Judges 7: Gideon (Part II)

Judges 7: Gideon Surprises and Routs the Midianites

Today we continue our analysis of Gideon's story. See Part I for more information.

Gideon Surprises and Routs the Midianites: Judges 7
Jerubball (Gideon) camps with his troops beside the spring of Harod, with the Midianites to the north. The Lord informs Gideon that he has too many people - Israel would take credit for the victory if this many people conquered the Midianites. Gibeon is therefore to command the fearful to return home. 22,000 men leave; 10,000 remain.

This is still too many, so the Lord has Gideon separate the men by how they drink at a stream. The 300 that lap like a dog are chosen, whereas the rest that drink with by kneeling and bringing their hands to their mouths are told to return home. The group of underdogs seems a bit, er, scrappy or uncouth, but this is the ragtag group that God will use to deliver Israel from the Midianites.

God promises to deliver the Midianites into Gideon's hands that night, but gives offers help: if he is afraid, Gideon may go down to the camp with his servant Purah, close enough to hear the Midianites, and there he will be strengthened.

The Midianites lay thick as locusts, their camels as countless as sand on the seashore. Gideon creeps up to a tent and hears a man telling of a dream he had in which a cake of barley bread came into his tent an upended it. The man's comrade responds that this must be Gideon, who has been given by God Midian and all its army.

Gideon (of course) rejoices at this. He returns to the camp and tells his soldiers to take empty jars and trumpets (collected from the soldiers that would not participate) and do as he commands: they will surround the Midianite camp and when he blows his trumpet, everyone else should too, and cry, "a sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" When the time comes they all do this, and the camp is thrown into chaos, with men killing men from their own nation and then fleeing, only to be cut down by Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh. Gideon then sends messengers to tell the Ephraimites to attack the Midianites as they flee. The Ephraimites capture and kill the two captains of Midian: Oreb and Zeeb.