Scripture:
Judges 7:2-23 NKJV
[2] And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ [3] Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. [4] But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” [5] So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” [6] And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. [7] Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.” [8] So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. [9] It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. [10] But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, [11] and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. [12] Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. [13] And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.” [14] Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” [15] And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.” [16] Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. [17] And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: [18] When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ” [19] So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. [20] Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” [21] And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. [22] When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. [23] And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.
Observation:
I know it’s not often that I select more than 20 verses for a SOAP, but I wanted us to get the whole picture of what’s going on here, and this morning it just seemed appropriate. Besides, I always love the story of Gideon. There is so much in it that we can learn from, and to be honest, it’s hard not to go back to the beginning of his story. But let’s say when the LORD came to Gideon, he seemed scared. He was hiding in a wine press threshing wheat. So he was used to nearly impossible circumstances. He had been through a lot. But as the LORD continued to equip and encourage him, he was starting to figure out who he was in the LORD. The store we just got the opportunity to read is a testament to that. For Gideon, the day was at hand to step into his calling. After being bullied by the Midianites for so long. He had put together an army, gathering several thousand men. It was time to give them exactly what they had coming. But the LORD had a little different idea, and as HE looked over the army. HE spoke to Gideon, saying, “You have too many men, if they all go into battle, they may think it’s all about them and what they did. I want you to tell them if they are scared they can go home.” I picture Gideon with a puzzled look on his face, as he looked at the Midianites and their army that were too many to number, saying, “If you insist, LORD, that’s what I will do. But it’s put together this army. There is not a man in it that is scared.” As he made the announcement, the results said differently. “Hey, if you’re scared, go home.” Twenty thousand men got up and left. I picture Gideon’s head in his hands now, what am I going to do? The thing is he was not fighting for his glory. He was the weakest in his tribe. This battle was all about the LORD. “You still have too many. Go down to the water. Le t them drink, they will tell you which ones will go into battle with you.” Keeping the men who stayed on their feet, ready for battle, his number shrank to 300. “LORD, you want me to go into battle with ‘ONLY’ 300 men….. are you sure about this. I mean it seems kind of crazy to me. I thought you would increase the numbers but now I’m down to basically nothing. As Gideon continued to follow the LORD’s instructions, he became increasingly nervous and GOD could see it. So it was time to build his confidence back to battle-ready. The LORD said, “If you are worried about all this; I want you to sneak in to the camp and see what the army you are so scared of is saying.” So Gideon waited tell it was the changing of the guards, and he snuck into the Midianites’ camp with the cover of night. As the guards started to take their positions, the greeting took place along with short conversations, as they prepared for the day of work. “How did you sleep? Not so good I had a dream that we got attacked by a loaf of bread….what…a loaf of bread? That means Gideon is going to attack us. I don’t know if the army is ready for all that.” After hearing what the army was saying, Gideon’s confidence was back in order. He went back to the camp and rounded up the troops. Giving them very unusual battle instructions. “A touch and a trumpet, really, that’s what you want me to take into battle against an army more numerous than locusts, and you want me to do that with 300 men. Ok, here we go… LORD, I hope you know what you’re doing. As the battle cry went out, panic set in, and the army they were up against attacked itself. Victory was given to Gideon, despite the impossible circumstances.
Application:
It may not look like GOD knows what HE is doing, but we have to remember HE sees things we can’t see. He knows the whole story where we can only see what’s right in front of us, and it’s honestly just not about us. GOD’S glory is HIS. Faith is stepping into what looks impossible with confidence that GOD is going to do exactly what HE said HE was going to do. Even when you can’t see it GOD has given you victory. It may even look like you’re going backwards. What you thought you had may be shrinking, but GOD has a wonderful way of putting the right people in the right places at just the right time. It’s all about HIM. I can’t begin to tell you in the amount of time that I have how many things I have faced in my life that looked like sure defeat. Yet I came out victorious due to the fact that GOD was fighting the battle. Things that seemed impossible have been overcome. The list is more numerous than the army that Gideon’s sword through into panic. I have found that it’s a matter of being obedient to God’s word, no matter what my eyes see. HE has a plan and that plan is victory. HIS track record is perfect. Every battle HE has set out to win has been won. So I want to ask you a question. What does your life look like right now? Are you up against something that looks impossible? Is what you have shrinking when you think it should be growing? Can I tell you something? GOD is about to move in your life. HE is putting all the pieces in place for HIS glory to be seen. When we overcome what is impossible for us, it can only be HIM that brought us through it. HE wants our confidence in HIM not in ourselves. Look back at the first few verses from today’s scripture. HE tells Gideon, “You have to many men, they will think they did this by their own hand and its simply not about them. This is being done for “MY GLORY” not anyone else.” We have to know who is fighting our battles. We have to know the battle belongs to the LORD. We have to know that HE has given us victory. We have to fight from victory not for it. Yes the methods may seem unconventional, and we may seem crazy
Prayer:
Father, we know who you are, and we trust in what you say. As you place the right people in the right position for us to head into battle. We know that even though it may look odd to us you see what we don’t, and what is going on is for your glory, not ours. We thank you for choosing us for this moment and pray that our obedience to what you have called us to will bring you glory. This life is not about us. Its about your kingdom. The battles we face are not our they belong to you. The word impossible does not apply when it comes to your ability to gain victory. So we do not place our confidence in us and what we can do we but in you and what your word says about who you are. We know its impossible to please you without faith. So we stand here knowing that victory is ours because you said so. Its in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen.