Way Too Many Folks

Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. (Judges 7:1-8 ESV). Gideon is one of the most unlikely heroes of the faith. However, he is the best example of the strength that comes to someone who will place their trust in the Lord. Even when he began to accept the truth that the Lord was calling him to lead Israel to freedom from the tyranny of the Midianites, Gideon could hardly believe that he had enough men to fight them successfully. He enlisted 32,000 men for his army. They would still be outnumbered four-to-one! But then the Lord told him that was way too many folks for His purposes. Like Travis at the Alamo, he offered to let anyone leave who might be afraid. And more than two-thirds took his offer. After 22,000 left, he felt even more overwhelmed. However, the Lord told him that was too many for His purposes. Finally he ended up with a mere 300 men. The rest of the story is one of victory. The Lord delivered as He promised and the Midianites were soundly defeated! The whole purpose of this mighty victory was to prove the faithfulness of God’s promise. When the Lord promised to deliver Midian into their hands, there could be no doubt that the entire work was of the Lord. That’s the way of grace! However, I want you to notice one other thing about this great victory. Gideon was instructed to shout, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.” It tells us the importance of our participation in God’s works. Faith without works is a dead faith. Since Jesus has already done all we need for our eternal life, all that remains for us to do is to take up the cause. We only need to take our place at His side and fight for the truth of God in this world so deceived by the devil! Regardless of how often we are called on to fight this fight, we must trust in the Lord and go forward with the knowledge that He will never let us down! How about you? The Lord plus one is a majority in any battle!