Victory Against Overwhelming Odds

Gideon had started with thirty two thousand men, but when he followed the law and sent home all who were afraid, only ten thousand stayed.  God then separated them, keeping only three hundred for the army to face a Midianite force of more than a hundred thirty five thousand.  Even knowing God had promised victory, Gideon must have had serious qualms about the upcoming fight. 

 

To settle those qualms, God sent Gideon down to listen to the Midianite soldiers, in Judges 7:9-11a.  “And 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.  But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host.

 

Judges 7:11b-14 describes what he overheard.  “Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.  And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.  And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.  And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.”

 

It was obvious the Midianites were psyched out and convinced Israel was going to win.  Excited by what he heard, Gideon returned to his army and laid out his strategy, in Judges 7:15-18.  “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.  And 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 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.  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.”

 

Gideon’s strategy was to give the illusion of a much larger force carrying out a surprise attack in the middle of the night.  Occurring just after they had changed the guard, before they could get settled in only made the Midianites seem less prepared.  The strategy worked even better than expected, as Judges 7:19-22 describes.  “So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.  And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.  And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.  And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.”

 

Already expecting to be defeated, the surprise attack completely demoralized the Midianites.  Unable to see who was there, they attacked anyone who got close, killing their own people, while the Israelites stayed up on the hillside blowing the trumpets and shouting.  Panicked, the Midianites fled to the various crossings of the Jordan in hopes of escaping Gideon’s forces.  Hearing them fleeing, the local Israelites came out in force to attack them, and Gideon sent messengers to the tribe of Ephraim to try to cut them off at the main crossing, as Judges 7:23-25 describes.  “And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.  And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.  And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.”

 

The tribe of Ephraim was able to cut off a lot of the Midianites, capturing the main two generals on the west side of Jordan before meeting Gideon and his three hundred men.  They blamed Gideon for not getting them involved at the first, in Judges 8:1, not understanding he was following what God had commanded.  It would have been far harder to carry out the surprise attack with a larger force, and they would not have been able to attack the flanks of the fleeing Midianites as effectively.   

 

When they accused him, Gideon pointed out that the Ephraimites had actually killed more Midianites than the three hundred had, and that they had killed the two main generals.  They were mollified by his statements, as Judges 8:1-3 explains.   “And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.  And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?  God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.”

 

Like the men of Ephraim, many Christians do not realize we are not in competition with other Christians.  As a result they get upset and jealous of other people’s successes.  We must not allow their jealousy to stop us from doing the Job God gave us.