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Gideon and His Army
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We have seen that our dilemma started with Adam, but God did not give up on his
plan to create man in His image. Abraham discovered that by his faith in God,
and above all by God’s faithfulness, a substitute sacrifice would be offered.
Abraham had a vision of a city of God that would be eternal. Man would be part
of it, but what would qualify man to participate in it? God knew that
sacrificial offerings were vital to this acceptance of man by God. But there was
much more to be learned. What would change man on the inside so that he could be
viewed by God as without sin? This may not have been a question that Abraham
faced, but it is certainly one that we face.
It might be argued that the Law, delivered to Moses on the mountain, would
provide the answer to man’s acceptance. The Law is perfect and it reveals the
very nature of God. But it gives no power to live the Christian life. And it
came 430 years after God’s covenant with Abraham; it did not invalidate a
covenant previously ratified by God. God’s covenant was one of faith, and it has
been and always will be by faith. After telling Abraham that his descendants
will number as the stars in the heavens, God records the following in His word:
Then he (Abraham) believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as
righteousness (Genesis 15:6).
Strange Weapons
We have seen God working with Abraham and Sarah to give a miraculous birth and
an even more miraculous substitute sacrifice. We have seen how God used an army
under Joshua to do strange things with trumpets and shouts. We now need to see
God’s life-changing weapons of spiritual warfare in the life of Gideon as he
prepares to battle against the Midianites. In doing so, we will begin to
discover the life principle where God dwells inside earthen vessels.
And he divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put trumpets and
empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers.
Judges 7:16
Gideon wanted to obey the Lord. The Midianites were as numerous as locusts, and
their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore
(Judges 7:12). In his mind the battle was already won when the Lord told him,
“Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands” (Judges
7:9). Gideon’s response was one of faith, “Arise, for the Lord has given the
camp of Midian into your hands” (Judges 7:15).
We recall that Gideon had started with 32,000 men (Judges 7:3). The Lord has
allowed 22,000 men, who were afraid and trembling, to go home. Even the 10,000
remaining
were too many. To see who among them were ready they were sent to the river to
drink. Only those who used their hand to bring water to their mouth, 300 in
number, were acceptable. Those who put their face in the water and lapped like a
dog were counted among those not worthy. We are to take heed from this; the Lord
will always use those who are "at the ready”. We are to be people who are aware
of the surrounding circumstances and who can see the issues that test our
Christian beliefs. Less than one percent of the available soldiers were
acceptable for Gideon.
My friends, are you among the one percent? It is miraculous how the Lord can use
a small number of willing and faithful workers to accomplish what a large,
distracted, worldly-minded army can not.
God tells Gideon that if he is afraid he may go down to the camp of the enemy
and hear what they are saying. Gideon walks to the camp with a servant and
overhears a man relating a dream about a loaf of barley bread tumbling into the
camp of Midian. This was a sign of the victory to come, and Gideon worshipped
the Lord (Judges 7:10-15).
Gideon and his men carried a secret weapon--the torch inside the vessel. As they
faced overwhelming odds, they knew that God was with them. Can you imagine the
noise as the trumpets were sounded and the vessels were suddenly broken to
reveal the light of the torches? My mind cannot comprehend how a torch can
maintain a flame while it is inside a closed vessel. But God knows how to do
this, and we see no record that any time was spent lighting the torches after
the vessels were broken.
--and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their
hands. When 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 cried, “a sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” and each stood in his
place around the camp, and all the army ran, crying our as they fled ( Judges
7:19b-21).
Yes, God also knows that our faith will lead to action on our part—in this case
the breaking of the vessel and the sounding of the trumpet. Unless the vessel is
broken the light will not shine. This principle applies as well to our own
lives. Our “vessel”, when broken (submitted to God), will allow the treasure to
shine forth.
In this episode we also see the pattern provided for our Christian life that is
revealed in the Epistle to the Ephesians. It is there that we see the three-step
call to see our position with the Lord, to subsequently walk with Him, and
finally to take a stand against the enemy. Gideon did likewise as he listened to
the Lord, as he then walked to the camp of the enemy, and as he stood in place
with his army to blow the trumpets and to break the pitchers.
Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peckmeasure, but on the
lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine
before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:15-16).
Gideon’s army of 300 conquered the Midianites in an overwhelming way. When God
asks us to fulfill an assignment, no matter that it may be overwhelming by human
standards, He will provide all the resources—even if they look strange to our
worldly eyes.
We can have a light too.
God wants to put a light inside our bodies. He has already done it through
Christ.
For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has
shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the
surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. 2
Corinthians 4: 6-7.
Often we think that the resources of God are not right for the situation. Can we
be like Gideon, when told to use pitchers and torches to face an overwhelming
army? We are always asked to trust and believe in Christ for His deliverance.
Our resources will not measure up without His blessing. Let Him chose the
weapons for the battle.
When we accept Jesus as our savior, the very "light of the world" comes to dwell
inside us. Although the earthen vessel is weak by nature, it serves His purpose
as it is broken so the light will shine through the weakness and the brokenness.
This is the Christian life, the treasure within. We become a new creation that
is totally acceptable to God. The worthiness of Christ becomes our merit—we are
no longer children of Adam. We are set free to be ambassadors for Christ. (2
Corinthians 5:17-20).
We encounter these great truths in 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, as we face the
world today:
--We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not
despairing. (verse 8). This is all due to the treasure within that sustains us.
That treasure is the very nature of God—in the form of the Holy Spirit.
--We are persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. (verse
9).
--We are always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of
Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (verse10).
We are now seeing another revelation of the mystery, but from the advantage of
the complete Scripture before us. What did Gideon truly believe? It would seem
that he saw the most important point--trust in God to accomplish His purposes
through us. Like Gideon, we can count on God to see us through any
circumstance—in fact He is right there with us. He alone will put the necessary
life inside us to win the prize of the upward call to Christ, if we would only
believe.
Additional Reading
Galatians 2:21; 3:17
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