Friday, August 14, 2015

Gideon Part 2 - The LORD is in Control, and Gideon Becomes the Mighty Man of Valor




Judges 7- 8

In Gideon Part 1, (go here to read) we learned how Gideon was called, and how he needed reassurance that God was indeed going to use him to save Israel. .

Now Gideon has a large number of men with him, Judges 7:3 gives the number of men to be 32,000 men. But the LORD said to Gideon Chp 7:2 "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." The LORD knows the heart of man and He wants Israel to know that it is He is giving the victory, and not themselves that have won the future victory.  It is important to remember that Israel at this time had done evil in the sight of the Lord, (Judges 1:1) and that is why they are in the hands of the Midianites.  They had called on the LORD God (1:7) because of their misery, not because of their faith.

And so the LORD told Gideon how the numbers should be cut down. V3 "...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"  It is obvious that even though the LORD had promised that Gideon would have the victory, the majority of the people were very fearful. But there were still too many people, and the LORD gave Gideon further instructions. V4-6 "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, Everyone 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 why were those who lapped set putting hand to mount set aside?  Because if they lapped the water like a dog, with their head to the water, they would not be able to see what was going on around them, but if they brought the water to their mouths, they could see what was going on around them, they were much more alert.  Of those 10,000, there remained only 300 men.  Those would be used by the LORD to deliver Israel.

In V7 the LORD reassures 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." After this the LORD still leading tells Gideon, V9 "Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand." But the LORD also tells Gideon V10-11 "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." The LORD is gracious to provide reassurance for Gideon again.  He truly knows his heart, even as he knows our hearts.

 

And so Gideon, still fearful, took his servant, and they went down to the outside of the army, and saw that the number of the Midianites was V12 "in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude...." Then Gideon learns a most amazing thing..V13-14 "..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...a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.". This is wonderful assurance for Gideon and it is at that point that he V15 "worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian." When Gideon hears these two men speaking, he worships the LORD, he will not take the future victory for himself for he knows that the LORD is in control, and that by His strength, Gideon will be that mighty man of valor the angel first told him he was at the winepress when he was threshing wheat, hiding it from the Midianites. When Gideon said to the 300 men upon his return "Arise, for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian."  he is speaking now with authority, secure in the knowledge that the LORD is with him.

And so a plan is made using only the 300 men that are left. V16 he divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers."  The men are given this instruction V17-18 "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"  Gideon is giving this battle to the LORD.

And so each company surrounds the camp.  The trumpets are blown, the pitchers are broken, and the lamps are held.  The unsuspecting Midianites  awaken to the sound of  shouting V20 "The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon" What a scene that must have been. The Midians were asleep, and they were suddenly awoken with shouting and the sound of trumpets, and because the 300 men had spaced themselves, it looked like they were surrounded. All of them V21 "ran, and cried, and fled, and then V22 "the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even through all the host..." 

After the victory, Gideon is now the mighty leader, and with his three hundred men, he continued to pursue the enemies of Israel.(8:4)  At Succoth he asked for bread for his men and was refused, and so Gideon promises them that when the victory is complete, he will return and "tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and the briars." (8:7)  What a different man is this from the one who hid behind the winepress and asked for the LORD's reassurance.  And how that promise must have filled the men of Succoth with dread.

And before the next morning,(8:13) Gideon was victorious, took captive two kings (8:12) and brought them back to Succoth, proving that he had the victory.  And Gideon took the elders of the city, and thorns and briers and the men of Succoth were made to know that Gideon was a man who kept his word. (8:16).

Gideon had other victories, and the men of Israel said to him "Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also..." (8:22)  This must have been a great temptation for Gideon, a true test of his faithfulness to the LORD who had given him the victory.  And Gideon answers them "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you."  Amen.

And Gideon died in a good old age.

But, sad to say, chp 8:34 "as soon as Gideon was dead, the children of Israel turned again and went..after Baali, and made Baalberith their God, and they remembered not the LORD their God who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies."

The lesson for believers is this:  the LORD is in control.. if we are led by Spirit which indwells believers  to do something, no matter how unlikely it seems to us that we are for this task, trust, just trust the Lord. 

Ephesians 1:13-14 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Vcg/August 2015

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