JUDGES, CHAP. VII.
THE Bible is full of instruction for the children of men in all the positions and relations of life. It matters not how exalted or how humble the position that we occupy, there is provided counsel for us in its sacred and inspired pages. Thence issues forth the Lord’s voice to kings and rulers, judges and senators, generals and captains, as well as to men of lower stations and ranks. If such had ears to hear, they would not lack instruction and guidance for all situations and seasons—for times of war as certainly as for times of peace. Some people think that the Old Testament Scriptures are antiquated and out of date; they are greatly deluded and mistaken. A careful study of them was never more needed than at the present time of conflict and stress. Our generals and commanders on land and sea would do well to meditate upon and drink in the deep lessons of dependence upon God and practical management that are taught in the books of Moses, the Judges and the Kings.
It is our present purpose to call attention to some lessons from a chapter in the life of Gideon, one of the eminent judges and deliverers that God raised up for Israel during the period that stretched between the days of Joshua, and the days of the Kings. The lessons referred to are almost wholly forgotten at the present time, to our great loss as a nation.
I.—Let us give a brief summary of the principal incidents recorded in the chapter (Judges vii.), and the previous context. After the days of Deborah and Barak, “the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.” The Midianites drove them to dens and caves in the mountains, and devoured and destroyed the produce of the land, wherever it grew up. The children of Israel cried unto the Lord, and He called forth Gideon, the son of Joash, the Abi-ezrite, a mighty man of valour, to be their judge
and deliverer. Gideon threw down the altar of Baal, and the Lord, in answer to Gideon’s prayers, gave him repeated signs that He would save Israel by his hand. Now, in the seventh chapter of the Judges, we have brought before our view Gideon with a small army of 32,000 men confronting a vast host, consisting of the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east, who had gathered together to suppress the humble uprising of the children of Israel. To human wisdom, it would seem that Gideon’s army was far too small and weak to encounter this great multitude, and that they would require considerable additions to their ranks if they were to cherish any warrantable hope of success at all. But remarkable to relate, “The Lord said unto Gideon: The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand;” and then He adds the reason why, “lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.” Infinite Wisdom declares the people not too few, but too many. How wonderful are His thoughts and ways!
And now He proceeds to direct Gideon as to the methods by which the number is to be lessened. He instructs him to proclaim in the ears of the people, “Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him depart early from Mount Gilead,” and this proclamation had the effect of sending away 22,000 men. Still, the Lord again declared that the remaining 10,000 were too many, and He directed Gideon to the use of another method whereby he would reduce the number. At the divine direction, Gideon brought the people down to the water to drink, and he was instructed first to set by themselves those who, in a standing posture, lifted the water with their hand, and lapped the water out of their hand, and secondly, to set by themselves those who bowed down upon their knees to drink. The result of this test was that three hundred lapped, and all the rest bowed down upon their knees to drink. The Lord then told Gideon that it was by the three hundred men that He would save Israel. The meaning of the difference put between the two classes would seem to be that the men who bowed down on their knees, while not lacking in courage, were too easy and self-indulgent: they put themselves in a posture in which they might be easily smitten by their enemies; but the men that stood and lapped were more alive to the responsibility and emergency of the occasion, and remained in an alert attitude of readiness for defence or attack; duty was first in their esteem, personal comfort, second.
At the Lord’s further direction, Gideon, with Phurah his servant, went down secretly to the camp of Midian at night to take a preliminary view of the situation, and there he overheard a Midianite telling to his fellow a dream concerning a barley-cake which tumbled into the host of Midian, and overturned their tents, and his fellow strangely answering that this was the sword of Gideon into whose hand he believed that God had delivered the Midianites. This extraordinary conversation was the means
of inspiring Gideon with great courage and hope, and he returned to his own men and divided them into three companies of 100 each. “He put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers.” Thus it came to pass that at “the beginning of the middle watch” of the night, Gideon and his three companies moved forward to the outside of the camp of Midian, and at Gideon’s signal and example, they blew the trumpets, broke the pitchers, held the lamps in their left hands, and cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” The astonishing consequence was that “all the host ran, and cried, and fled,” and while the three hundred continued to blow the trumpets, “the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow.” By these simple means, in the exercise of His own almighty power, the God of Israel introduced fear, confusion, and panic into the hosts of their enemies, so that they were completely routed. There fell on this remarkable occasion, not less than one hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. “Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon” (Judges viii. 28).
II.—Let us notice briefly some of the principal lessons that are to be learnt from this striking narrative.
First, there is the great lesson that pervades the Scriptures throughout, and that accords with the highest reason, that all “power belongeth unto God,” and that no success in temporal or spiritual conflict can be obtained without Him. He held the host of Midian as well as the children of Israel in the hollow of His hand, and it entirely lay with Him, whether the Israelites would gain the victory or not. Thus it is also at the present day. The armies of the Germans and the Austrians are in God’s hands as well as the armies of the Allies, and no success can come to either side without Him. He is the chief and all-pervasive factor in the situation, and it is the height of madness to forget this. The sooner the truth of it is laid to heart the better, by statesmen and soldiers. It is not enough to plead the righteousness of our cause. The cause, we are fully convinced, is a good one, but the Lord is teaching us that He has a controversy with us as a nation on account of other sins, personal and peculiar to ourselves, and He can, and does, give power to our enemies on this account to inflict heavy strokes upon us. At the same time, He does not fail to crush and waste them also in His holy displeasure. He is the righteous governor, as well as the mighty deliverer, among the nations. The call to us, therefore, is, “Give God the glory due to His name; forsake your evil ways; and look to Him as your all-sufficient helper and Saviour. Thus only may you expect to get a glorious victory.”
Secondly, the next lesson that falls to be noted is that God justly frowns upon trust in numbers of men and in human resources. He saw in Gideon’s time that if the children of
Israel gained the victory even with a force of very moderate size, they would take the glory to themselves and vaunt themselves against Him, and He was determined in their own highest interests to avert this moral calamity. He brought down their army to a handful of three hundred men, so that it would be impossible to attribute the victory, when it came, to their own strength. God is infinitely wise as well as mighty, and it is not to be overlooked that the three hundred were divinely selected men, marked by faith, courage, alertness, self-denial, and a high sense of duty to God and to their country. Still, their number was extremely small, in the presence of powerful foes who were like grasshoppers for multitude. Is not the lesson here greatly needed at the present time? What a cry there has been for vast numbers of recruits and how much dependence there seems to be placed in these numbers! God is almost entirely ignored. His holy day of Rest and Worship has been profaned with a view to add more and more men to our forces. Fighting against God while fighting for one’s country is surely the extremest folly. The Most High was against Israel for their tendency to trust in numbers; and He is undoubtedly against us for the same. May we be brought to see the wickedness of our self-confidence, and to trust in the Lord Jehovah alone in whom is everlasting strength!
Thirdly, we are taught by this impressive incident in Israel’s history that the Lord can make the simplest means successful for the accomplishment of the greatest ends, if there is unreserved confidence in Himself, and implicit obedience to His commands. The sound of the trumpets, the crash of the pitchers, and the flash of the lamps were sufficient, by God’s blessing, to strike terror and confusion into the hearts of the bold Midianites, fierce and cruel warriors as they were. What is the significance of this? Just that the minds and hearts of all men are in God’s hands. The mind is the principal part of the human being, and if the mind is overcome, the body falls. God showed that He could touch the minds of these wild Midianites with sudden fear, and in righteous judgment arouse the hidden passions and jealousies of their hearts, so that, in their blind panic, they fought and slew one another. Gideon’s men, to begin with, did not need to lift a sword or personally shed one drop of blood. The Midianites executed God’s judgments on themselves.
Now, we believe that such wonderful things might happen in our day, if we, as a people, were only wise to obey God’s voice and trust in His name. We cast no undue disparagement on the use of means, nor do we undervalue human skill and valour. Much skill and valour have we seen displayed since the present terrible War began, but how little, comparatively speaking, of divine interposition. How few have been the manifest signs of God’s favour on our arms! He can make one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. The reasons why He is not doing such exploits for us are not far to seek. May He turn us, and we shall be turned!