The story of history from the Garden of Eden on is the great war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent: God vs. Evil. The story’s climax is the death and resurrection of Jesus, but all of history is revealing this story arc. And this chapter is no different. Here we have the sordid history of Gideon’s sons, and God’s providential superintendence even in the midst evil plots and treachery – teaching us a politics of patience and fruitfulness.

The Text: “And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unot his mother’s brethren, and communed with them…” (Judges 9:1-57).

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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By the grace of God, we have seen a genuine Christian community grow up in our midst over the years. We have wanted to be a Bible people, which means Christian liberty on issues like alcohol, and so we have not allowed the traditions of men to place any extra-biblical restrictions on us. God gave wine to gladden the heart of man (Ps. 104:15), God urges the purchase of strong drink with the tithe money (Dt. 14: 26), and the Lord Jesus Himself uses wine in the sacrament of the new covenant (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25). “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle”” (Col. 2:20–21, NKJV). So never let a legalist bind up your liberty in Christ.

But our liberty in Christ has a left flank also, and in a community like ours, and in times like ours, it is far too easy to leave that flank exposed. I am talking about the threat of license, which in the name of liberty abuses God’s grace even more than does the legalist.

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Like many great leaders, Gideon does not finish as strong as he begins. He is still listed in Hebrews 11 as one of the great heroes of faith, but there is clearly a decline in faithfulness over the course of his life.

The relative faithfulness of Gideon points to the perfect faithfulness of Christ and is a clear reminder and warning of the need to keep our eyes fixed on Him, to pursue holiness throughout our entire lives, to not grow weary in doing good, to fight sin and chase it all away.

The Text: “And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites?...” (Judges 8:1-35)

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.