Reflections on Judges 7

Judges 07 (Contemporary English Version)

1. Early the next morning, Gideon and his army got up and moved their camp to Fear Spring. The Midianite camp was to the north, in the valley at the foot of Moreh Hill.
   
2. The LORD said, "Gideon, your army is too big. I can't let you win with this many soldiers. The Israelites would think that they had won the battle all by themselves and that I didn't have anything to do with it.
   
3. So call your troops together and tell them that anyone who is really afraid can leave Mount Gilead and go home." Twenty-two thousand men returned home, leaving Gideon with only ten thousand soldiers.
   
4. "Gideon," the LORD said, "you still have too many soldiers. Take them down to the spring and I'll test them. I'll tell you which ones can go along with you and which ones must go back home."
   
5. When Gideon led his army down to the spring, the LORD told him, "Watch how each man gets a drink of water. Then divide them into two groups--those who lap the water like a dog and those who kneel down to drink."
   
6. Three hundred men scooped up water in their hands and lapped it, and the rest knelt to get a drink.
   
7. The LORD said, "Gideon, your army will be made up of everyone who lapped the water from their hands. Send the others home. I'm going to rescue Israel by helping you and your army of three hundred defeat the Midianites."
   
8. Then Gideon gave these orders, "You three hundred men stay here. The rest of you may go home, but leave your food and trumpets with us." Gideon's army camp was on top of a hill overlooking the Midianite camp in the valley.
   
9. That night, the LORD said to Gideon. "Get up! Attack the Midianite camp. I am going to let you defeat them,
   
10. but if you're still afraid, you and your servant Purah should sneak down to their camp.
    
11. When you hear what the Midianites are saying, you'll be brave enough to attack." Gideon and Purah worked their way to the edge of the enemy camp, where soldiers were on guard duty.
    
12. The camp was huge. The Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern nations covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. And it would be easier to count the grains of sand on a beach than to count their camels.
    
13. Gideon overheard one enemy guard telling another, "I had a dream about a flat loaf of barley bread that came tumbling into our camp. It hit the headquarters tent, and the tent flipped over and fell down."
    
14. The other soldier answered, "Your dream must have been about Gideon, the Israelite commander. It means God will let him and his army defeat the Midianite army and everyone else in our camp."
    
15. As soon as Gideon heard about the dream and what it meant, he bowed down to praise God. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and shouted, "Let's go! The LORD is going to let us defeat the Midianite army."
    
16. Gideon divided his little army into three groups of one hundred men, and he gave each soldier a trumpet and a large clay jar with a burning torch inside.
    
17. Gideon said, "When we get to the enemy camp, spread out and surround it. Then wait for me to blow a signal on my trumpet. As soon as you hear it, blow your trumpets and shout, 'Fight for the LORD! Fight for Gideon!' "
    
18. (SEE 7:17)
    
19. Gideon and his group reached the edge of the enemy camp a few hours after dark, just after the new guards had come on duty. Gideon and his soldiers blew their trumpets and smashed the clay jars that were hiding the torches.
    
20. The rest of Gideon's soldiers blew the trumpets they were holding in their right hands. Then they smashed the jars and held the burning torches in their left hands. Everyone shouted, "Fight with your swords for the LORD and for Gideon!"
    
21. The enemy soldiers started yelling and tried to run away. Gideon's troops stayed in their positions surrounding the camp
    
22. and blew their trumpets again. As they did, the LORD made the enemy soldiers pull out their swords and start fighting each other. The enemy army tried to escape from the camp. They ran to Acacia Tree Town, toward Zeredah, and as far as the edge of the land that belonged to the town of Abel-Meholah near Tabbath.
    
23. Gideon sent word for more Israelite soldiers to come from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and both halves of Manasseh to help fight the Midianites.
    
24. He also sent messengers to tell all the men who lived in the hill country of Ephraim, "Come and help us fight the Midianites! Put guards at every spring, stream, and well, as far as Beth-Barah before the Midianites can get to them. And guard the Jordan River." Troops from Ephraim did exactly what Gideon had asked,
    
25. and they even helped chase the Midianites on the east side of the Jordan River. These troops captured Raven and Wolf, the two Midianite leaders. They killed Raven at a large rock that has come to be known as Raven Rock, and they killed Wolf near a wine-pit that has come to be called Wolf Wine-Pit. The men of Ephraim brought the heads of the two Midianite leaders to Gideon.
    

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    God patiently prepared Gideon for his assignment of defeating the Midianites and serving as judge over Israel. Initially He took Gideon from Baal worship evidently recognizing the openness of his heart to turn from Baal and be obedient to God. The altar and Asherah pole that were involved in the worship of Baal were identified as his father's so Gideon may not have been actively involved in the worship of Baal, but it is also likely that he was not actively worshipping God either.
    
    To his credit Gideon readily responded to God's instructions, though with trepidation. Due to his trepidation Gideon initially asked for a sign to assure him that it was indeed the Lord speaking to him. As he prepared to gather an army to go against the Midianites, Gideon again asked for a sign. Now, in chapter 7 we read of God offering a further sign to assure Gideon that He would deliver the Midianites into his hand. However, this sign came after God had reduced Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300. He didn't want Gideon or the Israelites having any thoughts of taking credit for defeating the Midianites. 300 Israelites going against 135,000 Midianites would clearly be a victory that could only be credited to God.
    
    After Gideon's troops were reduced to 300, God sent Gideon and his servant Purah into the Midianite camp to provide further assurance that He had delivered the Midianites into his hand. As soon as Gideon arrived in the enemy camp he overheard a man telling another of his dream of a loaf of barley bread tumbling into the Midianite camp and striking a tent. The friend interpreted the dream to him saying, "This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite camp over to him." (7:14) Gideon returned confident that the Lord was with him and announced to his troops, "Get up, for the LORD has handed the Midianite camp over to you." (7:15)
    
    Gideon and his men went out against the Midianites armed with only a trumpet and an empty pitcher containing a torch. If they even possessed swords, they were not mentioned. This was purely psychological warfare, and with God's intervention to arouse fear in the hearts of the Midianites and cause confusion among them, it worked perfectly. In the confusion, the Midianites turned their swords on each other. Though the Midianite army was reduced with this initial attack by Gideon's army, the bulk of them fled. It was then that additional Israelites troops were summoned to finish the job. No doubt the soldiers who had earlier been sent home were among those who joined the 300 in finishing the task. And so Israel was again freed from oppression.