SHEEP
DON’T SPEAK, BUT THEIR SHEPHERDS DO,
WITH
POWER!!
04-11-21
This message may be viewed live streaming video at youtube.com and
tabernacleofmoses.org today Sunday at 11:00 am, and repeated 24/7
thereafter.
The video, audio, and study notes are archived.
THE
PROPHECY OF SEVEN YEARS OF TRIBULATION
(Judg
6:1-6) And the children of
Israel [Heb: he will rule as God, prince with God] did
evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them
into the
hand [Heb: power] of Midian [Heb:
brawling, contentious,
discord, strife] [unsaved peoples] seven years. And the
hand of
Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites
the
children of Israel made them the dens which are in the
mountains, and caves,
and strong holds [to hide from the unsaved Midianites
for safety].
And so it was, when Israel had sown [crops], that the
Midianites came up, and the Amalekites [Heb:
descendants of
Esau (the evil twin brother of Jacob)], and the children of
the east
[nomadic Arabs], even they came up against them; And they
encamped
against them [the Israelites], and destroyed the
increase
[Heb: produce, fig. wealth] of the earth
[consumed the
crops, standard of living], till thou come unto Gaza, and left no
sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor
ass.
For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came
as
grasshoppers [Heb: locusts] for multitude [like
millions of undocumented immigrants, many with evil intent];
for
both they and their camels were without number: and they
entered into
the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished
because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried
[Heb:
shrieked (from anguish or danger)] unto the LORD.
GOD
RESPONDS TO THE CRIES OF HIS CHILDREN
(Prov
22:6) Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he
is old, he
will not depart from it.
1.
(2
Tim 2:1-4) Thou therefore, my son, be strong [Gk:
empowered:
enabled] in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things [of
God] that thou hast heard of me [the Apostle
Paul] among
many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men,
who shall
be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness
[Gk:
undergo hardships: be afflicted, suffer troubles], as a good
soldier
[Gk: warrior] of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth
[Gk:
that serves in a military campaign, that goes to war] entangleth
himself [Gk: entwines, involves himself] with
the affairs
of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be
a soldier
[Gk: warrior].
(Judg
7:1-8) Then Jerubbaal [Heb: will contend with Baal],
who
is Gideon [Heb: feller (warrior) /// to fell a tree] [a
type and
shadow of Jesus Christ], and all the people that were with him [the
32,000 warriors who answered the call, i.e., who came to church],
rose
up early, and pitched [their camp] beside the well
of Harod
[Heb: fountain of trembling]: so that the host of the Midianites
[Heb: brawling, contentious, discord, strife] were on the
north
side of them, by the hill of Moreh [Heb: teaching],
in the
valley [of decision]. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The
people
that are with thee [the 32,000] are too many for
me to
give the Midianites [135,000 enemy warriors] into their
hands,
lest Israel vaunt [Heb: boast] themselves against me,
saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to,
proclaim in
the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid
[i.e., whosoever who does not believe God for the victory], let
him
return [to his home] and depart early
[soon, in
the morning] from mount [i.e., something that
effort must
be expended upon to climb up] Gilead [Heb: heap
of
testimony, mass of testimony, mound of stones, rolling forever /// a
witness]
[a type and shadow of the OT brasen altar of burnt offerings
(sacrifices), and
the NT wooden cross]. And there returned [to
their homes]
of the people twenty and two thousand [22,000
who did not
believe God, and therefore continued to be “unsaved”]; and
there
remained ten thousand [10,000 who did believe God, and were
therefore “saved”]. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The [10,000
saved] people are yet too many [lest they vaunt
themselves
against me]; bring them down [humble them down] unto
the water [a biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit], and
I
will try [Heb: to fuse (metal), refine: melt, purify,
purge] [purge
out the dross (impurities, pollutions) from] them for thee
there
[“with the washing of water by the word” (rhema = revelations) Eph 5:26]:
and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This [group]
shall go with thee [into the battle (combat)],
the same
shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This [group]
shall not go with thee [into the battle (combat)],
the
same shall not go. So he brought down [a humbling
process] the
people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one
that
lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth [discrimately
(discernly), so he can still bark, i.e., vocalize, talk], him
shalt thou
set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down
[humbles
himself] upon his knees to drink [by putting his
face and
eyes toward the water and indiscriminately slurping, sucking up the
water, thereby
taking his eyes off the enemy [1], and also becoming no longer able to
warn or speak,
fig. wield (use) his weapon]. And the number of them that
lapped,
putting their hand to their mouth [in an alert position,
keeping their
eyes upon the enemy], were three hundred [300] men:
but all the rest of the people [9,700] bowed
down [in
a submissive position] upon their knees to drink water [willfully
blinding themselves to the enemy]. And the LORD said unto
Gideon, By
the three hundred men that lapped [by the 300 combat
troops,
shepherds] will I save you, and deliver the
Midianites into
thine hand: and let all the other people go every man [the
9,700 support troops, sheep] unto his place. So the
people [the
300 combat soldiers] took victuals [took food
from the
9,700 support troops, sheep] in their hand, and
their
trumpets [voices (weapons), the Sword of the Lord, the
Bible,
(POWER)]: and he sent all the rest of Israel [the 9,700]
every
man unto his tent [a temporary field station, but still in
the arena
of action, whereas he sent the 22,000 unbelievers home unto
inaction],
and retained [Heb: seized] [2] those three
hundred
[300] men: and the host of Midian [135,000 enemy
soldiers]
was beneath him in the valley [of decision].
1.
(1
Pet 5:8) Be sober [Gk: abstain from wine] [i.e.,
drugs],
be vigilant [Gk: keep awake, be watchful];
because your
adversary [Gk: enemy] the devil, as a roaring
lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
2.
(1
Thes 4:17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
[Gk:
seized] together with them [“the dead in Christ”
who are
now angels] in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:
and so
shall we ever be with the Lord.
(Judg
7:16-22) And he divided the three hundred men [300]
into
three companies [under God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy
Spirit], and he put a trumpet [symbol of the
voice of God
(POWER)] in every man's hand, with empty [Heb:
fig.
worthless] pitchers [formed of “the dust of the
ground”
Gen 2:7], and lamps [Heb: torches] within
the
pitchers [i.e., he filled the worthless pitchers with the
fire of
the Holy Spirit]. And he said unto them [the command],
Look
on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the
outside of
the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. When
I
blow with a trumpet, I and all [the angels] that are
with me,
then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and
say,
The sword of the LORD [i.e., the Bible, Eph 6:17; Heb
4:12,
(POWER)], and of Gideon. So Gideon, and the hundred men
that were
with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of
the
middle watch [guard duty, about 10 pm]; and they had but
newly
set the watch [and were very jumpy]: and they [the
300] blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers
that were
in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake
the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the
trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried
[Heb: preached, proclaimed], The sword of the LORD, and
of
Gideon [POWER]. And they stood every man in his
place [“Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7] round
about the camp:
and all the host ran, and cried [Heb: shouted for
alarm],
and fled. And the three hundred blew the trumpets [channeling
THE
POWER of God], and the LORD set every man's sword against
his fellow
[i.e., they killed each other in the darkness of fear, as they
shall
today], even throughout all the host: and the host fled
to
Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
Amen