Judges 7:1-8 Gideon Defeats the Midianites
So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.
But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.
The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.” So Gideon collected the provisions and rams’ horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the 300 men with him.
When Gideon surveys the Valley of Jezreel, the valley is full of enemy troops. Even the 32,000 men Gideon has seems like a small number by comparison. But God isn’t pleased, for if He gives victory to those 32,000 men, they will take all the credit. So God proposes a series of tests. First, God advises Gideon to tell the men, “Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.” You can practically hear the sighs of relief as 22,000 men immediately take to their heels, heading for home. But 10,000 men are left, and that’s still too many. Next, God orders Gideon to send the men to the spring and observe the manner in which they drink. 300 men scoop water in their hands and stand up to drink while watching for attack while the remaining 9700 kneel by the spring and scoop water. God knows that the 300 men who watch as they drink are seasoned warriors while the rest are careless and therefore liabilities in battle.
Now Gideon is really afraid! 300 men to defeat thousands of enemy soldiers with fancy weapons? How can this possibly work? Tomorrow we will see what a complete victory God gives Gideon, but today our focus is on the difference between our view of a situation and God’s. God has called Gideon. Gideon KNOWS God has called him. But Gideon is still looking at his own resources to save the situation; meanwhile, God is planning another miracle. Too many soldiers might convince the Israelites that they have gotten victory rather than realizing that God is simply using them as His tools. God wants to do something so audacious that NOBODY else can possibly get the credit for success.
This story resonates with me because we have lived it several times over. In February 1992 we came to a small village in northeastern Ghana to look at a clinic where a national church wanted us to work. There were eleven workers, no electricity, a poor water supply, no laboratory, no possibility of doing blood transfusions, and no operating room. I am a surgeon and an OR (Operating theatre) plus blood transfusions are necessary for surgery. But when we got out of the vehicle in the old mission house yard, the Holy Spirit descended like a big warm blanket wrapping around us, and suddenly we KNEW God wanted us to come to that uninviting place.
We returned in January 1993, and when we had been there a year, a small tribal war broke out. Suddenly, we became the only source of medical care for more than 100,000 people. I started the theatre and the laboratory, training several nurses and one physician’s assistant to group and cross match walk-in blood donors. We began doing hospital level work in a small health center building. That first year we performed 192 major operations, sterilizing everything in a large pressure cooker over a coal pot on the verandah. Eventually, God sent us a few more workers, raising our staff count to 22. But it was God who worked through those 22 workers, for nobody else could take the credit.
Today that small clinic has become a district hospital serving more than 120,000 people and attracting patients from great distances. But God is the only One who can really take credit. The rest of us have just happened to be in the near vicinity.
Perhaps you feel like Gideon. God has set you a daunting task and has then removed much of your help. Don’t worry! Remember that if God calls you, God is responsible for the results, and God can work just as effectively through a few people as He can through many. Trust God and then expect great things!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You no matter what, realizing that all success must come from You in the first place. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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