#148 - Kyle Thompson // WE WERE BORN FOR BATTLE: Judges 6:12

God transforms us by giving us new identities that align with His vision for our lives, as demonstrated in Gideon's journey from fearful wheat thresher to mighty warrior who defeated the Midianites.

• Gideon was first found hiding in a wine press threshing wheat out of fear of the Midianites
• The angel of the Lord appeared and called him "mighty warrior" despite his cowardice
• There is transformative power in the new names and identities God gives us
• The woman with the issue of blood was not only healed physically but restored socially when Jesus called her "daughter"
• God reduced Gideon's army from 22,000 to 300 men to demonstrate His power
• Gideon developed resilience by growing into the identity God gave him, not through self-effort
• Many men have made agreements with negative names given to them in childhood
• We were born for battle and are called to embrace our identity as mighty warriors

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Daily Blade.
The Word of God is described asthe sword of the Spirit, the
primary spiritual weapon in theChristian's armor against the
forces of evil.
Your hosts are Joby Martin andKyle Thompson, and they stand
ready to equip men for the fight.
Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hi guys, all week we've looked at different
passages of Scripture thatreveal to us, and remind us,
christian men, that we were bornfor battle.
So we looked at some Paulineletter, we looked at one Pauline
letter, we looked at—actuallyit was a couple of Pauline
letters.
There you go.
I'm trying to remember my ownweek, guys, we also looked at
the Psalm of David, and todaywe're in the book of Judges,
chapter 6.

(00:40):
So this is where we wereintroduced, or are introduced to
a coward turned conqueror, andthat's Gideon.
So the story of Gideon startsin West Manasseh, near the Sea
of Galilee, and during thisperiod the Israelites had turned
away from God and for that Goddelivered them into the hands of
their enemies, the Midianites.
So the Midianites ravaged theland, you know.
They massively impoverished theIsraelites and finally the

(01:03):
Israelites turned away from thepagan gods that they had been
worshiping and turned to thereal God to help.
So God's answer to them waswell, it's going to come from an
unlikely source, but here'sGideon.
So we first meet Gideon whilehe is threshing wheat in a wine
press.
Now, if you just heard me saythat, that part could be easily

(01:25):
skipped over, okay, but here'swhy it's important Threshing
wheat was a process thatnormally took place above ground
, because the wind was actuallyused to help with the method of
separation.
However, gideon was so afraidof the Midianites and what they
might do to him that he isactually performing this action
in a wine press, which isunderground.

(01:47):
Okay, so, in other words, he'shiding like a little coward.
And this is when you know allthe things changed for Gideon.
We go to Judges 6, verse 12.
When the angel of the Lordappeared to Gideon, he said the
Lord is with you, mighty warrior.
Now, obviously, this is kind ofironic, because Gideon is
actually hiding, right, he'sscared, but God was calling him

(02:10):
a mighty warrior.
I mean, this is just sounbelievably important.
I mean, another way you couldsay it is that God is giving him
power by giving him a newdescriptor for himself, a new
name, if you will, and, guys, weknow this descriptor for
himself, a new name, if you will, and, guys, we know this.
But there is power in newdescriptors, there is power in a
name.
Now there's actually a storyfrom the Gospels that has just

(02:32):
recently revolutionized how Iread the Bible.
The TV series, the Chosen,actually helped me with this by
slowing it down, because I usedto just read everything too fast
or just skim the parts that Ithought I already knew, but I no
longer do that because of whatI realized about the story of
the woman with the issue ofblood.
So the story is found in allthree of the synoptic gospels,

(02:52):
but I'm going to read theaccount from Matthew 9, verses
20 through 22.
Short account here.
And behold, a woman who hadsuffered from a discharge of
blood for 12 years came upbehind him and touched the
fringe of his garment.
For she said to herself, if Ionly touch his garment, I will
be made well.
Jesus turned and, seeing her,said take heart, daughter, your

(03:14):
faith has made you well.
And instantly the woman wasmade well.
So initially you might read astory like that and be like okay
, wow, cool, just another personthat Jesus healed.
That's neat.
But this story has so much moreto it than that and I can't get
into all the details here sincewe're on a time crunch.
But I just want to make surethat you guys key in on this one

(03:34):
word daughter.
You see, this woman was on herperiod for 12 straight years.
I mean, the majority of ourlisteners here are men, so we
can't even fathom most of that.
But we at least all know enoughto know that it would be
terrible, right?
But it's, you know, it's wayworse for this woman than what

(03:55):
you're even thinking, because,aside from the fact that she did
not have access to some of the,you know, modern products and
conveniences that make thatprocess a little bit more
manageable for women, this womanwould have been a complete, a
little bit more manageable forwomen.
This woman would have been acomplete outcast in her day,
because in the Old Testament,ceremonial law, women on their
menstrual cycles were rituallyunclean and anyone that touched

(04:19):
her would have been rituallyunclean, right?
So for this woman, she lost herability to operate in society
and she would have beenexcommunicated from her family.
And she would have beenexcommunicated from her family,
but here Jesus calls herdaughter.
A woman who would have beenshunned by her earthly father
was called daughter by the Sonof God.
I mean, there's so much powerin that.

(04:45):
Now, back to Gideon.
Eventually, through Gideon, goddoes exactly what he promised
he helped the Israelites crushthe Midianites.
However, in order to show thatit was not just the Israelites
that accomplished this feat bythemselves and with their own
strength, god made Gideonwhittle down his fighting force
of over 22,000 men to only 300warriors.
And these 300 men routedthousands of enemy Midianites,

(05:07):
chasing them from their lands.
And Gideon certainly didn'tstart out resilient, right, but
he cultivated it along the way.
However, he didn't cultivate itbased on his own strength and
you know kind of white-knuckledstick-to-itiveness.
He cultivated it because Godcalled him up into a new name,
mighty Warrior, a name that he,god, would continue to work to

(05:29):
help Gideon live up to.
And, men, some of you have madesome agreements with the names.
You were called as a boy, wuss,worthless, runt, weakling, good
for nothing, coward.
But I'm here to tell you thisyou are a mighty warrior.

(05:49):
Did you hear me?
You are a mighty warrior.
So for the last time this week,men, we were born for battle.
Thank you for your attentionthis week stay.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
Thank you for listening to today's episode
Before you go.
If you want to help equip othermen for the fight, share this
podcast around and leave us afive-star rating and review.
Stay sharp.