Gideon

As we move through the book of Judges,  we notice the children of Israel would serve the Lord as long as they had a strong leader. It is like many Christians today, whose trust is only in the pastor and when there is a change, they stop serving God. We need to focus on God. When that leader passed from the scene, the Israelites fell back into their sins. When they sinned, God used the surrounding pagan nations to chastise or harass them. He allowed their enemies to afflict and oppress Israel to show them the high price of low living.

These enemies persistently tried to draw Israel away from God into their own wicked way of life. As long as Israel had strong leadership, they were able to live clean. When that leadership failed, they wandered away from the Lord. They were weak, vacillating people who had trouble staying on course with the Lord.

Everyone of us deals with certain areas of weakness. There are areas in our lives where we seem to be in a constant struggle for righteousness. Hebrews refers to these areas as “the sin that so easily entangles”, Heb. 12:1. Our enemy, Satan, knows our weaknesses and targets people to entice, entangle, and draw away into evil, 2 Tim. 2:25-26. Satan lays the trap for us because he knows we are vulnerable. James 1:12-16.

The oppression of Israel by the Midianites resulted in Israel losing its will to fight. They ran away and hid in the mountains and caves while the enemy overran their land. Their sin made them weak. It caused them to lose their will to fight. It left them utterly defeated!

When we allow sin to reign in our lives, we will find the same thing is true. Sin robs us of our character. It leaves us unwilling and unable to fight. When we allow sin to rule in our hearts, we become listless, lifeless and lethargic in our Christian life. Sin causes us to hide in fear while the enemy takes everything we value!