WHY HAS THIS ALL HAPPENED TO US?
Picture taken from Goggle
BIBLE PASSAGE:
JUDGES 6: 1-16
INTRODUCTION:
Have you been asked this
question? This question is normally hear from people who suffers problems in
life. The question that we don’t have answers at the moment the problem is
there. Because of this, we have so many thoughts in minds to answer our
question.
This lesson focuses on the story of Gideon and Israel’s oppression by the Midianites. Imagine the Israelites were in the hand of the enemy for seven years. The Midianites destroyed everything they had; their fruits of the land, and animals were included. So, when the angel of the Lord said to Gideon, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor” he immediately responded “Why then is all this befallen us? (Judges 6:13kjv). His next question was “Where be all his miracles which our father told us? And his third question, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? He assumed that God had already forsaken them. Gideon’s feeling is the same with us. I always hear from people, when I share the gospel, that they are forsaken by God when they are in the midst of trials. Let’s answer the question in the life of Israelites in time of Gideon.
LESSON POINTS:
1.
IT’S
PART OF THEIR DISOBEDIENCE
– In verse 1 of Judges chapter 6, we can see the answer why the Israelites
suffered from the hand of Midian.
“And the children
of the Lord did evil in the sight of the Lord delivered them into the hand of
Midian seven years.”
The Israelites had done evil in
the eyes of the Lord and were subsequently oppressed by the Midianites for
seven years. God sends then a prophet to remind them of their past disobedience.
Israel’s disobedience led them to oppression.
2. IT’S ONE WAY OF GOD TO GET OUR
ATTENTION- The Midianites
would raid Israelite settlements, particularly during harvest time, stealing
their crops and livestock, leaving them impoverished. Facing starvation and
hardship, the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance. They took them seven
years before they cried to the Lord for help (Judges 6:7). God sends then a prophet to remind them for their deliverance
from Egypt. Their past deliverance from Egypt showed that God can still do that
to them. Their oppression is a way for God to get their attention and repent from
their sins and disobedience.
3.
IT’S
FOR THEM TO FOLLOW GOD’S PLAN-
I remember my personal experiences. I had come to a point where I was in great
distress because of money problem. The business I was involved in was in great
debt and my friends left us with the debt. Only three of us left from the group
and we shouldered all the debts the business had. Then I started to ask why all
those bad things happened. I realized, the plan was not God’s will. God gave me
courage to face all the debtors and God led me in a right path after realizing
that was not His will and surrendered everything to Him.
Israelites
was cried out to the Lord and God responded by sending a prophet to rebuke them
and then by calling Gideon to deliver them from the Midianites. All God wanted
for them is to follow His plan.
