So the people took food in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of the men of Israel to their own tents, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley. That same night, Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down into the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp. You will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened to go down into the camp.” Then went he down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp.
The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude.
When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. He said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”
His fellow answered, “This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand, with all the army.”
It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. Then he returned into the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for Yahweh has delivered the army of Midian into your hand!”
He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all them trumpets and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers.
He said to them, “Watch me, and do likewise. Behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so you shall do. When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon!’ ”
So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch. Then they blew the trumpets and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets, broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they shouted, “The sword of Yahweh and of Gideon!” They each stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight. They blew the three hundred trumpets, and Yahweh set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth Shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22 Hebrew, in their hands.
Hebrew, in their hands.
Or, encouraged.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–22 Jdg 7:8 So the people took victuals in their…
Jdg 7:8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all [the rest of] Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.
Ver. 8. And their trumpets.] Trumpets of rams’ horns, saith Josephus after the Septuagint. {a}
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{a} τας κερατινας.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 And their trumpets, i.e. the trumpets belonging to the…
And their trumpets, i.e. the trumpets belonging to the whole army, even to those who were gone away, which he retained for the use here following. See Jdg 7:16.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv9, 16 Gideon's army being diminished as we have found it…
Gideon's army being diminished as we have found it was, he must either fight by faith or not at all; God therefore here provides recruits for his faith, instead of recruits for his forces.
I. He furnishes him with a good foundation to build his faith upon. Nothing but a word from God will be a footing for faith. He has this as full and express as he can desire, Jdg 7:9. 1. A word of command to warrant the action, which otherwise seemed rash and indiscreet, and unbecoming a wise general: Arise, get thee down with this handful of men unto the host. 2. A word of promise to assure him of the success, which otherwise seemed very improbable: I have delivered it into thy hand; it is all thy own. This word of the Lord came to him the same night, when he was (we may suppose) greatly agitated and full of care how he should come off; in the multitude of his thoughts within him these comforts did delight his soul. Divine consolations are given in to believers not only strongly but seasonably.
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II. He furnishes him with a good prop to support his faith with. 1. He orders him to be his own spy, and now in the dead of the night to go down privately into the host of Midian, and see what intelligence he could gain: "If thou fear to go down to fight, go first only with thy own servant (Jdg 7:10) and hear what they say" (Jdg 7:11); and it is intimated to him that he should hear that which would greatly strengthen his faith. God knows the infirmities of his people, and what great encouragement they may sometimes take from a small matter; and therefore, knowing beforehand what would occur to Gideon, in that very part of the camp to which he would go down, he orders him to go down and hearken to what they said, that he might the more firmly believe what God said. He must take with him Phurah his servant, one that he could confide in, probably one of the ten that had helped him to break down the altar of Baal. He must take him and no one else with him, must take him with him to be a witness of what he should hear the Midianites say, that out of the mouth of these two witnesses, when the matter came to be reported to Israel, the word might be established. He must take his servant with him, because two are better than one and a little help is better than none. 2. Being so, he orders him the sight of something that was discouraging. It was enough to frighten him to discern, perhaps by moon-light, the vast numbers of the enemy (Jdg 7:12), the men like grasshoppers for multitude, and they proved no better than grasshoppers for strength and courage; the camels one could not count, any more than the sand. But, 3. He causes him to hear that which was to him a very good omen; and when he had heard it he went back again immediately, supposing he now had what he was sent thither for. He overheard two soldiers of the enemy, that were comrades, talking; probably they were in bed together, waking in the night. (1.) One of them tells his dream, and as our dreams generally are, and therefore not worth telling again, it is a very foolish one. He dreamed that he saw a barley-cake come rolling down the hill into the camp of the Midianites, and "methought," says he (for so we speak in telling our dreams), "this rolling cake struck one of our tents" (perhaps one of the chief of their tents) "and with such violence that" (would you think it?) "it overturned the tent, forced down the stakes, and broke the cords at one blow, so that the tent lay along and buried its inhabitants," Jdg 7:13. In multitudes of dreams there are divers vanities, says Solomon, Ecc 5:7. One would wonder what odd incoherent things are often put together by a ludicrous fancy in our dreams. (2.) The other, it may be between sleeping and waking, undertakes to interpret this dream, and the interpretation is very far-fetched: This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, Jdg 7:14. Our expositors now can tell us how apt the resemblance was, that Gideon, who had threshed corn for his family, and made cakes for his friend (Jdg 6:11-19), was fitly represented by a cake, - that he and his army were as inconsiderable as a cake made of a little flour, as contemptible as a barley-cake, hastily got together as a cake suddenly baked upon the coals, and as unlikely to conquer this great army as a cake to overthrow a tent. But, after all, do not interpretations belong to God? He put it into the head of the one to dream and into the mouth of the other to give the sense of it; if Gideon had heard the dream only, and he and his servant had been left to interpret it themselves, it had so little significancy in it that it would have done him little service; but, having the interpretation from the mouth of an enemy, it not only appeared to come from God, who has all men's hearts and tongues in his hand, but it was likewise an evidence that the enemy was quite dispirited, and that the name of Gideon had become so formidable to them that it disturbed their sleep. The victory would easily be won which was already so tamely yielded: Into his hand hath God delivered Midian. Those were not likely to fight who saw God fighting against them.
Lastly, Gideon, observing the finger of God pointing him to this very place, at this very time, to hear this dream and the interpretation of it, was exceedingly encouraged by it against the melancholy apprehensions he had upon the reducing of his army. He was very well pleased to hear himself compared to a barley-cake, when it proved to effect such great things. Being hereby animated, we are told (Jdg 7:15), 1. How he gave God the glory of it; he worshipped immediately, bowed his head, or, it may be, lifted up his eyes and hands, and in a short ejaculation thanked God for the victory he was now sure of, and for this encouragement to expect it. Wherever we are, we may speak to God, and worship him, and find a way open heavenward. God must have the praise of that which is encouraging to our faith, and his providence must be acknowledged in those events which, though minute and seemingly accidental, prove serviceable to us. 2. How he gave his friends a share in the encouragements he had received: Arise, prepare to march presently; the Lord has delivered Midian into your hand.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–22 So the people took victuals in their hands and…
So the people took victuals in their hands and their trumpets,.... That is, the three hundred took victuals of those that departed, as much as was necessary for them, and also their trumpets, being directed thereunto by Gideon, no doubt; perhaps they took all the trumpets they had; however, as many as would furnish every man with one. And from hence it appears, that these three hundred that were ordered to stay and go with Gideon were unarmed men, at least could carry no arms in their hands; for in one hand they carried their victuals, and in the other hand their trumpets, so that the salvation wrought by them would most clearly appear to be of the Lord:
and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent; not to his tent in the army, but to his own house, in the tribe and city to which he belonged: and retained these three hundred men; that had lapped water, to engage with the Midianites and their associates:
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and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley; in the valley of Jezreel; for it seems as if Gideon, after he had brought down his men to the water to be tried, went up to the hill again with his three hundred men only, to wait the divine orders, when he should attack the army of Midian below him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 Their trumpets - That is the trumpets belonging to…
Their trumpets - That is the trumpets belonging to the whole army, which he retained for the use following.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22 Verse 8. So the people took victuals] The three…
Verse 8. So the people took victuals] The three hundred men that he reserved took the victuals necessary for the day's expenditure, while the others were dismissed to their tents and their houses as they thought proper.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21 Jdg 7:8. Their trumpets — That is, the trumpets…
Jdg 7:8. Their trumpets — That is, the trumpets belonging to the whole army, which he retained for the use following. Gideon seems to have been now inspired with the thought of the stratagem which he put in execution afterward, otherwise he would not have ordered every one of the three hundred to take a trumpet in his hand.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22 The sense is, “And they (the three hundred) took…
The sense is, “And they (the three hundred) took the victuals and trumpets of the people (all the people of Jdg 7:7) into their hands.” so that each of the three hundred should have a trumpet and a pitcher.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 Victuals. It appears that they did not take sufficient,…
Victuals. It appears that they did not take sufficient, (Calmet) not expecting that they would have to pursue the enemy so far, chap. viii. 5, 8.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On vv9, 12 Gideon is directed to advance against the enemy; but…
Gideon is directed to advance against the enemy; but to increase his confidence he is authorized to make a previous visit to the hostile encampment
Jdg_7:9-11
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9And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord [Jehovah] said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto [descend against] the host [camp]; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 10But if thou [yet] fear to go down, go thou [first] with Phurah thy servant down to the host [camp]: 11And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto [against] the host [camp]. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host [camp].
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
Jdg_7:9. Arise, descend! The three hundred who are with Gideon are enough. The hero may venture the assault with them. The hosts of Midian, despite their numbers, will not withstand their enthusiasm of faith. Not fortune, but God, will help the brave. There is no more time for delay. The harvest waits for the reaper; of that Gideon may convince himself. Let him hear what they say, and he will learn that they are more in dread than to be dreaded. The command addressed to Gideon in this verse, bids him make a general assault with all his men (which Bertheau has failed to perceive). It is only when the undertaking still appears too venturesome to him, that he is bidden first to convince himself of the spirit which rules in the camp of Midian. Again and again does the narrative inculcate the lesson that victory results only from full, undivided, unbroken, and enthusiastic confidence. Every shadow of hesitation is removed by God, before the hero advances to his great exploit.
Jdg_7:10. Go thou with Phurah thy servant. The case of Diomed, who according to Homer (Il. x. 220), ventures into the camp of the Trojans, is not altogether analogous.16 Diomed is to find out what the Trojans are doing, and design to do; Gideon is only to learn the spirit of his enemy, as they freely converse together. Diomed also desires a companion, “for two going together better observe what is profitable.” Gideon’s servant goes with him, not for this purpose, but that he also may hear what Gideon hears, and may testify to his fellow soldiers of what Gideon tells them, so that they may follow with the same assured courage with which he leads. The two commands are very clearly distinguished. Gideon with his troop were to advance “against” (בְּ, as in Jdg_5:13) the encampment; but Gideon and his servant are to go “unto” (אֶל) it.—The name Phurah (פֻּרָה), does not occur elsewhere. Pere (פֶּרֶא or פֶּרֶה) is a wild ass, onager, an animal much talked of and greatly dreaded among the Orientals. Here, however, the Masorites have pointed the same radicals פֻּרָה; according to which the name of the servant, as signifying “Branch” (פֻּארָה), was not unaptly chosen.—נַעַר means both boy and servant or attendant.
Jdg_7:11. As far as the line (limit.) of the vanguard to the camp, אֶל־קְצֵה הַחֲמֻשִׁים. The meaning of חַתֲמֻשִׁים is obscure, although the rendering of the LXX. at Jos_1:14 affords a hint toward a probable explanation. תֹמֶשׁ is the small of the back, above the hips (lumbus, lumbi quinque inferiores spinœ vertebrœ), about which the girdle, zona, was worn. The chamushim were not, however, simply those who were girdled and equipped, but as the LXX. indicate in the passage referred to, the εν̈ζωνοι, the well-girdled; which term the Greeks also used to designate the light-armed troops, who were everywhere in use as van and rear guards. Among many passages in Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and others, it will be sufficient to quote the following from the Cyropaedia (v. 3, 56), as illustrating this use of the Greek word: “Οτι πρὸ παντὸς τον͂ στρατεν́ματος πεζον̀ς ενζώνους ... προν̈πεμπεν. The same position as vanguard is, according to Jos_1:14, occupied in the Israelitish host by the two and a half trans-Jordanic tribes: “Ye shall march before your brethren as chamushim.” These tribes had left their families beyond the Jordan, and were therefore freer and lighter, expeditiores. To the same class of soldiery belonged the chamushim, to whom Gideon approached. They formed the outer rim of the encampment, and beyond them Gideon did not venture to proceed, if for no other reason, for want of time. What Bertheau says about 135,000 men who constituted this body,17 is like his whole explanation of the passage, a misapprehension.
Footnotes:
[16]In the inn “Zur Hohen Schul” in Ulm, there is still shown a portrait of Gustavus Adolphus, as during the war he appeared, disguised, in that city, as a spy, which is only a legend. In Like manner, it is told of Alfred the Great of England, that in order to inspect for himself the situation of the Danes, he entered their camp as a harper. Hume, Hist. of Eng. i. 63.
[17][Bertheau says, indeed, that the chamushim numbered 135,000 men, cf Jdg_8:10; but by the chamushim, he, like most scholars, understands not the vanguard of the hostile army, but the whole body of fighting men in the army. “The eastern tribes,” he says, “had invaded the land with their herds and tents, i. e. families, Jdg_6:5. Among such nomadic tribes, the warriors, called חֲמֻשִׁים, or חֲלוּצִים Jos_4:12-13, are distinguished from the body of the people. The former, in view of the impending battle, were not scattered among the mass of the people, but were collected together in the camp to the number of 135, 000.”—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 the host of Midian was beneath him in the…
the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley--Attention to the relative position of the parties is of the greatest importance to an understanding of what follows.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22 8. The people took victuals — Rather, They took…
8. The people took victuals — Rather, They took the victuals of the people, and their trumpets. That is, the three hundred chosen men took the provisions of the people, the provisions and trumpets with which the people supplied them, after which the rest of the ten thousand (namely, nine thousand seven hundred) went to their homes.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22 8. So the people took victuals in their hand]…
8. So the people took victuals in their hand] Not a strict transl. of the original, which must mean So they took the provisions of the people in their hand (LXX, marg.), though the text requires correction to yield this meaning. But is it likely that Gideon would burden his 300 men with the provisions of 10,000 (Jdg_7:3)? Moore, followed by Budde, Nowack, Lagrange, conjectures so he took the pitchers of the people from their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent, in preparation for Jdg_7:16 ff. This gives an excellent sense, and removes the harshness of the change of subjects (they took … he sent).
every man unto his tent] A conventional expression surviving from the days when the Israelites were nomads; cf. 1Sa_13:2, 1Ki_12:16, etc.
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and the camp of Midian] Continuation of Jdg_7:1.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–22 (8) So the people took victuals in their hand,…
(8) So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets.—The E.V. here differs from most of the ancient versions (e.g., the LXX., the Chaldee, the Vulgate, &c.), which render it, “And they (the 300) took the provisions and trumpets of the people (the 9,700) in their hands.” This is also the explanation of Rabbi Kimchi, Levi Ben Gerson, &c. Provisions would be scarce in the neighbourhood of so vast a host, and it would be the desire of all that the brave 300 should be well supplied. The reason for taking 300 rams’ horns would soon appear; and, indeed, but for this verse we might well wonder how each of the 300 came to have a horn of his own. Their “pitchers” were probably those in which the provisions had been carried.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22 So the people took, etc. It is almost certain…
So the people took, etc. It is almost certain that the passage ought to be rendered, "And they took the victuals of the people in their hands, and their trumpets," i.e. the three hundred took or borrowed what provisions they needed for a few days, and the trumpets, which were to play an important part in the stratagem, from the people who were about to return to their homes. And the host of Midian, etc. The writer repeats this to give a perfect picture of the situation. The whole army returned to their homes; the three hundred alone with Gideon in the camp; the Midianite host in the plain beneath.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv9, 15 A cake of barley bread tumbled into the host…
Jdg_7:9-14
A cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian.
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Encouragement for Gideon
Gideon felt that he was but the thin, weak, limp cake; that there was a ludicrous disproportion between the means at his command and the work he was to accomplish. But then, behind him was the unseen but mighty wind of Gods Spirit, that swept him on irresistibly and made him invincible. This was Gideons encouragement, and this must be the encouragement of each of us in all duty. That man must have low aims indeed who never finds himself confronted by duty that he feels to be impossible; who does not feel again and again that the conquest of sin in himself is impossible; who is not again and again perplexed by the difficult circumstances he is silently swept into; who does not feel helpless before the profound, rooted misery, the masses of distress and crime in the world. What can one do? We can do nothing of ourselves; God does not expect that we should. But there is nothing we may not do, if the almighty inspiration of God takes us and carries us forward as its instrument. But how, you will say, are we to secure that inspiration? how are we to get into the current of Gods Spirit, so as to be carried along by it? How, we may ask in reply, do sailors get to their destination? They cannot themselves drag their ship along--they are helpless in this respect; neither can they raise winds for themselves. They cannot supply their own motive power, and yet they can do all that is necessary. They know where and when certain winds blow, and getting into the current of these, they guide their vessel to its port. You also know the directions in which Gods Spirit blows; you know the objects towards which God is willing to help you; you know what God Himself aims at and wishes done; and though you cannot reach those objects by your own strength, yet if you set your face towards them, if you keep your soul in their direction, if you make them your real aim, Gods Spirit cannot miss you--you will be caught and carried along in His powerful inspiration. (Marcus Dods, D. D.)
The Midianite soldier: the power of the little
1. A great end reached by most insignificant instrumentality.
2. The influence it had upon the mind of Gideon.
I. An argument for special providence. The little and the great are not only inseparable parts of a whole, but what is called the little sometimes creates and sometimes destroys the great.
II. A lesson for our everyday life.
1. Despise not things of humble aspect. To do so is--
(1) Unmanly;
(2) unrighteous;
(3) unwise.
Give the acorn time, and it shall become a forest, and cover oceans with the fleets of nations; give the little rill, starting from the solitude of the hills, time, and it shall become a river bearing on its bosom the wealth of kingdoms.
2. Cultivate an appreciation of the little. The observation of little events has done wonders before now. The fall of an apple unfolded the true theory of the material universe. The rushing of a little steam from a kettle led to the introduction of that steam power which has already almost changed the face of the world. A feather shows how the wind blows, and an insignificant event may indicate the direction of an eternal law. Mark little tendencies of character; small wishes and preferences may often throw a flood of light upon your spiritual history. Respect little virtues. Shun little sins.
3. Recognise Gods presence in the minute as well as the vast. (Homilist.)
The dream of the barley cake
I. The striking providence which must have greatly refreshed Gideon. It may appear to be a little thing; but an occurrence is none the less wonderful because it appears to be insignificant. God is as Divine in the small as in the stupendous, as glorious in the dream of a soldier as in the flight of a seraph.
1. Now observe, first, the providence of God that this man should have dreamed just then, and that he should have dreamed that particular dream. Dreamland is chaos, but the hand of the God of order is here. God is not asleep when we are asleep; God is not dreaming when we are.
2. Further, I cannot but admire that this man should be moved to tell his dream to his fellow. It is not everybody that tells his dream at night; he usually waits till the morning. God ruleth mens idle tongues as well as their dreaming brains, and He can make a talkative soldier in the camp say just as much and just as little as will subserve the purposes of wisdom.
3. It is remarkable that the man should tell his dream just when Gideon and Phurah had come near. God has so arranged the whole history of men, and angels, and the regions of the dead, that each event occurs at the right moment so as to effect another event, and that other event brings forth a third, and all things work together for good. O child of God, when you are troubled it is because you fancy that you are alone; but you are not alone; the Eternal Worker is with you. Oh, for a little heavenly eyesalve to touch our eyes that we may perceive the presence of the Lord in all things. The stars in their courses are fighting for the cause of God. Our allies are everywhere. God will summon them at the right moment.
II. The comfortable trifle which Gideon had thus met with. It was a dream, and therefore a trifle, and yet he took comfort from it. We are all the creatures of sentiment as well as of reason, and hence we are often strongly affected by little things. Gideon is cheered by a dream of a barley cake. When Robert Bruce had been frequently beaten in battle, he despaired of winning the crown of Scotland; but when he lay hidden in the loft among the hay and straw, he saw a spider trying to complete her web after he had broken the thread many times. As he saw the insect begin again, and yet again, until she had completed her net for the taking of her prey, he said to himself, If this spider perseveres and conquers, so will I persevere and succeed. There might not be any real connection between a spider and an aspirant to a throne, but the brave heart made a connection, and thereby the man was cheered. If you and I will but look about us, although the adversaries of God are as many as grasshoppers, yet we shall find consolation. I hear the birds sing, Be of good cheer, and the leafless trees bid us trust in God and live on, though all visible signs of life be withered. But what a pity it is that we should need such little bits of things to cheer us up, when we have matters of far surer import to make us glad! Gideon had already received, by Gods own angel, the word, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. Was not this enough for him?
III. The cheering discovery. Gideon had noticed a striking providence, he had received a comfortable trifle, but he also made a very cheering discovery; which discovery was, that the enemy dreamed of disaster. You and I sometimes think about the hosts of evil, and we fear we shall never overcome them, because they are so strong and so secure. Hearken: we over-estimate them. The powers of darkness are not so strong as they seem to be. The subtlest infidels and heretics are only men. What is more, they are bad men; and bad men at bottom are weak men. It is natural to men to fear, and doubly natural to bad men.
IV. The dream itself and its interpretation. The Midianite in his dream saw a barley cake. Barley cakes were not much valued as food in those days, any more than now. People ate barley when they could not get wheat, but they would need to be driven to such food by poverty or famine. Barley-meal was rather food for dogs or cattle than for men; and therefore the barley cake would be the emblem of a thing despised. A barley cake was generally made upon the hearth. A hole was made in the ground, and paved with stones; in this a fire was made, and when the stones were hot a thin layer of barley-meal was laid upon them, covered over with the ashes, and thus quickly and roughly baked. The cake itself was a mere biscuit. It may have been a long piece of thin crust, and it was seen in the dream moving onward and waving in the air something like a sword. It came rolling and waving down the hill till it came crash against the pavilion of the prince of Midian, and turned the tent completely over, so that it lay in ruins.
1. Now, what we have to learn from it is just this, God can work by any means. He can never be short of instruments. Gideon, who threshes corn to-day, will thresh the Lords enemies to-morrow. Preachers of the Word are being trained everywhere.
2. God can work by the feeblest means. He can use a cake which a child can crumble to smite Midian, and subdue its terrible power. I have heard that a tallow candle fired from a rifle will go through a door: the penetrating power is not in the candle, but in the force impelling it. So in this case it was not the barley biscuit, but the almighty impulse which urged it forward, and made it upset the pavilion. We are nothing; but God with us is everything. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.
3. Note, next, God uses unexpected means. If I wanted to upset a tent I certainly should not try to overturn it by a barley cake. If I had to cannonade an encampment I should not bombard it with biscuits. Yet how wonderfully God hath wrought by the very persons whom we should have passed over without a thought! O Paganism, thy gigantic force and energy, with Caesar at their head, shall be vanquished by fishermen from the sea of Galilee! God willed it so, and so it was done.
4. But the dream hath more in it than this. God useth despised means. This man Gideon is likened unto a cake, and then only to a barley cake; but the Lord styles him a mighty man of valour. God loves to take men whom others despise, and use them for His glorious ends.
5. But, then, God ever uses effectual means. Even if He works by barley-cakes, He makes a clean overthrow of His enemy. A cannon-ball could not have done its work better than did this barley cake. Wherefore, be not afraid, ye servants of God, but commit yourselves into the hands of Him who, out of weakness, can bring forth strength. Do you not think that this smiting of the tent of Midian by the barley cake, and afterwards the actual overthrow of the Midianite hordes by the breaking of the pitchers, the blazing of the torches, and the blowing of the trumpets, all tends to comfort us as to those powers of evil which now cover the world? When we are thinned out, and made to see how few we are, we shall be hurled upon the foe with a power not our own. Were things worse than they are, we should still cry, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon! and stand each man in his place till the Lord appeared in strength. Another lesson would I draw from the text as to our inward conflicts. You are feeling in your heart the great power of sin. The Midianites are encamped in your soil; in the little valley of Esdrelon which lies within your bosom there are countless evils, and these, like the locusts, eat up every growing thing, and cause comfort, strength, and joy to cease from your experience. You sigh because of these invaders. I counsel you to try what faith can do. This seems a very poor means of getting the victory, as poor as the barley cake baked on the coals; but God has chosen it, and He will bless it, and it will overthrow the throne of Satan within your heart, and work in you holiness and peace. Once again, still in the same vein, let us try continually the power of prayer for the success of the gospel, and the winning of mens souls. Prayer will do anything--will do everything. It fills the valleys and levels the mountains. By its power men are raised from the door of hell to the gate of heaven. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The soldiers dream
There is a little incident in connection with Christs resurrection which merits careful notice. We allude to the following words: Then went in that other disciple. Unconsciously men influence each other mightily for good or evil, The incident before us illustrates this. A soldier wakes and tells his fellow of a curious dream which he has had; the latter volunteers an interpretation of it. How little they thought that the commander-in-chief of the enemy was eagerly listening outside! Still less did they imagine that their conversation was the means of nerving him to new courage. More than that: the brief talk of these heathen soldiers was a link in the chain of events by which the destiny, not only of Israel, but of mankind, was effected. Truly, no man liveth unto himself.
I. God condescends to human infirmities. Gideon had a direct, distinct assurance that in the coming battle he should be triumphant. I have delivered it into thine hand. What more could he want? But see how graciously the Most High came down to the tent of His servant. If a sign or token will do what a promise cannot, then, although it ought not to be necessary, it shall be granted. In His dealings with us God knoweth our frame. Brightly does this fact shine out in the life of the Incarnate One. After His resurrection Thomas was sceptical. He must see and feel or he will not believe. In this he was quite wrong. All the world over, testimony is accepted as a sufficient ground for faith. The evidence sought was granted.
II. God adapts His revelations to our special needs. Think of Gideons position. It is the night before the battle: the forces of the foe are like grasshoppers for multitude, the Hebrew army is stringently limited to three hundred men. Under such circumstances, the temptation of the Jewish generalissimo would be to think that an attack by such an unequal, fearfully disproportionate host would result in defeat. What, then, does he require? A conviction to the following effect: that in the impending conflict numbers will count for nothing. And that is exactly what, in singular and indeed grotesque style, the dream teaches him. The barley-cake flung against the tent upsets it, stakes, pole, canvas, and all. Well may we pause to admire this exquisite adaptation of Divine revelation to human requirements. The ascended Redeemer has gifts for men, not one gift but many, and none shall seek a suitable gift in vain. In a certain Austrian city there is a bridge in the parapets of which stand twelve statues of the Saviour. He is represented in various relationships--Prophet, King, Priest, Pilot, Physician, Shepherd, Sower, Carpenter, and so forth. The country people coming into the city in the early morning with produce from the market, pause before the Sower, or Shepherd Christ, and offer their worship to Him. Two hours later, the artisan, coming to his workshop, bends before the Carpenter. Later still, the sailor prays to the heavenly Pilot. And in the warm sunlight of the forenoon, the invalids, creeping out to enjoy the fresh air, rest and adore under the image of the Great Physician. Christ has a manifestation of Himself to fit all human needs. Indeed, what is true of Him holds good also of the whole Bible: it is adapted to all: whatever our peculiar circumstances, we may find in it something to meet them.
III. God teaches us to get help from the enemy. Who were the instruments of Gideons encouragement? Not allies but adversaries: the reassuring voices came not from an Israelitish home but from a Midianite tent. Unwittingly, the heathen arrayed against him proved his timely stimulus. Here is another valuable lesson for us: make your very foes your aid. Satan is an enemy. Learn from him and his artifices where much of your moral strength is to be found, namely, in the Bible. The devil can quote Scripture for his purpose. A careful, painstaking, sympathetic knowledge of Scripture is the grand panacea for heresy and the true palladium of our faith. Temptation is a foe, otherwise we should never have been taught to pray, Lead us not into temptation. Albeit, it is often one of our best friends. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation. Vanquish it and you are mightier than you were before. The ancient Scandinavians believed that the power and the prowess of each foe they felled to the dust entered into them, and, unquestionably, new courage and fresh zeal are the portion of him who overcomes sin. Again: St. Paul speaks of those as enemies of the Cross of Christ who mind earthly things. The worldly are foes of the gospel; whether they mean it or not, they retard its glorious progress. Yes: but what a lesson those enemies of the Cross read us who are believers in it! Their intelligence and earnestness about business, education, pleasure, may well put to shame the slow advances that we make, with heaven itself in view. (T. R. Stevenson.)
The insecurity of the godless
In every combination of godless men there is a like feeling of insecurity, a like presage of disaster. Those who are in revolt against justice, truth, and the religion of God have nothing on which to rest, no enduring bond of union. What do they conceive as the issue of their attempts and schemes? Have they anything in view that can give heart and courage, an end worth toil and hazard? It is impossible, for their efforts are all in the region of the false where the seeming realities are but shadows that perpetually change. Let it be allowed that to a certain extent common interests draw together men of no principle so that they can co-operate for a time. Yet each individual is secretly bent on his own pleasure or profit, and there is nothing that can unite them constantly. One selfish and unjust person may be depended upon to conceive a lively antipathy to every other selfish and unjust person. Midian and Amalek have their differences with one another, and each has its own rival chiefs, rival families, full of the bitterest jealousy which at any moment may burst into flame. The whole combination is weak from the beginning, a mere horde of clashing desires incapable of harmony, incapable of a sustaining hope . . . Look at those ignorant and unhappy persons who combine against the laws of society. Their suspicions of each other are proverbial, and even with them is the feeling that sooner or later they will be overtaken by the law. They dream of that and tell each other their dreams. The game of crime is played against well-known odds. Those who carry it on are aware that their haunts will be discovered, their gang broken up. A bribe will tempt one of their number and the rest will have to go their way to the cell or the gallows. Yet with the presage of defeat wrought into the very constitution of the mind, and with innumerable proofs that it is no delusion, there are always those amongst us who attempt what even in this world is so hazardous, and in the larger sweep of moral economy is impossible. In selfishness, in oppression and injustice, in every kind of sensuality men adventure as if they could ensure their safety and defy the day of reckoning. (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v8 Jdg_7:8-25 - Jdg_8:1-21
"MIDIANS EVIL DAY"
Jdg_7:8-25 - Jdg_8:1-21
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THERE is now with Gideon a select band of three hundred, ready for a night attack on the Midianites. The leader has been guided to a singular and striking plan of action. It is, however, as he well knows, a daring thing to begin assault upon the immense camp of Midian with so small a band, even though reserves of nearly ten thousand wait to join in the struggle; and we can easily see that the temper and spirit of the enemy were important considerations on the eve of so hazardous a battle. If the Midianites, Amalekites, and Children of the East formed a united army, if they were prepared to resist, if they had posted sentinels on every side and were bold in prospect of the fight, it was necessary for Gideon to be well aware of the facts. On the other hand if there were symptoms of division in the tents of the enemy, if there were no adequate preparations, and especially if the spirit of doubt or fear had begun to show itself, these would be indications that Jehovah was preparing victory for the Hebrews.
Gideon is led to inquire for himself into the condition of the Midianitish host. To learn that already his name kindles terror in the ranks of the enemy will dispel his lingering anxiety. "Jehovah said unto him Go thou with Purah thy servant down to the camp; and thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened." The principle is that for those who are on Gods side it is always best to know fully the nature of the opposition. The temper of the enemies of religion, those irregular troops of infidelity and unrighteousness with whom we have to contend, is an element of great importance in shaping the course of our Christian warfare. We hear of organised vice, of combinations great and resolute against which we have to do battle. Language is used which implies that the condition of the churches of Christ contrasts pitiably with the activity and agreement of those who follow the black banners of evil. A vague terror possesses many that in the conflict with vice they must face immense resources and a powerful confederacy. The far-stretching encampment of the Midianites is to all appearance organised for defence at every point, and while the servants of God are resolved to attack they are oppressed by the vastness of the enterprise. Impiety, sensuality, injustice may seem to be in close alliance with each other, on the best understanding, fortified by superhuman craft and malice, with their gods in their midst to help them.
But let us go down to the host and listen, the state of things may be other than we have thought.
Under cover of the night which made Midian seem more awful the Hebrew chief and his servant left the outpost on the slope of Gilboa and crept from shadow to shadow across the space which separated them from the enemy, vaguely seeking what quickly came. Lying in breathless silence behind some bush or wall the Hebrews heard one relating a dream to his fellow. "I dreamed," he said, "and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came unto a tent and smote it that it fell, and overturned it that it lay along." The thoughts of the day are reproduced in the visions of the night. Evidently this man has had his mind directed to the likelihood of attack, the possibility of defeat. It is well known that the Hebrews are gathering to try the issue of battle. They are indeed like a barley cake such as poor Arabs bake among ashes-a defeated famished people whose life has been almost drained away. But tidings have come of their return to Jehovah and traditions of His marvellous power are current among the desert tribes. A confused sense of all this has shaped the dream in which the tent of the chief appears prostrate and despoiled. Gideon and Purah listen intently, and what they hear further is even more unexpected and reassuring. The dream is interpreted: "This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; for into his hand God hath delivered Midian and all the host." He who reads the dream knows more than the other. He has the name of the Hebrew captain. He has heard of the Divine messenger who called Gideon to his task and assured him of victory. As for the apparent strength of the host of Midian, he has no confidence in it, for he has felt the tremor that passes through the great camp. So, lying concealed, Gideon hears from his enemies themselves as from God the promise of victory, and full of worshipping joy hastens back to prepare for an immediate attack.
Now in every combination of godless men there is a like feeling of insecurity, a like presage of disaster. Those who are in revolt against justice, truth, and the religion of God have nothing on which to rest, no enduring bond of union. What do they conceive as the issue of their attempts and schemes? Have they anything in view that can give heart and courage; an end worth toil and hazard? It is impossible, for their efforts are all in the region of the false, where the seeming realities are but shadows that perpetually change. Let it be allowed that to a certain extent common interests draw together men of no principle so that they can cooperate for a time. Yet each individual is secretly bent on his own pleasure or profit and there is nothing that can unite them constantly. One selfish and unjust person may be depended upon to conceive a lively antipathy to every other selfish and unjust person. Midian and Amalek have their differences with one another, and each has its own rival chiefs, rival families, full of the bitterest jealousy, which at any moment may burst into flame. The whole combination is weak from the beginning, a mere horde of clashing desires incapable of harmony, incapable of a sustaining hope.
In the course of our Lords brief ministry the insecurity of those who opposed Him was often shown. The chief priests and scribes and lawyers whispered to each other the fears and anxieties He aroused. In the Sanhedrin the discussion about Him comes to the point, "What do we? For this man doeth many signs. If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans will come and take away both our peace and our nation." The Pharisees say among themselves, "Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold the world is gone after Him." And what was the reason, what was the cause of this weakness? Intense devotion to the law and the institutions of religion animated those Israelites, yet sufficed not to bind them together. Rival schools and claims honeycombed the whole social and ecclesiastical fabric. The pride of religious ancestry and a keenly cherished ambition could not maintain peace or hope; they were of no use against the calm authority of the Nazarene. Judaism was full of the bitterness of falsehood. The seeds of despair were in the minds of those who accused Christ, and the terrible harvest was reaped within a generation. Passing from this supreme evidence that the wrong can never be the strong, look at those ignorant and unhappy persons who combine against the laws of society. Their suspicions of each other are proverbial, and ever with them is the feeling that sooner or later they will be overtaken by the law. They dream of that and tell each other their dreams. The game of crime is played against well known odds. Those who carry it on are aware that their haunts will be discovered, their gang broken up. A bribe will tempt one of their number, and the rest will have to go their way to the cell or the gallows. Yet with the presage of defeat wrought into the very constitution of the mind and with innumerable proofs that it is no delusion, there are always those amongst us who attempt what even in this world is so hazardous and in the larger sweep of moral economy is impossible. In selfishness, in oppression and injustice, in every kind of sensuality men adventure as if they could ensure their safety and defy the day of reckoning. Gideon is now well persuaded that the fear of disaster is not for Israel. He returns to the camp and forthwith prepares to strike. It seems to him now the easiest thing possible to throw into confusion that great encampment of Midian.
One bold device rapidly executed will set in operation the suspicions and fears of the different desert tribes and they will melt away in defeat. The stratagem has already shaped itself. The three hundred are provided with the earthenware jars or pitchers in which their simple food has been carried. They soon procure firebrands and from among the ten thousand in the camp enough rams horns are collected to supply one to each of the attacking party. Then three bands are formed of equal strength and ordered to advance from different sides upon the enemy, holding themselves ready at a given signal to break the pitchers, flash the torches in the air and make as much noise as they can with their rude mountain horns. The scheme is simple, quaint, ingenious. It reveals skill in making use of the most ordinary materials which is of the very essence of generalship. The harsh cornets especially filling the valley with barbaric tumult are well adapted to create terror and confusion. We hear nothing of ordinary weapons, but it must not be supposed that the three hundred were unarmed.
It was not long after midnight, the middle watch had been newly set, when the three companies reached their stations. The orders had been well seized and all went precisely as Gideon had conceived. With crash and tumult and flare of torches there came the battle shout-"Sword of Jehovah and of Gideon." The Israelites had no need to press forward; they stood every man in his place, while fear and suspicion did the work. The host ran and cried and fled. To and fro among the tents, seeing, now on this side now on that, the menacing flames, turning from the battlecry here to be met in an opposite quarter by the wild dissonance of the horns, the surprised army was thrown into utter confusion. Every one thought of treachery and turned his sword against his fellow. Escape was the common impulse, and the flight of the disorganised host took a southeasterly direction by the road that led to the Jordan valley and across it to the Hauran and the desert. It was a complete rout and the Hebrews had only to follow up their advantage. Those who had not shared the attack joined in the pursuit. Every village that the flying Midianites passed sent out its men, brave enough now that the arm of the tyrant was broken. Down to the ghor of Jordan the terror-stricken Arabs fled and along the bank for many a mile, harassed in the difficult ground by the Hebrews who know every yard of it. At the fords there is dreadful work. Those who cross at the highest point near Succoth are not the main body, but the two chiefs Zebah and Zalmunna are among them and Gideon takes them in hand. Away to the south Ephraim has its opportunity and gains a victory where the road. along the valley of Jordan diverges to Beth-barah. For days and nights the retreat goes oft till the strange swift triumph of Israel is assured.
1. There is in this narrative a lesson as to equipment for the battle of life and the service: of God somewhat like that which we found in the story of Shamgar, yet with points of difference. We are reminded here of what may be done without wealth, without the material apparatus that is often counted necessary. The modern habit is to make much of tools and outfit. The study and applications of science have brought in a fashion of demanding everything possible in the way of furniture, means, implements. Everywhere this fashion prevails, in the struggle of commerce and manufacture, in literature and art, in teaching and household economy, worst of all in church life and work. Michaelangelo wrought the frescoes of the Sistine chapel with the ochres he dug with his own hands from the garden of the Vatican. Mr. Darwins great experiments were conducted with the rudest and cheapest furniture, anything a country house could supply. But in the common view it is on perfect tools and material almost everything depends; and we seem in the way of being absolutely mastered by them. What, for example, is the ecclesiasticism which covers an increasing area of religious life? And what is the parish or congregation fully organised in the modern sense? Must we not call them elaborate machinery expected to produce spiritual life? There must be an extensive building with every convenience for making worship agreeable; there must be guilds and guild rooms, societies and committees, each with an array of officials; there must be due assignment of observances to fit days and seasons; there must be architecture, music, and much else. The ardent soul desiring to serve God and man has to find a place in conjunction with all this and order his work so that it may appear well in a report. To some these things may appear ludicrous, but they are too significant of the drift from that simplicity and personal energy in which the Church of Christ began. We seem to have forgotten that the great strokes have been made by men who like Gideon delayed not for elaborate preparation nor went back on rule and precedent, but took the firebrands, pitchers, and horns that could be got together on a hillside. The great thing both in the secular and in the spiritual region is that men should go straight at the work which has to be done and do it with sagacity, intelligence, and fervour of their own.
We look back to those few plain men with whom lay the new life of the world, going forth with the strong certain word of a belief for which they could die, a truth by which the dead could be revived. Their equipment was of the soul. Of outward means and material advantages they were, one may say, destitute. Our methods are very different. No doubt in these days there is a work of defence which requires the finest weapons and most careful preparation. Yet even here no weight of polished armour is so good for Davids use as the familiar sling and stone. And in the general task of the church, teaching, guiding, setting forth the gospel of Christ, whatever keeps soul from honest and hearty touch with soul is bad. We want above all things men who have sanctified common sense, mother wit, courage and frank simplicity, men who can find their own means and gain their own victories. The churches that do not breed such are doomed.
2. We have been reading a story of panic and defeat, and we may be advised to find in it a hint of the fate that is to overtake Christianity when modern criticism has finally ordered its companies and provided them with terrifying horns and torches. Or certain Christians may feel that the illustration fits the state of alarm in which they are obliged to live. Is not the church like that encampment in the valley, exposed to the most terrible and startling attacks on all sides, and in peril constantly of being routed by unforeseen audacities, here of Ingersoll, Bakunin, Bebel, there of Huxley or Renan? Not seldom still, though after many a false alarm, the cry is raised, "The church, the faith-in danger!"
Once for all-the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is never in danger, though enemies buzz on every side like furious hornets. A confederation of men, a human organisation may be in deadly peril and may know that the harsh tumult around it means annihilation. But no institution is identical with the Catholic Church, much less with the kingdom of God. Christians need not dread the honest criticism which has a right to speak, nor even the malice, envy, which have no right yet dare to utter themselves. Whether it be sheer atheism or scientific dogma or political change or criticism of the Bible that makes the religious world tremble and cry out for fear, in every case panic is unchristian and unworthy. For one thing, do we not frame numerous thoughts and opinions of our own and devise many forms of service which in the course of time we come to regard as having a sacredness equal to the doctrine and ordinances of Christ? And do we not frequently fall into the error of thinking that the symbols, traditions, outward forms of a Christian society are essential and as much to be contended for as the substance of the gospel? Criticism of these is dreaded as criticism of Christ, decay of them is regarded, often quite wrongly, as decay of the work of God on earth. We forget that forms, as such, are on perpetual trial, and we forget also that no revolution or seeming disaster can touch the facts on which Christianity rests. The Divine gospel is eternal. Indeed, assailants of the right sort are needed, and even those of the bad sort have their use. The encampment of the unseeing and unthinking, of the self-loving and arrogant needs to be startled; and he is no emissary of Satan who honestly leads an attack where men lie in false peace, though he may be for his own part but a rude fighter. The panic indeed sometimes takes a singular and pathetic form. The unexpected enemy breaks in on the camp with blare of ignorant rebuke and noisy demonstration of strength and authority. Him the church hails as a new apostle, at his feet she takes her place with a strange unprofitable humility; and this is the worst kind of disaster. Better far a serious battle than such submission.
3. Without pursuing this suggestion we pass to another raised by the conduct of the men of Ephraim. They obeyed the call of Gideon when he hastily summoned them to take the lower fords of Jordan within their own territory and prevent the escape of the Midianites. To them it fell to gain a great victory, and especially to slay two subordinate chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb, the Crow and the Wolf. But afterwards they complained that they had not been called at first when the commander was gathering his army. We are informed that they chode with him sharply on this score, and it was only by his soft answer which implied a little flattery that they were appeased. "What have I now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaming of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?"
The men of Ephraim were not called at first along with Manasseh, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali. True. But why? Was not Gideon aware of their selfish indifference? Did he not read their character? Did he not perceive that they would have sullenly refused to be led by a man of Manasseh, the youngest son of Joash of Abiezer? Only too well did the young chief know with whom he had to deal. There had been fighting already between Israel and the Midianites. Did Ephraim help then? Nay: but secure in her mountains that tribe sullenly and selfishly held aloof. And now the complaint is made when Gideon, once unknown, is a victorious hero, the deliverer of the Hebrew nation.
Do we not often see something like this? There are people who will not hazard position or profit in identifying themselves with an enterprise while the issue is doubtful, but desire to have the credit of connection with it if it should succeed. They have not the humanity to associate themselves with those who are fighting in a good cause because it is good. In fact they do not know what is good, their only test of value being success. They lie by, looking with half-concealed scorn on the attempts of the earnest, sneering at their heat either in secret or openly, and when one day it becomes clear that the world is applauding they conceive a sudden respect for those at whom they scoffed. Now they will do what they can to help, -with pleasure, with liberality. Why were they not sooner invited? They will almost make a quarrel of that, and they have to be soothed with fair speeches. And people who are worldly at heart push forward in this fashion when Christian affairs have success or eclat attached to them, especially where religion wears least of its proper air and has somewhat of the earthly in tone and look. Christ pursued by the Sanhedrin, despised by the Roman, is no person for them to know. Let Him have the patronage of Constantine or a de Medici and they are then assured that He has claims which they will admit-in theory. More than that needs not be expected from men and women "of the world." "Messieurs, surtout, pas de zele." Above all, no zeal: that is the motto of every Ephraim since time began. Wait till zeal is cooling before you join the righteous cause.
4. But while there are the carnal who like to share the success of religion after it has cooled down to their temperature, another class must not be forgotten, those who in their selfishness show the worst kind of hostility to the cause they should aid. Look at the men of Succoth and Penuel. Gideon and his band leading the pursuit of the Midianites have had no food all night and are faint with hunger. At Succoth they ask bread in vain. Instead of help they get the taunt-"Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand that we should give bread unto thine army?" Onward they press another stage up the hills to Penuel, and there also their request is refused. Gideon, savage with the need of his men, threatens dire punishment to those who are so callous and cruel; and when he returns victorious his threat is made good. With thorns and briars of the wilderness he scourges the elders of Succoth. The pride of Penuel is its watchtower, and that he demolishes, at the same time decimating the men of the city.
Penuel and Succoth lay in the way between the wilderness in which the Midianites dwelt and the valleys of western Palestine. The men of these cities feared that if they aided Gideon they would bring on themselves the vengeance of the desert tribes. Yet where do we see the lowest point of unfaith and meanness, in Ephraim or Succoth? It is perhaps hard to say which are the least manly: those contrive to join the conquering host and snatch the credit of victory; these are not so clever, and while they are as eager to make things smooth for themselves the thorns and briars are more visibly their portion. To share the honour of a cause for which you have done very little is an easy thing in this world, though an honest man cannot wear that kind of laurel; but as for Succoth and Penuel, the poor creatures, who will not pity them? It is so inconvenient often to have to decide. They would temporise if it were possible-supply the famished army with mouldy corn and raisins at a high price, and do as much next time for the Midianites. Yet the opportunity for this kind of salvation does not always come. There are times when people have to choose definitely whom they will serve, and discover to their horror that judgment follows swiftly upon base and cowardly choice. And God is faithful in making the recusants feel the urgency of moral choice and the grip He has of them. They would fain let the battle of truth sweep by and not meddle with it. But something is forced upon them. They cannot let the whole affair of salvation alone, but are driven to refuse heaven in the very act of trying to escape hell. And although judgment lingers, ever and anon demonstration is made among the ranks of the would be prudent that One on high judges for His warriors. It is not the Gideon leading the little band of faint but eager champions of faith who punishes the callous heathenism and low scorn of a Succoth and Penuel. The Lord of Hosts Himself will vindicate and chasten. "Whoso shall cause one of these little ones that believe in Me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea."
5. Yet another word of instruction is found in the appeal of Gideon: "Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me, for they be faint and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna." Well has the expression "Faint yet pursuing" found its place as a proverb of the religious life. We are called to run with patience a race that needs long ardour and strenuous exertion. The goal is far away, the ground is difficult. As day after day and year after year demands are made upon our faith, our resolution, our thought, our devotion to One who remains unseen and on our confidence in the future life, it is no wonder that many feel faint and weary. Often have we to pass through a region inhabited by those who are indifferent or hostile, careless or derisive. At many a door we knock and find no sympathy. We ask for bread and receive a stone; and still the fight slackens not, still have we to reach forth to the things that are before. But the faintness is not death. In the most terrible hours there is new life for our spiritual nature. Refreshment comes from an unseen hand when earth refuses help. We turn to Christ; we consider Him who endured great contradiction of sinners against Himself; we realise afresh that we are ensured of the fulness of His redemption. The body grows faint, but the soul presses on; the body dies and has to be left behind as a worn-out garment, but the spirit ascends into immortal youth.
"On, chariot! on, soul!
Ye are all the more fleet.
Be alone at the goal
Of the strange and the sweet!"
6. Finally let us glance at the fate of Zebah and Zalmunna, not without a feeling of admiration and of pity for the rude ending of these stately lives.
The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon has slain its thousands. The vast desert army has been scattered like chaff, in the flight, at the fords, by the rock Oreb and the wine press Zeeb, all along the way by Nobah and Jogbehah, and finally at Karkor, where having encamped in fancied security the residue is smitten. Now the two defeated chiefs are in the hand of Gideon, their military renown completely wrecked, their career destroyed. To them the expedition into Canaan was part of the common business of leadership. As emirs of nomadic tribes they had to find pasture and prey for their people. No special antagonism to Jehovah, no ill-will against Israel more than other nations, led them to cross the Jordan and scour the plains of Palestine. It was quite in the natural course of things that Midianites and Amalekites should migrate and move towards the west. And now the defeat is crushing. What remains therefore but to die?
We hear Gideon command his son Jether to fall upon the captive chiefs, who, brilliant and stately once, lie disarmed, bound and helpless. The indignity is not to our mind. We would have thought more of Gideon had he offered freedom to these captives "fallen on evil days," men to be admired, not hated. But probably they do not desire a life which has in it no more of honour. Only let the Hebrew leader not insult them by the stroke of a young mans sword. The great chiefs would die by a warriors blow. And Jether cannot slay them; his hand falters as he draws the sword. These men who have ruled their tens of thousands have still the lion look that quails. "Rise thou and fall upon us," they say to Gideon: "for as the man is, so is his strength." And so they die, types of the greatest earthly powers that resist the march of Divine Providence, overthrown by a sword which even in faulty, weak human hands has indefeasible sureness and edge.
"As the man is, so is his strength." It is another of the pregnant sayings which meet us here and there even in the least meditative parts of Scripture. Yes: as a man is in character, in faith, in harmony with the will of God, so is his strength; as he is in falseness, injustice, egotism, and ignorance, so is his weakness. And there is but one real perennial kind of strength. The demonstration made by selfish and godless persons, though it shake continents and devastate nations, is not Force. It has no nerve, no continuance, but is mere fury which decays and perishes. Strength is the property of truth and truth only; it belongs to those who are in union with eternal reality and to no others in the universe. Would you be invincible? You must move with the eternal powers of righteousness and love. To be showy in appearance or terrible in sound on the wrong side with the futilities of the world is but incipient death.
On all sides the application may be seen. In the home and its varied incidents of education, sickness, discipline; in society high and low; in politics, in literature. As the man or woman is in simple allegiance to God and clear resolution there is strength to endure, to govern, to think, and every way to live. Otherwise there can only be instability, foolishness, blundering selfishness, a sad passage to inanition and decay.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v15 MAIN HOMILETICS.—Jdg_7:15-25
MAIN HOMILETICS.—Jdg_7:15-25
I. The Hand of the Lord visible in this deliverance.
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It is quite manifest that the overruling Providence of God was at work in all this to bring out the result. This is seen—
I. In the general effect produced. Victory was gained in a few minutes, and without striking a blow—Israel did not need to lift sword or spear. There was no battle—only a rout, disastrous and complete. Not a single man was lost of Gideon’s men—not a wound or scar was given. They did not need to fight, but to stand still and see the salvation of God. In place of swords we see trumpets, pitchers, and torches; and yet through the whole camp of Midian, such was the state of terror, that “none of the men of might did find their hands.” There is no such thing possible as fighting against the mighty God of Jacob. There must have been some remarkable influence at work to have produced such a result as this.
II. In the use of the particular means employed. It was by one special cause that the issue was brought about—the rousing of the fears of the enemy to such an extent, as to paralyse all regular or orderly action. This was done in the simplest but most effective manner.
(1.) Gideon was directed to form, a plan fitted to produce the result. In this and all other steps he seems to have been Divinely guided. At this moment, all his movements seem to have been taken in hand by his God, for he was the instrument in God’s hand employed to carry out His designs; and though he was left a free agent, as at other times, there was yet an overruling of the workings of his mind, while forming his plans and purposes. There is, indeed, nothing supernatural in the plan itself, however much skill and natural shrewdness it may indicate. There was no violation of natural law.
The time chosen was the dead of night, when all was dark around, and when the whole camp was sunk in slumber. The place occupied was the heights around the camp, especially at three different points. To produce a hideous noise all round the camp at a moment’s notice while profound silence reigned, and to keep up that noise with the blare of 300 trumpets, was not only fitted to startle the sleepers, but to strike them with terror. The effect of this too would be vastly increased by the tossing of 300 burning torches in the air, right in view of those who were newly-awaked from their slumbers. To make use of such a moment for a fierce attack on the enemy by a handful of resolute men, was certain to throw them into hopeless confusion.
(2.) Divine support was given in carrying out this plan. The best laid schemes often prove abortive from not being well executed. Nerve is required; precision must be observed; circumstances must be anticipated. Here everything went right. There was unity in Gideon’s camp. There was the most perfect discipline. All were zealous for the cause, as the cause of God. All acted on religious principle, and there was more than natural courage. Much of the same spirit that rested on Gideon also rested on his followers. It was the Lord’s battle they were fighting, and He “sends none a warfare on their own charges.” He gives grace according to the day (Deu_33:26). There was no timidity in the face of a great danger. Not one was feeble in all the ranks of that little brave army. The tone of true courage was everywhere marked, and the Leader could count on every man doing his duty when the moment for action arrived.
(3.) The enemy’s feeling of security remained undisturbed. There are so many possibilities of information leaking out before the time, that one great danger of the plan miscarrying lay in the fear, that some hint might be given to the hostile army, that a desperate attempt was to be made to surprise them during the night. But the God of Providence so overruled matters, that no intelligence was carried to the ears of the Midianites of any such design. They would indeed be slow to listen to any such tale, so profound was their contempt for the prowess of the people, whom they had seven times trampled down in the most reckless manner. They did not believe in their capability of showing a formidable front to their oppressors. In this they were more than confirmed, when they saw first, how many thousands flocked to Gideon’s standard, and yet, in a few days, the great bulk of them began to return to their homes with as much haste as they had left them.
So do the enemies of the Church often imagine that all is over with the Church of God, when they see her cut down to the very roots, and no means of restoration are at hand. Thus did Ahab and Jezebel feel, when the prophets of the Lord were persecuted out of the land (1Ki_18:4; 1Ki_19:10). Doubtless, too, the chief priests and Pharisees felt sure that they had heard the last of Jesus of Nazareth, and that His cause was for ever extinguished, when they made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. The Church of Rome felt secure from all that Protestantism could do, when the famous proclamation was made from the Lateran Church, that now at last heresy was everywhere subdued, and that there were none that did even mutter or peep against the power that reigned supreme in the Imperial city.
(4.) A foundation was laid for filling the enemy’s mind with fears. The mighty deeds which had been done by Israel’s God at different periods, since the remarkable deliverance from Egyptian bondage, had made a profound impression on all the heathen nations, and however much they hated that God, a salutary fear of His hand was cherished by them all. On the present occasion it got rumoured, that that God was again about to appear on behalf of His people, and the Midianites appear to have heard of it. This is clearly implied in the case of the dream and the interpretation given of it, which Gideon heard in the outermost part of the camp of Midian. But as yet they slept securely, because no danger was visible. They felt, however, that danger was in the air, so that they were prepared to be struck with panic, when that dreadful name Jehovah was proclaimed over their heads in the darkness of night. Just as Jehovah looked through the cloud and troubled Pharaoh’s host, and took off their chariot wheels, so now He was beginning to produce a ground swell in the Midianitish heart, by the terrible suspicion that He had marked them out as the victims of His strong anger. Hence the power of the motto—The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon! All this was evidently of God.
(5.) The sudden alarm produced distracting thoughts. No instrument sounds so loudly as the trumpet; and here were 300 such instruments blowing from three different sides, making a noise sufficient to startle the heaviest sleeper, and fill him with terror. At the same moment, 300 empty pitchers were broken with clattering noise among the rocks, a noise, coming as it did so unexpectedly, sufficient to shake the firmest nerves. The two noises coming together, making such a volume of sound, and rending the midnight air in the most unaccountable manner, could hardly fail to produce a terrible panic among the vast multitude, who had given themselves over to the quiet and security of sleep. It added greatly to this effect, that there were 300 ominous lights flashing in the dark back ground, in three crescents, on different sides of the camp. All this was fitted to produce not only alarm, but consternation among persons suddenly awakened out of the dead sleep of night.
Yet, but for the overruling Providence of God, it might have proved a complete failure. The enemy’s camp did not all consist of women and children. A very large number, probably the majority, were fighting men. We hear of the chamushim (Jdg_7:11) men not only armed, but arrayed in divisions, or quinquiped men—marshalled as an army in five divisions, the centre, two wings, the front and rear guard. This is suggestive of order and even discipline. Why should an organised army, that occupied the part of the camp nearest to Gideon, become all at once so penetrated with terror? Did they not know that the many followers, who at first had flocked to Gideon, had become literally scattered among the valleys and caves as before? And they knew of no other army in the field all round. Was it not fairly possible, or even probable, that after the first startling noise, knowing the above fact, their leaders would have sent messengers to ascertain the strength of the army on the heights, for they were themselves an almost innumerable host, and well able to meet in the field any ordinary army. When they had such a contempt for the people who fled before them like sheep, and hid themselves in dens, and caves, and rocky strongholds, why should they all at once become frantic with terror, and run in mad haste to escape the swords of that same people? It does seem as if there were a Divine ordering of the means used to bring out so disastrous an issue.
He who has all hearts in His hand made use of the means which Gideon employed to suggest dreadful thoughts to the minds of the enemy.
(a.) They imagined that a great army was just upon them. How it had been raised they knew not, but their eyes and ears told them it was there. Such an army looked like a dreadful apparition, a thing from the spirit world, a legion of spectres and weird demons, mysteriously raised, mysteriously armed, and possessed of mysterious powers. The effect on superstitious imaginations must have been electric. They fled as men would flee from a company of unearthly forms issuing from the pit of darkness.
(b.) They were afraid of the God of Gideon. That terrible sentence which sounded in their ears—“The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon” filled them with dismay, as they reflected that so great a God was about to repeat His mighty acts of the past, in raising all the elements of nature, and of the spirit world as well, to overwhelm his enemies. As the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for Jehovah fighteth for them against us,” so did the leaders of that doomed army say to each other; and so they thought of nothing but flight. They believed they were to be a mark for the arrows of the God of Israel.
(c.) The suspicion of treachery rose among them. They were a mixed company, several armies joined in one, the only link of union being their common hatred and contempt for the people of Israel (Psa_83:5-12)—Amalekites, Moabites, Midianites, and Arabs. As no one knew how it was possible that a large army could rise up against them in a moment, the thought must have flashed across the minds of many—“there is treachery in the camp.” Some one or two of the races must have laid a plot to massacre all the rest, to secure the whole booty for themselves. Distrust thus arose among them, and we are told, “the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow.” A frightful slaughter of each other began. This demoralisation became complete, when they feared also that the supposed large army on the heights was already among them. In the pitch dark, and amid the utter confusion, every man took his neighbour for an enemy, and so smote him down. All the while the panic urged them instinctively to flight. Large numbers would be trodden down, beause they impeded the progress of those who were flying for their lives. Thus thousands on thousands would perish of the mutual slaughter, before the swords of the Israelites were among them.
Who does not see that the hand of the Lord was in all this, stirring up terror in every heart, and leading to a ruinous flight?
(6.) Pursuers sprung up on all sides with the morning light. When God deals with His own people for their sins, it is in chastisement, and He corrects in measure. But when He deals with His enemies for their sins, it is for their destruction. Thus it was now. Means are taken for the utter overthrow of the whole host, that had dared for seven years in succession to come up as spoilers of God’s heritage. Besides the 300, the 9700 who had been disbanded, and large numbers of the Israelites, north, west, and south, gather in swift and simultaneous concert to smite the common enemy. And the remarkable fact appears, that, whether it was that their flight was terribly obstructed by their families, their dromedaries, their luggage, and possessions of various sorts, or whether special facilities were furnished to the pursuers for coming up with them, it happened that eight parts out of nine of this multitudinous host perished before they could cross the Jordan! It is expressly stated that 120,000 men out of 135,000, fell on that fatal morning, of those that drew sword (ch. Jdg_8:10). How many men of a different class there may have been, those who were purveyors, servants, cattle-drivers, etc., as also how many women and children, we are not informed, but the number must have been much larger. Possibly the entire army of human locusts that settled down on the rich pastures of Israel was not much short of half a million of persons! And now they all perished! “The sword of the Lord was drunk with their blood” (Jer_46:12). Wicked men should fear to offend the great Jehovah (Zec_2:13; Psa_2:12; Psa_10:13; Psa_76:5-10; Job_21:30; Job_22:21; Psa_33:8; Isa_3:10-11).
II. A Picture of the Church’s Experience in every Age.
At all periods the church has been a mark for the rage of earth and hell. It is natural that Satan should do his utmost against an institution, whose purpose is to overturn his throne and destroy his kingdom. And it is natural that worldly men should have bitter hatred to that which condemns all their evil desires and cherished lusts, and insists on the practice of self-denial as a leading virtue. The forms of attack may change, the weapons used in the warfare may be greatly different, and the conditions may become greatly modified in different ages, but the warfare itself always goes on, the rancour of the world is still kept up, and the same malicious treatment is given, or is tried to be given, to the church now as was given to it in the days of the Midianitish invasion. He and we live, but at different periods of the same great contest. He fought to keep up the cause of God on the earth then, as we are called on still to propagate and maintain that cause under the form of the gospel of Christ, but with very different weapons.
For what is the picture of the church’s experience in these times?
1. She is still surrounded by enemies numerous as the sand on the sea-shore. If, indeed, there is no actual army with sword and spear, as in Gideon’s days, there is yet, even in so-called Christian lands, a vast multitude of persons who are inveterately opposed to the essence and spirit of christianity, and whose opposition to it appears in a variety of ways. If carnal weapons are no longer used, and if instruments of torture are laid aside—if Geshem, the Arabian, no longer lives, nor Sanballat, the Horonite, there is yet bitter offence taken at the Cross of Christ, which shows itself either in the open forms of infidelity; in attacks made on the Book of God; in endeavours to secularise the day of God, and to abolish the worship of God, and in sneering at those who profess the truth of God; or which shows itself in the more covert, but still more dangerous, form of perverting and falsifying the truth of God, of inventing a substitute for the gospel of Christ, of mixing it up with the traditions or philosophy of men, and, as far as possible, passing it by altogether. Indeed, every human heart, until regenerated by the Holy Spirit, is characterised by a spirit of enmity against God, and, except in so far as bridled by powerful moral restraints, is disposed to show a bitter Midianitish opposition to the church of God. Except those who have given themselves up to the belief and the sway of Christian truth, all men are more or less natural enemies to the church of God, and its high spiritual purpose.
2. The enemies are a heterogeneous confederation. First comes Science, with her lofty air and many tongues. In a very dogmatic manner she attacks the dogmas of the sacred book, forgetting that science itself consists almost wholly of dogmas. Proud of her acquisitions in useful knowledge, she asserts more peremptorily than ever, that the laws of nature as now discovered, tell a different tale from that which we have in the historical statements of the Scriptures. And in their extreme haste, a host of savans already proclaim, that Christianity has been reasoned off the stage. But the old rock keeps its place amid the lashings of the waves. Next comes Philosophy, boasting that it is in the track of some great discoveries, by which the doctrines of Christianity may be dissipated, and the supernatural element taken out of them, so that they will soon come under the proper control of human reason, and therefore become suited to human liking. Next rises up Criticism, which tells us there are ever so many discrepancies between what is now known outside the Scriptures to be true, philological, archæological, antiquarian, and otherwise, and the affirmations of the old volume itself.
Closer at hand we have all the schools of our modern Areopagus clamouring in our ears more insolently, and we might add, more discordantly still, than the groups of learned men on that hill of wisdom in Athens—the schools of Atheism, of Agnosticism, of Positivism, of Deism, Theism, Pantheism, of Rationalism, Naturalism, and Spiritualism, of Broad-Churchism, and Formalism—all of which ardently aim at getting quit, not of the beauties of the Bible, nor its good morality, nor its just, pure and lofty sentiments so much, as first its element of the supernatural; for that is felt to be terribly humbling to man’s pride of understanding, and puts him down to the footstool, when he would fain climb to the throne. They wish to get quit too of its inspiration and oracular authority; for that binds man to believe what he is taught by testimony, and makes his reason a subject, not a sovereign. It also suggests the idea of a Lord of the conscience. They wish to get quit too of the doctrine of human responsibility; for that makes conscience a troubled sea in the soul, at the thought that man will be judged for all his thoughts, words, and actions. Especially they wish to get quit of such a doctrine as human depravity; for that is reproachful to man’s character as a moral being, and sinks him to shame and contempt in the estimation of the morally pure and holy. They wish above all to blot out from the page of history, and if they could, from the page of human thought, the doctrine of the death of the Son of God being the suffering of a substitute endured to atone for the sins of men; for that is to intensify inconceivably the evil of sin, reveals the alarming condition of man’s prospect for the future, and proves his utter powerlessness to help himself in the terrible emergency.
All these enemies of the Christian Church want, in one word, to get quit of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, as being most distasteful to man’s unspiritual nature, and most humbling to his imperial and stubborn will. They would refit the Bible, or reconstruct it so as to make it speak in quite another tone. Intead of being governed by it, they would govern it, and transform it into a Book that would suit the convenience, and establish the glory of man.
3. The attacks are persistently made. The language used against the Book which contains the doctrines of Christianity was never more bold, we might say, audacious, than it has been during the present century. Formerly, it may have been more coarse, and ribald, when such men as Voltaire, Paine, Rochester, and Hume, poured their vile abuse on the good Book. Yet in this age, far more liberty of opinion is claimed than in any past epoch. Never was public opinion stronger, and never did liberty run so far in the direction of laxity. It has indeed become a rage—a passion. The pendulum has swung from the point of over-strictness, to that of over looseness. The result is, that never has there been such boldness in casting aside old forms of belief, and even the beliefs themselves. After so many failures, the attacks on the old Rock are still kept up, and with renewed confidence, it is defiantly asserted, that not only must Christianity moult, and change its garb, but, in these advancing times, must change in its very substance. Old ships, it is said, do not weather tempestuous seas so well as those of fresher build. So, many have taken to imagining, that the old vessel of Christianity will not hold out much longer amid the tremendous seas that are now lashing over her, but that she must soon go to pieces and become a total wreck. Others, who do not take this extreme view, yet think the time has come when the ship must be laid up in the dock, and undergo much refitting and reconstruction to prepare her for future service.
These attacks have been most numerous, most formidable, and most envenomed. They have come in on every side, and been made with united force. Notwithstanding all the falsification of past predictions respecting the defeat of Christianity, the opposition to it is as persistent to-day as ever it was in any previous age. But one thing is always strangely forgotten, that He who constructed this vessel is the same with the builder of heaven and earth, who holds the waters of human strife in the hollow of his hand, and without whose permission not a single ripple can rise or fall. The raging sea of human opinions may run mountains high, yet the little skiff which carries the Church of God cannot be swallowed up by the threatening element, while the Lord of the Church walks on the crest of the waves, able in a moment to still them at their wildest fury.
4. Every possible advantage is on the side of the enemy. Here the Church fights her battle with 300 against 135,000 men, or one man against 450. In the case of Jonathan, it was two men against many thousands. In the case of Samson, it was one man against several thousands. In the case of Joshua and his followers, it was one nation against many nations, for the Canaanites were really a cluster of separate kingdoms. There is a special purpose to be served by this arrangement. The Church of God, representing the cause of religious truth in this world, is far too mighty for error to stand before her when opposed on equal terms. Error, in such a case, could no more maintain its ground, than darkness could cope with the rays of the noonday sun. There could indeed be no battle at all, and all the moral purposes served by the prolonged opposition of the one to the other would come to an end.
Error needs all possible resources to help her. The subtleties of logic, the splendours of eloquence, powers of reasoning, and charms of literary accomplishment; while plain, unadorned straightforward statement stand on the other side. Erudition, philosophy and science plead her cause, poetry weaves for her a many-coloured robe of beauty, while fame puts a crown of gold on her head, gives a sceptre into her hand, blows the trumpet before her, and calls on the multitude to bend the knee at her name. But truth must stand alone, in humble garb, and mean attire, and with unsophisticated speech must plead her own cause. The world’s dread laugh and proud supercilious scorn she meets with showing her native majesty of mien and purity of tone. The cause of truth too is often most injudiciously handled by her defenders, they often fall out among themselves, and do irreparable mischief by their dissensions. But the advocates of error have generally been men of great mental grasp and profound scholarship. Truth in one word is placed at its weakest to contend with error at its strongest, that so a far more illustrious triumph may be gained in the end, than if the advantages enjoyed on either side had borne some proportion of equality to each other.
But there is not only inequality of advantage. Truth has always been exposed to the grossest misrepresentation, while her character and claims are miserably misunderstood. We see Christian truth perverted, parodied, mystified, and falsely accused. The whole treatment of the cross has been measured out anew to the truth of the cross—she has been betrayed and stabbed in secret, and mocked and vilified in open day. A whole army of detractors, scoffers, and calumniators have kept continually dogging her steps, until she might well say in the language of Him whose name is “The Truth,”—“Reproach hath broken my heart!”
5. The inherent power of Bible truth makes victory certain in the end. The little finger of truth is thicker than the loins of error. With that little finger she has gained world-renowned victories. “With the jaw of an ass she has slain a thousand men.” With the blowing of rams’ horns she has made the fortified cities of the enemy fall down flat. With sling and stone, in the hands of a stripling, she has felled to the earth the proud Goliath in the camp of her opponents. With a shepherd’s crook used by a fugitive herdsman, from the backside of the desert, she has routed the proud Pharaoh who opposed her, and found a watery grave in the great ocean for his huge bannered host. When Christian truth went out into the world to fight her way to victory, she was without learning, without caste, without wealth, and without a particle of influence in society. I see Paul and Barnabas, on their first missionary tour, going across the mountains of Pisidia, without armies and without arms, having no fame or prestige, with nothing but a good conscience within, the word of God in their hands, and their exalted Master looking down on them from the throne in the heavens. It was weakness employed to conquer strength, folly to confound wisdom.
I look again, and see the advocate of christianity surrounded by the learning and culture of the world, and treated with derision and scorn. “What will this babbler say?” pitched the key-note of the obloquy which Mars Hill thought fit to pour on the doctrine of the cross! The wise of this world thought it too much honour to give it a hearing at all! Again I see him a prisoner, answering for himself before men who were strangers to pity, and but capriciously acquainted with justice, yet through the simple force of truth, he causes his judge to tremble on the seat of power, and constrains royalty itself to exclaim, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a christian!” Once more, I see him within the gloomy walls of the martyr’s dungeon, with life and all that men count dear behind, and with the dreary horrors of a barbarous death before him—alone, unbefriended, unsuccoured, he is yet the happiest man in Rome! Among the millions within her wide walls, not another heart is so buoyant with hope, so lifted up with joy. Nor need we wonder. His prospects at that moment were brighter than those of any other man on earth. That dark and cheerless cell was his last resting-place on earth. Soon his feet should stand within the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem. one of the loftiest seats around the throne should soon be his. one of the sweetest songs in the land of bliss should soon be raised by him. As he thought of this, his afflictions became light, and lighter still, until he felt them not at all. He would not, at that moment, have exchanged his position with that of him who sat on the throne of the world. Nero was wretched! Paul the prisoner was filled with joy unspeakable! Terrors reigned in the soul of the tyrant! A peace passing all understanding possessed the mind of his captive! He that stood on the summit of earthly greatness was afraid of all around him—afraid even of himself! His unprotected prisoner, awaiting a violent death, stood undaunted amid the rage of earth and of hell!
6. Hope for Christian Missions everywhere. This does not admit of doubt for a single moment, when the attitude of Christian Truth to Error is understood. The reason why universal success has not been attained long since, is not because the resources of that Truth are not equal to the occasion. But there has been a holding back of the real power which it possesses. Not the one-hundredth part of its resources has been called forth; and so, many fall into the mistake, that it may yet die out and be overcome. This mistake is all the more easily made, that opposing systems are usually so demonstrative of their apparent successes, and so pretentious and confident as to what they will be able to accomplish in the future. Hence it is inferred, that the two forces are not unequally matched, or that the one at least bears some proportion to the other; so that some doubt must be held to rest over the final result. In reality, Error, whatever form it may assume, has in itself no power at all to contend with Christian Truth, any more than dark clouds have power to prevent the rising of the sun, or than men have power to contend with the silent irresistible strength of a law of nature.
(1.) Christian Truth lays its hand on the supreme powers of a man’s nature—his conscience, that mysterious faculty whose volcanic force when awakened creates greater disturbance in the soul than all other causes combined; his will, that kingly faculty which decrees with the force of a Medes and Persians law what the man is to do; his desires and affections, which like a helm turn the soul in whatever direction they are pleased to take. All the secret springs of a man’s moral nature are touched by this Truth, and it is too mighty to be shaken off.
(2.) This truth is no product of earth. No soil, East or West, of this barren world could produce such a plant. The Everlasting Father Himself did plant it. Long before the cycles of Time began to revolve, this Mighty Truth was with God, and that which had its birth in Eternity cannot perish among the rocks and the wildernesses of Time.
(3.) This truth is a system of facts. It contains the history of persons that lived, and of events that occurred—“things seen and heard.” The theories of philosophers are nebulous; their schemes are fancies or day-dreams, and however beautiful, necessarily pass away. Their propositions are often mere abstractions which cannot be realised in every-day life. No entire system of truth, at once plain, full of substance, and adapted to man’s practical needs all round, has ever been presented to the world but Christianity. Hence its power to live. It has life in itself, and it has power to give life to others. Thus it can stand the tear and wear of time for many generations.
(4.) This truth is an instrument in the hand of the Supreme Ruler. This all-important fact must never be forgotten. The power of Christianity does not consist merely in its being what it is, but in its being wielded by Him who has all power in heaven and earth to accomplish the high purposes of His will. “It is mighty through God to the pulling down,” etc. (see Joh_17:2; Mar_16:20). He has but to “pour out His Spirit, and the wilderness should become as the fruitful field.” Every day would be as the day of Pentecost, until the whole world should spiritually bloom in every part like a second Eden.
COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS.—Jdg_7:15-25
I. The great men of the Bible are its good men.
Judged by his deeds, and the spirit in which he performed them, none will refuse to Gideon the epithet of great. Yet on analysing the elements of his character, we do not so much emphasize his great daring, his heroic spirit, his shrewdness and skill, nor even his disinterested devotion to his country. It is rather his zeal for the cause of his God, his sorrow that the Church of God should be trodden down by the unhallowed foot of the alien, and that the name of his God should be every day blasphemed, on the one hand, that form the noblest features of his character, while on the other hand, he holds himself ready at the Divine call to perform a humanly impossible task, at every risk to his own interests, to retrieve the dishonour done to the Divine name, and all on the basis of the trust he has in the God who made Himself over to Israel to be their God. It was by his faith that he became great (Heb_11:2; Heb_11:32, etc.), and that marks him out equally as a man of piety. But for his faith, he never had subdued so effectually the mighty army of the desert and annihilated their numerous hordes. It was not natural courage or skill in disposing his little army, or indomitable patriotism that gained him such signal success, though these were all in exercise, but his faith in his God—trusting in His character and relying on His promises, that earned him his high distinction.
But for the connection, into which true faith brings a man with his God, his deeds, and his very existence, are at the best an ephemeral phantom, an airy nothing, which soon evaporates, not to be heard of more in the ages to come. But the touch of Divinity creates around a man an immortal memory, and His name cannot drop into oblivion. Hence this book of Judges cannot be classed with other records, which relate the deeds of martial prowess performed by the heroes of olden times, for in these, we merely see the natural qualities which belong to the heroes themselves, and are entirely of an inferior category to that faith and love that zeal and self-denial, which link the soul to its God.
II. The great value of a single good man to the age in which he lives.
A single good man placed in the foreground gives a character to the whole generation to which he belongs. When the moon goes down, were all the stars of first magnitude abstracted from the sky of night, what a miserable appearance would that sky present when shorn of its brightest beauties! And how tame would this book read without the four or five names of its men of faith! These redeem it from being a dull heavy record, and throw a splendour over the page which makes it shine with lustre to latest ages. There is something of God about such men, for it is not their own glory that shines, as they freely confess by the fact that they live and do all by faith. It is truest philosophy this faith, as well as the purest piety. It is the unit confessing itself nothing before the Universal, the finite laying hold of the infinite, the drop losing itself in the ocean! It is the little child confessing its feebleness and its foolishness, in the presence of the Possessor of boundless power and unsearchable wisdom. It is the humble heart opening itself out before the fountain to receive promised blessings, with the view of returning these blessings again in songs of gratitude and praise. Thus it is always God that is really glorified, the creature confessing it has nothing but what it receives, and reflecting as a mirror all the glory that falls upon it from the infinite source.
The good man having God with him is ever invincible. The very heavens bend before the prayers of Elijah. He is felt to be a greater power in the land than Ahab and Jezebel. In that heyday of idolatry, a louder protest was uttered against the worship of false gods, through the instrumentality of that single man, than had been known for ages in the history of Israel. But for him, though standing alone, even Carmel would have been submerged by the rising tide of idolatry. Who does not see that but for Barak and Gideon in their respective periods, the whole history of Israel would have come to a miserable termination ere it had half run its expected course. Truly are they called the “saviours” of their people, as God’s instruments raised up by Him for this purpose (Neh_9:27).
Over the whole of Old Testament times, if you subtract some twenty names the value of history sinks down by fifty per cent, Not that these were the only actors. But common men could not have taken their place, and these inspired common men with confidence in their power to lead, and their Divine commission to lead others, so that they formed rallying points for large numbers acting in unity. However much a man may excel his fellows in intellect, and fortitude, and general resources, he must always find it wise to have many co-workers with him in doing a great work, unless when specially directed and assisted by his God. The great Napoleon gave it as one of the principles of his tactics, “I have always tried to march so as to have a million of men in sympathy with me.” Often however the great men of the Bible were employed by God to do His work with but few followers, for He himself went with them, and His presence counted for a thousand armies.
III. God’s severity in the day of reckoning.
This in any barsh sense is more apparent than real. It was a frightful destruction of human life that took place when the whole of that huge host were slaughtered, leaving none, or only a few stragglers, to return to their country to tell the tale. It was very nearly the annihilation of a race from off the earth. Many hold up their hands and utter exclamations of horror at such terrible cruelties being perpetrated in the name of God. Yet they cannot account for it by setting it down to the barbarity of the times. For it was really done by God’s own direction. The truth is that, in judging of God’s doings, men forget the extremely offensive character of the sin which draws down the punishment, the length of time during which the sin has been going on, and the warnings and expostulations used by God with the wicked to forsake their ways. Were these men, who profess to be so humane and pitiful, while they look on so awful a destruction, to receive themselves one-tenth part of the offence which these heathen nations gave to the true God, they would, without doubt, smite down, and not spare, every man who should dare to act so wicked a part, and would wonder if any should cry out for mercy to their victims.
But the great Jehovah punishes not like man. He is indeed strict to mark iniquity and “every disobedience and transgression receives a due recompense of reward.” But it is not from uncontrollable feelings of what men call passion and revenge that He acts in any case. To such feelings the Divine bosom is an absolute stranger. God knows nothing as a Moral Governor but the calm and just administration of law. It is justice alone with which He is concerned when punishing the wicked, not the gratification of any vindictive feelings towards the transgressors. Anything vindictive is an impossibility to the nature of God. If such language is sometimes used in Scripture it is only as a figure of speech, when His acts have the appearance to men’s eyes of being vindictive. But nothing more is given to the vilest criminal than the due desert of his sin. Men, however, strangely underrate that desert, and there is all the mystery.
These Midianites had heard of the mighty God of Israel in the past. The deeds which He did on behalf of His people were before the eyes of all the nations, and they ought to have known it was a wicked and dangerous thing to tamper with such a people and their God. If they knew but little, they ought to have made themselves better acquainted with the great Jehovah, for God never rejected heathen inquirers. Yet, knowing the character of this God to be different and immeasurably superior to all gods, they dared to spoil His heritage and to blaspheme His name. Hence their punishments.
IV. God’s complete control over all the states and moods of men’s minds.
It was He that led these enemies of His people to imagine themselves to be surrounded in a moment with so many unexpected evils—a large army close at hand, the wrath of Jehovah gone out against them in some terrible manner, and treachery sprung up in the midst of their own camp. So true is it, that by the mere force of terrible thoughts, God can bring destructive judgments upon men.
How in a moment, suddenly,
To ruin brought are they!
With fearful terrors utterly,
They are consum’d away.
A similar calamity of terrible imaginations was the means of routing a large army of enemies in one of Israel’s evil days (2Ki_7:6). God’s access to the world of a man’s thoughts is abundantly set forth in the 139th Psalm; for He who made the human mind must know it in the fullest manner, just as the maker of any machine must know intimately all its parts, and all its capabilities of movement.
Millions of thoughts pass through a man’s mind almost every day. Yet not one escapes the eye of God! Sometimes the mind feels oppressed with the number of its own thoughts, but cannot reduce the number. Yet there is an antidote. “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.” These thoughts come often unbidden, rushing like a river through the soul.
“Thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng,
Rush, chasing countless thoughts along.”
These may be all pleasant and refreshing, filling the heart with joy, and spreading the bow of hope over the horizon of the future, as in the case of the two sweet singers in Psa_73:23-26, and Psa_139:17-18, also Psa_104:34. Or these thoughts may be all gloomy and dreadful, full of foreboding fears and disastrous issues, so that a man may be reduced to the extremity of trouble and be led to cry out, “O save me from my thoughts! for thought kills me.” In the midst of peace and plenty God can sometimes make a wicked man feel the beginnings of future woes by causing “terrible thoughts take hold on him as waters,” and surround him on every side; as in the case of Nero, of Voltaire, of Paine, of the French Monarch, who ordered the St. Bartholomew massacre, and many others.
God has a mighty army to attack a man from within, as well as many forces to set in array against him from without. He can also give comfort against all grief on every side by the character of the thoughts which He makes to pass through the mind on any and every occasion.
V. God’s dealings always end with tender compassion for His own people.
They may have sinned long against much light, and in the face of much solemn warning and expostulation. Yet He cannot cast away His own. They are His blood-bought property—redeemed at a great price. They are sprinkled with the precious blood of atonement, and though He was angry with them, His anger is turned away, and He uses the language of peace and reconciliation; He forgives their iniquities, and their sins He remembers no more. This people, who had sinned so much, and were ever rebelling against Him, He could not forget were the same people whom He had brought out of Egypt with a high hand, and whom He had graciously been pleased to take into covenant with Himself, and to call Himself by the name of their God. Hence it was for the glory of His unchangeableness, that they should always be loved (Jer_31:3.) He would show by their history, though it was of a character entirely offensive to His holy nature, that while he might chastise them severely for their manifold backslidings, the mountains were less firm in their places than His pledged love to those whom he had by a fixed agreement taken into tender relations with Himself (Isa_54:10.) Indeed, one great purpose he had in view, when electing this people to be for ever His own, was to show how far His love could go, and how tenderly it could manifest itself under the most testing circumstances. Through His dealings with this people, He takes every opportunity of revealing His glorious perfections, the riches of His mercy, the hidings of His power, the depths of His wisdom, the tenderness of His compassion, and the inviolability of His truth and faithfulness (Eze_36:32; Isa_43:21.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v13 Jdg 7:13 - Jdg 7:23.
Judges
A BATTLE WITHOUT A SWORD
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Jdg 7:13 - Jdg 7:23.
To reduce thirty-two thousand to three hundred was a strange way of preparing for a fight; and, no doubt, the handful left felt some sinking of their courage when they looked on their own small number and then on the widespread Midianite host. Gideon, too, would need heartening. So the first thing to be noted is the encouragement given him. God strengthens faith when it needs strengthening, and He has many ways of doing so. Note that Gideon’s visit to the Midianite camp was on ‘the same night’ on which his little band was left alone after the ordeal by water. How punctually to meet our need, when it begins to be felt, does God’s help come! It was by God’s command that he undertook the daring adventure of stealing down to the camp. We can fancy how silently he and Phurah crept down the hillside, and, with hushed breath and wary steps, lest they should stumble on and wake some sleeper, or even rouse some tethered camel, picked their way among the tents. But they had God’s command and promise, and these make men brave, and turn what would else be foolhardy into prudence. Ho put his ear to the black camel’s-hair wall of one tent, and heard what his faith could not but recognise as God’s message to him.
The soldier’s dream was just such as such a man would dream in such circumstances. A round loaf of barley {the commonest kind of bread} was dreamed of as rolling down from a height and upsetting ‘the tent.’ The use of the definite article seems to point to some particular tent, perhaps simply the one in which the dreamer lay, or perhaps the general’s; but the noun may be used as a collective, and what is meant may be that the loaf went through the camp, overturning all the tents in its way. The interpretation needed no Daniel, but the immediate explanation given, shows not only the transparency of the symbol, but the dread in the Midianite ranks of Gideon’s prowess. A nameless awe, which goes far to produce the defeat it dreads, was beginning to creep over them. It finds utterance both in the dream and in its translation. The tiny loaf worked effects disproportioned to its size. A rock thundering down the hillside might have mass and momentum enough to level a line of tents, but one poor loaf to do it! Some mightier than human hand must have set it going on its career. So the soldier interprets that God had delivered the army into Gideon’s hand.
This dream suggests two or three considerations. In several instances we find God speaking to those outside Israel by dreams; for example, to Pharaoh and his two officers, Nebuchadnezzar, Pilate’s wife. It is the lowest form of divine communication, and, like other lower forms, is not to be looked for when the higher teaching of the Spirit of Christ is open to us all.
Again, while both dream and interpretation might be accounted for on simply natural grounds, a deeper insight into the so-called ‘natural’ brings us to see it as all penetrated by the operations of the ever-present God. And the coincidences which brought Gideon to just that tent among the thousands along the valley at just the moment when the two startled sleepers were talking, might well strike Gideon, as they did, as being God’s own fulfilment of the promise that ‘what they say’ would strengthen his hands for the attack {Jdg 7:11}.
Further, Gideon had already had the sign of the fleece and the dew; but God does not disdain to let him have an additional encouragement, and to let him draw confirmation of his own token from the talk of two Midianites. Faith may be buttressed by men’s words, albeit its only foundation is God’s.
Gideon has a place in the muster-roll of heroes of faith in Heb 11:32, and his whole conduct in this incident proves his right to stand there. ‘He worshipped,’ for his soul went out in trust to God, whose voice he heard through the two Midianites, and bowed in thankfulness and submissive obedience. There could be no outward worship there, with an army of sleepers close by, but the silent uplifting of confidence and desire reaches God and strengthens the man. So he went back with new assurance of victory, and roused his sleeping band.
Mark his words as another token of his faith. The Midianite interpreter had said, ‘God has delivered’; Gideon says, ‘The Lord has delivered.’ The former name is the more general, and is natural on the lips of a heathen; the latter is the covenant name, and to use it implies reliance on the Jehovah revealed by His acts to Israel. The Midianite had said that the host was delivered into Gideon’s hand; he says that it is delivered into the hands of the three hundred, suppressing himself and honouring them. God’s soldiers must be willing to ‘esteem others better than themselves,’ and to fight for God’s glory, not their own. The Midianite had said, ‘This is . . . the sword of Gideon’; he bid his men cry ‘the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.’ It was God’s cause for which they were contending, not his; and yet it was his, inasmuch as he was God’s instrument. ‘Excellent mixture,’ says Thomas Fuller, ‘both joined together; admirable method, God put in the first place. Where divine blessing leads up the van, and man’s valour brings up the battle, must not victory needs follow in the rear?’
Gideon does not seem to have been divinely directed to the stratagem by which the Midianites were thrown into panic. He had been promised victory, but that does not lead him to idle waiting for fulfilment of the promise. ‘To wait for God’s performance in doing nothing is to abuse that divine providence, which will so work that it will not allow us to idle’ {Bishop Hall}. True faith will wisely adopt means to reach promised ends, and, having used brain and hand as if all depended on ourselves, will look to Him, as if nothing depended on us, but all on Him.
There was strong faith as well as daring and skilful generalship in leading down the three hundred, with no weapons but trumpets and pitchers, to close quarters with an armed enemy so superior in numbers. And did it not need some faith, too, not only in Gideon but in God, on the part of his band, to plunge down the hill on such an errand, each man with both his hands full, and so unable to strike a blow? The other three hundred at Thermopylae have been wept over and sung; were not these three hundred as true heroes? Let us not count heads when we are called on to take God’s side. His soldiers are always in the minority, but, if He is reckoned in, the minority becomes the majority. ‘They that be with us are more than they that be with them.’
One can fancy the sleepers starting up dazed by the sudden bray of the trumpets and the wild shout of that war-cry yelled from every side. As they stumbled out of their tents, without leaders, without knowledge of the numbers of their foe, and saw all around the flaring torches, and heard the trumpet-blasts, which seemed to speak of an immense attacking force, no wonder that panic shook them, and they fled. Huge mobs of undisciplined men, as Eastern armies are, and these eminently were, are especially liable to such infectious alarms; and the larger the force, the faster does panic spread, the more unmanageable does the army become, and the more fatal are the results. Each man reflects, and so increases, his neighbour’s fear. ‘Great armies, once struck with amazement, are like wounded whales. Give them but line enough, and the fishes will be the fishermen to catch themselves.’
So the host broke up in wild disorder, and hurried in fragments towards the Jordan fords, trampling each other down as they raced through the darkness, and each man, as he ran, dreading to feel the enemy’s sword in his back next moment. `The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous is bold as a lion.’ Thus without stroke of weapon was the victory won. The battle was the Lord’s.
And the story is not antiquated in substance, however the form of the contests which God’s soldiers have to-day to fight has changed. Still it is true that we shall only wage war aright when we feel that it is His cause for which we contend, and His sword which wins the victory. If Gideon had put himself first in his warcry, or had put his own name only in it, the issue would have been different.
May we not also venture to apply the peculiar accoutrements of the victorious three hundred to ourselves? Christ’s men have no weapons to wield but the sounding out from them, as from a trumpet, of the word of the Lord, and the light of a Christian life shining through earthen vessels. If we boldly lift up our voices in the ancient war-cry, and let that word peal forth from us, and flash the light of holy lives on a dark world, we may break the sleeper’s slumbers to a glad waking, and win the noblest of victories by leading them to enlist in the army of our Captain, and to become partakers of His conquests by letting Him conquer, and thereby save them.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v9 The Defeat of the Midianites
The Defeat of the Midianites
v. 9. And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Gideon, Arise, get thee down unto the host, in a sudden night attack upon the enemy; for I have delivered it into thine hand.
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v. 10. But if thou fear to go down, to make the attack at once, go thou with Phurah, thy servant, down to the host, on a scouting expedition;
v. 11. and thou shalt hear what they say, find out the state, disposition, and attitude of the enemy; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host, the information obtained on the first expedition would give him the courage to proceed with his night attack at once. Then went he down with Phurah, his servant, unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host, he proceeded to the very line of the vanguard of the camp, right among the outposts.
v. 12. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley, in their camp, like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seaside for multitude; countless numbers and vast resources against the handful of Gideon’s men.
v. 13. And when Gideon was come, as he crept up as near as he dared, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley-bread tumbled into the host of Midian, rolling down from the mountains, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along, upside down. The meaning is obvious, namely, this, that the oppressed and despised Israelites, the eaters of barley-bread, had descended from the mountains, the tent of the dream standing collectively for the entire encampment.
v. 14. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel; for into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the host. Thus the Lord, through this dream and its correct interpretation, filled the hearts of the enemy with fear, while He strengthened His servant for the task awaiting him.
v. 15. And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof, which showed him the mood, the condition of mind of the enemies, that he worshiped, thanking God for this encouragement, and returned into the host of Israel and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. Being assured of this fact, he was eager to make the charge.
v. 16. And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, of a hundred men each, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, earthen vessels, and lamps, torches, within the pitchers, where they were concealed until needed.
v. 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.
v. 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, for that was the battle-cry. By attacking the camp of the Midianites from three sides at once and sounding with all possible noise, the enemy would be deceived concerning the size of the army of Israel and thrown into confusion.
v. 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, just about midnight, the time of the soundest sleep; and they had but newly set the watch, the sentinels having just been changed; and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands, at the same time holding aloft the flaming torches.
v. 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.
v. 21. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp, without advancing to a hand-to-hand encounter; and all the host ran, and cried, and fled; for they were seized with the alarm of panic when without warning the trumpets sounded, the pitchers crashed, the thundering battle-cry broke out. "It tells the Midianites that the sword of the God, whose people and faith they have oppressed, and of the man whose insignificance they have despised, whose family they have injured, and who through God becomes their conqueror, is about to be swung over their heads. " (Lange. )
v. 22. And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man’s sword among the host of the enemies, against his fellow even throughout all the host, as a result of their headless panic; and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, toward Zererah, and to the border of Abel-meholah, unto Tabbath, in three different scattered columns toward the southeast, all in the attempt to reach the fords of the Jordan.
v. 23. And the men of Israel, the enemy thus being engaged in headless flight, gathered themselves together out of Naphtali and out of Asher and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.
v. 24. And Gideon, in the hope of cutting off the fleeing Midianites before they reached the safety of their own country, sent messengers throughout all Mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan, the purpose being to hold all the fords as far south as Beth-barah, and thus, if possible, to prevent the enemy even from reaching the Jordan in its lower passages. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan.
v. 25. And they, the Ephraimites, took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb (raven and wolf); and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the wine-press of Zeeb, both of these places receiving their names from these events, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan, where he had gone in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. Note: Much greater than the victory of Gideon is that of Christ, who delivered us from the oppression of Satan, not with swords and the power of earthly weapons, but by His almighty strength, and who makes known this victory in the Gospel, by which we become partakers of the redemption gained through His blood.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22 Attack the camp, for I am going to give…
Attack the camp, for I am going to give you victory over it
Here "camp" refers to the whole Midianite army. The word "victory" is an abstract noun that can be translated as a verb or an adjective. AT: "Attack the Midianites at their camp, for I am going to help you defeat them" or "Attack the Midianites at their camp, for I am going to cause you to be victorious over them" (See: Metonymy and Abstract Nouns)
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afraid to go down
You can make clear the understood information. AT: "afraid to go down to attack" (See: Ellipsis)
Purah
This is the name of a man. (See: How to Translate Names)
your courage will be strengthened
This can be stated in active form. AT: "what you hear will be encourage you" (See: Active or Passive)
guard posts
places around the edge of an area where soldiers stand to watch for an enemy army
translationWords
Yahweh
servant
Gideon
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.