Judges Chapter 7

This chapter records an incident which I’m sure many of us are familiar with.

This first part of this chapter describes how God reduced the number of people with Gideon. For the first reduction from 32,000 to 10,000, it was the people who chose whether they wanted to fight or return home (v3 – “Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart“). For the second reduction to 300 men, it was God who chose, using the criteria of those who lapped from the water with their tongue (v4-7).

Why would God want to reduce the number of people with Gideon? Verse 2 says it’s because God did not want Israel to claim glory for itself against God, thinking that it was their own hand which saved them. Interestingly, verse 12 emphasises how numerous the enemies of Israel were! They were ‘numerous as locusts‘, their camels were like ‘the sand by the seashore in multitude‘. So the situation was as such: 300 men alongside Gideon against the multitudes of the enemies. This seemed like an insurmountable task! If they somehow manage to be victorious, the Israelites can truly be certain that it was God, and God alone, who gave them the victory! Nevertheless, we know from Judges 8:22, 34 that they later did not acknowledge God as the source of their victory.

Does this feeling of facing an impossible task sound familiar? I’m sure all of us have felt that way before in our lives. We can’t help but ask ourselves, why has God put me in such a situation? Maybe He wants to keep us humble, lest we boast in our own might and forget our Lord (v2). Or maybe He is nudging us to turn to Him and place our faith in Him, that we might be able to experience Him working greatly in our lives!

With such an impossible task ahead, we can see God’s mercy towards Gideon, just like in the previous chapter. God knew Gideon’s personality, that he was timid. So God assured him, saying that He has already delivered the camp into his hand (v9). This reminds me of how God on multiple occasions in the Book of Joshua told the people that He has already given the enemies into their hands. God even goes on to give Gideon a choice! If he was afraid, he could go down to the camp with his servant and will be strengthened by what he hears (v10-11). True enough, in verses 13 and 14 we see God working as Gideon overhears a conversation in which an enemy proclaims that into Gideon’s hand, God has delivered the Midianites!

Perhaps today we too are a little timid or afraid to join in the battle of the Lord. However, we can take comfort in the fact that though we may be timid, God can still see the sincerity in us and will help to strengthen us! But let us do better than Gideon. The promise of God in verse 9 was not enough for him – after he heard the enemy repeat the words of God (v14), only then did Gideon have complete faith! We know that God is true and faithful. So when God promises that He has delivered our enemies into our hand, we ought to already have complete faith in Him!

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Num 23:19 (ESV)

As promised by the Lord, God fought for the Israelites – verse 22 mentions how “the LORD set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp”. The faith of those who remained with Gideon is really admirable. They were going up against a numerous people who had swords, while they themselves had no weapons – just a trumpet and a pitcher which contained a torch! Yet by faith, they blew their trumpets and shouted “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” God was their sword and only because of God, were they able to achieve this seemingly impossible task of being victorious over their enemies who greatly outnumbered them!

Today we may face similar situations too as we fight for the Lord. The task before us seems impossible – we feel so small and inadequate. Perhaps we’re still struggling to overcome our weaknesses and sins; perhaps our church work seems to be making little progress; perhaps we’re losing hope that our unbelieving family members will one day believe. 

Regardless, let us continue to have faith that the battle is the Lord’s! He has already promised that we will be victorious. The question is, are we willing to continue fighting alongside our Lord?

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