The Sword of the Lord
“And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.” Judges 7:15
The Midianites were enemies of Israel who planned to attack Israel’s army. Gideon had been selected by God to take charge of Israel’s army, but He had whittled the fighting men down to three hundred. Midian had 100,000 soldiers. How could this ever be a fair fight? It wasn’t even going to be a fight because God had already promised victory to Gideon and to Israel. God told Gideon to take his servant Phurah and quietly go down to the Midianite camp and eavesdrop. They obeyed and overheard one of the Midianite soldiers tell another of a dream that he had. In the dream a loaf of barley bread tumbled down a hill into their camp, rolled over a tent and completely destroyed it. The other soldier interpreted the dream which indicated that Midian would be defeated by Israel. Apparently the two soldiers did not take the dream seriously because they did not warn the camp.
Gideon was greatly encouraged by this prophecy and could not contain his joy in knowing that indeed God had everything under control, and His plan was working exactly as it should. Gideon began to worship God quietly so as not to alert the enemy. We don’t always need to make a big, noisy show of worship to worship. Yes, we do sing out praises, lifting hands toward heaven, being very obvious in our worship, but sometimes our worship appears in a more subtle and quiet form. Worship, whether loud and boisterous or silently, deep within our souls, reflects attention and devotion to our great God. The manner of worship is not as important as the sincerity of it. Worship is giving God praise and honor for who He is and for His marvelous works, the praise of which He and only He deserves. Worship becomes just as much a part of life as eating or sleeping when we keep our minds “stayed on the Lord”(Isaiah 26:3).
After his time of worship, Gideon returned to Israel’s camp, awakening his 300 men and encouraging them by telling them of the victory that God would bring to Israel. Even if some of these men had their doubts, considering the odds of 300 men defeating 100,000 men, they were the best of the best, and it was their duty to follow the orders of Gideon. He divided the men into three groups of 100 each and gave each man a trumpet and a pitcher which contained a lamp. Now we might wonder where Gideon got all of these trumpets, pitchers, and lamps, but He who created the world from nothing could certainly provide a few items in order to keep His promise of victory. I would like to have seen the look on the faces of these 300 men when Gideon gave them these non-weapon weapons. They probably thought, “What are we going to do with these?” Gideon told his men to watch him and copy exactly what he did. I am reminded of an orchestra who must keep their attention on the conductor so they can begin playing their instruments at precisely the right moment. The men were to wait until Gideon arrived just outside the camp of Midian.
Gideon’s instructions were simple. When he and the men with him blew their trumpets, the rest of the 300 were to blow theirs. After sounding such a call for victory, they were to call out the names of the victors. Picture this: over 100,000 Midianites sound asleep in their tents and all of a sudden, the loud and piercing sound of 300 trumpets ring out and the voices of the 300 shout, in unison, “The sword of the LORD and of Gideon”. It makes me think of a night when my alarm system malfunctioned, and the loud, piercing sound rang out, waking me from deep sleep, causing disorientation for a second and a fear that someone had broken into my home. Thus I can relate in a small way to how these Midianites must have felt–disoriented and afraid. They most likely thought they were surrounded by multitudes of Israel’s soldiers brandishing sharp, shiny swords. They may have heard about the courage of Gideon who tore down the altar of Baal and lived to tell about it.
With Gideon leading the way, he and his group of 100 men came to the edge of the camp just after guard change, perhaps about midnight. They immediately began to blow their trumpets and to break the pitchers which had been shielding the lanterns, exposing lights at the edge of the camp. The other two groups of 100 each did the same. All the Midianites could do was run for their lives. They became so confused and disoriented that they begin to turn on one another, stabbing and slashing their fellow Midianites without thinking. Those who escaped the swords of their comrades fled to nearby towns. This surprise attack by Gideon and his men was really not an attack. They took their posts, as God had ordained, with trumpets and lanterns, and God did all the rest. Thus, if God can defeat 100,000 of the enemy with 300 men carrying trumpets, pitchers, and lanterns, can He not take care of our problems? God desires that we obey Him and trust Him to always have our best interest at heart. He will not fail nor forsake us.