Trust • Judges 7:1-8, 19-23
By Roland L. McMillan
Gideon’s story revolves around God’s plan to deliver his people and Gideon’s challenges with his faith. The two are in tension for most of the story. In the lesson for last week, we saw Gideon answering God’s call with sarcasm and reluctance. In the passage between the lesson for last week and this week’s lesson, Gideon tried to manipulate God. Many people often understand “putting out a fleece” as a way to find God’s will, but God had been clear about his will. God’s plans were plain, but Gideon was wavering. He knew God’s will, but he did not want to follow it. In Judges 6:36, Gideon even referred to God’s promise before he laid out the fleece. The Spirit was with Gideon, but the situation was not like New Testament ideas about indwelling and filling. Gideon was empowered for his mission, but he was full of fear and doubt.
The first verse of the lesson for this week says that Israel’s army had gone into camp. Gideon finally had accepted his mission, but God was not finished challenging his faith. The Israelite army camped near the Midianite camp. The Midianites probably felt secure because they had dominated Israel for so long and because their army was so much larger than Israel’s army.
Israel already was unfaithful to God. They had not turned away from their worship of false gods. God was determined to save them but did not want Israel to think that they delivered themselves by their own power. So, verse 3 reports that Gideon made an offer for the men who were afraid. They could leave the army. The offer was in line with Deuteronomy 20:8. Most of the army left. Watching those men walk away must have been heart-wrenching.
Then, God made the army even smaller. God had Gideon bring his men to water. Then, God only allowed him to keep the soldiers who lapped up their water like a dog. At the end of the process, an army of thirty-two-thousand men melted away until only three hundred remained. The Old Testament often says that size does not ensure victory. The presence of the Lord leads to victory. Gideon’s three-hundred-man army was about to experience that truth.
The three hundred men took torches inside pitchers and trumpets. They divided into three groups and approached the Midianite camp. Verse 19 reports that the Israelite army arrived with perfect timing. The Midianite guard had just changed, and the new guards were settling in for their watch. The guards who had just been relieved were still moving inside the camp to find their resting places.
Suddenly, chaos and confusion reigned in the camp. Loud noises awakened the soldiers with a start. The Midianites heard the noises of the trumpets. They heard the noises of the Israelites smashing pitchers. In their bleary-eyed condition, they saw torches that showed their enemy coming from three different directions. They experienced the illusion of a much larger force. Coming out of a deep sleep, each Midianite heard their enemies shouting on three sides. They also saw the guards who had just been relieved moving inside the camp. In their confusion, they started fighting one another in the flickering shadows of the torchlights. Verse 22 leaves no doubt that God caused the confusion. The men who remained from the Midianite army ran away in a panic, and Israel pursued them with a vengeance. God had delivered Israel from their oppressors, and he had used Gideon to do it.
From the first of Gideon’s story last week through the end of the lesson for this week (Judges 6:1–7:23), God drove the action. He sent a prophet. He sent his messenger to call Gideon to deliver Israel. He overcame Gideon’s reluctance. He reassured Gideon repeatedly. He worked on Gideon’s faith. Even though Israel did not turn away from their pagan ways, God still delivered Israel from her enemies. The whole story reveals that God is faithful, even when his people are not faithful. God is in charge.
We know Gideon as the hero of the story, and he is, but Gideon is nothing without God. No one is anything without God. As God stripped away most of Gideon’s army, any confidence in human strength and human numbers vanished. Trusting God was all that they had left. Sometimes, trusting God is all that we have left. When our confidence and pretense are gone, God’s still is in control. He always is in control.
McMillan is senior pastor of Roseland Park Baptist Church, Picayune.
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