ONE MAN PLUS GOD EQUALS AN ARMY
The years that followed Joshua's triumphs were uneasy ones for the children of Israel. The tribes were not united; at times they quarreled with one another. In some parts of Canaan their foothold was precarious; now, and then the pagans were able to regain control. When this happened, the Jews attributed their misfortunes to their failure to obey God's commandments and waited hopefully for the Lord to raise up a champion to set them free.
Such was the case when a tribe known as the Midianites "came as grasshoppers for multitude" and ravaged the land so severely that they" left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor mule."
At this point an angel of the Lord appeared to a younger Israelite named Gideon and gave him a gracious greeting; "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor." Now this Gideon was a realist. He didn't consider himself a mighty man at all. Besides, he asked a bit sourly, how could the Lord be with the children of Israel when things were in such a mess? Obviously, the Lord had abandoned them to the Midianites. No, said the angel, the time had come for Israel to be liberated, and Gideon was the man who was going to do it.
Like Moses, Gideon at first was a very reluctant hero. When the Lord ordered him to destroy an alter to Baal that his father had built, Gideon did so at night because he was afraid to risk being seen in daylight. When the Lord ordered him to raise an army of liberation, fighting men flocked to his standard, but even then Gideon was afraid to tackle the Midianites. He wanted additional proof of divine support.
Testing the Lord, he put a fleece of wool on the ground and asked that the morning dew fall on it but not on the surrounding earth. When the Lord complied, he still wasn't convinced. He asked that the next night the dew fall on the ground but not on the fleece. Patiently, the Lord again complied.
By now thirty-two thousand fighting men were in Gideon's army, but this time the Lord decided to do a little testing himself. He told Gideon that He wanted a smaller fighting force so that when victory was won it would be unmistakably the Lord.
Gideon told his army that anyone who felt uncertain or afraid could go home. Twenty-two thousand faint hearted warriors promptly left. Ten thousand remained, but again the Lord said that number had to be reduced, and He devised another test. The details are not altogether clear, but evidently the test was to determine the combat-readiness of each soldier.
When the army went down to the river to drink, most of the men laid aside their weapons, knelt down, and drank. For the moment, they were defenseless. But three-hundred wary warriors scooped up water with one hand, keeping their sword in the other. Gideon kept these men and sent the others home.
Gideon's courage was growing, as it will grow in anyone who decides to stop doubting and trust the Lord. He divided his three-hundred men into three companies and prepared a night attack. To each man he gave a trumpet and a deep pitcher with a lamp concealed in it. Steathily and in total darkness they surrounded the Midianite camp. Then at a signal each man smashed his pitcher, letting the light blaze up. Each man blew a shrill blast on his trumpit. Each man shouted the agreed-upon war cry: "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!"
The sleeping Midianites were convinced that an overwhelming force was upon them. They fled in wild confusion, cutting one another down in their panic. "Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more."
The grateful Israelites wanted to make Gideon their king, but he refused, saying that only the Lord should rule over them. Perhaps, also, he was to busy being a father to be king, the Bible says he sired ninety sons "for he had many wives." In any case, as a result of his courage and military genius, "the country was in quietness forty years."
The messages of this ancient story is clear; a host of enemies who worship false gods is nothing to be afraid of; in the last analysis they will defeat themselves. On the contrary, one man who allies himself firmly with God is the equivalent of an army.
The spirit of Gideon lives on in the famous Gideon Society, which since 1899 has distributed Bibles to countless people all over the world. It lives, too, in the hearts of any determined little band anywhere that refuses to be discouraged by what seem like hopeless odds and fights on to victory aided by, "Thhe sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.
Remember God loves you
1|1|Thank you!!|Skaytes|skaytez@gmail.com|16:35:27|03/21/2010|
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2|1|Thank You|WillaD|wila111@bellsouth.net|21:14:36|03/21/2010|
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