Journeying Through Judges 7

Judges 7

So we begin this chapter with a test of Gideon’s faith.  Gideon had gathered 32,000 men to fight against the Midianites but the Lord had other ideas.  The Lord said there were too many men.  I wonder how Gideon felt at this point? He knew how many Midianites he was going to have to face and there were a lot more than 32,000.  So one way to get rid of a bunch of men is to ask who is fearful.  If you are, go home.  Notice how many men up and went home….22,000.  This left Gideon with 10,000.  The odds were not good at this point.  However, imagine going into a battle and two thirds of your men are going into it with fear.  What does that do to the moral of the group?  It doesn’t help at all.  It can instill fear in those who were not originally fearful.

However, 10,000 men were still too many and God wanted to whittle it down further.  Why did God want to do that?   Look at v2.  God didn’t want the Israelites to boast that they had conquered the Midianites in their own strength and giftedness.  God wanted the odds to be so bad in the Israelites favour that everyone would know that it was God victory and not a man victory.  Read Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”.

So God tells Gideon to take his men down to the water.    How does he separate them v5-7?  It is an interesting way of separating out the men who would fight and those who would go home.  There are different theories as to why God did it this way.  Some writers say that those who cupped the water were better soldiers because they were still alert and had their eyes on their surroundings.  Whatever the reason God wanted the number of soldiers down to 300.

What has God put in our lives that makes us rely on Him more than our own resources and abilities.  The Apostle Paul had a weakness, a thorn in the flesh, that he asked God to take away and God said no.  Remember what Paul was like before he was saved.  He was a man on a mission and yet when God got hold of his life it completely turned around.  It was Paul and God on a mission together.  What does Paul say in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10?   Paul says he delights in his weaknesses.  Is that something we claim today?  Do we delight in our weaknesses so that Christ might be better known?  It is something for us to think about.

Okay back to our story in Judges.  Notice that God affirms Gideon again.  He says in 7:7 that with the 300 men the Midianites will be given into Gideon’s hands.  There will be victory even with 300 men.  He also tells Gideon during the night to go down to the camp where the Midanites are.  God was going to encourage him before he went into battle.  Notice that God says in v10…if you are afraid to attack go with your servant, Purah.  God knew Gideon, He is a personal God and knew what Gideon needed.  Gideon goes down to the camp and hears about a dream that one man heard and his friends’ interpretation of it.  God was just confirming to Gideon over and over that this battle was going to be a win and that he didn’t have to fear.

One writer said that the barley bread represented a poor person and that God was going to use a “nobody” to destroy the Midianites.  God was building Gideon’s faith.  How big is our faith?  Are we willing to step out and be used of God or do we want to stay where it is safe?  I am sure all of us have put our foot out there in faith at different times in our lives and have seen God work and these are amazing experiences.  What step of faith is God asking you to trust Him for in this season of life?  Does your faith life need a boost?  What are you fearful of?  What fears take up room in your head and cause you to doubt and worry?  We laugh at Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress but maybe we are hiding in our own “winepresses” when God wants us out threshing wheat on the hilltop of faith.

What does Gideon do when he hears the dream?  (v15).  He worshiped God.  As a sidenote do we take time to thank God when He confirms things to us and give Him the glory?  After worshipping God Gideon returned to the camp and rallied the troops like a mighty warrior.  He was living out the name that had been given to him by the Angel of the Lord.  Gideon took charge, told his soldiers his plan and then they executed it.

Can you imagine if you were one of the Midianites?  It is the middle of the night, you are in the deepest part of your sleep and you are suddenly brought out of that state to 300 hundred trumpets going off, bright lights and shouting.  It would be extremely disorientating and confusing.  They would have no idea how many men were surrounding them but it probably sounded like more than 300 at that time of night.  Notice what the men shouted “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon”.  One Pastor (David Guzik) said that the Midianites may not have known who the Lord was but they knew there was a man from the Lord called Gideon.  This would send the men into a panic.  What happens when we panic?  There is utter chaos and we don’t think straight.  In v22 it says that the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn upon one another with their swords.  Gideon and his men didn’t even have to do anything at the beginning as the Midianites were fighting amongst themselves.

When we fight amongst ourselves and do each other harm by the things we say or do the enemy just needs to sit back and watch.  We are doing his job for him.  Are you dealing with a conflict situation right now?  How is it going?  Are we involving God in the resolution of the conflict or are we just tearing each other apart?  Just think of a church that goes through a split.  We all know the damage that can be done in these situations.  Some people turn their backs on God in situations like this….if this is what God’s people do to each other they want no further part of it.

In v22 we see the Midianites fleeing for their lives.  Notice in v23 that other tribes were called in to pursue the Midianites and that included Asher.  Back in chapter 5:17 Asher remained on the coast and didn’t come to help fight against King Jabin and Sisera.  However, here we see no reluctance and Asher joined the tribes of Naphtali and Manasseh.  Gideon was on a role at this point.  He was instructing the tribes to take the waters of Jordan ahead of the Midianites and the tribe of Ephraim also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb (raven) and Zeeb (Wolf) and decapitated them.  Notice where Zeeb was killed?  At a winepress.  The battle began for Gideon at winepress when his self esteem and faith were almost non-existent and yet the battle ended in victory at a winepress, not only in Gideon and His men taking care of the Midianites but also victory for Gideons faith life.  God has a way of turning things around.

None of us would choose to go into a battle with a fraction of the resources needed to win but when we have God on our side it is already a majority.  One Pastor said (Warren Wiersbe) “When leaders depend on their education, skill, and experience rather than on God, then God abandons them and looks for a Gideon”.  God looks for those who are available to be used by Him.  We don’t need to have it altogether before we make ourselves available.  God will make us ready like he did with Gideon.