Marcus Mecum - Encouraged By The Enemy
Judges 7. I wanna talk to you about being encouraged by your enemy. Let’s look at verse 9. «Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. During the night the Lord said to Gideon, 'get up, go down against the camp, because I’m going to give it into your hands'». So, this is what God’s already promised him. «Just go attack, you’ve got it». «But if you’re afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack'». So, let me get this right. If you’re afraid to attack Gideon, I want you to go down and listen to what your enemy is saying about you and afterward you’ll be encouraged.
«So, he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other Eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. Gideon arrived just as a man,» so, Gideon’s now eavesdropping on the enemies, listening to the enemy, and the enemy said that, a man is telling a friend his dream, «I had a dream, a round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force the tent was overturned and collapsed'. His friend responded, 'this can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon,» now, Gideon is facing an enemy that’s about, according to commentary, is about 250,000 troops. He begins with 32,000, so he’s go a fighting chance. He’s by far outnumbered, but he’s got a chance.
One day 22,000 people from that army they don’t want the fight. They’re not interested in fighting the 250,000. So, he’s down to a much smaller number. Then that number, of the 10,000, 9,700 walk away. So, he’s left with 300. So, how many of y’all know that’s a bad day? So, there’s no chance, there’s no possibility that the 300 can take on 250,000. And so, God gives him some advice. Now, I would consider this bad advice if God had not given it to him. I would say, «Don’t listen to your enemy. Satan is a deceiver, he is an accuser, he is the father of lies. His mission is to steal, kill, and destroy». Any time Jesus came into contact with a demon he silenced the demon.
I would say that, «Any time in life you hear a voice your job is to discern the source of that voice. Your job is to say that’s the good shepherd then his sheep know his voice, and you’re to discern what the voice of the enemy is. Silence the voice of the enemy and amplify the voice of God». I would say, «For no reason should you listen to the voice of an enemy». But God told Gideon, «I want you to go listen to what your enemy is saying». He didn’t send him to an apostle or a prophet or an angel or an intercessor. God said, «If you could only hear what your enemy is saying, it would encourage you». If you could only hear what hell says about you, sir. If you could only hear what hell says about you, ma’am, you would be encouraged. The seven sons of Sceva run into a demon possessed man. The demon speaks up and says, «Jesus we know, Paul we know, but who are you»?
So, it’s evident that hell is aware of us, that hell thinks about us, has conversations about us, and in this text, even dreams or has nightmares about us. EC Freeman a missionary to Africa came into contact with a woman that was demon possessed, so much so, it took five grown men to constrain her. Brings this woman into the place that he’s staying, he says, «Does she speak English»? And they said, «No, she’s from deep in the bushes of Africa. No, she does not speak English». And as he’s saying that the demon speaks up and says, «EC Freeman, I know who you are and I’m not afraid of you». And he says, «You don’t need to fear me, but you need to fear the name that I carry. In the name of Jesus Christ, come out».
My point is, hell knows who you are. Gideon overhears the enemy dreaming about him, having nightmares about him and Gideon realizes that he underestimates the threat that he is. He underestimates how hell sees him. And traditionally, God’s people underestimate who we are. We underestimate the threat that we are. You say, «You’re not talking to me I’m just a stay at home mom». Well, the Bible says you’re the one that’s raising up a godly seed in the earth. And if you know anything about the godly seed according to Genesis 3:15, when God gets involved, the seed, though the enemy may bruise the heel of the seed, the seed will crush the enemy’s head. And the point is simply this, our job is to raise a godly seed in the earth. Not that they’ll go through life not bruised, but in the end we’re raising them up to crush the work of the enemy.
You’re a mom, you’re a dad, you’re there to draw the bloodline. You’re there to make sure that the assignment of this world and hell that targets our children will not prevail. You’re there to raise up a standard against that. And I promise you, hell fears stay at home moms that know how to pray and love and make sure their children are in God’s house. You say, «I’m no threat to the enemy, I’m a business man. I just go and I got the work that I do, it’s not spiritual, it’s secular, it’s just about money, it’s just about that type of thing. I mean, what threat am i»? You have no idea that the Bible, all throughout the scripture there’s a connection between the king and the priest. The king is the person that’s sent into the world to rule, the priest guards, develops, is a bridge builder in the kingdom. But the king and the priest have a relationship.
You might be a king, it’s your primary anointing and you might minor in priesthood or ministry. I major in the priesthood or pastoring but I minor in other things. And the point is simply this, I cannot do what I’m called to do. God’s people pastors the kingdom work that is the priesthood cannot happen without kings and the kings gather and somehow my anointing complements your anointing, your anointing complements my anointing. I wish that I could just be all king and all priest, but God’s made it to where somehow my anointing feeds you and your anointing feeds what I do. And the Kingdom of God desperately need business men to know that they are a threat, that they are on assignment. That God’s anointed you to do what you do just like he has anybody else. And we’re wanting you to know that God wants to use you. You need to get the Revelation that God wants to use you and do not underestimate who you are. Young people underestimate who they are.
Jeremiah said, «What could I possibly do? I’m just a youth». Paul told Timothy, «Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young». Traditionally speaking, the church has underestimated young people. Why do we do this? When you look at the apostles all of them, for the most part, I think except John, was under the age of 20. Jeremiah was 16, David was 16 or 17. We could go on and on. Josiah was 8. On and on you see God has never looked at age when he decides to anoint someone and use someone. The elderly, «But I’m old, my time’s passed. My best years are behind me». You have no idea what your presence does, you have no idea what your sacrifices have meant, you have no idea what your faithfulness says to the up and coming generation. You model the way. You are an inspiration. You are without any question a light to people trying to find out, how do I do this? Not just one year or two years but decade upon decade upon decade.
How do I give my life entirely to the kingdom? You’re the Caleb. You’re here saying your spirit should say at 80, «We’re still just as strong as I was when I’m young, give me that mountain». You say, «I go to a every day job. I’m a blue collar worker. I wake up at 5. I go, I work with hands. I’m no threat». Gideon was a farmer. When God found him, he’s in the wine press threshing wheat. He’s a blue collar worker. God didn’t go to seminary when he decided to find someone that could be mighty for his kingdom. You underestimate who you are, but if you could eavesdrop on hell right now, if you could see how hell sees you, you would be encouraged by your enemy. It’s one thing to be encouraged when God says you are a mighty man or a mighty woman of valor. It’s another thing to be encouraged by your brothers, the 300, that stood against an enemy that greatly outnumbered them. It’s another thing to have them encourage you.
But God said, «The final way you overcome the fear that’s facing you is you have to go listen to what your enemy is saying and it will encourage you». And you know what Gideon discovered? Hell was having nightmares about him. The enemy is having nightmares that you’ll catch, that you’ll gather in any way shape or form that this is about more than just attending church. This is about more than just showing up and sitting in a seat. When you and I show up, God is up to something and hell fears that you would get a Revelation of what your life is really all about. That’s what God told Gideon, «You have no idea how powerful you are». What’s his response? «But I’m the least of my father’s house. My father’s house is the least of all the clans in Israel. There’s no way I can do what you’re asking me to do. There’s no way that I can fulfill the mission that you’re giving me».
And so, God gives up. He says, «Okay. You won’t listen to me, so I’ve got some advice for you. Why don’t you just go down and listen to what your enemy is saying about you? You won’t listen to me. So, go listen to what your enemy is saying and it will encourage you». So, Gideon and his servant they go down, there’s a tent. They eavesdrop, they listen in and they overhear a man had a dream and it was a dream of how a loaf of bread wins the battle. And the friend hears the story, hears the dream, the nightmare that the guy had and he says, «The loaf of bread is Gideon’s sword».
So, notice how the enemy sees a loaf of bread. Notice how the enemy sees something that should be able to cause no destruction or harm. The enemy sees bread as a sword. So, Gideon sees himself, but how he sees himself is incomplete. So, God gives him the interpretation of how the enemy sees him, not how he sees himself. But the enemy sees him not as just bread, the enemy sees him as a sword. Because hell fights you over what heaven calls you. So, how you see yourself, how we see what we do is only part of the picture. So, what do we have to do? We have to recognize there’s heaven’s view, there’s earth’s view, and there’s hell’s view. Heaven’s view, «Gideon you’re a mighty man of valor». Earth’s view, «I’m the least of my father’s house». Hell’s view, «The loaf of bread is a sword».
Shaking in their boots, trembling, insomnia, cannot sleep because of who Gideon is. All throughout scripture you see the differences in the view. The little child laid in the manger. Heaven’s view, «This is the seed. His heel will crush the enemies head. He will end up stealing back the keys of death, hell, and the grave». Earth’s view, «Don’t even give him a room at the inn, put him in a born». Most miss it. Hell’s view, «Herod says, 'kill all the male children under the age of three because my kingdom is about to end'». Paul said five times in the New Testament, «I am not inferior. I am not inferior». The greatest apostle in the New Testament gave us over half of our New Testament scriptures. Had to remind himself over and over, «I am not inferior».
At some point, we have to get a view of how hell sees us, how hell sees what we do and this is the reason why. It is possible that hell has more faith in us than we have in ourselves. We see this as bread. That’s why we worship, that’s why we come and hear the message. We need bread, we need sustenance. Bread speaks of the Word of God. We’re here and we need to be fed, we need nutrients, we need to get strengthened. That’s how we see it as bread but how hell sees what we’re doing is as a sword. We see it just a Sunday morning coming to church, punching the clock, doing our thing. But what we call bread, hell sees it as an army being trained. A sermon being preached to us is just a sermon. «How much longer is he gonna go»? But hell hears God’s people being armed.
We see it as prayer and fasting in January. We see it as just serving or just giving. What’s the big deal? Hell sees the battle turning in our favor. Hell knows the principalities and powers and rulers of darkness are being disarmed as we speak. We see a shepherd boy, hell sees Goliath’s head being cut off. We see just a basic shout, what’s the point? Hell sees the walls of Jericho coming down. So, at some point, you have to ask yourself, «How do you view it»? How are you viewing the shout? Oh, it’s just emotionalism. Well, that’s not what the Bible says but if you all listen to how God hears it then just know how hell hears it.
And the last thing hell wants to hear is God’s people knowing no matter what the circumstance looks like, we don’t walk by our feeling, we don’t walk by our sight, we walk by faith and we shout unto God with a voice of triumph and it puts fear in hell’s camp. That’s what a shout does. A shout lets the enemy know he’s not the one that is going to have the final say, God will have the final say. So, the dream was a loaf of bread is Gideon’s sword. Jesus said, «Pray, give us this day our daily bread». So, it’s bread to us, but be reminded, it’s also sharper and more powerful than a two-edged sword. So, I came to tell a Gideon, if you’d listen to what your enemy is saying, you would be encouraged.
You say, «Well, how would I listen to what my enemy is saying»? Well, the scripture here says, «That the enemy was like locusts, that the camels outnumbered the sand on the seashore». Why would you need that level of an attack for 300 men? Why would you need 250,000 troops, that kind of weaponry for 300 men? It’s because hell knows that heaven said, «He’s mighty». And hell knows if heaven says you’re mighty, it has everything to fear no matter what the odds are. So, how you listen to the enemy is you consider, what’s the size of the attack? What’s the level of the attack that’s been launched against your life? Why the rejection? Why the abandonment? Why the abuse? Why the heartbreak? Why the loneliness? Why the discouragement? Why the depression? Why being eaten up with worry? Why the sense of always feeling like you don’t measure up, you’re a failure? Why the constant attack of the enemy? Why the constant feel of you try to get up and there that darkness is to harass you and pull you back down?
Every time you try to rise the enemy is there to hit you from some way or another. It’s because the size of the attack is the prophetic picture of your future. The attack lets you know how the enemy sees you. He’s not launching that kind of attack against somebody that’s not a threat. But because he knows that God has said you’re mighty he knows that God has said he’s with you and is going to do great things with you, hell attacks you at an equal level of the call on your life. So, our bread is our sword, our bread is our weapon, our bread, this is the life flow to us, but it’s a death blow to the enemy. Two thousand years ago Colossians 2:15 gave us a picture of the enemy right now. You wanna know the condition of the devil.
If you wanna know what he is like, the Bible says, «He was disarmed,» and it says, «There was a public spectacle made of him, and he was put to open shame». So, not only did Jesus go and disarm him of the keys of death, hell, and the grave, stripped him down, but the next thing that he would’ve done according to ancient warfare is when one army overtook another they would strip the king down of his royal garments, take the throne, take his weaponry, strip him down, chain him to his other soldiers and not leave him out on the battle field to die, but in best case scenario he would live and then he would take that enemy to the city square of the conquering kingdom.
The people would gather in a great celebration and like a parade they would March the enemy around stripped down to nothing. March the enemy around, not only disarmed but now making a public spectacle of the defeat and putting that king to open shame, letting the people know the threat is gone. The threat is over. It is defeated. The Bible says when we get to heaven and we look back on the enemy, on satan, who caused us all this pain we will say, «That’s the one? That little, old, puny thing is the one that we allowed to cause so much pain, so much heartache»? My point is this, you are mightier than you think you are. You are greater than you think you are. God has his hand on your life and hell is afraid you will catch a glimpse.