THE FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT

ALL ABOUT YOU: GIDEON, CHAPTER 25

THE FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT

04-04-04

(Judg 7:7,8) And the LORD said unto Gideon [feller (i.e. warrior) /// to fell a tree], By the three hundred men that lapped [are sober, watchful, vigilant: 1 Pet 5:8] will I save you, and deliver the Midianites [quarrel: brawling, contentious, discord, strife] into thine hand [power]: and let all the other people [the 9,700 saved support troops] go every man unto his place [tent]. So the people [300] took victuals [food, i.e. the Word of God] in their hand, and their trumpets [voice (speak out – the Word comes forth)]: and he sent all the rest of Israel [he will rule as God: the 9,700 support troops] every man unto his tent, and retained [“strengthened” Judg 7:11] those three hundred men [shepherds (pastors) Rev 6:12 – Rev 7:8, and the sheep (congregation) follow Rev 7:9-17]: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley [“the valley of Jezreel” Judg 6:33 (Armageddon)].

1. retained = Heb: chazaq, khaw-zak'; to fasten upon; hence to seize, be strong (fig. courageous, strengthen), conquer: catch, cleave, be of good (take) courage (-ous, -ly), (lay) hold (fast), become (wax) mighty, prevail, seize, be (wax) sore, strengthen, be (make, shew, wax) strong (-er), take (hold), behave self valiantly, withstand

2. caught up = Gk: harpazo, har-pad'-zo; to seize:--catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take by force /// to take for oneself, i.e. to prefer. (1 Thes 4:17; Rev 12:5)

STRENGTHENED (chazaq – harpazo) WITH PHURAH (the Holy Spirit)

(Judg 7:9-12) And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down [yarad yarad] unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down [yarad yarad], go [yarad] thou with Phurah thy servant down [yarad] to the host: And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands [power] be strengthened [chazaq] to go down [yarad yarad] unto the host. Then went he down [yarad yarad] with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. (Judg 7:12) And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

1. Phurah = Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: Heb: foliage /// prop. ornamentation, i.e. (plur.) foliage (includ. the limbs) as bright green:--bough, branch, sprig /// to gleam, i.e. (causat.) embellish; also to explain (i.e. make clear) oneself; to shake a tree:--beautify, boast self, go over the boughs, glorify (self), glory, vaunt self.

2. (Luke 23:31) For if they do these things in a green tree [wet (as if with rain)], what shall be done in the dry?

3. Purah = Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dict: beauty; one of Gideon’s servants, probably his armor-bearer, who went with Gideon under cover of darkness to scout the enemy camp of Midianites.

4. Purah = Young’s Analytical Concordance of the Bible: beauty.

5. Purah = People and Places in the Bible: that bears fruit; A Dictionary of Proper Names: fruitful

6. yarad yarad machaneh (host) /// yarad yarad yarad (with) purah yarad machaneh (host) /// chazaq (strengthened) yarad yarad machaneh (host) yarad yarad (with) purah machaneh (host)

STRENGTHENED (chazaq – harpazo) THROUGH BELIEF

(Judg 7:13) And when Gideon was come [feller (i.e. warrior) /// to fell a tree], behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread [a type of firstfruits harvest] tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along [fell, be judged, overthrown, overwhelm, perish, (make to) rot, slay, smite out, X surely, throw down].

1. (Job 33:14-16) For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, [twice: asleep in a dream, and by wakeful inspiration]

(Judg 7:14,15) And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash [Jehovah-fired /// fire: burning, fiery, fire, flaming, hot], a man of Israel [he will rule as God]: for into his hand [power] hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.

CAUGHT UP (chazaq – harpazo)

(2 Cor 12:2-4) I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up [harpazo] to the third heaven [“the kingdom of God [heaven] is within you” Luke 17:21]. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up [harpazo] into paradise, and heard unspeakable words [rhema], which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

1. “not lawful for a man to utter” = at that time, i.e. heretofore unrevealed revelations. The Bible, which is the Body of Christ, is a succession of connected revelations progressively building up the seeker, who is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor 6:19), beginning with the two feet (foundation: OT & NT), and proceeding upward to His head.

2. “the third heaven” = Into the presence of God: the courtyard of the tabernacle, the holy place, the most holy place. /// “and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.” (Gen 6:16).

3. (Eph 2:19-22) Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And [you] are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building [structure /// dwelling, house, temple] fitly framed together [organized compactly together] groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together [with other Christians] for an habitation [dwelling-place] of God through [by the instrumentality of] the Spirit.

3. paradise = Gk: a park, i.e. (spec.) an Eden (place of future happiness) // a park: forest, orchard.

In the “heaven is in the sky metaphor,” clouds symbolize the dead in Christ who are witnesses between God and earthly man (i.e. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc.). They speak to us as they rain the word of God down upon us, so that we may absorb the moisture, the water of life, into our dry bodies, i.e. get wet. (Heb 12:1a) Wherefore seeing we [on this earth] also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.

1. (Acts 1:9) And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

2. (Eccl 12:7) Then shall the dust [(as powdered) clay] return to the earth as it was: and the spirit [water, moisture] shall return unto God who gave it.

3. evaporate = Dict: 1. to change from a liquid or solid state into vapor. 2. to give off moisture. 3. to disappear; vanish; fade. 4. to convert into a gaseous state or vapor; drive off or extract in the form of vapor: The warm sun evaporated the dew. 5. to extract moisture or liquid from, as by heat. 6. to cause to disappear or fade; dissipate.

4. (Gen 19:15,16) And when the morning arose [dawn, sunrise], then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered [to question or hesitate, i.e. to be reluctant: delay, tarry], the men laid hold [chazaq (took by force)] upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish,

yet the inward man is renewed day by day. (2 Cor 4:16)

Amen