Winning An Impossible Victory

After forty years of peace, Israel had gotten the idea they had things under control and forgot that God is the one in control.  They turned away from God and he caused the Midianites to invade their land.  When they prayed for help, god sent Gideon to help them.  Before they went into battle, God reduced their army from thirty two thousand men to just three hundred because he wanted them to understand it was not their power but his that kept them safe. 

They were vastly outnumbered, and God knew that even Gideon might hesitate to attack so he sent him down to spy on the Midianites to reassure him, in Judges 7:9-12.  “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. 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.”

When he came down to the Midianite and Amalekite camps, Gideon couldn’t even make a good guess as to how many they had and it would have been impossible to count all the livestock they had brought to wipe out the Israelite crops, but when Gideon listened he realized they were more afraid of him and his army than he was of them, in Judges 7:13-14.  “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.”

Realizing the Midianites were terrified, believing they were going to be defeated, Gideon’s confidence was greatly strengthened.  He would use that fear as a part of his strategy, as we see 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.”

A trumpet was only necessary when a commander had so many men that they could not all hear his voice at one time,  The sound of three hundred trumpets surrounding them would imply they were being attacked by a huge force.  In a night attack, only the company commanders would dare show a light so three hundred lamps around them would heighten the impression of being attacked by a huge force, and the shouting would sound like officers giving commands.  The strategy worked like a charm, as Judges 7:19-22 tells us.  “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.”

Caught completely off guard, the Midianites and Amalekites panicked and fled.  Terror stricken and unable to see they unintentionally killed thousands of their own people.  The Israelites stayed up on the hills around them, blowing their trumpets and adding to the confusion.  Hearing the commotion, many of the Israelites who lived in the region attacked the Midianites as they fled, and Gideon sent messengers ahead for the people in Ephraim to attack them while they were crossing the Jordan River, according to Judges 7:23-25.  “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 Ephraimites captured and killed two of the main leaders of the Midianites, and brought their heads to Gideon, but they blamed him for not calling them to the battle earlier so they could have played a bigger role and gotten more spoil, as we see in Judges 8:1-3.  “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.” 

Gideon pointed out that they had actually killed more of the Midianites and Amalekites than he and his army had killed.  Mollified by his statements, they didn’t cause any more trouble, never understanding God’s working.  Years later, when they did the same thing to Jephthah, he didn’t attempt to placate them and forty two thousand were killed, in Judges 12.  Had God not caused the Midianites to panic, there is no possible way Israel could have defeated them, even with the Ephramites to help them.