Judges 7 - Big Battle, Little Faith

Last time, we started hearing about Gideon and his unlikely entry into the Faith Hall of Fame. Gideon was visited by an angel, but he really didn’t want to believe God was calling him at first. But when the angel made it clear his message was from God (with a fancy fire show no less), Gideon believed. He did what God asked, tearing down a pole and statue the people used to worship false gods.

The reason Gideon probably didn’t want to listen to the angel at first was because he was afraid. The Midianites, the people ruling over Israel at the time, were a strong and mean bunch. They would destroy fields and ruin people’s lives for the fun of it, hoping the Israelites would be too scared to fight back.

Now Gideon was able to put his faith before his fear and rip down those false idols. But it seems the Midianites didn’t like Gideon’s little act of rebellion. They started gathering their troops and camped just outside of Israel’s territory, probably hoping to put down Gideon and any courage he inspired once and for all!

God hadn’t abandoned His people, though. He gave Gideon the courage to keep fighting. The Bible tells us Gideon blew trumpets and rallied people from all over Israel to his cause. For days, people came pouring into the camp, ready to fight back against the Midianites.

Well, actually, not everyone was as ready to fight as you think. And Gideon most of all. There’s this super cool story involving some sheep wool about how God convinced Gideon that He really did want Gideon to lead this army. We don’t have time to talk about that today, but look up Judges 6:36-40 when you have a chance. Or do it right now. Go ahead, I’ll wait…

Anyways, after the wool thing, Gideon was ready to fight. At least, kind of. He saw this huge army of 32, 000 people and thought, We might actually be able to pull this off! We might actually be able to defeat the Midianites!!!

But just as he was thinking this, Gideon heard God speak to him. And what God said… Well, reading about it, I think it’s amazing. But if I had been Gideon, I’m pretty sure my shoulder’s would have fell, I would’ve shut my eyes, and I would’ve started running my hands through my hair. Because what God had to say was about to complicate things.

“I want to hand Midian over to you,” God began. This was stuff Gideon knew, and he was happy about that. But then God continued, “But you have too many men for me to do that. Then Israel might brag, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ So here is what I want you to announce to the army. Tell them, ‘Those who tremble with fear can turn back. They can leave now’” (Judges 7:2-3, NIrV).

I don’t know about you, but if I were a general about to lead soldiers into battle, the last thing I would want to hear is that my army was about to shrink. I would want all the soldiers I could get.

But God had a point. Israel had a history of thinking they knew better than God or of taking credit for things that God did. So God wanted them to know that this time, this was all Him. When Midian was defeated – and you can be sure Midian would be defeated with God on the Israelites’ side – God wanted His people to know that He had been the one to save them, not their own fighting skill.

So, a shocked and confused Gideon stood up before his army. The soldiers, already kind of nervous, were probably expecting him to give some epic speech that pumped them all up. But he didn’t. Gideon just looked out over the crowd, took a deep breathe, and said something like, “Look, I know the Midianites are a scary bunch. So anyone who wants to go home can.”

And what Gideon was afraid would happen happened. A few soldiers turned around, heaved a sigh of relief, and started going home. And then a few more. And then more. And more. And soon, whole chunks of the army were putting down their weapons and going home.

This kept happening until 22,000 people – 22,000! – left. Gideon probably expected to lose a few hundred or something, but not over half his army! If he hadn’t been scared before, you can bet he was scared now!

But then God spoke to Gideon again, “Well done, Gideon, but the army is still too big…” And as God kept talking, Gideon got more and more worried. But Gideon had seen God work before. He was still super unsure how this was all going to turn out, but he trusted God with the little faith he had.

So he called out to the remaining 10,000 men, hoping his voice didn’t squeak too much out of fear, “We have a stop to make before we go to fight. To the lake!”

The soldier’s probably looked at each other all confused. This was the weirdest training program they had ever seen. Shouldn’t they be out running drills or learning how to use their weapons? Remember, not all of these people were soldiers. A lot of them were farmers or tradespeople who had come when Gideon called.

But now they were off to a lake. And Gideon told everyone to take a drink of water. As each man approached the lake, they noticed Gideon was watching closely. Most of them got down on their knees and cupped some water to their mouth to drink. But a few people – 300 to be exact – got down and drank kind of like dogs do. They lapped it up with their tongues.

When everyone had finished, Gideon called out, “Every man who cupped the water to their face is to go home. Those of you who lapped up the water…” Gideon paused, looking slightly uncertain himself, “We have a battle to fight.”

I’m sure at that point the camp exploded into an uproar. Remember, these are the people who had wanted to stay. These are the people who wanted to fight for their home, even if they weren’t sure what they were doing. But now Gideon had sent almost the entire Israelite army away! How were 300 people supposed to beat thousands upon thousands of Midianites?

I’m sure that question was going through Gideon’s head all day. His faith must have been pretty shaken after walking away from the lake with 300 people. So, to help Gideon out, God sent him to spy on the Midianite camp for a bit. While there, Gideon overheard some guys talking about a dream one of them had. This dream had the Midianite soldier convinced the Israelites were going to win!

This was a major confidence boost for Gideon. And I think that’s what I find so amazing about this story. Gideon doubted every chance he got, but God was still willing to use him and comfort him. And while I have a hard time understanding why God would include a doubter like Gideon in His Faith Hall of Fame, I wonder if it’s because Gideon continued to have faith, however small, that God would do something big to save the Israelites.

But back to our story. Late that night, Gideon began the plan God had given him. He divided the army into three groups and surrounded the Midianite camp. He gave each camp some trumpets and a jar with a torch inside.

Then Gideon told the army, “When my group starts blowing our trumpets, you do the same. And then you smash your jars and hold your torches high. Then run towards the Midianite camp with all your might, shouting, “For the LORD and for Gideon!!!”

And that’s exactly what they did. The Midianites had just finished changing their guards for the night when they heard trumpets surrounding them. They heard the sounds of things breaking, making it seem like thousands of people were on the move, and suddenly lights appeared all around them. They heard yelling and screaming form all sides. And the Midianites started freaking out.

The Midianites had no idea what was happening. The noise and the lights made them think there were a lot more Israelite soldiers than their really were. In the middle of it all, God caused the Midianites to grow even more confused, and soon they were fighting each other instead of the Israelites. Soon, the Midianites couldn’t handle it anymore. They were terrified, and the entire army took off running.

This made it way easier for Gideon and his small army to take on the Midianites. They defeated some, while others got away. But what matters is that Gideon and his little army of 300 defeated this massive army of Midianites.

The small army size was the whole point. Israel could never say, “Man, remember that time that massive army of ours took out the Midianites? How awesome are we?!?” No, they couldn’t say that because there was no massive army. 300 people shouldn’t have been able to defeat thousands of Midianite soldiers, but they did because of God. He made the odds impossible, He came up with the strategy, and He gave the Israelites a huge victory.

But all this started because one man had a little faith. Gideon was never confident. He was scared out of his mind, and even as the battle started, I’m sure Gideon was sitting there wondering if he’d made a terrible mistake. But He trusted God, and the result is something incredible.

You see guys, Big things happen with just a little faith in God. Jesus talks about that too. He says in Matthew 17:20 that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed – which is the teeniest, tiniest little seed – we’ll be able to move mountains.

Now it’s a little more complicated than that. We can’t just go around saying, “I believe God will make a million dollars will fall from the sky” and it’ll happen. We’re supposed to have faith in who God is and what He wants us to do. And when we do that – when we have even the teeniest, tiniest bit of faith that God will work in and through us – we’ll see Him do things in our lives that will blow our minds.

Again, this is why Gideon is in the Faith Hall of Fame. Gideon might have had a lot of doubts, but he trusted God. And when we do that, we might just find our names written in God’s Faith Hall of Fame too.

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That’s all for now folks. We’ve heard 2 stories so far about the cool stuff that happened in Gideon’s life, but next time, we’re going to talk about the other reason I’m surprised Gideon’s in the Faith Hall of Fame. It’s not necessarily a nice reason, but I think it tells us something incredible about God. But more on that in 2 weeks.

~Brentagious