In three companies

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Judges 7:16–22, “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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 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.”

Gideon divided his men in three companies of 100 men each. They had empty water containers made out of dried clay with a lamp inside. They surrounded the camp and then each man blew the trumpet that he was carrying with him. As soon as they blew the trumpets they broke the containers and the lamps were suddenly visible. The people were woken by the sound of the trumpets and then confused but the sudden appearance of the lights. They were very superstitious people as well. The Israelis called out loudly, “The sword of the Lord and Gideon.” It is likely that the story of the dream that Gideon heard about was running around the camp as well. when all these things happened the soldiers in the camp believed that they were being attacked and grabbed their weapons then started fighting against their own men. They were confused by the Lord as well as the circumstances and then, in mortal fear, these man ran away from Israel.

The sword of Gideon

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Judges 7:9–15, “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. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.”

Gideon came from an unimportant family in his local town but the Lord had chosen him for a great triumph. The Lord wanted Gideon to be sure that the Lord was in control and the Lord would deliver them this great victory. He told Gideon to go near the camp of their enemies. Gideon went near to the camp and overheard two men talking. One man was recounting a dream to the other man and told him that the sword of Gideon the son of Joash would come and defeat them.

Drinking

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Sinking Sand

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Judges 7:1–8, “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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.”

Gideon had summoned a large army to come with him and fight against the oppressing forces. When they came the Lord wanted to make sure that Gideon and his soldiers realised that it was the Lord’s work that delivered Israel again rather than their own skill in battle. The Lord told Gideon to ask if anyone was afraid to fight and then he let all those people go. There will still too many people for the fight so the Lord told Gideon to take the people to have a drink from the local stream. The Lord told Gideon to observe the way they drank and see who drank with care and who didn’t. The soldiers who maintained awareness of the situation and drank looking around were chosen. After this process there were only three hundred men left to fight agains the huge army that had come to Israel.

The fleece

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Sinking Sand

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Judges 6:33–40, “Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. 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. And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.”

The oppressing forces came to attack Israel again and camped in the valley of Jezreel. The Lord had established this so that they would be in one place and it would be easier to defeat them and deliver Israel. Gideon had already led his people to repentance for their sin. They had wanted to execute Gideon for blasphemy against their local god but then they accepted that the Lord is the true God and didn’t do anything to them. Gideon was cautious again and asked the Lord to give him another sign that the Lord would miraculously intervene. He placed a fleece on the ground and asked the Lord to wet the fleece with dew while keeping the ground dry and the Lord did as he prayed. Gideon asked for another sign, in this case he asked that the Lord keep the fleece dry and make the ground wet. The Lord was the only One Who could actually manipulate the dew so Gideon was sure that the Lord was involved. While the local god was unable to do anything against Gideon the true God of Heaven was able to intervene, even with the weather, on Gideon’s behalf.

Will ye plead for Baal?

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Judges 6:25–32, “And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.”

Gideon seemed to be both cautious and bold. When the angel came to him he wanted to have some kind of proof that the Lord was with them in the difficult times they were experiencing. However, he was courageous this time when the Lord told him to knock down Baal’s altar in the town. The people, in that town, believed in Baal and he was taking the risk of being executed for blasphemy against that local god. However, Gideon went ahead and broke that altar, cut down the sacred trees then offered a sacrifice using the wood for a burnt offering. In the morning the people were upset that someone had desecrated their idol. They decided that the person who had desecrated their idol had to die. When they found out that Gideon was the culprit they decided to execute Gideon and told his father to bring him out. However, Gideon’s father told them that, if their god was real, then their god should be able to look after himself and punish Gideon himself. This was the great difference between Israel’s God and all the other gods of that time. Israel’s God had delivered them from slavery and given them the Promised Land while the gods of the local people had actually lost their lands because their god was unable to do anything for them. The big question we have to face today is the same. Will our god care for us or do we have to care for our god? I we believe in the One True God then we can be sure that He will always do what is good for us.

An oak which was in Ophrah

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Sinking Sand

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Judges 6:11–24, “And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.”

An angle is always a messenger from the Lord, sometimes the messenger comes as an ordinary man, maybe a mighty heavenly being or even a donkey. (see Numbers 22:28–35, “And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.”) In this case the angel was like a man who spoke to Gideon. The angel told Gideon that he was a great  and courageous soldier. The angel also told Gideon that the Lord was with him. At that stage, Gideon wasn’t even thinking about himself, he wondered that the Lord was with Israel when they were experiencing such great oppression. The angel told Gideon that the Lord was going to use him to deliver Israel from their oppression. Gideon was a very cautious man and asked that the angel prove that he had come from the Lord. The angel proved this fact by performing a great miracle and then Gideon was afraid because he had seen the Lord’s angel and thought that he would die.

A prophet

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Judges 6:7–10, “And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.”

Israel were occupied by a foreign power and under sever oppression. They were struggling to hide enough food to keep themselves alive while the Midianites were taking everything they could take. The Lord sent a prophet to them. A prophet is just someone who brings the Lord’s message. However, the Lord’s message always concerned the contract the Lord had with Israel and the penalty clauses, therefore the message always had some consequences included. The Lord always planned that oppression would lead to repentance and that would lead to restoration so the prophet’s message always looked forward to a brighter future as well. In this case the prophet pointed back to past to establish the fact the Lord had already done many good things for Israel already. This was to remind them that He loved them and did not intend to completely reject them for all time.