Judges 7:15-25.  As you read this you probably think Gideon finally got it, and he did, sort of.  As we saw in yesterday’s blog he is listed in Hebrews as an example of faith, so he definitely has to get credit for that.  But when I read this it seemed a little sad to me that he had to see the enemies fear before he would believe.  After all of the signs, it still took hearing the dream for him to believe.  Now no doubt he stepped out in faith, way out.  Who would go up against a force that was too big to count (and clearly they could count pretty high since we know the Israelites started out with 30,000 troops) with only 300 men unless it was an act of faith.  So Gideon and his 300 men surround the enemy camp in the middle of the night and caused a great deal of confusion.  It’s kind of funny that they are holding torches in one hand and ram’s horns (the trumpets were made out of ram’s horns) in the other and were yelling, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.”  The enemy had no idea and in the confusion started fighting with each other and running.  This victory so far has clearly been from God.

At this point Gideon seems to start losing sight of God though.  He calls back all of the troops which God sent home to join in pursuing the enemy.  Some of these men are identified as Abiezerites and men from the tribe of Manasseh (Judges 6:34-35).  Abiezer was actually a part of Manasseh so that part of the army that came to fight with Gideon originally was all from his tribe (See “The Twelve?” for more on the tribes of Israel).  He also called men from Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali.  These were three of the tribes to the north of Manasseh.  The invading troops had been camped between Manasseh and them.  Now with his original army reassembled  Gideon calls into the battle men from the tribe of Ephraim.  The battle which had been the Lord’s is now taken over by Gideon.  I guess all of that talk of a “sword for the Lord and Gideon” started to go to his head.  No more throwing skins on the ground looking for a sign, just do what I want.  He evidently forgot that he was just a loaf of bread (Judges 7:13-14) that God was using   Later in the story we will see that Gideon’s focus on himself more clearly.  It’s like that for us too.  We have trouble in our lives and we beg and plead with God.  “Please God help me with that girl or guy or my friend, or my parents, or my brother or sister”.  “God give me a sign”.   Then when things turn around we just cruise along and don’t bother asking.  We just do things our own way.

Lord I don’t like it when trouble comes into my life.  I know you told us to consider it joyful when we have troubles because troubles cause us to grow spiritually (James 1:2-3).  I would rather just stay in touch and faithful with out the trials.  But I know I don’t and won’t.  God help me remember to keep in touch during the times of quiet, when things are going good.  Thank you for loving me and being faithful when I can be such a bad friend.  I really do love you God.

Judges 6:36-7:14.  Pretty interesting story.  So all the guys have come out to help Gideon fight the Midianites and their allies.  But Gideon is not done being afraid.  Everyone is waiting and Gideon asks God for a sign, just to be sure.  This echos back to the very beginning of of the story in Judges 6:17.  So God gives Gideon a sign.  Gideon lays out a sheep skin with all it’s hair on it on the ground.  It sits our all night and in the morning it’s loaded with water but the ground around is dry.  Gideon obviously doesn’t want to go to battle so he does it again, this time in reverse and God does the reverse sign.  It’s totally obvious that God wants Gideon to go, there’s no getting out of it.  But wait there’s more.  God tells Gideon to send everyone home that’s afraid.  I wonder if Gideon thought, “Does that include me?  Do I get to go home too?”  Out of 32,000 soldiers 22,000 leave.  I’m sure that didn’t make Gideon feel more secure.  Still too many remained so God tells Gideon to give every body a water break.  This time the people are divided based on how they get a drink.  Gideon winds up with 300 soldiers.  A lot of people make a big deal about how they drink.  They say that the ones who knelt down were not showing that they were ready for battle and that the ones who scooped water up to their mouths were.  But verse 2 shows that the God is not making the army smaller but stronger, He is making it smaller and weaker.  God wants the odds to be truly impossible.  God wants it to be clear that there was no way Gideon could win this on his own.  I’m sure that made Gideon feel all warm and fuzzy about this battle especially when he saw that the opposing troops were “like locusts”.  This echos back even further in the story to the original description of the Midianites and their allies in Judges 6:5.

It’s clear that Gideon is still afraid because God tells him to go eavesdrop on the Midianites and if he is afraid to take his servant with him.  So Gideon takes his servant.  Gideon goes down and listens to a conversation between two of the opposing soldiers.  It’s about a dream one of them had where their army is beaten by a loaf of bread.  The other soldier identifies Gideon as the loaf of bread. Wow, how would you like to be compared to a loaf of bread.  The story started out with Gideon hiding in a wine press beating out grain to make bread now the bread is going to beat the invaders, kind of funny.  God not only is powerful but he can be funny too.  Tomorrow we will see what Gideon thought of being compared to a loaf of bread.  I’m sure at first I would not like it but you know bread was pretty important in those days, it was the main thing to eat, it was provision.  Gideon was what God was providing to feed His people spiritually.  But Gideon was just a scared little lump of dough with a few soldiers.  Remember Judges 7:2 though, this is about God’s power not Gideon’s.  And God clearly has the power.  Look at the signs so far, the fire and the two skins.  But Gideon still had to believe and respond.  Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that it is by faith that we have hope in what God has promised and are convinced He will do what He has said.  That chapter lists several Old Testament people who were examples of faith.  Hebrews 11:32-35 lists Gideon as one of those examples of faith and it also lists what those people of faith did.  Tomorrow we will see what Gideon and God did in this story.

God, thank you that you include us in your story.  Thank you for using us even though we are weak and afraid.  It’s not really about us it’s about you.  God show me your plan for me.  Help me be faithful today.  Let me do whatever it is you want me to do even if it seems impossible.  Help me remember the signs you have given me because I too, like Gideon, am weak and need to see.  Thank you for your love and patience.  Lord I am weak but you are strong.  Help me Jesus carry on.  Daily walking by your side.  Let it be dear Lord, let it be.