The history of Gideon is of much practical importance, for the history of his revival is applicable to the present circumstances of the church.
“The children of Israel,” we read, “did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years” (Judg. 6:11And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. (Judges 6:1)). In reality, the Midianites were only the rod which Jehovah used to punish His people. But Jehovah heard their cry. The Lord first sent a prophet who testified of their sin, and then He raised up the instrument for their deliverance.
“Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites” (vs. 11). Nothing could have been more abject than the condition of Gideon—stealthily threshing wheat (for fear of the Midianites) to feed his family! But God’s mightiest victories have ever been won by such, and not by those who had resources in themselves.
“The Lord Is With Thee”
“The angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor” (vs. 12). Stealthily threshing wheat did not look like valor. But God’s “mighty” men have ever been distrustful of their own strength and wisdom in coping with the enemy; they were men who “out of weakness were made strong.” “No flesh” shall glory in His presence; He takes “the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” Gideon has a deep sense of the condition of Israel upon his soul, and the Lord says, “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?”
But now Gideon says, “Wherewith shall I save Israel?” His threshing instrument would have been a poor thing with which to go against the host of Midian. God must be the strength, not Gideon. We can almost always trace our failures to self-confidence. When a believer thinks that he is going to do a feat, his failure often becomes obvious. God must abase that which is proud and lifted up.
A Sign
Gideon then asks a sign: “He said unto Him, If now I have found grace in Thy sight, then show me a sign that Thou talkest with me.” There is feebleness here; he ought not to have needed a sign; still, all he really cares for is having the Lord with him. When Gideon’s heart is reassured, he builds an altar there unto the Lord and calls it “Jehovah-shalom” (vs. 24). Now he is prepared for service.
But we must “cease to do evil” before we “learn to do well.” Obedience to God is the saint’s rule and liberty. Gideon must first pull down the altar of Baal, and the Lord gives strength to do it. “Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night” (vs. 27). And what is the consequence? Immediate opposition.
The action of faith always excites the flesh. Israel knew not where their strength was; they thought it was in Baal. Gideon had learned it to be in God.
The Enemy
But now the enemy is alarmed, and up come Midianites and Amalekites. “Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel” (vs. 33). Here is Gideon with his own people against him and the enemies of Israel gathered together and pitching in Jezreel. But he has peace with God; how does he act? “The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him” (vs. 34). Had Gideon been serving Baal, he could not have blown that trumpet. But Baal is down, and the altar of God is set up in the ordered place. He sends messengers throughout all Manasseh, who are also gathered unto him, and to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali.
The Fearful
But Gideon still has a further lesson to learn. “The Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, mine own hand hath saved me” (Judg. 7:22And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. (Judges 7:2)). At once he has to get rid of a great number of them. To all appearances, Gideon was weakening his own hands. At the first proclamation 22,000 left him, but in reality, instead of losing strength, he was gaining by their departure. These fearful and fainthearted ones would have discouraged the rest had they remained among them.
The Water Test
“The Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go” (vs. 4).
There is such a thing as the trial of our faith, and while we would be quite unable to test one another, God knows the best way of testing each. “So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, 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 knee to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place” (vss. 5-7).
These who were sent home were really not afraid. The test was this: whether they would lap the water, putting the hand to the mouth, or bow down and drink at their ease. The 300 chosen ones had not time for halting; their hearts were in their work, and they merely took a drink as they went on their way. Paul speaks of being entangled “with the affairs of this life” (2 Tim. 2:44No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. (2 Timothy 2:4)); all that we can safely take, if we would “please Him who hath chosen” us to be soldiers, is just a drink by the way. There is a very great difference between being in the circumstances of this life and being entangled with them. When tested by the Lord, those who bowed down were not fit for His use any more than the fainthearted; they must go to their homes.
A Cake of Barley Bread
Gideon is next shown his enemies. “It came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand” (vs. 9). And mark further how graciously the Lord anticipated the need of His servant in adding, “If thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host” (vs. 10). The result of this visit was that anything of pride and self-importance must have been sorely wounded. When God will show His favored servant that he shall smite the Midianites as one man, He makes him feel that (in himself) he is but a “cake of barley bread.” Surely, were Christians stripped of their worldliness and made more like the “cake of barley bread,” the world would stand more in fear of them.
Trumpet, Pitchers and Lamps
And now comes the conflict: “He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he said...when I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon” (Judg. 7:16-1816And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 17And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 18When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. (Judges 7:16‑18)). The weapons of their warfare were the most foolish things imaginable—trumpets, pitchers and lamps in the pitchers! Our power is in giving testimony to Jesus, and never getting out of the place of being but “earthen vessels.” We must remember that the vessel only contains the light; the excellency of the power must be of God, not of us.
“Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them” (Judg. 8:44And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them. (Judges 8:4)). What three little words could be more blessedly descriptive of the Christian than these? Not “faint” and sitting down, not “faint” and giving up, but “faint, yet pursuing.” We have to do with Him who “giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength” (Isa. 40:2929He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. (Isaiah 40:29)). It is a blessed use to make of our faintness and weariness—that of drawing out the fullness of the supply of grace and strength in Christ.
It is very painful to feel day after day our own weakness. What we need is to live day by day in reliance on God. He is faithful and will supply strength according to the occasion and need. The church will not be at rest till the Lord comes. But weakness ought to be no hindrance to our going forward—“faint, yet pursuing.”
Christian Truth (adapted)