Different Army, Same Victory

At the end of chapter 6 Gideon is having trouble trusting God.

Three times he asks God for verification - first through the offering and burning of the sacrifice the second time was the fleece wet and the ground dry and the third time was the fleece dry and the ground wet.

Gideon’s doubt seems to set the stage for what God is about to do…

Judges 7:1–25 (CSB)

1 Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him, got up early and camped beside the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘I saved myself.’ 3 Now announce to the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained. 4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one can go with you,’ he can go. But if I say about anyone, ‘This one cannot go with you,’ he cannot go.” 5 So he brought the troops down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog. Do the same with everyone who kneels to drink.” 6 The number of those who lapped with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men, and all the rest of the troops knelt to drink water. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the three hundred men who lapped and hand the Midianites over to you. But everyone else is to go home.” 8 So Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops, who took the provisions and their rams’ horns. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

God speaks to Gideon but His statement is not what you would expect. From a human standpoint we’d expect to hear, “Whoo boy, Midian’s army is huge and Gideon you do not have near enough people for me to work with.” This is not what God says…

God tells Gideon that he has too many people for Him to hand the Midianites over to.

It is not that God was hindered by the number of people. The issue at hand was Israel’s response. If they maintained the large number they would have taken credit for the victory

Now, keep in mind how fearful and hesitant Gideon is before God spoke. Now imagine how he must have felt now that God is telling him to send 2/3rds of the army away for being afraid to fight. (I’m surprised Gideon didn’t try to go with them).

Gideon is now looking at ten thousand troops remaining. Ok, ten thousand isn’t so bad, we can do this still. Then God speaks again…

It is possible that the final test God gives is arbitrary but I am not a fan of thinking God does things by chance. There is a purpose to all He does.

The men were told to drink. Most of them knelt and bent over drinking directly out of the spring but 300 of them scooped up water in their hand and drank it that way (lapped it like a dog).

If you have ever watched an animal drink they typically keep their head or eyes up and lap with their tongue. There is no more dangerous position than bent over, head down for an animal. Many predators hunt at the watering hole for this reason.

The 300 men who were left showed bravery and situational awareness.

God does not need large numbers to accomplish His task. Still, God uses called and qualified people.

9 That night the Lord said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you. 10 But if you are afraid to attack the camp, go down with Purah your servant. 11 Listen to what they say, and then you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the troops who were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the people of the east had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, “Listen, I had a dream: a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.” 14 His friend answered, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite camp over to him.” 15 When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord has handed the Midianite camp over to you.”

The perfect number for God to use has been met and God wastes no time in telling Gideon to attack the camp of the enemy.

As mentioned earlier, you can imagine how unnerved Gideon must have been. He was not a military leader, he had never personally witnessed God in action and now God had taken all but 300 of his previous 32, 000 troops.

God knew he was afraid but He had a plan.

Notice the author does not leave out the cast number of enemy so it was not what Gideon saw that gave him courage but what he heard.

Just as God told him Gideon was emboldened by hearing the dream and its interpretation.

16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of the men a trumpet in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside it in the other hand. 17 “Watch me,” he said to them, “and do what I do. When I come to the outpost of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I and everyone with me blow our rams’ horns, you are also to blow your rams’ horns all around the camp. Then you will say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’ ” 19 Gideon and the hundred men who were with him went to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch after the sentries had been stationed. They blew their rams’ horns and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew their rams’ horns and shattered their pitchers. They held their torches in their left hands and their rams’ horns to blow in their right hands, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army began to run, and they cried out as they fled. 22 When Gideon’s men blew their three hundred rams’ horns, the Lord caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords. They fled to Acacia House in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath. 23 Then the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim with this message: “Come down to intercept the Midianites and take control of the watercourses ahead of them as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they took control of the watercourses as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. 25 They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, while they were pursuing the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.

While the passage doesn’t directly say it, you know the battle instructions had to come from God.

Much like the battle of Jericho, this battle would be fought in the most ridiculous manner. Who goes to battle with a trumpet, a jar and a torch? The method may have been crazy but with God it was the perfect plan.

Imagine as they blew the horns the sound that surrounded the enemy camp. Then as if that wasn’t enough they smash the jars and light suddenly explodes all around the camp… they went into a panic and began killing each other.

Check that out - God’s army did not carry swords but the enemy did and it was by their own sword they died.

For some reason Gideon changed battle plan. Gideon called for the others to come intercept the fleeing army of Midian by cutting them off at the water crossings.

They caught and killed 2 Midian commanders and brought their heads back to Gideon.

Judges 8:1–35 (CSB)

1 The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they argued with him violently. 2 So he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he said this, their anger against him subsided.

The joy of victory didn’t last long.

The people of Ephraim are upset - now keep in mind that they just captured and killed 2 leaders of Midian - that Gideon didn’t call them sooner to fight.

Gideon handles it very diplomatically.

Still, even in victory Israel remains her own worst enemy.

4 Gideon and the three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it. They were exhausted but still in pursuit. 5 He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give some loaves of bread to the troops under my command, because they are exhausted, for I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 But the princes of Succoth asked, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands that we should give bread to your army?” 7 Gideon replied, “Very well, when the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will tear your flesh with thorns and briers from the wilderness!” 8 He went from there to Penuel and asked the same thing from them. The men of Penuel answered just as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 He also told the men of Penuel, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower!”

We see a change in Gideon. He went from scared leader to confident commander and now to brutal aggressor.

The problem began back at the battle - The battle cry Gideon told them to use was “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”. He has inserted himself into the mix.

The men of Succoth and Penuel recognized that Gideon has changed his mission and that is why they will not feed them.

Gideon’s answer is hostile.

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them was their army of about fifteen thousand men, who were all those left of the entire army of the people of the east. Those who had been killed were one hundred twenty thousand armed men. 11 Gideon traveled on the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked their army while the army felt secure. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured these two kings of Midian and routed the entire army.

Gideon pursued the 2 kings of Midian.

We see an army of about 135,000 but 120,000 of them were already dead.

Gideon caught the remnant and finished them off as and captured the kings.

13 Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres. 14 He captured a youth from the men of Succoth and interrogated him. The youth wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth. 15 Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your power that we should give bread to your exhausted men?’ ” 16 So he took the elders of the city, and he took some thorns and briers from the wilderness, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them. 17 He also tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

This is a sad look at how much Gideon has changed in such a short time.

These men were not enemies of Israel - they were fellow Israelites.

Gideon was out of control…

18 He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.” 19 So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” 20 Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” The youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth. 21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and strike us down yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Now we get a glimpse of what Gideon went on his rampage.

He might have been afraid at first but God’s victory through him has emboldened him so much that he went after those who killed his brothers. Not figurative brothers but actual flesh and blood brothers.

This was no longer about saving a nation, it was not a blood vengeance.

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” 24 Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites. 25 They said, “We agree to give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it. 26 The weight of the gold earrings he requested was forty-three pounds of gold, in addition to the crescent ornaments and ear pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the chains on the necks of their camels. 27 Gideon made an ephod from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Gideon’s new attitude is not a good one for him but the people of Israel are impressed with him.

They want Gideon and his descendants to rule them.

Gideon broke several of Mosaic/God laws here - first it was forbidden for kings to multiply gold for themselves (the first thing Gideon did although he wasn’t officially king), the second was to make this ephod (this most likely was Gideon rebuilding the altar to Baal and covering it with this garment) and third, by displaying this idol he caused all of Israel to worship a false god again…

28 So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they were no longer a threat. The land had peace for forty years during the days of Gideon.

Even in the midst of Gideon’s issues God gave the nation peace for 40 years.

29 Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) son of Joash went back to live at his house. 30 Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives. 31 His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. 32 Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Gideon took many wives had 70 sons.

Here he breaks with Mosaic law again by marrying a concubine AND marrying a Caananite woman which is explicitly forbidden.

33 When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them. 35 They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.

Well, this did not end well…

Gideon died - the people went right back to what they were doing before all this began - they forgot about God and they didn’t even take care of Gideon’s family.