I AM Dependent

Judges six begins right after forty years of rest under Deborah, and the cycle turns ugly again. Israel enjoys the goodness of God, drifts off course, ignores the nudge, and ends up under Midian, almost back in the misery of slavery. Midian fills the land so thick that even the camels cannot be counted, and every good thing Israel tries to grow gets trampled or stolen.

Gideon shows up threshing wheat in a winepress, which is not where wheat belongs. The winepress becomes a picture of fear, frustration, and survival. Gideon is not hiding because life is comfortable. Gideon is hiding because maybe, just maybe, breakfast can be made before Midian sees it and takes it.

The angel of the Lord comes into that hidden place and says, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Gideon answers with pain that sounds honest, not polished. If the Lord is with Israel, why has all this happened? Where are the wonders? Why does it feel like God has abandoned his people? God does not scold that ache. Yahweh shows up with skin, Christ before Christmas, standing in the winepress with the man who feels left alone.

The Lord reminds Israel who he is. Yahweh is the God who brought them up out of Egypt, rescued them from slavery, delivered them from oppressors, drove enemies out, and gave them land. Israel’s trouble is not random. Israel has chased the gods of the Amorites, and God has let them have what they wanted. Yet God still comes back, not because Gideon is impressive, but because God is merciful and sending.

Gideon offers his resume, and it is all weakness. His tribe is fractured, his clan is weak, and he is the least in his family. God does not need what Gideon offers. God just calls for his yes. The same God who used Joshua, Caleb, and Deborah chooses the outcast in the winepress and names him by what divine presence will make him.

Judges seven makes the point sharper. Gideon gathers thirty two thousand men, and God says there are too many. God strips the army down to three hundred so Israel cannot boast, “Our own strength has saved us.” The battle must be won in a way that leaves no room for pride. Dependence is not a side lesson. Dependence is the whole road. God’s people are more dependent on him than they realize, and sometimes difficulty keeps that truth from being forgotten. The call remains simple and costly: say yes to Jesus, do the next kind thing, and trust the all caps Lord to come through.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God meets people in winepresses [04:46] God comes to Gideon while he is hiding, not after he has cleaned up the fear and figured out a strategy. The winepress is not just a hiding spot, it is the place where despair, survival, and faithfulness all get tangled together. Divine presence does not wait for ideal conditions. Yahweh stands inside the cramped place where a person is barely making breakfast and speaks a future that fear cannot see. [04:46]
• 2. Yahweh names weakness differently [22:04] God calls Gideon “mighty warrior” before Gideon has done anything mighty. The name does not come from Gideon’s confidence, family line, or proven ability. The name comes from the first half of the sentence: “The Lord is with you.” God’s presence changes the meaning of weakness without pretending weakness is not real. [22:04]
• 3. One yes is enough material [15:35] God does not recruit Gideon because Gideon has a lot to offer. Gideon’s whole argument is that he has nothing, and God’s answer is still, “Am I not sending you?” A disciple’s usefulness begins where self-qualification ends. The next kind thing in front of a person may look small, but surrendered obedience gives God room to do what only God can do. [15:35]
• 4. Dependence grows through stripped strength [26:41] God reduces Gideon’s army until victory cannot be explained by numbers, planning, or courage. The shrinking army feels like loss, but it is also mercy, because pride would turn rescue into self-congratulation. Dependence is often learned through circumstances that feel like not enough. God sometimes removes visible strength so his people can stop confusing survival with self-sufficiency. [26:41]
• 5. Drift turns victories into idols [31:37] Gideon’s story does not end neatly, because Israel wins and then turns the plunder into an idol. The danger after deliverance is forgetting the Deliverer. A victory can become spiritually deadly when the gift receives the worship that belongs to God. Faithfulness after breakthrough may require more vigilance than faithfulness in the winepress.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:29] - Raised Up In Vineyard Values
• [01:02] - Judges And Israel’s Repeating Cycle
• [02:41] - Gideon Hides In The Winepress
• [04:46] - The Lord Calls A Mighty Warrior
• [07:07] - Yahweh Shows Up With Skin
• [10:00] - The God Who Rescues And Sends
• [12:41] - Gideon’s Weakness And God’s Choice
• [15:35] - God Needs A Yes
• [17:11] - Do The Next Kind Thing
• [22:04] - God Believes Better About Gideon
• [24:38] - Too Many Men For God’s Battle
• [29:20] - Difficulty Teaches Dependence
• [33:00] - Learning Dependence Through Finances
• [40:53] - Saying Yes To Jesus

Bible Reading

Judges 6:11-16
“Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.’ And Gideon said to him, ‘Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, "Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?" But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.’ And the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?’ And he said to him, ‘Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.’” [03:06] [04:46] [07:07] [12:41]

Judges 7:2-7
“The Lord said to Gideon, ‘The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, "My own hand has saved me." Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, "Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead." Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, This one shall go with you, shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, This one shall not go with you, shall not go.’ So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.’ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.’” [24:38] [26:41]

Judges 6:7-10
“When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, "I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell." But you have not obeyed my voice.’” [10:00]

Observation questions

1. What details in Judges 6 show what life under Midian was like for Israel, and what do those details show about why Gideon was in a winepress? [04:46]
2. In Judges 6:11-16, what does Gideon say about God, and what does he say about himself?
3. In Judges 6:7-10, what specific things does God remind Israel that he had already done for them?
4. In Judges 7:2-7, what steps does God take to reduce Gideon’s army, and what reason does God give for doing it? [26:41]

Interpretation questions

1. God calls Gideon “mighty warrior” before Gideon looks mighty at all. What does that suggest about how God speaks to people in weakness and fear? [22:04]
2. Gideon asks, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened?” How can that honest question exist alongside the truth that God is still present and still sending? [07:07]
3. Judges 6 connects Israel’s suffering to their drift into other gods, but Judges 7 shows that difficulty can also train dependence. How can a group tell the difference between hardship that comes from disobedience and hardship that God is using to deepen trust? [29:20]
4. God says the army is too large because Israel might say, “My own hand has saved me.” What does that reveal about why God sometimes removes obvious sources of strength? [25:08]

Application questions

1. Where does life currently feel like a winepress—tight, hidden, frustrating, or just barely enough—and what would it look like to believe that God meets people there instead of waiting for life to get cleaned up first? [43:42]
2. Gideon answered God with real pain instead of polished words. What honest question, disappointment, or frustration needs to be brought to God right now instead of kept buried? [05:39]
3. Gideon’s whole argument was that he was too weak, too small, and from the wrong kind of family. What version of that argument tends to come out in this group: “not qualified enough,” “too late,” “too broken,” “too tired,” or something else? [13:16]
4. God did not ask Gideon for impressive strength; he asked for a yes. What is one clear area where a simple yes to Jesus has been delayed? [15:35]
5. “Do the next kind thing” is small enough to miss if a person is waiting for a dramatic assignment. What might the next kind thing be this week at home, at work, in the neighborhood, or in church? [17:11]
6. God reduced Gideon’s numbers so there would be no confusion about who brought the victory. Where is there a temptation right now to trust numbers, savings, talent, planning, reputation, or experience more than God’s presence? [26:41]
7. Israel won and then quickly turned the spoils into an idol. After a breakthrough, what helps a person keep worship centered on the Deliverer instead of the gift, the result, or the success itself? [31:37]