The Story of Gideon’s Conquest over the Midianites:
The story of Gideon is undoubtedly one that teaches us about the debilitating effects of fear and how to overcome it. (Read Judges 6 and 7) Gideon was a fearful man who was being heavily oppressed by the Midianites when the Lord appeared to him. When the Lord asked him to save Israel out of Midian’s hand, he asked how he could save Israel, his being the weakest clan in Manasseh and he being the least in his family. (vs.15) He asked for signs with the fleece twice until he was convinced that the Lord was indeed with him. Now came the real test of courage—having to fight 135,000 Midianites and Amalekites (Judges 8:10) who had joined forces against Israel. (vs. 7:1)
God would not allow the 32000 men that Gideon had gathered to fight the war. Through a series of tests, He eliminates them until there are only 300 men left. The night before the battle, God says to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” (Judges 7:9-11)
They go and overhear two men in the enemy’s camp speaking to each other. One man said he had seen a dream in which a round loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed. On hearing this, the other man said, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.” (vs. 14)
This statement greatly encourages Gideon and he worships God. Then he returns to the camp and gathers his men in three groups and gives them trumpets, and empty jars with torches in them. He asks them to blow their trumpets, break their jars and shout, “For the Lord and for Gideon.” (vs. 7:18) When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men to turn on each other with their swords and Gideon called out to the surrounding Israelite tribes to pursue the remaining Midianites and kill them. They have a tremendous victory and it was just as the LORD said, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”(vs. 6:16)
Observations
Gideon was afraid to attack his enemies. He had only 300 men while the enemy’s army had 135,000 men. According to Gideon, it was an impossible situation even when the Lord had assured him of His help. Gideon could not muster the courage to attack until he went into the enemy’s camp and overheard their conversation.
In the natural, nothing had changed. The rest of the 135,000 fighting men were not afraid and were sleeping soundly. Only two men out of the entire army were afraid to attack. This was not a significant improvement.
Then how did Gideon win the war?
The words he heard them speak changed Gideon’s outlook completely. It made him strong and courageous. When fear left him, instantly he became creative and resourceful. He came up with the strategy of using trumpets (sound), torches (light) and empty jars (total dependence on God).
God could now work with Gideon because he was not afraid anymore. He was filled with faith and trust in God which is the reason God confused the enemy camp. If Gideon had failed to take the first step to trust God and attack his enemies, the status quo would have continued and they would have lost the war. But we serve a God who knows the end from the beginning. He knew exactly how to get Gideon to have faith and believe for the impossible. With God, all things are possible.
So friends, if you are facing a perilous situation, ask God to strengthen your heart with scripture from His Word so that you can go and win your battles with God’s help. Nothing is impossible as we have seen countless times that God always helps those who depend on Him. He helped Joshua and David and Jehoshaphat—will He not help you? Let’s praise God for He is good! Yeah! Amen.