The year was 1150 B.C. and the Israelites were in terrible circumstances. The military strength that they once had was no longer there and their enemies, the Midianites, had stolen most of their possessions.
When everything they had tried had turned out wrong, and when all had seemed lost, the Israelites cried out to God for help. By grace, God heard the cry of His people and intervened to raise up a leader who could both judge and lead His people.
For seven years the Midianites had oppressed Israel. Because the Israelite people had turned away from God, He used the Midianites to get Israel’s attention. For seven consecutive harvests, the Midianites and their allies had plundered Israel. They had swept across the land taking both livestock and crops. The Israelites had become a nation in poverty and they began to seek God once again.
In the 6th chapter of Judges we learn that God sent an angel to call Gideon to deliver Israel from the Midianites. The angel told Gideon that God had selected him to be Israel’s leader and the one who would deliver the Israelite people from the Midianites.
Gideon was shocked! He felt so unworthy and incapable. He didn’t want to do it. He began to make excuses and cite all the reasons why he was the wrong choice and could not be successful. Why call me? My family is very poor, and besides that, I am the least in my father’s house! God’s answer to Gideon was the same answer that he had given to Moses earlier when Moses didn’t want to accept the calling of God. He said, “Surely I will be with thee.” And here at Mountain View Union Church this morning, God tells you and I the same thing.
In verse 17 Gideon said, “If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest to me.” In verse 18 he asked the angel of God, “Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee.” The angel answered and said, “I will tarry until thou come again. Gideon, like Moses, wanted and needed a reassuring sign, and God did not fail him.
Gideon wanted to see if God would accept his offering. He prepared an offering of goat and cakes and put it in a basket along with the broth in a pot, and brought it out to the angel that sat under the oak tree.
The angel instructed Gideon to place the basket upon the rocks and to pour the broth over it. Fire came out of the rock and consumed the sacrifice. Gideon realized that truly the Lord had called, but still he was afraid. God encouraged Gideon to overcome his fears and to follow his calling by faith.
25. 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:
26. 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.
27. 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.
That night, in obedience to the Lord, Gideon destroyed an altar which his father had erected to the false God, Baal, and the wooden image beside it, and instead erected another altar, but this time to Jehovah. In the morning that followed, the men of the city were ready to kill him for his bold act, but his father, Joash, intervened, saying that if Baal were truly a God, he should be able to defend himself.
Some people might fault Gideon for tearing down the altar at night because of fear, but we must not lose sight of the fact that he did obey the Lord. All of us have fear, and fear in and of itself, is not necessarily wrong. It is when it keeps us from obeying the Lord that it becomes an obstacle to faith and is sin.
The Midianites and their two allies occupied the large valley of Jezreel, and it was from that fertile region that they could launch their raids. Now, for the 8th consecutive year, they crossed the Jordan intent on stealing and plundering the crops and possessions of the Israelite people.
Gideon, responding in faith to God, stepped forth to become the leader of the Israelites against the Midianites. Gideon sounded a call to arms. First, his own people responded. Then his tribe from Manasseh joined him. Next, the men from three other northern tribes responded. They were all tired of the Midianites looting their land and possessions. The timing was right because God was in control. He was ready to deliver His people.
Judges 7:
2. 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.
3. 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 their remained ten thousand.
In the meantime, the Midianites had crossed the Jordan River and entered the Jezreel Valley. Gideon moved his men northward, keeping mountains between himself and the enemy. Gideon readied his troops for battle at the base of Mount Gilboa. From that site Gideon planned to attack, however, God had other plans.
The northern tribes were to be commended. They had responded in large numbers to Gideon’s call to arms. Gideon’s army had numbered 32,ooo men. Even at that, however, the Midianite army outnumbered them by more than 4 to 1. The Midianites had an army of 135,000 men.
I suppose that Gideon still felt good about his army. He had a sizeable force. He probably still felt that he could use a few more good men. Yet once again, God told him to downsize his army. God wanted to make it plain to the Israelite people that He would be responsible for their victory, not the large number of soldiers they had. He would be the one to seal the fate of the Midianites. The Israelites would not be in a position to boast that they had done it by themselves. There would be no other explanation than the hand of God.
God commanded Gideon to tell his troops that there was a condition under which they could leave and not have to go into battle. The three exemptions were occupation, marital status and fear.
Outnumbered 4 to 1, more than two thirds of Gideon’s troops gave up the challenge and returned to the place from whence they had come. The Midianites had more than 7 years of experience and superiority. Once outnumbered 4 to 1, his army was now outnumbered 13 to 1. Gideon’s remaining army was inexperienced, untrained and untested.
4. 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.
5. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink water.
6. 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.
7. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
Now I am quite sure that Gideon had already begun to wonder how the battle against the Midianites could be won when his army was outnumbered 13 to 1. He must have been shocked to hear God say that he still had too many soldiers and needed to be further reduced. God intended to divide Gideon’s army into two groups. One would be sent away and the other would attack the Midianites.
It is quite likely that the military exercises were very strenuous and that they were not allowed to have any water with them during these exercises. The men had to be brought to the point where they felt that they would perish if they didn’t quickly get a drink of water. Finally, after being pushed to their limit, the men were allowed to relieve their thirst.
Gideon’s forces would be divided into 2 groups, the lappers and the kneelers. When a dog drinks, his tongue curls and quickly draws water into his mouth. All of the time the dog remains alert. The lappers were men who were aware of the necessity to constantly be on guard.
The lappers reached down into the cool waters and scooped up a handful of water, bringing the hands to the mouth. They remained alert to everything that went on around them. The lappers had come primarily to do battle. The conflict ahead was what was on their mind.
The kneelers were thirsty. Forget the battle for now, forget the Midianites, and forget the hopelessness of their situation. Their thoughts were solely “Give me water!” This group dropped to both knees at the water’s edge. To rest felt good. Backs bent, faces dipped to the water’s surface, some men likely putting their whole head in the water to cool off for the water felt good.
The number of men making up the group of lappers was not large, but they stood out. They were a bold, brave minority that had come to fight. They could and they would carry out orders regardless of what they were.
God had reduced the numbers. The people never could say that their superior army had won the battle. Only God could provide the victory. The kneelers were sent home. Gideon’s army, once 32,000, was now 300.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.
Gideon had devised a brilliant strategy. The Midianites had not learned that 31,700 Israelite soldiers had been released. Perhaps in the night, Gideon had made his troops appear as a force numbering 32,000.
By night, Gideon’s men slipped into position. They needed to be as close as possible to the enemy without being detected. The night was divided into 3 watches, 6-10, 10-2, and 2-6. The second watch had been posted. The Midianite camp was silent as the soldiers slept.
Suddenly, the trumpets began to blast. To the sleeping Midianites it probably sounded like an army of 100,000. The noise awakened and alarmed the sleeping soldiers. Gideon’s army would then use their pitchers. They smashed them and the pitchers exploded into hundreds of pieces. The pieces fell on the rocks and on the mountains and cascaded downward. The sound would be similar to the sound of thousand of soldiers sliding down the mountain. In the darkness, before and behind every torch, the Midianites saw in their imagination soldiers seeking to kill them.
Quickly, the Israelite soldiers reached for their trumpets again and sounded the battle cry. Shouts and screams accompanied the trumpets. The soldiers proclaimed their allegiance to Gideon and to God. The battle cry intimidated the Midianites who sensed God’s sword falling on them in judgment.
Gideon had trained and instructed his men well. The soldiers had done exactly as Gideon had commanded and without question. They were faithful even at the risk of their own lives.
Fear swept through the Midianite camp. Terror gripped the sleepy soldiers. Panic gave way to pandemonium. In their confusion the Midianites began to defend themselves by killing each other. The dead bodies around them multiplied their fears and they fled into darkness in confusion.
The trumpets continued to sound, the torches burned brightly and the battle cry was sounding loudly. Anything that moved scared the Midianite soldiers and they attacked themselves. The remainder of the Midianites retreated. Gideon sent out a command to some of the northern tribes to help pursue the Midianites. Two leading princes were killed and soon Gideon’s soldiers captured the Midianite kings. These kings were executed because they had murdered his brothers.
Never doubt that when God chooses us to do His will that he will empower us with the ability to get the job done.
Today, half a world away from us, the coalition forces led by the United States military once again do battle against the evil of this world. Empowered by the hand of God, these soldiers are patriots for the cause of Christ. Please know that God is in charge, His will shall be done and freedom will be returned to the oppressed people of Iraq.
