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Gideon And His Army
2 Lessons From Gideon And His Army
By ONE FOR ISRAEL (Messianic Jews In Israel)
It’s
almost as if the angel was being sarcastic.
“Adonai is
with you, O mighty man of valor.” (Judges
6:12)
Pfffff!
Mighty man of valor indeed.
Gideon
was not an obvious candidate to be a hero in God’s army.
He was
secretly threshing wheat, hiding it from the Midianite oppressors in a
winepress, when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him (and by the way, the
Hebrew shows it really was THE LORD – Yahweh).
Gideon
was feeling defeated, discouraged and helpless after many years under
harsh, Midianite tyranny.
He from
the poorest family in his tribe, and was the least among his household.
He
needed a LOT of reassurance. At first he was afraid to act in broad daylight,
but gradually Gideon found the courage to step up to the task.
“Then Adonai turned
toward him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver
Israel from the hand of Midian. Have not I sent you?” (Judges
6:14)
He
might have been afraid, but as they say, “feel the fear and do it anyway!”
Gideon
was on his way to becoming the mighty man of valor the Angel of the Lord knew
he could be.
The difference between fear and cowardice
We all
experience fear, but it’s how we respond to it that
counts. Courage looks fear in the eye and refuses to obey its demands.
Courage
tells the fear to be silent and instead rises up to do what is required, no
matter how scary it may be.
Cowardice,
on the other hand, buckles.
I was
shocked when I saw the first people on the list to be thrown into the lake of
fire at the end of Revelation were – you guessed it – cowards.
“But
for the cowardly and faithless and detestable and murderers and sexually
immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars—their lot is in the lake that
burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation
21:8)
The
cowardly and the faithless are in a similar group. Both have chosen what seemed
to be the more safe and self-serving route.
Cowardice
does not, however, pay off in the end. And I think you might agree that we are
rapidly approaching the end.
Conversely,
courage and faith will reap dividends.
But
back to Gideon and his army.
Gideon
had blown his shofar and
gathered the tribes of Israel to fight the Midianites. 32,000 Israelite men
showed up to face over 135,000 Midianites –
they were outnumbered by well over 10:1. But then God says this:
“Now
therefore proclaim this in the hearing of the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and
trembling, let him return home.’” (Judges
7:3)
Over
two-thirds turned back.
Still,
the remaining 10,000 were decidedly brave.
But as
we know, God doesn’t stop there.
The second sifting
God
tells Gideon,
“The
people are still too many. Bring them down to the water and I will test them
for you there.”
God is
setting up a scenario in which the victory will be indisputably miraculous. There
can be no room for human boasting. At all. But his next test is weird.
“You
are to set apart everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps,
and everyone who bows down on his knees to drink.” Now the number of those
who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men, but all the rest of
the people bowed down on their knees to drink water.”
God
tells Gideon to distinguish between water drinking styles – the dog-style
lappers on one hand and the kneelers on the other. The 300 lappers were picked.
What was with that test?
Some
suggest that the lappers were more alert and therefore better equipped, others
say they were more fearful enabling God to show his power…
Rashi,
the famous Jewish commentator suggest that the kneelers are akin to idol
worshipers. It’s all a bit bewildering.
Here’s
my theory, based on the idea that it’s always worth looking for what doesn’t make
sense in the Bible, and go from there. God always – ALWAYS – has his reasons.
Firstly,
humans do not drink like dogs. At all. Dogs stay on their feet, and drink
directly from the water with a tongue that (unlike our tongues) is designed to
scoop up water into the mouth.
Google
it – it’s cool. But we are anatomically completely incapable of lapping like
dogs.
Secondly,
both groups are drinking from their hands, if you read it carefully. The only
difference is, one group is lapping “like dogs” while the other group is
kneeling.
Maybe
Rashi has a point with the kneeling, but what’s with the dogs?
Whole-hearted
if it’s
not about the physical process of imbibing water, in what manner might a human
be said to be drinking “like a dog”?
Perhaps
in a very primal fashion – focused only on getting the
water. Enthusiastic, unselfconscious, shameless!
Dogs in
the bible can be fierce, even rabid, and are often despised or worthless. But
as anyone who has a dog will know, they are also fiercely loyal and loving
creatures.
Perhaps
it’s no coincidence that the Hebrew word for dog in is kelev (כלב) which
includes the word “heart” (לב).
We also
see in the name of Caleb, (כלב) contemporary of Joshua,
that this link is evident. Both in Deuteronomy 1:36 and later in Joshua
14:14, he is commended for his wholehearted devotion.
Now
wholehearted devotion is also something that characterizes dogs, I think you’ll
agree. Is that what God was looking for?
To be
full of courage, we need to be fully committed to our cause. Dedicated and
wholehearted.
We may
need training and preparation, to be equipped and ready, but the battle belongs
to the Lord. He is the one who comes up with the ingenious strategy, and he is
the One who gets the victory.
All the
300 men had to do was to show up, brave and wholehearted, and follow God’s
lead.
This
surely applies to us, and whatever battles we may be facing. We do not need to
have the power to conquer, nor even the strategy!
All we
have to do is to come to God in our weakness, as Gideon did, willing to stare
down our own fear and dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to God’s leadership.
He is
looking for people of courage and faith, people who are wholeheartedly devoted
to him. You’d be amazed what God can do with people like that, even if they’re
the least in their family, from the poorest neighborhood in town.
“Take
heart, I have overcome the world!” Jesus assures us. Adonai
is with you, dear man / woman of valor!
We are an Israeli ministry composed of Jewish &
Arab followers of Yeshua (Jesus) who are all about blessing Israel through
sharing the gospel online, educating the new generation of born-again believers
through our one and only Hebrew-speaking Bible College in Israel, and helping
holocaust survivors by supplying humanitarian aid.
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