Judges 7

15–21 Having been given this assurance of victory, Gideon then made a plan. Though the Lord Himself would bring the victory, He wanted to do it using Gideon and his men (see Exodus 17:10–13 and comment).

Gideon’s three hundred men had already taken the provisions and trumpets of those who had been sent back to their tents (verse 8). So each man had a trumpet, a torch, and an empty jar. The torches were concealed in the jars, so that the Midianites would not see Gideon’s men approaching until the right moment.

Since trumpets were used only by military commanders (for signaling), three hundred trumpets represented a large army. Thus when Gideon’s men blew their trumpets, broke their jars, raised their torches, and shouted the battle cry—all in the middle watch (middle of the night)—the Midianites were convinced that a huge army was attacking them, and so they fled in panic (verse 21).

22–25 As He often did, God threw the Midianites into confusion (Exodus 14:24; Joshua 10:10). Thinking Gideon’s men were in their midst, the Midianites began fighting with each other in the dark. As they fled, they were pursued by the remaining Israelites who had initially been in Gideon’s army (verse 23). Gideon asked the men of Ephraim to block the Midianites’ escape across the Jordan River (verse 24). Two Midianite commanders were captured and put to death at sites that were later named after them (verse 25). It was a mighty victory; in all likelihood, Gideon and his three hundred men had done no fighting at all—only blowing and shouting! (see Joshua 6:20).