Living Surrendered or Living Scared? (Hebrews 11:32, Judges 6-9)

[32] And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon… [Heb 11:32 ESV]
[25] In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. [Jdg 21:25 ESV] [16] Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. [Jdg 2:16]

[1] The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. [2] And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel….
….[6] And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD. [7] When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, [8] the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. [9] And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. [10] And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” [11] Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. [12] And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”…
….[14] ….”Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” [15] And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” [16] And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” [17] And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me… (Jdg 6:1-2, 6-12, 14-17)

[23] But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” [24] Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace.

[25] That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it [26] and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” [27] So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night…

[34] …the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon… (Jdg 6:34)

[36] Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, [37] behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor… [Jdg 6:23-27, 34, 36-37 ESV]

[1] Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped…
[2] The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ [3] Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.'” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. [4] And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” [Jdg 7:1-4]

[22] Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” [23] Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” [24] And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)…
[27] And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. [28] So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon…
[30] Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. [31] And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. [32] And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father…
[33] As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. [34] And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, [35] and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. [Jdg 8:22-24, 27-35 ESV]