The Success Of This Attack [judges 7.21-7.25] Series

And the three hundred men [6]blew the trumpets, and kept blowing them to continue and increase the terror of the enemy, and still they held the lamps in their hands, and stood as torch bearers to light the way for the Midianites and their associates to destroy one another.

Origen makes the 300 men types of preachers of the gospel; their trumpets a pictures of preaching Christ crucified; and their torch-lights are types of the holy conduct of the preachers

and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow throughout the host; and so they slew one another. Either they suspected treachery, and so, acting in revenge, wrath, and indignation, they drew their swords on each other; or due to the terror and shock they were in because of the sounds they heard, and the blazing torches dazzling their eyes, they were confused and disorganized. The darkness of the night made them unable to distinguish friends from foes; hence anyone coming close fell before their swords, both friends and foes, since they supposed that the Israelites had invaded their camp. This was a easy mistake to make, since there were people of different languages among them; but the thing was of God, it was He that took away their reason and judgment, and obsessed them, and filled their imaginations with feelings of fear and dread and bewilder their minds with terror and amazement, and directed them to point their swords at one another. And the Lord had done it before.

The first phase of the battle wasn't between Israel and Midian, but the Midianites fought themselves. This is a good example of how we can be more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37); we get the spoils of victory though Jesus won the battle for us.

It is in our best interest to safeguard our own spirits so that we are never afraid with any amazement, for we cannot envision the trouble we may plunge ourselves into. Have you ever noticed how God often makes the enemies of his church instruments to destroy one another; it is a pity that the church’s friends are sometimes joined with such troublemakers.

and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath ; that is, what was left of them, those that had not destroyed each other. The first of these places should be read Bethhashittah; and perhaps it got its name from the "shittah" or "shittim" trees which might have grown near it in abundance, or the houses in it might be built of shittim wood; or it may be that there was a temple there that was dedicated to some deity with this name, and near it there was a grove of "shittim" trees. Zererath and Bethshittah were probably cities in the tribe of Manasseh, and on the way to the Jordan River, by the foot of the mountains of Ephraim, where in all probability the Midianites would steer their course to escape to their own land.

They fled for their lives. Perhaps when day-light came they became aware of their mistake of fighting with one another, and concluded that as a result of this fatal error they had weakened themselves so much that now it was impossible to make any headway against Israel, and therefore they continued on their way towards their own country, although, such a rapid retreat was unnecessary since the 300 men kept their ground. “The wicked flee when none pursueth city” ( Prov. 28:1). “Terrors make him afraid on every side, and drive him to his feet"(Job 18:11).