Judges 7

1 Then Jerubbaal (who is Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose up early and pitched camp beside the well of Harod, so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, "The people who are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, `Mine own hand hath saved me.'

3 Now therefore go, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, `Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead.'" And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand.

4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, "The people are yet too many. Bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, `This shall go with thee,' the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, `This shall not go with thee,' the same shall not go."

5 So he brought down the people unto the water; and the LORD said unto Gideon, "Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink."

6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

7 And the LORD said unto Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped will I save you and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go every man unto his place."

8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men. And the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

9 And it came to pass the same night that the LORD said unto him, "Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand.

10 But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Purah thy servant down to the host,

11 and thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host." Then went he down with Purah his servant unto the outside of the armed men who were in the host.

12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seaside for multitude.

13 And when Gideon had come, behold, there was a man who told a dream unto his fellow, and said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian and came unto a tent, and smote it so that it fell, and overturned it so that the tent lay flat."

14 And his fellow answered and said, "This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel, for into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the host."

15 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof, that he worshiped, and returned into the host of Israel and said, "Arise, for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian."

16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers.

17 And he said unto them, "Look on me and do likewise; and behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that as I do, so shall ye do.

18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and say, `The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!'"

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, and they had but newly set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.

20 And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands to blow therewith, and they cried, "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!"

21 And they stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the host ran and cried and fled.

22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets; and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host; and the host fled to Bethshittah towards Zererah and to the border of Abelmeholah unto Tabbath.

23 And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali and out of Asher and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.

24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all Mount Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and the Jordan." Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and the Jordan.

25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the wine press of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

Judges 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

Gideon's army reduced. (1-8) Gideon is encouraged. (9-15) The defeat of the Midianites. (16-22) The Ephraimites take Oreb and Zeeb. (23-25)

1-8. God provides that the praise of victory may be wholly to himself, by appointing only three hundred men to be employed. Activity and prudence go with dependence upon God for help in our lawful undertakings. When the Lord sees that men would overlook him, and through unbelief, would shrink from perilous services, or that through pride they would vaunt themselves against him, he will set them aside, and do his work by other instruments. Pretences will be found by many, for deserting the cause and escaping the cross. But though a religious society may thus be made fewer in numbers, yet it will gain as to purity, and may expect an increased blessing from the Lord. God chooses to employ such as are not only well affected, but zealously affected in a good thing. They grudged not at the liberty of the others who were dismissed. In doing the duties required by God, we must not regard the forwardness or backwardness of others, nor what they do, but what God looks for at our hands. He is a rare person who can endure that others should excel him in gifts or blessings, or in liberty; so that we may say, it is by the special grace of God that we regard what God says to us, and not look to men what they do.

Verses 9-15 The dream seemed to have little meaning in it; but the interpretation evidently proved the whole to be from the Lord, and discovered that the name of Gideon had filled the Midianites with terror. Gideon took this as a sure pledge of success; without delay he worshipped and praised God, and returned with confidence to his three hundred men. Wherever we are, we may speak to God, and worship him. God must have the praise of that which encourages our faith. And his providence must be acknowledged in events, though small and seemingly accidental.

Verses 16-22 This method of defeating the Midianites may be alluded to, as exemplifying the destruction of the devil's kingdom in the world, by the preaching of the everlasting gospel, the sounding that trumpet, and the holding forth that light out of earthen vessels, for such are the ministers of the gospel, 2Co. 4:6, 2Co. 4:7 . God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, a barley-cake to overthrow the tents of Midian, that the excellency of the power might be of God only. The gospel is a sword, not in the hand, but in the mouth: the sword of the Lord and of Gideon; of God and Jesus Christ, of Him that sits on the throne and the Lamb. The wicked are often led to avenge the cause of God upon each other, under the power of their delusions, and the fury of their passions. See also how God often makes the enemies of the church instruments to destroy one another; it is a pity that the church's friends should ever act like them.

Verses 23-25 Two chief commanders of the host of Midian were taken and slain by the men of Ephraim. It were to be wished that we all did as these did, and that where help is needed, that it were willingly and readily performed by another. And that if there were any excellent and profitable matter begun, we were willing to have fellow-labourers to the finishing and perfecting the same, and not, as often, hinder one another.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 7

In this chapter we have an account of the army under Gideon gathered out of several tribes, which from 32,000 were reduced to three hundred, and we are told by what means this was done, Jud 7:1-8 and how he was directed to go into the host of the Midianites, where he heard one of them telling his dream to his fellow, which greatly encouraged him to believe he should succeed, Jud 7:9-15 also we are told the form and manner in which he disposed of his little army to attack the Midianites, and the orders he gave them to observe, which had the desired effect, and issued in the total rout of that large body of people, Jud 7:16-22 and those that were not destroyed were pursued by persons gathered out of several tribes, and the passages of Jordan were taken by the Ephraimites, so that those that attempted their escape into their own country, there fell into their hands, Jud 7:23-25.