Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for May 13, 2012
Guest speaker: Kevin Dodge
“Being a Christian in a Cultural Christian World — Part II” – Judges 6:25-40
The best way to start breaking through the fog of a culture that is really confused is to sometimes read the people who have stood the test of time.
Augustine’s Confessions was a best seller in its day (written between 397 & 400 AD). As a young man, Augustine’s seeking mind turned to Manichaeism, which was a combination of Greek and Persian, Zoroastrian philosophy, seeking to resolve the dilemma of a loving God allowing evil and intense suffering. Manichaeism’s “solution” was to formulate the existence of two worlds, one good (characterized by light) and one evil (characterized by darkness). In a clash between the two worlds, man, originally of the light, became trapped in the world of darkness but retained some light. This type of philosophy is known as dualism and arises out of Gnosticism, which is of Jewish origin and later took on some elements of Christianity.
Augustine eventually rejected Manichaeism and became a great rhetorician and teacher of rhetoric and later became involved with Christians. One day, while feeling the need to become a Christian, he was in a courtyard and cried out to God how to become a Christian; then he heard a child playing a game and saying, “Pick up and read.” Augustine opened his Bible and it fell open randomly to Romans 13:13-14 and Augustine read, understood, and was converted.
Augustine’s life changed dramatically after this. Augustine, who had lived a thoroughly pagan life, living with a concubine, delighting in the bloody spectacles in the Colosseum, involved with Manichaeism, who found the only meaning to his life in fleshly pursuits, became Christianity’s foremost advocate and teacher. He joined with a group of Christian men who gathered to study together and eventually they found themselves in the North African City of Hippo, seeking a permanent place for their group. On entering the church of Hippo, the congregation, on learning that he was the famous orator of Rome, immediately made him their pastor.
Again, we are reminded that God can make great use of any life, no matter how far from Him that life has degenerated, if he will only turn to the Son of God in faith, submission, and reliance on the completed work of Jesus on the cross.
Judges 6:22
Gideon begins as a man confused about who God is and thus behaved in a confused, timid way. But in verse 22, we hear him exclaim that he has seen the angel of the Lord face to face. Now his life begins to change to that of a mighty warrior for God.
Judges 6:25-32
In addition to being a storm god, Ba’al was a fertility god and, in an agrarian culture, he was particularly important. His followers believed that, at the approach of winter, Ba’al went down into the nether world, allowing plant life to go dormant, and the only way to entice him back up to revive plant life and have crops was to have sex on his altar. This was the rationale of having temple prostitutes. The Asherah pole represented the female goddess-consort to Ba’al and was covered with sexual symbols.
Gideon is instructed by God to tear down the town’s altar to Ba’al and to build in its place an altar to Yahweh and use the Asherah pole as fuel for the fire of the altar.
When the town reacts by seeking to kill Gideon, Gideon’s father, Joash, deflects them by telling the town’s people that if Ba’al is a god, he can defend his own altar. So the town’s people decided to leave it to Ba’al, naming Gideon Jerub-Ba’al, meaning “Ba’al will contend with him.”
Judges 6:33-35
When the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern peoples join forces, cross the Jordan, and encamp in the valley of Jezreel, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and He blew a trumpet, gathering the Abiezrites to follow him. Messengers were sent to the rest of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali so that they would join him.
Judges 6:36-40
But Gideon is still not sure about this and still not sure who God is and calls Him Elohim, the more generic name for God, and instructs God in doing another sign for him. God is patient with him and provides the desired sign.
Do not take Gideon’s actions as a pattern for deciding the course of your life. This is not a Christian way to make a decision.
Gideon isn’t trying to decide a course of action; he is really trying to find out if he is actually talking to God. He is still trying to find out who God is. It turns out that Ba’al, besides being a storm god and god of agriculture, is also a god of dew.
The Christian should use the wisdom of the Scriptures and supplement it with the light God has given him and the wisdom of the Christian community.
Hebrews 11:32
Saving faith is composed of knowledge, perseverance, and trust (or reliance). This verse in Hebrews is concerned with the perseverance aspect of faith.
This is difficult, and we need each other to persevere.
