AM Bible Study Group; May 20, 2015 from Judges 7:1-8a
Theme: The limitations that God allows us to experience are so that His sufficiency may be revealed.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
From a human standpoint, God has a strange way of doing military strategy. He had heard the cry of His people (Judges 6:1-10), and had raised Gideon up to be their deliverer. He had called Gideon to lead his people to battle with the Midianites (6:11-27), had solidified Gideon’s commitment in Him (6:28-35), and had even given him assurance of absolute victory (6:36-40). Several tribes had rallied behind him, and he was given an army of 32,000 soldiers. All seemed in order. And yet now, as we come to Chapter 7—just as the battle is about to begin—God seems to frustrate and limit His appointed general. He begins to par Gideon’s army down to an almost ridiculously insufficient number, so that there would be no way—humanly speaking—a victory could be brought about.
But the lesson of this passage seems to be that that’s the way God works through His people. He takes away almost any human trust and strips away all human sufficiency until there’s nothing left for us to trust in but Himself. And then, He is able to prove His sufficiency, and show that—all along—He was all we ever really needed.
Notice from this passage . . .
I. THE SUFFICIENCY THAT GIDEON HAD RELIED ON (v. 1).
A. The passage begins by reminding us of what God had already done for Gideon. It calls him by the name that he was given when he destroyed the altar of Baal that his people had been worshiping (see 6:32); and says, “Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod . . .” The “well of Harod was located near the northern base of Mount Gilboa—about fifteen miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee.
B. About five to seven miles north of them would be the camp of the Midianites; “so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.” It’s important to note that the Midianites would have had a force of 135,000 soldiers at this point (see 8:10). That would have been a formidable force—over four times the number of Gideon’s troops. But the victory had been assured to him; so he trusted that the soldiers that he had would be sufficient to bring about God’s promised victory.
II. THE LIMITATION THAT GOD PLACED ON GIDEON’S ARMY (vv. 2-3).
A. But as it turned out, God would not allow Gideon to keep that in which he was trusting. “And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, “My own hand has saved me.” Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead’” (vv. 2-3a).
B. The command of God in this case was in keeping with His commandment concerning troops in Deuteronomy 20:8. Fearful soldiers would have a demoralizing effect on the others. What it was that Gideon might have expected when he passed this command from God on to his troops, we can’t know. But just imagine what he must have felt when he saw the result! “And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained” (v. 3b). With one move, his army was cut into less than a third. Yet this was of God, and the victory was still assured. We need to remember that when we feel frustrated and limited in God’s call on our lives. The frustrations and limitations are from Him; and He is still able to bring about His promised victory.
III. THE WAY THAT GOD FURTHER LIMITED GIDEON’S SUFFICIENCY (vv. 4-6).
A. And yet, even this limitation was not enough. The odds had been reduced to 13.5 to 1; but that was still not small enough for God alone to get the glory. So, God parred things down even more. “But the Lord said to Gideon, ‘The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, “This one shall go with you,” the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, “This one shall not go with you,” the same shall not go’” (v. 4). At the base of Mount Gilboa was a stream; and it was there that Gideon was to bring his 10,000 remaining men. It may have been frightening to do; and yet, Gideon obeyed.
B. We’re told, “So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink’” (v. 5). There have been a lot of speculations as to why God made this distinction. The typical answer is that the soldiers who scooped water with their hand and lapped it like a dog would have remained in a battle-ready position; while those who got down on their knees would have placed themselves in a battle-compromised position. But it’s really out of keeping with God’s expressed purpose to discriminate which one’s were more fit for battle from the others. After all, God’s whole point in this exercise was to remove all reasonable human sufficiency, so that the battle could only be His. So it may be that the ‘full-face kneelers’ and the ‘hand-scoop lappers’ were completely arbitrary distinctions. The more important matter to God was to reduce the numbers so that the battle could only be won by the Lord Himself.
C. And look at the numbers that were left! “And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water” (v. 6). The ‘full-face kneelers’ were 9,700 in number! To send them home would reduce Gideon’s army down to less than one-hundredth of what it originally was!—and make the odds 45 to 1! It had been humanly impossible already! God made it even more “humanly impossible” (if that’s possible!).
IV. THE SMALL RESOURCE THAT MADE IT NECESSARY TO TRUST GOD (vv. 7-8a).
A. But none of this was an accident. We’re told, “Then the Lord said to Gideon, ‘By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place’” (v. 7). By doing this, God would ensure that no one would ever think that Israel succeeded in battle on the basis of it’s own human sufficiency. It would only be God who did it! And He did—and not even by these three-hundred soldiers actually fighting (see 7:22).
B. And if credit can be given to Gideon and his troops, it would be for obeying God. We’re told, “So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men” (v. 8a). They were committed. They now needed to trust a trustworthy God.
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This is not just a method that God used in the Old Testament alone. It’s His method with you and me today. As the apostle Paul wrote;
And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
So, let’s not fight the limitations that make us trust God. They are His way of cutting us free from our false supports,and of proving His glorious sufficiency!