Judges 7:1 ¶ Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 7 And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.
Here is a direct statement that Jerubbaal is a unique identifier
of Gideon. I want to point out something I’ve gone over in the last chapter and
before chapter one.
This is one of the
archaeological evidences for the veracity of the book of Judges. A Smithsonian
Magazine article dated July 13, 2021 revealing how a supposedly 3100 year old
jug has the name Jerubbaal, the nickname for Gideon, on it.[1]
God tells Gideon that his army is too large. He wants a select
group possessed of the right attitude to engage in this attack. Many are
allowed to leave because they were fearful and afraid, using and to show
that fearful and afraid are synonyms. Not much of a draft. Imagine our
government telling young men in World War Two, “Well, you’re drafted unless you
are worried about getting killed. If you are afraid you can go home.” The host
is boiled down to just 300 men by selecting only those whose alertness and
engagement make them suitable. I am reminded of our country preparing the
airborne units to go into Normandy before the D-day invasion. Of the many who
volunteered only a select few were chosen to drop in behind the German lines.
But, this group of select warriors has a great advantage over our
airborne, as we will see in a beautiful psychological operation carried out by
God Himself.
Notice I’m not making a sermon on God not wanting the fearful and
afraid to serve Him because we are all at some point concerned about the tests
we face in life, even feeling fear over them so that wouldn’t be fair for me to
pound on you about. The most fearful, I’ve found, are the ones that say they
have no fear. They just can’t accept that weakness in themselves.
Gideon’s army at its largest was far outnumbered by the Midianites
and now they are no more than a large company of soldiers by today’s standards.
They travel light only carrying what sustenance they need for a seemingly
impossible battle except that God is on their side.
Victuals, pronounced Viddles, is a word we don’t use anymore except I
remember Granny on the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies in the 1960s using it
quite a bit. It means food, supplies, or provisions having to do with food. You
can do a word search to see that in its relationship to several verses in the
Bible. For instance;
Exodus 12:39 And they baked
unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was
not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry,
neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.
Judges 7:9 ¶ And it came to
pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the
host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 10 But if thou fear to go down, go thou with
Phurah thy servant down to the host: 11
And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be
strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his
servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. 12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all
the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for
multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea
side for multitude. 13 And when Gideon
was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and
said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into
the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and
overturned it, that the tent lay along. 14
And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the
sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand
hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. 15
And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and
the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of
Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of
Midian.
God has won the battle already for Gideon as He declares to
Gideon. This makes me think of how He has won our battle with sin and its
consequences, the second death in the Lake of Fire. We have but to follow His
instruction and receive the free gift of eternal life with Him. The battle is
won and death is but a bump in the road to eternity, a curtain we have to pass
through.
Assuming skepticism on the part of Gideon who has already proven
himself one of those who needs proof before he accepts something as we saw by
the incident with the fleece and the dew God goes on to even more verification
of His promise of deliverance and victory.
God tells Gideon, if he is afraid, to go down and listen to the
Midianites and he will be strengthened, which is the case.
Judges 7:16 ¶ And he
divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet
in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
17 And he said unto them, Look on me,
and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall
be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 18
When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow
ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword
of the LORD, and of Gideon. 19 So
Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of
the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the
watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in
their hands. 20 And the three companies
blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left
hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they
cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 21
And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the
host ran, and cried, and fled. 22 And
the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against
his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in
Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
We see here the tactics used against this much, much larger force,
but one that has already been filled with fear and uncertainty. Remember
previously when around 300 men defeated a large invading army at night fat with
the spoils and unprepared for an assault.
Genesis 14:14 And when
Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants,
born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
15 And he divided himself
against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them
unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.16 And he brought back all the goods, and also
brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the
people.
This is not a retreat. It is a rout. This is not the only time
that an undisciplined horde will run in confusion and fear. Notice the panic
expressed in the following scene.
2Kings 7:5 And they rose up
in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to
the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.
6 For the Lord had made the
host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even
the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel
hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the
Egyptians, to come upon us.
7 Wherefore they arose and
fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses,
even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost
part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried
thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and
entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.
Here, we see how God uses men as part of His plan but in the end
He is in control of victory or defeat as it is in our lives. God provides us
with bounty all the while we are responsible for working hard and taking care
of our families. We must always remember that even while we do as we have been
ordered to do the success we have is only from the hand of God. So, nobody sits
on their hands with their mouths open waiting on food to drop in it. But even
the most productive worker or businessperson does not succeed without God’s
intervention.
Deuteronomy 20:1 ¶ When
thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots,
and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is
with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto
the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, 3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye
approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint,
fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; 4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with
you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Judges 7:23 ¶ And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. 24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. 25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.
Remember Gideon’s call to arms from chapter 6;
Judges 6:35 And he sent
messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he
sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came
up to meet them.
The Midianites are now headless, in a manner of speaking. This is
a victory for God and Gideon, this man of Manasseh, was blessed enough to be
used by Him to deliver Israel. But, Ephraim got to deliver the two final blows
after not being invited to the fight. This will be a problem upcoming.
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