Catherine Brown:
"A Gideon Generation is Arising with a New Sound From Heaven"
"The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins."—Romans 11:26-27
I just received Doug Addison's anointed and revelatory article on the new sound that God is releasing from Heaven to earth. It is a tremendous article and I commend both Doug and this revelation of the new sound of Heaven to you. Reading through it inspired me to write the teaching from Gideon's life below, which parallels many of Doug's observations.
Reading Doug's article also reminded me of the One Million Hours of Praise global praise initiative that I had the privilege of leading from 2003-2005 in which God mobilised more than 60 nations to be part of a new wave of worship on the earth. God taught me so much through One Million Hours of Praise that I had previously misunderstood—namely the pivotal role of worship in mission. I am humbled and gladdened that God opened my eyes to see and embrace this truth.
In late 2005 in response to the word of the Lord, I laid down the vision for One Million Hours, understanding that my part in the global assignment was complete. I did not do this because worship is ever over, but because I had an appointed season to be involved in mobilising others to worship. As I read Doug's article I am presently involved in a different type of global mobilisation, calling leaders to partner in a harvest of 7 million souls in evangelism and discipleship. I share this with you now, dear reader, not because I am trying to advertise "my ministry," but because I earnestly believe worship is the seedbed from which God births revival. Our worship of the King of Kings ushers in His glory and births His Kingdom in us, to us and through us. We were made to worship the Lord with our whole lives, and through our adoration to cause Israel and the nations to turn and embrace the love of God in Christ.
With a humble heart I reiterate Doug's call to the Church to receive the new sound Heaven is releasing to earth; may each one of us stay in step with God's Spirit in love and obedience. God used Gideon to deliver a nation and rescue the harvest. May He raise up a Gideon generation in this century that releases the new sound of Heaven on earth and causes the multitudes to be swept into the Kingdom of God!
The Sound of Suffering
God raised up Gideon and his generation to save the harvest from plunder by the enemy. The Israelites had sinned before the Lord, and for seven years God gave them over to oppression in the hands of their enemies the Midianites. These seven years of oppression and bondage had broken the spirit of the people and all but wiped out their harvest capabilities. The power of the Midianites was so oppressive that the Israelites had gone into hiding and prepared shelters for themselves in the caves, the mountain clefts and strongholds. The enemy was formidable and no matter where or how the Israelites planted their crops, enemies came from other countries and invaded their land, camped on it and ruined the crops. The Israelites were spiritually and physically impoverished. They were facing recession, and they were desperate for God's intervention and cried out to Him for help.
Does this sound familiar to you as you consider the present economic, spiritual and moral climate in which we live in these days?
In response to the plight of His people, God sent them a prophet who reminded them of how the Lord had delivered His people from slavery, bondage and oppression in Egypt, and how He had admonished them never to worship the gods of the Ammonites but yet the people had not listened. Their sin was the reason for their ruination, but God was willing to be merciful to them.
The Sound of Our Harvest Assignment—Christ the Deliverer
The angel of the Lord also came to speak to Gideon while he was threshing wheat in a winepress (the wheat was being threshed there to keep it hidden from the Midianites). The angel said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior" (Judges 6:12).
Gideon wasn't convinced! He questioned if God was with his people, because he had never seen the wonders his father had described. Gideon and his generation felt abandoned by God because they were in the hand of their enemies. Gideon was hungry for a demonstration and manifestation of the glory of God. Interestingly, the angel of the Lord more or less ignored Gideon's response and told him to, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" (verse 14).
At this point I think we can safely assume that Gideon didn't feel he had much strength to go on. He was hiding from an oppressive enemy that had beaten down his people for seven long years. Gideon was working with just scraps from what should have been a bountiful harvest, and he was doing so in a covert, hidden manner—and here was the angel of the Lord saying go in the strength you have! Gideon's people were hiding from their enemy but God was about to change all that. Gideon was right—his own strength could never establish God's plans in the nation; it is only under an apostolic grace anointing that we can go forth to partner with Christ, the Deliverer of nations.
Gideon replied, "But Lord...how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family" (verse 15).
Isn't it ever true, how the Lord uses our weakness and vulnerability to transform us into faith champions who release His glory on the earth! What of young Joseph, or David or Esther, or Mary the mother of Christ? These young "warriors in waiting" began their journey of faith in a place of utter dependence upon the Lord in times of great need in their nation. Their assignment on the earth was commanded by the Lord of Hosts. God is raising up a generation who is going to become the means by which He will restore the harvest anointing to the Church.
God said to Gideon, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together" (verse 16). God is raising up a generation who will be a people of His presence, walking in the revelation and understanding that it is His presence alone that ushers in His transformational power and love. God was promising deliverance of a nation to a young man with a worshipful heart. Worship is a key to harvest breakthrough.
Deliverance Has a Sound—The Sound of Peace
In response, Gideon wanted to present an offering to the Lord and he asked the angel of the Lord to wait while he prepared the sacrifice. Fire flared from the rock on which the goat meat and unleavened bread had been placed as an offering, and then the angel of the Lord disappeared. Gideon suddenly realised that he had seen God face-to-face and was filled with alarm, convinced that he would die as a result. However, God spoke peace to his heart and Gideon built an altar to the Lord Jehovah Shalom. I believe God imparted holy boldness to Gideon in the sound of His voice as He delivered the words of the worship/warfare assignment for which Gideon had been created. Deliverance has a sound; God did not speak of war, at a time of war. Instead God imparted peace in the sound of His voice, and this peace would later become part of the holy-inspired warfare tactics to defeat the enemy.
That very night the Lord instructed Gideon to tear down his father's altar to Baal and to cut down the Asherah pole. Gideon did this even though he was really afraid of his family. He went undercover at night and demolished the evil altar and built a new, consecrated altar to the Lord. After careful investigation it became clear that it was Gideon who had done this. The men of the town demanded of Joash (Gideon's father) that he must die because of his actions. But his father pleaded his case and said that Baal could defend his own cause! Needless to say Baal remained silent. God honoured the worship altar that His servant Gideon had created. Our hearts are the altars of faith upon which God meets us in covenant love to pour out blessing and deliverance.
The Trumpet Sound—Rally the Troops
In the interim period the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined in an unholy alliance and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. God was still not instructing His people to respond to the sound of war, rather the Spirit of the Lord came in power upon Gideon who blew the trumpet and summoned the Abiezrites to follow him. Gideon also sent messengers throughout the land calling the people to join him. God was releasing a new sound—a call to mobilise, a call to rally the troops, a call to arms—a new message that would release a new sound in worship, but not just yet...
Gideon placed several prayer requests before the Lord, seeking confirmation that God was truly with him to save Israel as He had promised. God graciously responded to confirm Gideon's prayer requests. Early in the morning Gideon and all his men camped by the spring of Harod (the Midianite camp was to the north of them in the valley). The Hebrew word for Harod means "fountain of trembling." God was going to show Gideon and his men how to overcome their fear and walk in faith. The very location where the enemy intended to destroy God's people would become a place of trembling and devastation in the enemy's camp when the hand of God moved.
God came and spoke with Gideon and told him he had too many men! God intended to deliver Israel by His might, not by the power of a massive army and its resources, and He required Gideon to sift the numbers of his fighting men until eventually there were only three hundred men left. God told Gideon to let all the other men go back home and Gideon was obedient to the word of the Lord.
During the night the Lord said to Gideon, "Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are 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 the camp" (Judges 7:10-11a).
Gideon and Purah did exactly what God had instructed them to do and went to the outposts of the enemy camp. The valley was teeming with the enemy, like a place of locusts. Just as Gideon arrived he overheard a man telling another his dream, "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed."
His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands."
Just as it was for Gideon, so it is today—God is releasing a generation of Gideons who will hear Heaven's interpretation, apply it to their personal situations and be propelled into their destinies. Some of these Gideon types will become catalytic in releasing many others into their destiny also.
The New Sound of Harvest Worship—The Enemy is Defeated
When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, "HE WORSHIPPED GOD" (Judges 7:15). God caused a new sound to be released in the heart of Gideon. It was not the sound of the past seven years of bondage and oppression to a devastating enemy, and neither was it the sound of the enemy at war. The sound that prevailed within Gideon was a new sound of victory in worship that caused a synergy and divinely inspired reaction between Heaven and earth: the sound of worship in the surrendered heart of Gideon released strategy for warfare, to overcome the enemy and to reclaim the harvest to the glory of God. God even used harvest symbolism (a loaf of barley bread in the dream interpretation) to speak to His servant of the victory that was fast approaching. God is raising up a generation in an end-time apostolic anointing to recover the harvest. Hallelujah!
Gideon returned to the camp and said, "Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands." Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
"Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the LORD and for Gideon.'"
A New Wave of Worship, A New Way of Warfare
The new sound of worship within the heart of Gideon was pioneering a new wave of worship alongside of a new way of warfare. God had given Gideon a divine blueprint on how to move forward to take back the land the enemy had stolen, which emanated from his response to the heart of God. It wasn't about big numbers of fighting men, it was just simple obedience, radical faith in the midst of national turmoil and a belief in God as the Faithful Deliverer. When Gideon told his men to "SHOUT," he was asking them to do something in a different manner to which they had perhaps been previously accustomed. He was asking them to corporately respond with their instruments (trumpets) in a new way, under a fresh, heavenly directive.
The weapons in their hands were going to be used in a unique fashion to usher in the glory of God. The light of deliverance lay within the heart of the trumpet. It was kept hidden until God's appointed time, and when it was revealed the people of God were victorious over their enemy and perhaps astonished by this sovereign strategy. God is raising up a generation who will worship Him with a new sound that will help to usher in deliverance to the nations. Are we ready to receive this generation of Gideons? Are we willing to receive a new wave of divinely inspired worship and worshippers who will be part of God's end-time army?
Gideon and just one hundred men reached the edge of the camp during the middle watch of the night, just as the guard had changed. Then they blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. What a mighty noise that must have been as earth aligned with Heaven and God released His mighty delivering power. Wow! How many unseen angels battled alongside this tiny army on the front lines of the battlefield—only God knows. But the three companies of Gideon's army blew their trumpets with all their hearts and smashed their jars with all their strength, and God moved in mighty power.
They each had a torch in their left hands and a trumpet in their right—what an amazing breakthrough light must have bombarded the darkness when the torches revealed their light to penetrate the thick darkness. A light and a sound were released on earth, and I believe light and sound were released simultaneously from Heaven. A new sound, and a glory light, that delivered God's people from the hands of their enemies. The sound and the light were given and driven by the Spirit of God, and therefore they became a sword in the hands and in the hearts of these surrendered servants. Oh, hallelujah! We live in days when God is going to bring deliverance to whole people groups through a new sound of anointed worship, that will cause the hills to melt and the earth to quake as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah releases His unstoppable roar from Heaven.
When the trumpets sounded the Lord caused the enemy to turn its sword on itself. Gideon's men had called out, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon." This is not what Gideon had initially instructed them to do. He had said to the men to call out, "For the LORD and for Gideon." But I believe there had been an amazing glory outpouring as a result of the worship of these precious ones, and when they walked in obedience to the new sound, God had caused them to come to a place of revelatory understanding that worship is a sword in His hands, with which He will smite and destroy the enemy. This is why they changed their shout and when they opened their mouths they cried out in recognition of God's hand in the battle: "A sword for the Lord!" Glory to His name!
The name Gideon means "feller" (i.e. warrior) and comes from the Hebrew word gada, which means to fell a tree, to destroy anything (cut asunder, in sunder down, off), hew down. Jesus Christ is the Deliverer of nations, and He has destroyed the works of the enemy forever. Let all Heaven and earth worship the Lamb who was slain, who takes away the sins of the world. Amen!
Catherine Brown
Gatekeepers Global Ministries
Email: admin@gatekeepers.org.uk
