Week of 5.1.2022 | Day Three
The Israelites were sinking further and further into sin. They were caught up in a cycle of sin: sin, oppression, repentance, deliverance, peace, then back to sin. God sent judges to remind them of His mighty works and how much He loved His people. He would deliver them, but the peace didn’t last long before they forgot God and went back to sinning. The people needed a greater deliverer, a greater peace. The people needed Jesus Christ!
Read
Judges 7:1-7, 13-15, 19-22, 25
Discuss
If you have older kids, consider reading all of Judges 7.
Why did God tell Gideon there were too many people with him (vs. 2)?
What did Gideon say to the men to get some to leave (vs. 3)?
How did Gideon narrow down the number of men the second time (vs. 4-5)?
How many men were left after he narrowed them down the second time (vs. 6-7)?
How big was the Midianite army (vs. 12)?
What was the strange dream that Gideon overheard the Midian man telling his friend about (vs. 13)?
What did the friend say the dream meant (vs. 14)?
Did God fulfill his promise to use Gideon to defeat their enemy, Midian?
God used Gideon and his 300 men to defeat an entire army of thousands! He is merciful to His people and mighty to save! Israel had peace with their enemies for forty years while Gideon was alive, but then they turned back to their evil ways. They continued in the cycle of sin, waiting for their true deliverer the Savior of the World to rescue them from sin.
Pray
Pray together as a family about what you read today. Thank God for how wonderful works that only He can do and sending Jesus to be our Savior!
Today and the rest of the week, use these prayer points to expand your family prayer time to the local and global gospel mission:
Family/Friends: Continue to pray for the specific needs of your family and friends
Providence Church: Matt Morrison, Director of Communications
Local Church: Trails Church Winnipeg, Aaron Boswell
Local School: Griffin Middle
Global: Unreached People Group- Uzbek (Uzbekistan)
Mission Partners/ Local Missions – Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Family Challenge
Discuss the different cycles in your own family. This includes the cycle of work and school, semesters and holidays, that orient most families schedules. This could also include cycles of earning allowance for doing chores and then getting to spend what they earn. There could be other cycles that are not as fruitful, such as the cycle of anger or frustration, when a child does not get their way. They lose their temper, get angry, receive consequences or find a way out of their frustration, and are happy until they don’t get their way again.
As you identify the cycles in your family, talk and pray about how you can redeem those for the Lord. Seek to glorify the Lord in those cycles, no matter what they are, so they do not become patterns of sin.