Study In Judges

1. Study InJudges Presentation 008

2. Chapter 7v1-25 Gideon: Defeat Of The Midianites Presentation 008

3. We come now in these verses to what the Tyndale commentary calls ‘strange generalship’. And strange, indeed, it is, for Gideon is now commanded to reduce the size of his army very drastically, first from 32,000 to 10,000, and then from 10,000 to 300. The point in this is surely to indicate that the deliverance was to be the Lord’s, and not man’s. And, the more one thinks of this, the more one realises that this was no ordinary warfare. How could any military undertaking succeed in these terms? This does much to show that what was going on was a Divine enterprise, not a human warfare at all. It was something God was doing. Israel, then, was to have no opportunity, even in its crisis hour, to ‘vaunt itself’ against God saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’. Introduction Presentation 008

4. Do you think there is any connection between the fleece incident at the end of the previous chapter and this reduction of the army? On any estimate, Gideon’s faith was showing marks of weakness, and it may well be that God was intent upon putting it further to the test in this way before finally giving him the victory C. S. Lewis has something very pertinent to say about the trial of our faith’ ‘God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t. In this trial, He makes me occupy the dock, the witness-box and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realise the fact was to knock it down! God’s Purpose Presentation 008

5. The first reduction of the army, from 32,000 to 10,000, was in fact in accordance with the Mosaic instructions in Deut. 20v1-8. The earlier verses of that passage in Deuteronomy are expressive of compassion and understanding, but 20v8 has to do with the removal of the cowardly and the despondent, those with no real heart for the battle. Fear and cowardice are contagious, and could well demoralise an army, especially when faced with a foe, ‘like grasshoppers for multitude’ v12. “Fear imprisons, faith liberates; fear paralyses, faith empowers; fear sickens, faith heals; fear makes useless, faith makes serviceable - and most of all, fear puts hopelessness at the heart of life, while faith rejoices in its God.” HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK The First Test Presentation 008

6. What are we to say, then, about so many -22,000 - turning back and going home? Surely they were a dispirited people, lacking the will to fight and this may well have been the effect of captivity and oppression upon them. And what must the remainder of the army have thought and felt? The question of divided loyalties arises here. As the Apostle James says, ‘a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways’ James 1v8. Oh, how greatly has the man advanced who has learned not to be his own, not to be governed by his own reason, but to surrender his mind to God. JOHN CALVIN The First Test Presentation 008

7. But even the 10,000 were too many for the Lord v4, and a second test was applied. The first one had to do with the morale of the army, but now it was something different: they were to be purified further by the Lord. The separating factor was as follows: those drinking water from their hands, while still standing up were separated from those who lay down to drink. The idea is that the former (the 300) were alert to any possible danger, while the latter showed themselves lacking in a true awareness that they might be surprised and found at a disadvantage, throwing caution to the winds. The command in v7 to let all the others go was a further test of faith for Gideon. It was to be no ‘theoretical’ separation; the victory was to be really through the 300! A Second Test Presentation 008

8. Next follows a remarkable passage in which God gives to Gideon the assurance of victory. Once again the human fears and timidity of Gideon are taken into consideration. God went to great lengths to impart strength and courage to him for the battle. How many qualms he seems to have had! This is so true to human experience, and what an encouragement this is to us! Men are often used of God, not because they are strong but because they are weak, and in their weakness cast themselves, helpless and forlorn, upon God. This is one of the meanings of Paul’s words in 2 Cor. 4v10, ‘Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus’. Just as he was crucified in weakness and raised in power, so also our weakness is likewise transfigured into power, by God’s grace. Assurance of Victory Presentation 008

9. The foray into the enemy lines described in these verses is very exciting, and the sense of drama is immense, as Gideon and Phurah, hidden, overheard the conversation among the soldiers. The dream about the ‘loaf of barley bread’ is significant: Delitzsch says that it was the food of the poorer classes, and was to be regarded, in the dream, as the symbol of Israel, who were so despised among the nations. The news of the God of Israel, however, had got round to the Midianites, and fear had already got into them. This is the probable explanation of the dream: ‘psychological pressure’ was beginning to tell on them, and the way in which the soldiers ‘put two and two together’ v14 seems to have represented the ‘cracking point’ for them. The message that Gideon took from this v15 was a confirmation of the Lord’s word to him in v9-10, and all the assurance that he and his men now needed. Introduction Presentation 008

10. We come now to the battle itself. Gideon divided his 300 men into three companies, an expedient adopted on other occasions in Israel’s history (cf. 1Sam. 11v11 2 Sam. 18v2, and it clearly represents the Divine strategy on this occasion. It is not clear whether we are meant to assume that the Lord gave Gideon precise and specific instructions as to what to do, or whether it was a strategy Gideon himself planned under the inspiration of the Spirit. Whether the one or the other, however, it proved immensely and devastatingly effective. Introduction Presentation 008

11. The instructions given to the three groups of 100 men were as follows: each man was to take an empty pitcher with a lamp inside it in one hand, and a trumpet in the other. At an arranged signal, they were all to blow the trumpets and shatter the pitchers, and let the light stream out. This was done at the beginning of the middle watch (i.e. after 10 p.m.), when a considerable part of the enemy army would be asleep. It does not require much imagination to realise the confusion and disorder that must have resulted, not to mention the stampede of the camels v12. It is little wonder that they turned on one another in sheer panic v22. They were completely routed, and fled in disarray, with the Israelites in full pursuit calling upon Ephraim to safeguard the fords across Jordan and head off the Midianites. The whole episode provides a vivid illustration of spiritual warfare. Introduction Presentation 008

12. Matthew Henry, the Puritan commentator, in his exposition of Paul’s description of the ministry committed to him, in 2 Cor. 4 maintains that the apostle is making reference to this incident when he speaks of having ‘this treasure in earthen vessels’. The ‘treasure’ is the light of the gospel, ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ which God hath shone into our hearts. The ‘earthen vessels’, the pitchers bearing that light, are the lives of the servants of God. And what Paul goes on to describe in the verses that follow - about being troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast down, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus - represents the shattering of the earthen vessel that lets the light of the gospel shine forth to men. Introduction Presentation 008

13. Whether or not the Apostle in fact had this story in mind when he wrote these words in 2 Cor. 4, it certainly provides a most fruitful illustration of what he is saying. For just as it was the breaking of the pitchers that enabled the light to shine forth leading to the rout of the enemy, so also it is the shattering of the earthen vessels of the Apostles’ lives, in costly sharing of Christ’s sufferings, that let the light of the gospel shine out to a lost world. No life has ever told for God that has not at least in some measure borne in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus in this way. To put it another way, and borrowing the illustration, the ‘blast’ on the trumpet — representing the proclamation of the gospel - has to be accompanied by something else - this shattering of the earthen vessel - before the word can be with power. What a word for preachers and Christian communicators this surely is! Introduction Presentation 008