In Order That Israel May Not Boast

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her.” (Judges 7:2, NIV 1984).

My Musings – “Too many men,” is typically not the first thought that comes to mind when going into battle. Instead, “suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:31, NIV 1984). Gideon started out with 32,000 men prepared for battle. To thin out the ranks the Lord said, “‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ So, twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.” (Judges 7:3, NIV 1984).

As reluctant as Gideon was to believe that He was capable of leading Israel into battle, as well as his uncertainty that God would really “save Israel by [his] hand as [He had] promised,” I can imagine that this didn’t do much to calm him. “But [then] the Lord said to Gideon, ‘There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there…Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.’ Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink…With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.'” (Judges 7:4-7, NIV 1984).

This was the force that Gideon was to go into battle with. But he was reassured when God allowed him to overhear the dream of one of the enemy, leading him to proclaim to his men “‘Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.’ [Then] dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.” (Judges 7:16, NIV 1984). Normally a tactical blunder (dividing your forces) when going up against a superior force.

But “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!’ While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.” (Judges 7:20-22, NIV 1984).

All that Gideon and his small force of warriors had to do was hold their position as the Midianites, in their confusion and fear, turned “on each other with their swords.” The remainder crying “out as they fled.” As it turned out, there was no way that Israel could “ boast against [God] that her own strength [had] saved her.“

But “woe to those who…rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek help from the Lord.” (Isaiah 31:1, NIV 1984). That might seem like the logical thing to do, but if one does not also “look to” or “seek help from the Lord,” their reliance on “horses” and “chariots” is misplaced.

My Advice – Whenever you feel that the troubles of life are overwhelming, “lift up [your] eyes to the hills— where does [your] help come from? [Your] help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 120:7, NIV 1984).