📖 Wahusika wa Biblia — Sehemu ya 7: Gideoni — Mungu Anaposhinda kwa Wachache📖 Bible Characters — Unit 7: Gideon — When God Wins With Few

Israeli walipokuwa wametenda maovu tena, Mungu aliwatia mikononi mwa Wamidiani, waliofagia nchi kama kundi la nzige, wakiyavua mashamba na kuwafukuza watu hadi mapangoni na mashimoni milimani. Ilikuwa katika saa hiyo ya kukata tamaa ambapo Mungu alinyoosha mkono na kumwita mkombozi asiyetarajiwa kuliko wote — mkulima mwenye hofu aitwaye Gideoni. Hadithi yake ni mojawapo ya mafundisho yaliyo wazi kabisa katika Maandiko yote kuhusu jinsi Mungu anavyofanya kazi: kwa makusudi huondoa kila faida tunayoitegemea, hadi maelezo pekee yanayowezekana ya ushindi ni Mungu Mwenyewe. Vita vinaposhindwa kwa kikundi kidogo cha watu bila panga, hakuna awezaye kusema, "Mkono wangu mwenyewe ndio ulioniokoa."When Israel had once again done evil, God handed them over to the Midianites, who swept across the land like a swarm of locusts, stripping the fields and driving the people into caves and dens in the mountains. It was into that desperate hour that God reached down and called the unlikeliest of deliverers — a frightened farmer named Gideon. His story is one of the clearest lessons in all of Scripture about how God works: He deliberately strips away every advantage we lean on, until the only possible explanation for the victory is God Himself. When the battle is won with a handful of men and no swords, no one can say, "My own hand has saved me."

Somo: Gideoni — jinsi Mungu anavyoshinda kwa rasilimali chache, ili utukufu uwe wake peke yake.Subject: Gideon — how God wins with few resources, so the glory is His alone.

Kiini cha Ujumbe: Mungu kwa makusudi hupunguza rasilimali zetu ili, ushindi unapokuja, kila mtu ajue kwamba vita vilikuwa vya Bwana.Proposition: God deliberately reduces our resources so that, when the victory comes, everyone knows the battle belonged to the Lord.

Tutafuatilia hatua tano katika hadithi ya Gideoni.We will trace five movements in the story of Gideon.

I. Mtu Mwenye WogaI. The Timid Man

Malaika wa BWANA alipomkuta Gideoni, alikuwa akipura ngano kwa kuificha ndani ya shinikizo la divai, akiogopa kwamba Wamidiani wangeiiba. Na salamu aliyopokea inaonekana karibu kama mzaha:When the Angel of the LORD found Gideon, he was threshing wheat by hiding it in a winepress, afraid the Midianites would steal it. And the greeting he received seems almost like a joke:

Shujaa hodari — anayejificha ndani ya shinikizo! Lakini Mungu hatuiti kulingana na tulivyo; hutuita kulingana na kile atakachotufanya kuwa. Gideoni hakuwa na ujasiri hata kidogo. Alipinga:A mighty man of valor — hiding in a winepress! But God does not call us according to what we are; He calls us according to what He will make of us. Gideon was anything but confident. He protested:

Huyo ndiye hasa aina ya mtu ambaye Mungu hupenda kumtumia — anayejua kwamba si kitu ndani yake mwenyewe. Jibu la Bwana halikuisifu nguvu ya Gideoni; liliahidi uwepo wa Mungu: "Hakika mimi nitakuwa pamoja nawe, nawe utawapiga Wamidiani kama mtu mmoja." Inafaa kutambua kwamba Wagideoni (Gideons), wanaoweka Biblia katika vyumba vya hoteli duniani kote, walichukua jina lao kutoka kwa mtu huyu mwenye woga na kusita — ukumbusho unaofaa kwamba Mungu huwatumia wenye hofu ambao watamwamini tu. Mungu hukutana na wenye hofu pale pale walipo.That is exactly the kind of man God loves to use — one who knows he is nothing in himself. The Lord's answer did not flatter Gideon's strength; it promised God's presence: "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man." It is worth noting that the Gideons, who place Bibles in hotel rooms around the world, took their name from this timid, hesitant man — a fitting reminder that God uses the fearful who will simply trust Him. God meets the afraid right where they are.

II. Wengi Mno Kiasi cha KujisifuII. Too Many to Boast

Gideoni alipopiga tarumbeta hatimaye, watu elfu thelathini na mbili waliitikia wito. Kwa kipimo chochote cha kibinadamu hao walikuwa wachache mno kukabiliana na jeshi kubwa la Midiani, ambalo askari wake na ngamia wake walilala bondeni wengi kama nzige, wasioweza kuhesabika. Lakini Mungu alisema jambo la kushangaza: walikuwa wengi mno.When Gideon finally sounded the trumpet, thirty-two thousand men answered the call. By any human measure that was far too few to face the vast army of Midian, whose troops and camels lay in the valley as thick as locusts, beyond counting. But God said something astonishing: it was too many.

Hiki ndicho kiini cha jambo zima. Mungu hakuwa na wasiwasi kwamba Gideoni alikuwa na jeshi dogo mno; alijali kwamba jeshi lilikuwa kubwa mno — kubwa kiasi kwamba Israeli wangeweza kuuhesabu ushindi kuwa wa nguvu zao wenyewe. Kweli hiyo hiyo inavuma kupitia nabii Zekaria:Here is the heart of the whole matter. God was not worried that Gideon had too small an army; He was concerned that the army was too large — large enough that Israel might credit the victory to its own strength. The same truth rings out through the prophet Zechariah:

Basi Mungu akamwambia Gideoni awarudishe nyumbani wote waliokuwa na hofu. Elfu ishirini na mbili waligeuka wakaondoka; elfu kumi tu walibaki. Kwa amri moja, theluthi mbili za jeshi zilikuwa zimeondoka — na Mungu alikuwa bado hajamaliza kupunguza safu.So God told Gideon to send home everyone who was afraid. Twenty-two thousand turned and left; only ten thousand remained. In a single command, two-thirds of the army was gone — and God was still not finished thinning the ranks.

III. Jaribio la MajiIII. The Water Test

Elfu kumi bado walikuwa wengi mno. Mungu aliwateremsha watu hadi majini na kumpa Gideoni agizo la ajabu: tazama jinsi wanavyokunywa. Wengi wa watu walipiga magoti wakaweka nyuso zao majini; lakini mia tatu waliyainua maji hadi vinywani mwao kwa mikono yao, wakiramba kama mbwa. Maandiko hayaelezi kwa nini namna hii hasa ya kunywa ilikuwa na maana kwa Mungu — ila tu kwamba kwa njia hiyo, mia tatu walitengwa na wengine. Hao mia tatu — na hao tu — ndio ambao Mungu angewatumia.Ten thousand was still too many. God brought the men down to the water and gave Gideon a strange instruction: watch how they drink. Most of the men knelt down and put their faces to the water; but three hundred lifted the water to their mouths with their hands, lapping like a dog. Scripture does not explain why this particular manner of drinking mattered to God — only that by it, three hundred were set apart from the rest. Those three hundred — and only those — were the ones God would use.

Kutoka elfu thelathini na mbili hadi mia tatu — Mungu alikuwa amelipunguza jeshi hadi chini ya mmoja katika kila mia. Machoni pa wanadamu ilikuwa wazimu; kwa Mungu ilikuwa kamilifu. Hufurahia kuchukua kile ambacho ulimwengu ungekitupa na kutimiza kupitia hicho kile ambacho hakuna jeshi lingeweza.From thirty-two thousand to three hundred — God had reduced the army to less than one in a hundred. To human eyes it was madness; to God it was perfect. He delights to take what the world would throw away and accomplish through it what no army could.

Tunaona mfano huo huo muda mrefu baada ya Gideoni. Katika kambi ya mateso ya Wanazi ya Ravensbrück, Corrie ten Boom na dada yake Betsie walisongamana katika bweni lililojaa viroboto. Betsie alisisitiza kwamba wamshukuru Mungu hata kwa ajili ya viroboto, akilichukua Andiko kama lilivyosema: "Shukuruni kwa kila jambo; maana hayo ndiyo mapenzi ya Mungu kwenu katika Kristo Yesu" (1 Wathesalonike 5:18). Corrie aliona kwamba kumshukuru Mungu kwa ajili ya viroboto ni upuuzi. Hata hivyo baadaye waligundua kwamba walinzi walikataa kuingia katika bweni hilo hasa kwa sababu ya viroboto — na hivyo dada hao wawili waliachwa huru kusoma Biblia yao, kuomba, na kuwahudumia wanawake wengine, wiki baada ya wiki. Kile kilichoonekana kama laana ndicho hasa Mungu alichotumia kwa mema. Hesabu ya Mungu si kama yetu; mia tatu wake ni hodari kuliko elfu thelathini na mbili wetu.We see the same pattern long after Gideon. In the Nazi concentration camp of Ravensbrück, Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie were crowded into a flea-infested barracks. Betsie insisted they give thanks to God even for the fleas, taking the Scripture at its word: "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Corrie thought thanking God for fleas was absurd. Yet later they discovered that the guards refused to enter that barracks precisely because of the fleas — and so the two sisters were left free to read their Bible and pray and minister to the other women, week after week. What looked like a curse was the very thing God used for good. God's arithmetic is not ours; His three hundred are mightier than our thirty-two thousand.

IV. Imani IliyoimarishwaIV. Faith Bolstered

Hata akiwa na ahadi ya Mungu, Gideoni bado aliogopa — na Mungu alikuwa mpole kwa hofu yake. Usiku ule Bwana alimwambia anyemelee hadi ukingoni mwa kambi ya adui na kusikiliza. Huko Gideoni alimsikia Mmidiani mmoja akimweleza mwenzake ndoto yake ya mkate wa shayiri uliobingirika hadi kambini na kuiangusha hema. Askari yule mwingine akajibu:Even with the promise of God, Gideon was still afraid — and God was gentle with his fear. That night the Lord told him to creep down to the edge of the enemy camp and listen. There Gideon overheard one Midianite telling another his dream of a loaf of barley bread that came tumbling into the camp and flattened a tent. The other soldier answered:

Maadui wenyewe tayari walikuwa na hakika ya kushindwa kwao. Gideoni aliposikia hayo, aliinama akaabudu, akarudi akiwa ametiwa nguvu. Mungu anaujua udhaifu wetu, na mara nyingi huinama kumpa mwamini anayetetemeka uhakikisho wa kutosha tu ili atii.The enemy themselves were already certain of their defeat. When Gideon heard it, he bowed and worshiped, and went back strengthened. God knows our weakness, and He often stoops to give the trembling believer just enough assurance to obey.

V. UshindiV. The Victory

Kisha ukaja mpango wa vita wa ajabu kuliko wowote uliowahi kutolewa. Gideoni aliwagawa watu wake mia tatu katika vikosi vitatu akaweka mikononi mwao — si panga na ngao — bali tarumbeta katika mkono mmoja na mtungi wa udongo wenye mwenge unaowaka uliofichwa ndani yake katika mkono mwingine. Kwa ishara yake, katikati ya usiku, waliizunguka kambi, wakapiga tarumbeta, wakaivunja mitungi hata mienge ikawaka ghafla gizani, wakapiga kelele:Then came the strangest battle plan ever given. Gideon divided his three hundred men into three companies and put into their hands — not swords and shields — but a trumpet in one hand and a clay pitcher with a burning torch hidden inside it in the other. At his signal, in the dead of night, they surrounded the camp, blew the trumpets, smashed the pitchers so the torches blazed out in the darkness, and shouted:

Tarumbeta mia tatu, mitungi mia tatu iliyovunjwa, mianga mia tatu ya ghafla, na kelele moja kuu — na adui wakatupwa katika taharuki. Katika fujo na giza Wamidiani waligeuza panga zao dhidi ya wenzao wakakimbia. Watu wa Gideoni hawakuvamia hata kambini; kila mtu alisimama tu mahali pake kuizunguka, akishika mwenge na tarumbeta wakati Mungu akiwatupa adui katika fujo. Katika wakati ule wa kwanza, wa kuamua, Israeli hawakuwa wamepiga pigo hata moja kwa upanga — kukimbizwa kwa adui kwa mara ya kwanza kulikuja kabisa kwa kuingilia kati kwa Bwana na taharuki ya Wamidiani wenyewe. Israeli bado wangewafuatia na kupigana katika sura zinazofuata, lakini vita vilikuwa vimeshashindwa kabla upanga hata mmoja wa Mwisraeli haujachomolewa.Three hundred trumpets, three hundred shattered jars, three hundred sudden lights, and a single great shout — and the enemy was thrown into panic. In the confusion and darkness the Midianites turned their swords on one another and fled. Gideon's men did not even charge into the camp; every man simply stood in his place around it, holding torch and trumpet while God threw the enemy into confusion. In that first, decisive moment Israel had not struck a single blow with a sword — the initial rout came entirely through the Lord's intervention and the Midianites' own panic. Israel would still pursue and fight in the chapters that follow, but the battle had already been won before a single Israelite sword was drawn.

Vita Ni vya BwanaThe Battle Belongs to the Lord

Hili ndilo funzo ambalo Mungu anataka tujifunze: hupunguza rasilimali zetu ili ushindi uweze kuwa wake tu. Utii uliojisalimisha, si mkakati wa kibinadamu, ndio unaoshinda.This is the lesson God wants us to learn: He thins our resources so that the victory can only be His. Surrendered obedience, not human strategy, wins the day.

Nilijifunza hili mimi mwenyewe katika kipindi ambacho familia yetu ilikuwa karibu haina kitu. Tulikuwa na wavulana watatu wadogo na dola mia saba hivi tu mfukoni wakati mke wangu alipoliharibu gari letu kuukuu la familia (station wagon) katika ajali. Kwa ukaidi wa kukataa msaada, nilijaribu kupanga njia yangu mwenyewe ya kutoka. Lakini baadhi ya wanaume wa Wagideoni (Gideons) huko Louisiana walisisitiza kunisaidia, na mmoja wao akaniambia, "Ikiwa Bwana ananiongoza kukusaidia, huna haki yoyote ya kukataa." Mwishowe Mungu alitupatia gari bora zaidi sana lililokuwa limetembea nusu ya umbali; fundi mmoja wa magari alinilipa dola mia tano kwa lile gari bovu; na mtu mmoja kanisani alibeba kiasi kilichosalia kwa riba ya asilimia tatu. Nilisema kwamba nilikuwa nikimngoja Bwana, lakini ukweli ni kwamba muda wote nilikuwa bado nikipanga hila akilini mwangu. Vita hivi vilikuwa vya Bwana, na hakuna hata mpango wangu mmoja uliohitajika.I learned this myself in a season when our family had almost nothing. We had three small boys and about seven hundred dollars to our name when my wife wrecked our old station wagon. Too stubborn to accept help, I tried to scheme my own way out. But some men from the Gideons in Louisiana insisted on helping, and one of them said to me, "If the Lord is leading me to help you, you don't have any right to turn it down." In the end God provided a far better car at half the mileage; a mechanic paid me five hundred dollars for the wreck; and a man in the church carried the rest at three percent interest. I said I was waiting on the Lord, but the truth is I was still scheming in my own mind the whole time. This battle belonged to the Lord, and none of my scheming was necessary.

Wamidiani wako maishani mwako wawe ni nini — adui yeyote anayeonekana mkubwa mno na rasilimali zozote zinazoonekana chache mno — wakumbuke wale mia tatu wa Gideoni. Mungu hatafuti wenye nguvu; anatafuta walio tayari, ili ajionyeshe mwenye nguvu kwa ajili yao. Mungu yule yule aliyeimwaga mikono ya Gideoni kila silaha isipokuwa tarumbeta na mwenge anaweza kuaminiwa na mikono yako mitupu pia. Mara nyingi tunasema tunamngoja Bwana huku bado tukipanga mioyoni mwetu njia ya kutoka, kama nilivyowahi kufanya na lile gari bovu huko Louisiana; lakini ushindi wake hautegemei werevu wetu. Weka chini mipango ya hila, chukua utii rahisi, na umfuate Yule ambaye ameshashinda tayari. Unapokuwa na rasilimali chache, vita bado ni vya Bwana.Whatever the Midianites are in your life — whatever enemy looks too large and whatever resources look too small — remember Gideon's three hundred. God is not looking for the strong; He is looking for the willing, that He may show Himself strong on their behalf. The same God who emptied Gideon's hands of every weapon but a trumpet and a torch can be trusted with your empty hands as well. So often we say we are waiting on the Lord while we are still scheming in our hearts for a way out, as I once did with that wrecked car in Louisiana; but His victory does not depend on our cleverness. Lay down the scheming, take up simple obedience, and follow the One who has already won. When you have few resources, the battle still belongs to the Lord.