Gideon: Success and Failure

Tonight's reading Judges 7 & 8: Some important verses:

Success: God grants a great victory over a massive army with just 300 men!

7:2, And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

7:6-7, And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. Then the LORD said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.”

7:10, ...one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen.

Failure: Gideon creates a gold idol

8:27, Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

Comment:

1. While Gideon is considered a great man of God: Hebrews 11:32-33, And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises ...
   
2. Gideon had a flawed, sinful human nature and engaged in idolatry!
   

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1. Home: there was a tremendous electrical "pop" that temporarily knocked our lights out at approximately 9:00 p.m. Everything reset itself alright except for the cable modem (Kathee reset). I called Marilyn across the street and the experienced the same thing. I thought it was a lightning strike but Kathee and Roger don't think so.
   
2. Work: Our WIFI2 version 2 utility finally passed UAT and we will incorporate as a base application in our current Windows XP release
   
3. Work: I once again demo'd my contacts database for another person and set her up with update authority. This needs to catch on!
   
4. Life: Roger's AT (annual training) with the Marines possibly will shift a week.
   
5. Life: Westurn Roofing dropped off a Westurn Roofing cap for me. Kathee not impressed. I will wear when I mow.
   

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"Disappointed with God"? I'm not a great evangelist but I know I need to seize opportunities to witness. Many times I provide a "Gospel of John" when I chat with people. This week, I witnessed to a man whom I know. He said, "I'm not that interested because I'm disappointed with God". He said that his Mother lived into her 80's but his Father's life was cut short in his early 50's with cancer. Because of this he is "disappointed with God". My view: it's not to man to judge God! God is perfectly just and good and holy.