yet if we say let Baal defend himself if he is really an effective god, it can appear that indeed the Baal god of this world can defend himself – by threats, punishments, intimidation, financial sanctions or even execution if necessary to enforce Baal’s compliance to his demands in our legal systems. Justice defined by this world defends the status quo mentality of Baal, and it even relies on trilateral forces similar to those arrayed against Israel in Gideon’s day. We see this in Revelation 13 which describes the defense of the Baal system. So how can Gideon’s story inform us as to the way we are to relate to threats from today’s forces of Baal?
Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead. There returned of the people twenty-two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. Yahweh said to Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for you there: and it shall be, that of whom I tell you, This shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whoever I tell you, This shall not go with you, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people to the water: and Yahweh said to Gideon, Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shall you set by himself; likewise everyone who bows down on his knees to drink. The number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. Yahweh said to Gideon, By the three hundred men who lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand; and let all the people go every man to his place. So the people took food in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men: and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley. (Judges 7:3-8)
God instructed Gideon to dismiss all but those qualified by God’s standard to participate in the assault against the enemy forces, leaving only 300 men out of an initial 32,000. This process happened through dividing people based on their behavior in various tests given by God. Sometimes that ones being tested did not know the criteria for these tests, yet the principle of dividing before reorganizing is seen in the first chapter of the Bible. This is a key principle God often uses to clarify what is really important. After downsizing his men to less than 10 percent of his original turnout, Gideon then further divides them into 3 groups of probably around 100 each.
Part of the purpose of this dividing was God’s way of making it clear that when the victory was realized, it had nothing to do with anyone else’s power or cleverness. Reliance on God and trust in His methods alone would open the way for a victory that would honor and magnify God’s reputation alone. Yet sadly Gideon, like too many of us today, even then still inserted his own name alongside God’s name in the victory shout he instructed him men to use during the surprise attack they launched against the enemy, seeking to siphon off a bit of credit for himself.
In this story I see a lot of parallels to what we are learning in Revelation. A few verses back we studied 3 identities represented as 3 demonic spirit frogs organizing against God and His people. We studied an unholy trinity described in chapter 12. But also on God’s side we saw 3 angels giving 3 announcements to warn the planet. The 3 companies of Gideon held trumpets that they blew at a strategic moment. In Revelation we find angels blowing trumpets 7 times, the number of completeness. Gideon’s men held torches hidden inside pitchers until the strategic moment when they all broke them open simultaneously, catching the enemy by surprise. In chapters 15-16 we are examining 7 angels also holding containers containing unusual elements of light that undermine the resolve of God’s enemies. These prayers and praises catch the enemy off guard. This culminates in the dividing of Satan’s kingdom. Jesus predicted this as our fearless leader, for He has faced down suffering, death and extreme darkness and overcame the world already, giving us His identity as victor and guiding us with heaven’s instructions so our lives may reflect the same.
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand." (Matthew 12:25)
This principle is what we are studying right now – how the Great City is divided into 3 parts and the cities of the nations fall. Both in Gideon’s story and Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20, actual destruction occurs by enemies turning against each other, not destruction inflicted by God or by His people. Division of evil coalitions is precipitated by light of truth, not by use of force, threats or violence. The light of truth liberates God’s true followers and empowers them to defeat powers of darkness, while the same light of truth terrifies and induces chaos among all those resisting it.
The 3 parts of this broken city also references the branding mark used to identify having to do with the dragon throughout this book. Here it is a bit oblique while elsewhere it is referred to as one-third. His great city is divided into 3 parts. When something is broken into three parts, what can result is a set of one-thirds. This alerts us to the true identity and alignment of this city and who controls it.
the cities of the nations fell
The word translated nations here generally references gentiles, non-Jewish races of people. The cities referred to here also represent the mindset that defines cities and that originated with Cain.
Cain went out from Yahweh's presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. (Genesis 4:16-17)
The spirit of Babylon represents a disposition of self-exaltation, defiance against God and unbelief in His word. This is seen in the story of the origin of Babylon, a tower called Babel to defy heaven. Its construction was motivated by distrust that God would really keep His promise to never send a world-wide flood again. In addition, those people desired world dominance to control everyone from a central location rather than cooperating with God’s instructions to spread out and repopulate the planet. They chose instead to consolidate and establish a city to make a name for themselves, rejecting the name/identity God had for them. They intended to return the world to pre-flood conditions with world domination in the spirit of rebellion. They were determined to follow their own way, and had not their languages become confused, nothing would have been impossible for them to achieve (according to what God purportedly commented).
They said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let's make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:4)
The underlying issue was that they were relying on Satan’s methods to achieve unity through coercion, hierarchical control, reliance on the reward/punishment system and power through repression and exploitation. They reflected Satan’s disposition, seeking to exalt themselves to be like God in power but with no interest to embrace His character of selfless love. Thus Babylon became a primary symbol of Satan’s system to manipulate and control others in contrast with the way the Lamb leads through humility, kindness and respect for each one’s freedom to choose freely whom they will worship and follow.
Next time we will explore another story that has compelling parallels to both Gideon’s story as well as elements we are finding in Revelation, the wonderful story of Jehoshaphat who learned something about the effectiveness of the New Song weapon.
