WEAK AND FOOLISH

God has a way of doing things that may be very different from how we would do things as you can read in I Corinthians 1:27-28

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are.

From these verses we can see that God delights in choosing the least, the unknown, the weak of this world as His instruments. Let’s look at some examples from the Bible to show you that God can use anybody He chooses to work through. 

Our first example is Gideon. We find his story in Judges 6. Let’s read Judges 6:1-6

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years He gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelter for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

Israel has turned away from the Lord and the Lord disciplines the nation by allowing an enemy to oppress her. This continues for seven years and after seven years the Israelites finally cry out to the Lord for help. So God chooses someone in their midst to deliver the nation from her enemies, as you can read in Judges 6:11-13

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, “Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”

God’s choice is a man named Gideon. And the angel of the Lord addresses him as a “mighty warrior”. That is very interesting in light of the fact that Gideon is threshing wheat in a winepress because of his fear for the Midianites. Moreover God’s chosen instrument feels the need to make a complaint against God because, to him, God has not been good to them at all but has abandoned them and Gideon does not understand why that has happened. Let’s pick up the story by reading Judges 6:14-16

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

The Lord simply ignores Gideon’s complaints and tells him to go and deliver Israel out of the hands of their enemies. However, Gideon just knows that somehow the Lord must have gotten His facts mixed up for he is not a mighty warrior as the Lord makes him out to be. It seems to Gideon that the Lord does not know his background so he better spell out the facts for Him that his clan is the weakest and that he is the least in his family. This means he is the weakest of the weakest and cannot possibly be God’s choice of a deliverer for the nation. However, God tells him that He will be with him and that, therefore, Gideon will be successful.

It is clear that Gideon did not know the principles laid out in I Corinthians 1:27-28

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are.

If he had known these principles then he would have agreed with God that he was the perfect choice for he fitted the bill exactly by being the weakest of the weakest.

However, Gideon did not know this and God had to tell him, “Yes, Gideon I know who you are, I know all the facts about your clan and your position in your family. But these things don’t matter to Me for I will be with you, Gideon, and because I will be with you, you will be successful in all that I have for you to do.”

The fact that God was going to be with Gideon would make all the difference in the world. Without God he would fail but with God he would succeed. And did Gideon succeed? To find out let’s read Judges 8:28

Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land enjoyed peace for forty years.

So God was true to His word and used a man named Gideon, who considered himself  the weakest of the weak, to deliver a nation because He was with Gideon.

Another example of a lowly and weak person I would like for us to look at is Esther. You can find her story in the Book of Esther. Esther was a young Jewish orphan girl who was brought up by her cousin Mordechai. She and her cousin were living in exile in Persia with other Jewish people. She had been taken into the Court of king Xerxes, as you can read in Esther 2:5-8

Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoioachin, king of Judah. Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up for she had neither father nor mother. Esther was lovely in form and features, and Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died. When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many girls were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther was also taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem.

Esther spends one year preparing to be received by the king and when she does meet with him, he is so pleased with her that he makes her his queen, as you can read in Esther 2:17

Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favour and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

 Esther has not revealed to anyone at the Court, including the king, that her background is Jewish. Then one day something happens that threatens Esther’s very existence, as you can read in Esther 3:8-11

Then Haman said to king Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will put ten thousand talents of silver into the treasury for the men who carry out this business”. So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

A certain official at the Court, a man named Haman hates Mordecai because Mordecai is unwilling to bow to him whenever Haman passes by. Knowing that Mordecai is a Jew, he decides that he is going to get rid of Mordecai and all other Jews. The king, not caring what happens to the Jews who live in his vast empire, seals the edict to have all of them killed. By his action he signs a death warrant for his queen and her people. This happens without Esther having any knowledge of it. As far as she is concerned, everything is perfect and she and her people are very secure.

However, her cousin Mordecai, though not living at the Court, learns about the edict and he knows that Esther needs to be awakened to the fact that her life and that of her people are in grave danger. He knows that this is going to be a very rude awakening for her since she has been pampered from the day she entered the court, as you can read in Esther 2:9

The girl (Esther) had pleased him (Hegai) and won his favour. Immediately he provided her with beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven maids selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.

The time has come for Esther to be more than just a somewhat spoiled, pampered young woman who has pleased everyone with her beauty, including the king. Let’s read Esther 4:6-8

So Hathach went out to Mordechai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. Mordechai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to urge her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

No doubt, these words will have shocked Esther and will have caused her to feel grief towards her people for what is about to happen to them. But they are out there some where and she lives inside the Court so how can she relate to them? Surely, Mordechai cannot expect her to do anything about it, especially at a time like this, when she is already somewhat concerned about her relationship with her husband, for she has not seen him for a month. Mordechai must be made to understand that she cannot do what he is asking of her. After all, he is not the one married to the king so he cannot possibly know the kind of pressure she is under. Really, Mordechai is asking too much of her. All she can hope for right now is that she will not be killed herself. But that will only happen if she keeps quiet. So she writes a note to Mordechai believing that as soon as he reads it he will understand her position, as you can read in Esther 4:10-11

Then she (Esther) instructed him (Hathach) to say to Mordecai, “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception for this is for the king to extend the gold sceptre to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

Esther is fully confident that, having explained her position to Mordechai, he will let her off the hook for he will surely see that she is the wrong person to give this most important task to. Do her people deserve to be saved? Yes, of course. But she is not the right person to intercede on their behalf. Mordechai should look for someone else, someone of great importance, who has great influence with the king. And she just knows she is not that person. She is, after all, just a young Jewish girl and an orphan at that. And Mordechai knows that and he will, no doubt, sympathise with her and apologise to her for having placed her under such duress. So she waits for Mordechai’s answer to her note. But when it comes it is not what she expects it to be, as you can read in Esther 4:13-14

Do not think that because you are in the king’s house, you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?

Far from sympathising with her and allowing her to remain silent, Mordechai takes his cousin to task for not speaking up for herself and her people. Most importantly, he shows her that God has orchestrated events in her life in such a way that she is queen at this time in history in order to save her life and that of her people.

That insight enables Esther to take action and enter the king’s presence to present her request to him, as you can read in Esther 5:2-4

When he (the king) saw queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the sceptre. Then the king asked, “What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”

“If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”

God is with Esther and touches the heart of the king so he holds out his gold sceptre to Esther when she enters the king’s hall. Furthermore, God uses her to deliver her people from certain death, as you can read in Esther 8:7-8

King Xerxes replied to queen Esther and to Mordechai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows. Now write another decree in the king’s name on behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring – for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”

Esther speaks to the king and her people are able to defend themselves against any attack of their enemies because of her intervention.

God was able to use Esther in the way that He desired because she was willing to be used by Him, even though she may have felt too weak, too insignificant within herself. Like Gideon and Esther you too may feel too weak, too insignificant to ever be used by God. But God wants to say to you that He delights in using weak, insignificant people for when you are weak you will be made strong in Him.

The Apostle Paul understood that when he wrote in II Corinthians 12:9

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Paul had to learn that he could not use his weaknesses as an excuse not to do God’s will. Likewise, you cannot use the fact that you may not be important in the eyes of the world as an excuse not to do the things God may call you to do for surely He will strengthen and equip you for your task whatever that may be. All you have to do is be willing and obedient and God will make you able.

QUESTIONS

1: Does God have a way of doing things that may be very different from how you would do things?

2a: According to I Corinthians 1:27-28 why did God choose the foolish things of the world?

2b: According to I Corinthians 1:27-28 why did God choose the weak things of the world?

2c: According to I Corinthians 1:27-28 why did God choose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -  and the things that are not?

3: What can you learn from these verses?

4: Are there examples from the Bible to show you that God can use anybody He chooses to work through?

5a: According to Judges 6:1-6 what do the Israelites do?

5b: According to Judges 6:1-6 into whose hands does God give the Israelites?

5c: According to Judges 6:1-6 for how long does God give the Israelites into the hands of the Midianites?

5d: According to Judges 6:1-6 where do the Israelites prepare shelter for themselves?

5e: According to Judges 6:1-6 what happens whenever the Israelites plant their crops?

5f: According to Judges 6:1-6 where do the Midianites, Amelekites and other eastern peoples camp?

5g: According to Judges 6:1-6 what do the Mdianites, Amelekites and other eastern peoples ruin?

5h: According to Judges 6:1-6 do the Midianites, Amelekites and other eastern peoples spare a living thing?

5i: According to Judges 6:1-6 with what do the Midianites, Amelekites and other eastern people come up?

5j: According to Judges 6:1-6 how do the Midianites, Amelekites and other eastern peoples come up?

5k: According to Judges 6:1-6 is it possible to count the men and their camels?

5l: According to Judges 6:1-6 what do the Midianites, Amelekites and other eastern peoples do to the land?

5m; According to Judges 6:1-6 what does Midian do to the Israelites?

5n: According to Judges 6:1-6 what do the Israelites do?

5o: According to Judges 6:1-6 why do the Israelites cry out to the Lord for help?

6: Who has turned away from the Lord?

7: How does the Lord discipline the nation Israel?

8: How long does the oppression continue?

9: What happens after seven years?

10: Who does God choose to deliver the nation Israel from her enemies?

11a: According to Judges 6:11-13 who comes?

11b: According to Judges 6:11-13 where does the angel of the Lord sit down?

11c: According to Judges 6:11-13 to whom does the oak in Ophrah belong?

11d: According to Judges 6:11-13 what is the name of Joash the Abiezrite’s son?

11e: According to Judges 6:11-13 what is Gideon doing?

11f: According to Judges 6:11-13 why is Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress?

11g: According to Judges 6:11-13 who appears to Gideon?

11h: According to Judges 6:11-13 what does the angel of the Lord say to Gideon?

11i: According to Judges 6:11-13 what does the angel of the Lord call Gideon?

11j: According to Judges 6:11-13 how does Gideon respond to the words of the angel of the Lord?

11k: According to Judges 6:11-13 what are Gideon’s last words to the angel of the Lord?

12: Who is God’s choice?

13: How does the angel of the Lord address Gideon?

14: Why is that very interesting?

15: Why does God’s chosen instrument  feel the need to make a complaint against God?

16: Does Gideon understand why God has abandoned them?

17a: According to Judges 6:14-16 what does the Lord say to Gideon?

17b: According to Judges 6:14-16 who is sending Gideon?

17c: According to Judges 6:14-16 what does Gideon say to the Lord?

17d: According to Judges 6:14-16 what does Gideon say to the Lord about his clan?

17e: According to Judges 6:14-16 what does Gideon say about himself to the Lord?

17f: According to Judges 6:14-16 how does the Lord answer Gideon?

18: How does God handle Gideon’s complaints?

19: What does God tell Gideon to do?

20: Why does Gideon just know that God must somehow have gotten His facts mixed up?

21: Why does Gideon think he has to spell out the facts to the Lord?

22: What are the facts Gideon spells out for the Lord?

23: What do the facts that Gideon’s clan is the weakest and that he is the least in the family mean?

24: Who does God say will be with Gideon?

25: Why will Gideon be successful?

26: Which principles from I Corinthians 1:27-28 did Gideon not know?

27: If Gideon had known these principles would he have agreed with God that he was the perfect choice?

28: Why would Gideon have agreed with God that he was the perfect choice?

29: Did God have to tell him that He knew who Gideon was?

30: Did the facts about Gideon’s clan and about his position in his family matter to God?

31: Why did the facts about Gideon’s clan and about his position in his family not matter to God?

32: Why did it matter to Gideon that God was going to be with him?

33a: According to Judges 8:28 what happens to Midian?

33b: According to Judges 8:28 during whose lifetime does the land have peace?.

33c: According to Judges 8:28 for how long does the land have peace?

34: Was God true to His word?

35: How was God true to His word?

36: How was God able to deliver a nation through Gideon?

37: What is another example of a lowly and weak person?

38: In which Book of the Bible can you find the story of Esther?

39: Who is Esther?

40: By whom is Esther brought up?

41: Where are Esther and her cousin Mordecai living?

42: Into whose Court has Esther been taken?

43a: According to Esther 2:5-8 who is a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin?

43b: According to Esther 2:5-8 where does Mordecai live?

43c: According to Esther 2:5-8 what is the name of Mordecai’s cousin?

43d: According to Esther 2:5-8 what is another name for Hadassah?

43e: According to Esther 2:5-8 when has Mordecai taken Esther as his own daughter?

43f: According to Esther 2:5-8 when are many girls brought to the citadel of Susa?

43g: According to Esther 2:5-8 under whose care have the many girls been put?

43h: According to Esther 2:5-8 who has also been taken to king Xerxes’ palace?

43i: According to Esther 2:5-8 to whom has Esther been entrusted?

43j: According to Esther 2:5-8 who has charge of the harem?

44: How long does Esther spend preparing to be received by king Xerxes?

45: Is king Xerxes pleased with Esther?

46: According to Esther 2:17 to whom is king Xerxes more attracted than to any of the other women?

47: According to Esther 2:17 who does king Xerxes make queen instead of Vashti?

48: What has Esther not revealed to anyone at the Court, including King Xerxes?

49: What happens one day?

50a: According to Esther 3:8-11 who speaks to king Xerxes?

50b: According to Esther 3:8-11 what does Haman say to king Xerxes?

50c: According to Esther 3:8-11 do the people that are dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of king Xerxes’ kingdom obey the king’s laws according to Haman?

50d: According to Esther 3:8-11 what is to be issued?

50e: According to Esther 3:8-11 what will Haman put into the treasury?

50f: According to Esther 3:8-11 for whom are the ten thousand talents of silver?

50g: According to Esther 3:8-11 what does king Xerxes give to Haman?

50h: According to Esther 3:8-11 what does king Xerxes say to Haman?

50i: According to Esther 3:8-11 what does king Xerxes say to Haman with regards the people that are dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces in his kingdom?

51: Who is unwilling to bow before Haman?

52: What fact does Haman know about Mordecai?

53: What does Haman decide to do with regards Mordecai?

54: What does Haman decide to do with regards all the other Jews?

55: Does king Xerxes care what happens to the Jews who live in his vast empire?

56: Why do you know that king Xerxes does not care what happens to the Jews that live in his vast empire?

57: What does king Xerxes do by his action?

58: Does Esther have any knowledge that king Xerxes has signed an edict to have her and her people killed?

59: As far as Esther is concerned are she and her people secure?

60: Who learns about the edict?

61: What does Mordecai know?

62: Is this going to be a rude awakening for Esther?

63: Why is it going to be a rude awakening for Esther?

64a: According to Esther 2:9 who won Hegai’s favour?

64b: According to Esther 2:9 what does Hegai provide Esther with?

64c: According to Esther 2:9 who does Hegai select for Esther?

64d: According to Esther 2:9 where does Hegai move Esther and her seven maids to?

65: Has the time has come for Esther to be more than just a spoiled, pampered young woman?

66a: According to Esther 4:6-8 who goes out to Mordecai?

66b: According to Esther 4:6-8 where is Mordecai?

66c: According to Esther 4:6-8 what does Mordecai tell Hathach?

66d: According to Esther 4:6-8 what does Mordecai give Hathach?

66e: According to Esther 4:6-8 who is Hathach to show the edict to?

66f: According to Esther 4:6-8 what does Mordecai tell Hathach to urge Esther to do?

66g: According to Esther 4:6-8 why does Mordecai tell Hathach to urge Esther to go into king Xerxes’ presence?

67: Will these words have shocked Esther?

68: Will these words have caused Esther to feel grief towards her people?

69: Can she relate to her people?

70: Can Mordecai expect her to do something about the killing of her people?

71: Why can Mordecai not expect her to do something about the killing of her people at this time?

72: Why is Esther already somewhat concerned about her relationship with king Xerxes?

73: What must Mordecai be made to understand?.

74: Can Mordecai know the kind of pressure Esther is under?

75: What is the only thing Esther can hope for?

76: How will Esther not be killed?

77: What does Esther do?

78: What does Esther believe?

79a: According to Esther 4:10-11 what does Esther instruct Hathach to say to Mordecai?

79b: According to Esther 4:10-11 is there an exception to the one law that anyone will be put to death who approaches the king without having been summoned?

79c: According to Esther 4:10-11 how many days have passed since Esther last was called to go to king Xerxes?

80: What is Esther fully confident of?

81: Why will Mordecai let Esther off the hook?

82: Do Esther’s people deserve to be saved?

83: Is Esther the right person to intercede on behalf of her people?

84: Why does Esther know that she is not the right person to intercede on behalf of her people?

85: Does Mordecai know that Esther is just a young, Jewish orphan girl?

86: Will Mordecai sympathise with Esther?

87: Is Mordecai’s answer to Esther’s note what she expects it to be?

88a: According to Esther 4:13-14 can Esther think that, because she is in the king’s house, she alone of all the Jews will escape?

88b: According to Esther 4:13-14 what will happen to Esther if she remains silent at this time?

88c: According to Esther 4:13-14 what will happen to Esther and her father’s family if Esther remains silent at this time?

88d: What question does Mordecai ask Esther?

89: Does Mordecai sympathise with Esther and allows her to remain silent?

90: What does Mordecai show Esther?

91: What is Esther enabled to do?

92a: According to Esther 5:2-4 who does king Xerxes see standing in the court?

92b: According to Esther 5:2-4 is king Xerxes pleased with Esther?

92c: According to Esther 5:2-4 how can you know that king Xerxes is pleased with Esther?

92d: According to Esther 5:2-4 what does Esther do?

92e: According to Esther 5:2-4 what does king Xerxes ask Esther?

92f: According to Esther 5:2-4 what will be given to Esther if requested?

92g: According to Esther 5:2-4 what is Esther’s request?

93: Who is with Esther?

94: Who touches the heart of King Xerxes?

95: How do you know that God touches the heart of king Xerxes?

96: How does God use Esther?

97a: According to Esther 8:7-8 what estate has king Xerxes given to Esther?

97b: According to Esther 8:7-8 who has been hanged on the gallows?

97c: According to Esther 8:7-8 what does king Xerxes tell Esther and Mordecai to do?

97d: According to Esther 8:7-8 on whose behalf is the decree to be written?

97e: According to Esther 8:7-8 with whose signet ring is the decree to be sealed?

97f: According to Esther 8:7-8 why is the decree to be sealed with king Xerxes signet ring?

98: Who does Esther speak to?

99: What are Esther’s people able to do because of her intervention?

100: Who was God able to use in the way He desired?

101: Why was God able to use Esther in the way He desired?

102: Will Esther have felt weak, insignificant within herself?

103: Do you perhaps feel too weak, too insignificant to ever be used by God?

104: What does God want to say to you?

105: Why does God want to use weak, insignificant people?

106: Who understood that?

107a: According to II Corinthians 12:9 what did the Lord say to Paul?

107b: According to II Corinthians 12:9 why was the Lord’s grace sufficient for Paul?

107c: According to II Corinthians 12:9 what did Paul boast about?

107d: According to II Corinthians 12:9 why did Paul boast all the more gladly about his weaknesses?

108: What did Paul have to learn?

109: Can you use the fact that you may not be important in the eyes of the world as an excuse not to do the things God may call you to do?

110: Why can you not use the fact that you may not be important in the eyes of the world as an excuse not to do the things God may call you to do?

111: What do you have to do?

112: Who will make you able?

Chapter 12