Midian’s defeat…another wonder of God!

Gideon’s summons of Israel’s warriors gathered 32,000 men…against 135,000 Midianites! It still reads rather odd when the Lord God says to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let you all fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to Me that they saved themselves by their own strength.”

God knows human nature. Even now, when we see God act and do wonders, we are tempted and succumb too often to taking credit in the flesh what God has done by His Spirit. Or, we think it is something rather special about us that God would work a wonder through us. We forget what Jesus stated, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” The works pf the Kingdom of God are done solely by the power of God, or they are not done at all.

So, God told Gideon to say, “Anyone who is timid or afraid, may leave and go home.” 22,000 men left right away, leaving only 10,000 Israelites to face 135,000 Midianites. God said that was still too many. There was a test given to decide who would remain and fight. At a springs edge, those who cupped the water in their hands and drank from their hands were to stay and those who put their mouths in the spring to drink directly from the water were sent home. That left Gideon with only 300 men!

The Lord said to Gideon (yes, Gideon heard the Lord’s voice as he would not have trusted just random thoughts in his own head) “Get up and go down to the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them.” God had already given Gideon the victory! “But,” said the Lord, “if you are afraid to attack (and he was) go down to the camo with your servant, Purah. Listen to what the Midianites are saying and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will eager to attack.”

The Midianite camp was described as a swarm of locusts covering the valley and their camels like the sand of the sea shore; too many to count. God had given a Midianite soldier a dream of their defeat. That dream was shared, and that dream produced the dread that God had given the Midianites and their allies over to Gideon and the Israelites.

Gideon bowed in worship to the Lord and rallied his 300 men to the battle. Each Israelite soldier had a blazing torch concealed under a clay vessel, a ram’s horn and their weapons. Gideon divided the men into three groups of 100 so as to seem to be surrounding the Midianites. At midnight (not the normal time to pitch a battle) all three groups smashed their clay jars, blew their ram’s horn trumpets and raised high their torches while shouting, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

The 300 men stood their ground and continued to blow their horns and the Lord caused such great confusion that the Midianites began to fight against each other in slaughter. Those who escaped were chased down as four other Israelite clans came down and descended on the defeated and fleeing Midianites and their allies. In Zechariah 4:6, God speaks, “It’s not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.”

Tens of thousands were undone by God through 300. Do you feel the odds are stacked against you? Are you simple following the Lord and because of that all hell is breaking loose around you? You are in good company. It has always been that way for those who belong to and follow Jesus Christ, walking in the Spirit. Even when the Cross looked to be Jesus’ total defeat and the demise of God’s purpose to the human eye, it was the very point of defeat for the devil and his minions. Read this!

Colossians 2:13-15 “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross.”

All through the Old Testament, God was showing that His salvation was assured for all who would but believe Him. It’s not in methods that can be standardized so that we thinks we can make things “operate”, but in simple obedience by trusting what God has said and acting like He told us the Truth…for He has!