I. Recap from last week.
A. The four types of giving.
B. Tithing is a Covenant issue.
1. Covenant of Abraham, Gal 3:26-29.
a. “I will actively work to cause you to thrive, to fulfill your purpose, and to be a conduit of My goodness to others.”
2. The tithe goes into the storehouse, the local church.
a. Joseph storing up in the good years for the lean years.
b. If you don’t fill the storehouse in the good years, there will be nothing in the lean.
C. Remember, the old system is dying and a new system is emerging.
1. Fourth Turning began in 2008, lasts for about 25 years.
2. Some are trying to develop the new system, but the people who benefit from the old system passionately defend it even as it crumbles.
a. JP Morgan Chase this week partnered with Coinbase to integrate crypto.
b. Congressional hearing on bill barring legislators from investing in stock market.
c. Pushback from Rick Scott, Ron Johnson and Rand Paul.
d. Rick Scott R, FL, net worth $550 mil; Ron Johnson $40 mil R, WI’
e. Johnson said such a bill would ‘disincentivize’ people from running for office.
II. Analogy, Synopsis and Intro to Session IV.
A. Train Analogy.
What would you do in this situation? Stay with the old train and hope something changes or get on the new train and get to work?
Would you argue with your fellow passengers about the trains? Try to negotiate a seat on the new train for better terms than what the others get?
Would you look longingly at the new train and appreciate how nice it is but feel that’s too good for you? Or would you stubbornly remain on the old train, even though it’s going nowhere, because that old train is good enough for you?
B. Analogy explained.
1. The broken train is the old economic system, the railroad company executives are leaders in government and industry.
a. They old system has broken down and going nowhere.
b. Leadership is split between a new system and holding onto the old one.
2. The passengers are all of us. Everyone who depends on the economic engine to live.
a. Some are ready for change.
b. Some are angry for being made uncomfortable.
3. The new train is the Lord’s economy, the engineer is the Spirit of Wisdom.
a. Proverbs 8:1-2
b. Proverbs 8:18-21
4. BUT… if we get on the Lord’s train, we have to leave the old track behind and start moving on His track. He’s not just offering a better engine and a seat on the train, we have to get off the old track and onto the Lord’s track.
5. Put simply, we have to live by the Lord’s economic principles and do things God’s way. There is no way to combine the world’s way and God’s way.
C. Intro to Session IV.
1. We are at a crossroads and Wisdom is calling to us where the paths meet.
2. The Lord is calling to us, warning us to get off the old broken train & board His train.
a. He will get you were you are supposed to be, but you have to embrace change.
b. You must be willing to serve. There are no freeloaders on the Lord’s train.
c. You should not try to negotiate better terms with the Lord.
d. You need to catch and reject the old thought patterns that tell you it’s too hard, that you’re not good enough, etc.
3. But we need to be aware that there is a battle for our money underway.
a. The evil one is trying to convince you to trade one Babylonian system for another.
b. The Lord is inviting you to forsake them both for His economy.
II. Judges 6- the setup.
A. Summary.
1. In Judges 6&7 we read the account of Israel’s battle with the Midianites. This account is
symbolic of our own fight against the spirit of poverty for control of our money, provision & abundance.
a. We wrestle not with flesh and blood…
2. The names are important to understanding this.
a. Midian means ‘strife, contention, brawling’
b. the two princes (principalities) Oreb and Zeeb, ‘Raven’ and ‘Wolf’
c. two kings, Zeba & Zalmunah, ‘Slaughter’ and ‘Deprived Of Protection’
3. The actions are also significant of a poverty spirit. Judges 6:6 says “Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites…”
B. Judges 6:1-6
1. This poverty spirit was allowed to steal from them because Israel did evil by turning away from God and worshipping idols.
a. Romans 6:16 principle: you are the slave of who you obey.
b. The enemy prevailed against them until they repented and fought back.
2. Notice that the Israelites made dens, caves and strongholds to try and salvage a profit from the work of their hands. It didn’t help. It only kept them stuck in survival mode.
3. The enemy came “whenever Israel had sown…” destroying the produce and leaving no sustenance for them.
a. Vs 5 “numerous as locusts”— locusts represent devouring, impoverishing
C. Judges 6:7-10 The Lord sends a prophet.
1. Eventually they cried out to God excuse they couldn’t take it anymore. Good sent a prophet to speak to them. God says:
a. “I brought you out of bondage in Egypt…”
b. “I delivered you from all who oppressed you…”
c. “I told you to fear Me and to not worships idols and you have disobeyed Me.”
2. This condition of poverty was a result of their broken covenant with God.
D. Judges 6:11-24 The Lord raises up Gideon.
1. The Lord found a man whom He could raise up to be the deliverer of Israel.
2. When God called Gideon, he was in hiding, had a low self-esteem and anxiety. He was afraid of the Midianites and of his own people.
3. But when God called Gideon he said:
a. “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.”
b. We typically interpret this as ‘mighty warrior’
c. Hebrew: hayil and it means ‘strength, might and wealth’
4. When Gideon was at his poorest and weakest, the message of the Lord came to him and said “I am with you, you man of great strength and wealth.”
5. Gideon doubts and God says “Go- in this strength of yours.”
a. God didn’t say “I am giving you strength.” or “I will make you strong.”
b. God said “Go in this strength that you already have, that I have already put in you.”
6. Why? The ability to create wealth is a sign of the covenant. Deut 8:18
7. You may feel too poor, too weak, too simple to become wealthy, but step one in taking the control of our money back from the poverty spirit is to realize that God put within us the ability to create wealth because of His covenant with us.
8. It is not up to us to do it in our own power or intellect, it is His power working in us.
E. Judges 6:25-32 How to prepare for the battle.
1. The first step of deliverance is to realize that God has already placed within you the power to create wealth.
2. The second step is to repent for breaking covenant with God and get back in compliance with it. To start honoring the covenant.
3. Before he could face the enemy and be victorious, Gideon had to remove his idols.
4. Judges 6:25-27
5. To finally be victorious over poverty we will have to remove the idols from our own house. We will have to abandon some generational thinking and put God’s Word over man’s word, even if that was is your father, or your mother, etc.
6. If you want get on the Lord’s train, you’ve got to leave your family baggage behind. You cannot take vestiges of the old system into the Lord’s economy. We’ve got to get on the new track and follow that track where it leads.
7. The worship of Baal and Asherah was a fertility and prosperity cult. The Israelites had forsaken their covenant with God and sought prosperity from a demonic idol. But God is saying that we cannot have it both ways.
a. Matt 6:24
III. Judges 7.
A. Judges 7:2-3: The First cut
1. Gideon’s army numbered 32,000 against an army of about 135,000 Midianites. (Judges 8:10) Those are 4 to 1 odds. One Israelite for every four enemy.
2. Even at 4 to 1 odds, God says that’s too many of you. He knows they will not give Him the glory for the victory if they win with this many, but will take the glory for themselves.
3. So God sends the fearful home, numbering 22,000, with 10,000 remaining.
4. These are the people who refuse to leave the old system because they’re too afraid of change. In their case, they were too comfortable in their oppression to fight for their freedom.
5. We have to decide what we want: do you want to be comfortable or do you want to be free?
a. In the bondage of Egypt, freedom sounded good.
b. In the freedom of the wilderness, it was so uncomfortable, they longed for Egypt.
c. Why? Because transition is uncomfortable. Learning a new way is hard.
6. So the Lord said “If you’re too sacred to fight for your freedom, then go home.”
B. Judges 7:4-7: The Second Cut.
1. In the first cut, the Lord allowed them to make the choice of going or staying by themselves. In the second cut, the Lord chose whom He wanted.
2. Those who kneel:
a. Those who get down on both knees and bury their face in water:
b. Thinking only of themselves and satisfying their thirst
c. Not vigilant to watch for themselves or their brothers
d. Self-indulgent, self-centered and self-serving
e. These are the people who want to get on the new train but don’t want to serve, want everyone to serve them, want to negotiate their own terms
f. These people, God sent away.
3. Those who lap like a dog:
a. Those who crouch down and scoop the water with their hand to their mouth:
b. Remaining alert, vigilant and aware
c. These are the ones whom God chose, the ones He will use to defeat the oppressor
4. Now the odds have gone from 4 to 1 to 450 to 1. God likes those odds because He will get the glory for the victory.
C. Conclusion of the account.
1. The Lord encourages Gideon by allowing him to hear a dream that a Midianite soldier had.
2. Judges 7:16-20
3. Significance.
a. trumpet: call to battle, worship, the presence of the Lord
b. pitcher: us, God’s people, jars of clay
c. torch: the Spirit
d. sword: the Word of God
4. To us, this speaks of taking our position in the battle, being broken vessels, not trusting in our flesh, but broken before the Lord so the light of His Spirit can shine forth. We proclaim the Word of God over our enemies.
5. As we do this, the Lord throws them into confusion and they are defeated. Gideon pursues the enemy and kills the Raven, the Wolf, the one who slaughtered and the one who overthrew their protection.
IV. Application to our lives.
A. A crucial moment.
1. This is a crucial moment for us. The old system of oppression is breaking down and a new one is being set up, but the Lord is calling us to rise up and defeat the poverty spirit once and for all.
2. First, we need to realize that the strength and the wealth is already within us because of God’s covenant with us. Even if we’re struggling financially, the authority and the ability to overcome the poverty spirit is already within us.
3. Second, we need to search our hearts and repent for having put any hope in our money or the world financial systems to save us. We need to search our hearts and be sure that we are not trying to serve God and mammon.
4. Third, make sure that you’re in the 300 that God chooses by exercising self-control. Put faith over fear and restrain yourself from self-indulgent behaviors that would expose you to the enemy. Stay alert, stay on guard. Take responsibility for yourself and the Lord’s people.
5. Fourth, make no provision for the flesh, but instead be broken before the Lord. Let the light of His Spirit guide you and trumpet the Word of God over your enemy.
6. Fifth, don’t stop until they’re dead or out of your territory.