Judges 7: Gideon - assurance and action
In Judges chapter 6, Gideon has received a direct calling from God. Gideon called himself the “weakest” in his family, but God called him “mighty warrior.” Although God had spoken truth over Gideon, there were persistent doubts in his mind about his identity, and he needed some assurance of his calling along the way. As we’ll see in chapter 7, God graciously gives Gideon some much-needed encouragement for the fight that is about to take place. The time had come for Gideon to stop doubting and to do the job that God had called him to. It was time to act. This chapter covers Gideon’s need for assurance, but then his action in the face of fear.
Judges 7:1-2
1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’
God’s Heart, Man’s Heart
God’s heart is for people to experience his fullness of life. The problem is, the hearts of men would rather experience life from their own achievements, which are tainted with evil. There is no life and no victory apart from God, and God knows that. The scenario that is presented in these two verses tells us that everyone loves the underdog story, even God. God knows the human capacity for pride, and he wanted to restrain that pride by limiting the amount of troops that would fight. Remember, the same story keeps repeating itself in Israel at this time. The people have a good leader, they follow God, then the leader dies, and they go back to their sinful ways. God is showing grace to Israel and trying to save them for themselves, and it will happen through the humility and willingness of Gideon.
-This echoes Jesus speaking to the apostle Paul in 2 Cor 12:9, “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”, Paul then goes on to say that he’ll boast in his weakness, and that when he is weak, he is actually strong. For the Christian, the same is true for us. When we fight by our own strength, we inevitably lose. When we fight with God’s strength, we cannot lose. God limits our resources occasionally to remind us of where our true treasure is found. Let Him work through your weakness for His glory. Let Him fight your battles. Rely on His strength, not your own. Don’t be surprised when you don’t feel strong enough or equipped, that’s when God can get the glory.
Now for Gideon and Israel, God begins to shed the human strength of their army.
Judges 7:3-8
3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. 4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
God’s Ways Are Different - And Better
God’s weights and measures are different from ours. God’s timelines are different. His mathematical a + b = c does not always translate to our human brains. He is not bound by natural law, because He is the supernatural Creator of the world. We will never be able to comprehend to magnificence of His power and greatness. Even after we die and are raised to life again, and worship Him forever in heaven, we still won’t fully grasp His greatness. This inability to fully understand the depths of His good heart plays a part in motivating us to humbly and reverently worship Him. Through faith and the theme of Scripture, we understand how He prefers to display His power - humility and faith.
Gideon had 32,000 troops at first, which is a good amount of man-power. Then 22,000 were allowed to leave because of their fear (pretty gracious on God’s part). Now Israel had 10,000 men - still too much. God then breaks down the troops even more by a strange test of his own. The ones who cupped the water — only 300 of them — were the ones that would fight. God doesn’t need a lot of man-power, He just wants a little faith. It only takes a few faithful people to make a huge difference in the world and in the Kingdom of God. Think about it, we’re sitting here reading and talking about Jesus and worshiping Him because twelve apostles spread the gospel around the earth 2000 years ago. God is still only looking for a faithful few.
Judges 7:9-14
9 During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 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. 13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “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.” 14 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.”
An Encouraging Word
In God’s grace, He sends someone with a prophetic dream to calm Gideon’s fears. This account shows the big picture of our lives, and how God uses all His people in His perfect timing to help accomplish His will. Each child of God has their own unique gift and role to play in God’s story. Also, God knows that we need encouragement in our faith. He sees us, and has a pattern of assuring and encouraging His servants in their times of doubt.
This is why we go to church or meet up with other Christians: we can’t go through life alone for too long! We need to hear God speak through one another often, or we’ll get too discouraged or fearful. At one point in my life, when I had been so hurt by people in the Church, I took an extended break from going to church for about 3 or 4 months. My spirit (and the Holy Spirit) wouldn’t let me continue to neglect fellowship with other Christians, even though I was still upset. We can neglect hearing the Word of the Lord when we neglect Christian community for too long.
Can you think of an example in your life where you’ve seen God show up and speak to you at the exact right time?
7:15-25
15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” 16 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. 17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 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.’” 19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. 25 They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.
God, The Real Hero
The “middle watch” was about 10pm, so this was in the dark, a sneak attack. Each one of the 300 men had a shofar (trumpet), which was way more than usual one per leader. They were also carrying big jars that were hiding their torches. When they broke the jars, showed their torches, and blew their trumpets, it had to have overwhelmed the enemy. It must have seemed like a huge army was surrounding them. Because of this chaos, the enemy became confused and the Lord caused them to turn on themselves. Notice that both hands were full with either torches or trumpets - no swords necessary. As the Apostle Paul said, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.” (2 Corinthians 10:3) The Israelites fought God’s way, and the sin-filled enemy destroyed themselves.
Remember that there are spiritual battles going on behind the scene throughout the book of Judges. These spiritual wars are still going on today, yet with Christ we have the ultimate spiritual victory. As Christians with the Holy Spirit, we are sealed. We can’t lose. We can “take heart,” because Jesus has “overcome the world” (John 16:33) and the devil. Jesus said that “no one lights a lamp and hides it under a bushel” but rather they “put it on a stand so all can see” (Matthew 5), and we see that principle of shining the light of God played out through the actions of Gideon and the Israelite army. Just as the Israelites did to their enemies, we can fight back against our spiritual enemy. We can break out our trumpets and sound the alarm of Jesus’ coming, preaching the gospel. We can stop hiding our light in a jar, and shine it for others to see - then will we see the awesome display of God’s power, and we will see the enemy crushed! When we walk in obedience to God’s call, we win.
After the chaos, the Israelites then flanked the enemy with the help of the 3 tribes of Naphtali, Asher and Manasseh. This strategy helped them to capture the two field commanders, and justice was served. God miraculously rescued and fought for His people, and Gideon played a crucial role in it because of his faith and action. To put the miracle of this event into perspective, the Midianites had 135,000 troops (8:10), and the 300 faithful of God tracked them down and led to 120,000 of them being killed. God’s strategy is always better than our strategy! Let’s act in faith, trusting that He will fight on our behalf and assure us in our callings just like He did for Gideon.
