LOOK at the picture and see what a strange thing this little girl is doing. She is down on her knees, and, with her face almost to the floor, is lapping out of the cat’s dish. Her little companion, with dolly under her arm, is looking on, evidently quite amused—and well she might be. Even Puss seems to regard the scene with wonder.
It is not often that people are seen lapping as cats and dogs lap, but there was a time when three hundred men lapped water like a dog; and this event proved to be a very momentous one in their lives. Shall I tell you a little about it? Gideon was about to lead the children of Israel out in warfare against their enemies who had come into the land and had pitched their tents in one of their valleys; but his army, which numbered 32,000 men, was too large; for the Lord had told him if he would gain the victory with so many men, he would be ready to say, “Mine own hand hath saved me.” It was the Lord who was going to fight the battle for Israel, and He did not wish them to have so many men that they could boast that they had saved themselves from the hand of the enemy. So, He commanded Gideon to tell the warriors that all who were timid and fearful should turn back. When they heard this message, 22,000 men returned, and only 10,000 remained with Gideon.
But the Lord told Gideon there were yet too many men with him. He then gave him a very strange test by which to divide them again. He told him to take the people down to the water, and He would try them there. When Gideon took them down to the stream, the Lord said: “Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise, every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.”
When they were thus tested, the number of those that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men. All the rest bowed down upon their knees to drink water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you.” Only three hundred men, and the enemy who had come against them were so many that they lay along the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and they had so many camels they could not be numbered! What could three hundred men do against such an army! Let us remember that it was God who was going to fight the battle for them, and with Him it makes no difference, whether there be few or many.
And how did the battle proceed? Let me tell you how Gideon equipped his men; he put a trumpet in one hand, and a pitcher with a lamp in it in the other. Perhaps you are ready to exclaim, “What a strange band of warriors!” And surely it would seem so.
Gideon then divided his men into three companies of a hundred each, and in the silent watches of the night they marched out to the enemy’s camp, the three companies being stationed in three different places. When the right moment had come, Gideon blew his trumpet and broke his pitcher, and the hundred men with him did the same; the two companies who were some distance away, then also blew their trumpets and broke their pitchers, and all shouted, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.”
The sudden noise of trumpets and shouting from various quarters, and three hundred lights gleaming out in a moment in the darkness, startled their enemies, the Midianites, throwing them into a panic, so that they began to cut one another down with their swords, not knowing, in the confusion and fright, what they were doing; then all the mighty host of warriors fled, and Israel pursued after them. Thus God gave to a little handful of men a wonderful victory.
Now, dear children, you who believe in the Lord Jesus, have a warfare to accomplish against an enemy that is more powerful than all the host of Midian, and you cannot fight the battle alone. You need to have on the whole “armor of God” to meet this dreadful foe. If you would have your light shine out in the face of the enemy, you must be broken, like the pitchers that Gideon’s men held in their hands. God will do this breaking perhaps through trials and sorrows, for He wants the light to shine out, but it will be done gently, graciously, not putting upon you more than you can bear.
Which of the three classes are you like—the faint-hearted ones who turned back; or the 9,700 who pressed on, but who got down on their knees to drink when they came to the stream; or the 300 that did not even take time to bow down to drink, but hastily caught up the water in their hands and lapped it like a dog—which? May you all be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, and press on through dangers and difficulties to serve Him. Soon a great victory will be yours, and you will share the triumphs with Jesus, for through Him you will be made more than conquerors.
ML 03/05/1916