A. Israel's small army is too big for God to use
1. (Judges 7:1-3) God tells Gideon to tell all his soldiers who are afraid to go home
Then Jerubbaal (that is Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose early and camped beside the spring of Herod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. The LORD said to Giedon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me.' Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.'" So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.
Then Jerubbaal (that is Gideon) and all the people who were with him: Verse one explains how the opposing forces were arrayed. This scenario is quite different than what it was with Joshua and the Israelite army against the Canaanites. Joshua and his men were trained fighters. Here, the Israelite fighters are strictly a militia of farmers, herders, craftsmen, merchants, etc., who had little to no fighting experience. The Midianites and Amalekites, on the other hand, were nomadic raiders and bandits. They were not a trained and disciplined army. However, they were huge in numbers and were hardened fighters.
The spring of Herod: Israel's men were located south of the Midianites near the spring of Herod at the foot of Mount Gilead. (Herod is most likely just a tribal or clan name given to that specific spring.)
The camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley: The Midianites were located north near the Hill of Moreh. The phrase "in the valley" is referring to the Jezreel Valley. This is the place the nomadic forces seemed to prefer each each when they came and raided the land.
Note: The Jezreel Valley is central to almost every battle concerning Israel and the Promised Land. Barak won the Jezreel Valley from King Jabin approximately 50 years earlier. When the Bible speaks of the end-times battle of Armageddon, in reality, the battle is going to take place in the Jezreel Valley. Har Megiddo (translated as the mountain of Megiddo and called Armageddon in English) is merely a mountain which overlooks the valley of the great battle.
The people who are with you are too many for Me: In a kind of ironic twist, verse two tell us that God will now test Gideon; whereas, earlier Gideon tested God twice. The LORD says that Gideon has too many troops. God states that if a victory is achieved with a large fighting force, Israel will claim they won the battle by their own might, courage and strength. God wants Israel to understand that it is HE who is the One who gives Israel victories. Thus, all glory should be given to Him. The LORD tells Gideon that any man who is afraid to go to battle should leave camp.
This command is in accordance with God's Torah: "When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. He shall say to them, 'Hear O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save.' The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, 'Who is the man that has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would dedicate it. Who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use its fruit? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in battle and another man would begin to use its fruit. And who is the man that is engaged to a woman and has not married her? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in battle and another man would marry her.' Then the officers Shall speak further to the people and say, 'Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him depart and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers' hearts melt like his heart.'" (Deuteronomy 20:2-8)
Fear is contagious. It can have disastrous and demoralizing effects on an army, which can result in mass chaos, panic and desertion. It is best that those who are fainthearted leave the militia.
Side Story:
This reminds me of going to camp as a child. I thought leaving my home and living in the great outdoors with other girls my own age sounded like a grand adventure. Soon after arriving at camp, one girl became very homesick. She would cry and moan about how she missed her home--oh the food she could eat at home, her bed, her family, etc. Soon, like a deadly plague, homesickness spread quickly throughout the camp. Girl after girl suddenly remembered all the good things about being at home. I often wondered if that one girl had not started lamenting about being away from home, would all the other girls have been free from this psychological affliction? The one girl's broken heart put a damper on a week which should have been filled with lots of fun, joy and laughter.
So 22,000 returned but 10,000 remained: It seems God knew that one person who feared going to battle could quickly demoralize an entire army. Of the 32,000 men who showed up for battle, only 10,000 valiant men remained to fight God's Holy War.
2. (Judges 7:4-8) Gideon must separate the men according to a particular test
Then the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go." So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, "You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink." Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. Then the LORD said to Gideon, "I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the people go, each to his own home." So the 300 men took the people's provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below them in the valley.
The people are still too many: The LORD tells Gideon that his military is still too large. He needs to reduce the number of fighters to a smaller number. God says that He will not make Gideon choose, but God will devise a test and select for Himself His elite fighting force. Gideon tested God twice. Now God is going to test Gideon twice.
So he brought the people down to the river: God tells Gideon to take his men down to a river so they can drink water. How they drink the water will be the determining factor.
The logistics of the test:
When the men stoop over to drink from the river, they will all have to go down on their knees because there is no other natural or practical way to drink from a body of running water. However, there are two general ways to proceed. One, a man could use his hands as a cup and lap up the water from his hands. Or two, he could bend over and put his mouth in the water. The general idea behind this test is that those who make a cup with their hands are alert and do not put down their guard even to get a drink of water. Whereas, the other group, when they bend over and put their mouth in the water, they lose sight of their surroundings. They could easily be ambushed by the enemy. The group which kept his head up would intrinsically be better fighters.
Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men: The first test let the fearful go home. The second test eliminated those who were careless. The end result was that a mere 300 men were selected. This was the right number of people for the LORD'S army. Only 1% who willingly came to fight for Gideon would be used.
(This is a goof lesson for us. Even if we are called to a project or an activity, we may not be used. Although we may feel like we have wasted our time, it is essential for us to show up. You never know when God might choose you to be part of the 1% He is going to use.)
What makes this number more astounding is the size of the forces they were going to face was about 135,000 people (Judges 8:10). This is a ratio of more than 400 Midianites to every Israelite soldier. Why would the LORD insist on such an outlandish tactic? Verse two says, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me.'"
The Lord wanted to make this idolatrous generation of Israel acutely aware that He is still there, and He is still watching, He is still acting and He is still delivering His people. God is still the Israelite's God. He still loves them, despite their unfaithfulness to Him. Even though Gideon was skeptical about it all, he still obeyed God. When we step out of our comfort zones by the leading of the LORD, He does not expect us to be comfortable. That is the whole point. If it was not uncomfortable, then we have merely stepped from one comfort zone to another. The idea is that we do UNcomfortable things in faith. Do not think that when facing grueling challenges, and you have fears and worries along the way that you do not have sufficient faith. Ask any soldier who has even been in combat if he was afraid. He will tell you "ABSOLUTELY!" The heart of the issue is controlling that fear and still functioning. We are not to dismiss it.
With this all said, Gideon needed to appear confident among his men. Nothing frightens troops more than a wavering leader.
3. (Judges 7:9-11) Gideon must spy on the camp of the Midianites and find encouragement
Now the same night it came about that the LORD said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands. But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp, and you will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp." So he went with Purah his servant down to the outposts of the army that was in the camp.
Now the same night it came about that the LORD said to him: It seems that Gideon needed yet another sign to boost his confident. The LORD was merciful to provide it since He knew every thought that Gideon harbored deep within his heart. God tells Gideon that if he is STILL concerned about what lay ahead, he should take a man named Purah with him. They should sneak down the hillside below where the enemy was camped and listen to what was being said.
So he went with Purah his servant: Purah is derived from the Hebrew word for branch. Purah can also mean young man. It seems Purah was most likely Gideon's armor-bearer.
No comments:
Post a Comment