Joshua Chapter 6 - Called

Scott Allen leads today's lesson from Judges 6:1-16. God had warned his people though Moses and Joshua to remain faithful. If they turned away from their only Lord and Helper, trouble would soon follow. Nonetheless, in the book of Judges we see the people constantly falling into the cycle of disobedience and correction, in need of repentance and restoration. For seven terrible years the Israelites suffered invasion by the Midianites at harvest time. Crops and herds were devastated. Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help. In response, God sent a nameless prophet to tell essentially them "I told you so." But God also called on a hero to rise and save them... only Gideon did not see himself as the hero that God knew he could be. God had to first correct Gideon's thinking. Despite the adversity, God was present and God cared about Israel. And the key question wasn't what Gideon could do to save Israel. It was what God could do through Gideon.