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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Judges chapter 6. Taking a few weeks of the 
summertime off from our study in the Gospel of Matthew, I wanted 
to look at Judges, specifically two of the more well-known Judges, 
Gideon and Samson. Last week we considered Gideon's 
call and preparation for his role as deliverer in Israel. And this morning we'll focus 
on chapter 7, though we will begin reading in chapter 6 at 
verse 33. Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, 
the people of the east, gathered together, and they crossed over 
and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the 
Lord came upon Gideon. Then he blew the trumpet, and 
the Abesarites gathered behind him. And he sent messengers throughout 
all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers 
to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them. 
So Gideon said to God, if you will save Israel by my hand, 
as you have said, look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing 
floor. If there is dew on the fleece 
only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that 
you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. And it was 
so. When he rose early the next morning 
and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, 
a bowl full of water. Then Gideon said to God, do not 
be angry with me, but let me speak just once more. Let me 
test, I pray, just once more with the fleece. Let it now be 
dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew. 
And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, 
but there was dew on all the ground. Then Jeroboam, that is 
Gideon, and all the people who were with him rose early and 
encamped beside the well of Herod. so that the camp of the Midianites 
was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. 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. And 22,000 
of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. 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. 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. And the number of those who lapped, 
putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men. But all the rest 
of the people got down on their knees to drink water. Then the 
Lord said to Gideon, buy 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. 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. Now the camp of Midian was 
below him in the valley. It happened on the same night 
that the Lord said to him, Arise, go down against the camp, for 
I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to 
go down, go down to the camp with Pura, your servant, and 
you shall hear what they say. And afterward, your hand shall 
be strengthened to go down against the camp. Then he went down with 
Pura, his servant, to the outpost of the armed men who were in 
the camp. Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people 
of the east, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts, 
and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore 
in multitude. And when Gideon had come, there 
was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, I have 
had a dream. To my surprise, a loaf of barley 
bread tumbled into the camp of Midian. It came to a tent and 
struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed. Then his companion answered and 
said, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son 
of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand God has delivered 
Midian and the whole camp. And so it was when Gideon heard 
the telling of the dream and its interpretation that he worshipped. 
He returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise, for the Lord 
has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand. Then he divided 
the 300 men into three companies and he put a trumpet into every 
man's hand. with empty pitchers and torches 
inside the pitchers. And he said to them, look at 
me and do likewise. Watch. And when I come to the 
edge of the camp, you shall do as I do. When I blow the trumpet, 
I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on 
every side of the whole camp and say, the sword of the Lord 
and of Gideon. So Gideon and the hundred men 
who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning 
of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch. And 
they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their 
hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the 
pitchers. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets 
in their right hands for blowing. And they said, the sword of the 
Lord and of Gideon. And every man stood in his place 
all around the camp. And the whole army ran and cried 
out and fled. When the 300 blew the trumpets, 
the Lord set every man's sword against his companion throughout 
the whole camp. And the army fled to Beth, Acacia, 
toward Zerahrah, as far as the border of Abel, Mahola, by Tadath. And the men of Israel gathered 
together from Naphtali, Asher, and Almanassah, and pursued the 
Midianites. Then Gideon sent messengers throughout 
all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, come down against the 
Midianites and seize them from the watering places as far as 
Beth Barah in the Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered 
together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah in 
the Jordan. And they captured two princes 
of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeb. They killed Oreb at the Rock 
of Oreb, and Zeb they killed at the winepress of Zeb. They 
pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gideon 
on the other side of the Jordan. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank you for the written word and we pray now 
for the ministry of your Holy Spirit to be upon each and every 
one of us. God, we see this passage, we 
see your sovereignty, your might, your power, delivering your people 
from their oppression. We ask that you would cause us 
to be encouraged, cause us to see in this a good, and the gracious 
and the merciful God. As well, our Father, may we appreciate 
the great lengths you have gone to to save your people from their 
sins. We ask that you would wash us 
now and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We pray for forgiveness. We pray 
for your mercy and your grace to be upon each one of us. And 
God, for those outside of Christ, we pray that today would be the 
day of salvation, that the Spirit of the Lord God Most High would 
come upon men and women and boys and girls and bring them forth 
onto everlasting life in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
And we pray these things in His most blessed name. Amen. Well, 
as we consider this section that I read, we will see that this 
is the emphasis in the account. Gideon fares, or Gideon is recorded 
in Judges 6-1 all the way through chapter 9 verse 57. As we considered last week, his 
call, his preparation, his readiness for the particular ministry that 
God had entrusted to him. Chapter 7 takes up the victory 
over the Midianites, but as I said, we'll begin back in chapter 6 
at verse 33, and we'll carve up this large narrative. We won't 
look at every detail of the text, but we'll carve it up into four 
broad categories. First, the preparation for war, 
verses 33 to 40 in chapter 6. Secondly, the reduction of troops in verses 
1 to 8, absolutely contrary to what we would expect. When we 
would prepare for war, or battle, or combat, we would marshal up 
as many troops as we possibly could. But God is going to reduce 
the number of troops in Israel because there's something more 
important in this victory than simply them defeating their enemies. It is the glory of God Most High 
that is at stake. So then thirdly, we'll consider 
the encouragement of Gideon in chapter 7 verses 9 to 15, and 
then fourthly and finally the victory over the Midianites in 
verses 16 to 25. Now I mentioned last week that 
the Gideon portrayed in the book of Judges is not flannel graph 
Gideon. He's not the little figure that 
you put on your flannel board and put a little stick in his 
hand and move him over to the enemies called the Midianites. 
What we find in this passage is a bit alarming for our delicate 
sensitivities here in New Covenant Christianity. But we ought to 
appreciate the reality that apart from a Gideon, humanly speaking, 
we would not be here. God used this man to preserve 
the nation of Israel. God used this man to crush the 
oppression of those who brought down heat upon the nation of 
Israel. We all stand, in many respects, 
very much indebted to the life, ministry, and service of our 
brother Gideon. As he's mentioned in Hebrews 
11, he is a man of faith in verse 32. But let's look first at the 
preparation for war chapter 6 verses 33 to 40 we see the the enemies 
are assembled and it's a formidable foe notice in verse 33 all the 
Midianites and Amalekites the people of the east gathered together 
and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel so they're 
on the east side of the river Jordan they cross the river Jordan 
they come into the mainland of Israel. Remember as we saw in 
chapter 6 verses 1 to 5, their particular task or their particular 
activity when they came into Israel was to decimate Israel, 
specifically in crop production. in agriculture. They knew that 
if they could starve the Israelites, well then obviously victory would 
be theirs. As well, the Midianites would 
take those things for themselves and for their vast armies. So 
we see they're assembled, they're gathered together in place. And again, this is a formidable 
formidable foe. There are a lot of Midianites. There is a big problem. And this 
is what the author wants you to understand. And that sets 
up the contrast with what we find in verse 34, where we see, 
but the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. The author is saying 
it doesn't matter how many Midianites there are. It doesn't matter 
how many Amalekites there are. It doesn't matter how many enemies 
of the Lord there are. When the Spirit of the Lord comes 
upon Gideon, victory is assured. The language of the text is pretty 
special as well. It is literally the Spirit put 
on Gideon. The Spirit clothed Himself with 
Gideon. And so what the narrator is telling 
us is that all of these enemies are assembled together against 
the Lord's people. It is the Lord Himself who is 
going into combat against these men. And we ought to appreciate 
that reality in our new covenant setting. What does the Apostle 
Paul say in Romans chapter 8? If God is for us, who can be 
against us? It doesn't matter the number 
of foes. It doesn't matter the number 
of enemies. It doesn't matter the number of hardships. We have 
battles against sin, against our own flesh, against this world, 
and against the devil. And it's amazing to me that so 
often Christians think that they're beaten down. We've got the Lord 
God Almighty on our side. We've got the God of Gideon, 
the God of Samson, We've got the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. There ought not to be any enemy 
in our life that we cower from, that we are afraid of, and that 
we will not face, clothed in the Spirit of the Lord Most High. As I said, we read these passages, 
and unfortunately we don't understand the emphasis that the author 
is giving. This massive army assembles, 
but the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon. At this point, the 
faithful Israelite reader would be doing one of these numbers. 
He would be saying, I don't know how it's all going to turn out 
in terms of logistics, but I do know the end. The Midianites 
are going down. They will lose as they assemble 
together before the Lord God Most High and before His servants. Do we have anything of that in 
our lives? That's one of the things about the Judges. It's 
a messy book in a lot of ways. Not everything is tidy in the 
days of the judges. Not everything is neat and compartmentalized 
as we like it to be in our New Covenant setting. You know, there's 
something that these brethren had and manifested that I think 
far too often is missing today. We operate in sort of a feminized 
Christianity. We're limp-wristed. We're prissy. 
We're very delicate. We're very sensitive. We have 
no wherewithal of the battle that we're in, we have no understanding 
of the resources with which we are equipped, and we have nothing 
of the confidence that marked these men. But lo and behold, 
as we look at even a Gideon, we'll see that he wavered, we'll 
see that he struggled, but we'll see that his God is good and 
his God upholds him along the way. So we see the Spirit of 
the Lord comes upon Gideon, as well the army, the good guys, 
then assemble, of course, according to verse 35. We move from that 
section where Gideon tears down the altar to Baal, and the clan 
wants to destroy him or kill him, and now they're assembling 
behind him to go into battle. We have to attribute that to 
the reality that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. But then 
notice, very specifically, that Gideon wants a sign. If we had 
a top 10 list of Bible verses that were misunderstood, we could 
throw the fleece on there, couldn't we? Have you ever met the Christian 
who's, I'm trying to figure out the will of the Lord. I'm trying 
to understand what God wants. I'm going to throw out the fleece. 
That has nothing to do with what's going on here. Gideon knew exactly 
what the will of the Lord was. Gideon knew expressly what the 
will of the Lord was because the Lord God himself told him 
in verse 16, I will deliver Israel through you. That was his calling, 
that was his task, that was his mandate. So when he goes before 
God and he says, I want a sign that you will do as you have 
said. The test isn't, what do you want 
me to do? The test is, are you trustworthy? Can I take you at your word? 
Look at the text. Verse 36, so Gideon said to God, 
if you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. And then 
at the end of verse 37, as you have said. I think the only thing 
that we can pull out of this is that very often, we know what 
God has said, that's not the issue. We're lazy, or we're rebellious, 
or we just don't want to do what the will of God is for us. Well, 
in this instance, Gideon is struggling. Gideon has a lapse. Gideon is 
wanting in faith. But again, we ought to cut him 
some slack. We do this on a daily basis when 
it comes to some of the most mundane things. If you or I were 
being called to go into battle against the Midianites and the 
Amalekites, and we asked God to give us a little sign, to 
give us a boost in the arm, I like to think that we cut each other 
a bit of slack on this. But this is what Gideon says, 
"...if you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, look, 
I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there 
is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, 
then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you 
have said." It's what happens next that really ought to dazzle, 
impress, and amaze us. And it was so. What's the author 
telling us? Your God is good. Your God is 
kind. Your God is gracious. Your God 
is patient. What would you have done if you 
were God and you have done all these things for me?" And then 
he actually has the audacity to cry out for a sign. Are you 
kidding me? I'm God. I'm not giving you a 
sign. Do what I command and do it promptly. That's how I do it. I've got 
to confess. Ask my kids. They'll tell you. 
That's how my dad would respond. He'd yell at me and tell me to 
go do what I'm supposed to do. He wouldn't give me a sign. He 
wouldn't affirm it. He wouldn't confirm it. He'd simply say, 
I command it. I'm the authority. Go and do what you're told. You 
see, Gideon is struggling along and he says, Lord, please give 
me this sign. And it was so. But that doesn't 
stop. Look at what then happens at 
the end of verse 38. When he rose early the next morning 
and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, 
a bowl full of water. Then Gideon said to God, Do not 
be angry with me. He knows he is treading on delicate 
ground. He says at the outset, don't 
get upset. I know I'm pushing my luck. I 
know I'm pressing the limits. I know you've already delivered 
once. I know you've already condescended to bless me in this particular 
event. So please don't be angry. You 
see his disposition. But let me speak just once more. Let me test, I pray, just once 
more with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the 
fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew." And God did 
so that night. See, there's theology proper 
that throbs on the pages of the book of Judges. That's your God. That's your patient Father. That's 
the one of whom the psalmist writes in Psalm 103, 13 and 14. He knows our frames. He pities 
us. He understands that we're but 
dust. We look at Gideon, we say, men 
up, take charge, go do what you're supposed to do. But Gideon is 
stumbling along, he's fumbling along, he wants signs from the 
Lord. And the Lord graciously condescends and puts water on 
the fleece in the first instance, and in the second he covers the 
ground with water, and yet the fleece, which is highly absorbent, 
doesn't bring any of the water into it whatsoever. He is affirming. He is confirming. He is, in fact, 
giving giddy in what he asks for. And I'm always reminded, 
not always, at least in passages like these, when we see the struggles 
of men, I'm reminded of Matthew Henry, commenting with reference 
to Job in chapter 4, verses 1 to 6. Matthew Henry said, it is 
true, If thou faint on the day of adversity, thy grace is small. Proverbs 24, 10. But it does 
not therefore follow that thou hast no grace, no strength at 
all. When we see Gideon's struggle 
here, we ought not to assume an attitude. We ought to assume 
the posture of praise God, that he bends down and that he sustains 
those who struggle. He lifts us. He encourages us. He blesses. He strengthens. Matthew Henry says, a man's character 
is not to be taken from a single act. Oh, that the Church of Christ 
would get something of that ethic in their hearts and minds. It's 
easy to Monday morning quarterback these brethren and say, how in 
the world could you have ever done such a thing? and yet go 
out in this world and betray the Lord God Most High in something 
far less, because we struggle. Now notice the reduction of troops, 
chapter 7, verses 1 to 8. On the heels of this affirmation, 
on the heels of this confirmation, we are reminded what is at stake 
in chapter 7 verse 1. Then Jeroboam, that is Gideon, 
and all the people who were with him, rose early and encamped 
beside the well of Herod, so that the camp of the Midianites 
was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. A little later on in the chapter 
it will describe how many people are in the camp of the Midianites, 
they're like locusts. Locusts don't individually come 
and eat your crops. Locusts come in mass. There are 
scads of them, an enormous amount of locusts in order to do the 
devastation. What are we reminded here in 
chapter 7 at verse 1? This is a huge battle. This is 
big potatoes. This is something that isn't 
going to go away without a fight. If Israel is going to oppose 
the Midianites, if Israel is going to crush the Midianites, 
if Gideon is going to be victorious over the Midianites, well then 
certainly they're going to have to have a strategy wherein they 
go and decimate these Midianites. Again, it's just the opposite. 
Notice, the troops reduced in verses two to eight. The Lord 
said to Gideon, the people who are with you are too many for 
me to give the Midianites into their hands. I would imagine 
Gideon probably disagreed. He had 32,000, didn't he? The 
numbers of the Midianites was probably 100 to 120,000. Gideon's probably saying, no 
Lord, I don't have enough troops. Some master of supply that God 
is, I need troops and you're telling me to reduce what I have. 
Look at the Lord's point, and this is the point in this section 
of the narrative. It's about God in this battle 
against Midian. This is what he specifies in 
verse 2, "...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." This 
is the main point of this particular narrative. It does us well not 
to miss it. In fact, isn't this the whole 
point in the Gideon section as a whole? I would argue in the 
entirety of the book of Judges, a book again dedicated to the 
reality that Yahweh saves his people. Judges isn't simply a 
book filled with blood and guts and people holding up heads of 
Oreb and Zeb, but it's a book that demonstrates that salvation 
is of the Lord. But notice, the emphasis in the 
entire Gideon cycle is on God perfecting his strength through 
weakness. Sounds like a New Testament concept, 
doesn't it? Sounds like something the Apostle 
Paul learned in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. My grace is sufficient. My grace is manifested in, through, 
and by your weakness. When the Apostle Paul hobbled 
into a town, and he proclaimed the excellencies of Jesus Christ, 
and people got converted. It wasn't because Paul was a 
powerful orator. It wasn't because Paul was a 
winsome man. It wasn't because Paul had more 
effective argumentation than the Stoics or the Epicureans 
around him. It was because God Most High, 
in His sovereign power, reached down through that word, and He 
saved to the uttermost all whom He had purpose to bring into 
His blessed covenant. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 
chapter 4 that God takes the gospel treasure and he puts it 
in earthenware vessels so that the excellence of the power may 
be of God and not of men. When Gideon and his ragtag bunch 
of 300 men go in and utterly decimate the Midianites, who 
do you glorify? You do not glorify Gideon and 
his 300. You glorify God. when you follow out their battle 
tactics and their strategies. It isn't even to be seen in the 
amount of power and warfare and weaponry that they possess. They 
have torches, they have jars, they have noise. That's how they 
go and engage battle against this foe that is filled with 
military strategy. Verse 2 is the hinge upon the 
entirety of the narrative. The emphasis in the whole section 
is on God's perfecting his strength through weakness. Israel's helplessness, 
chapter 6, verses 2-6. Gideon's small beginnings, chapter 
6, verse 15. Remember when God calls him to 
the service of being a judge? He says, who am I? I'm the least 
in my father's house. I'm from a small clan. I'm a 
nobody, Lord God." Gideon's fear of his family and his town. Remember 
when he went to go break down that altar of Baal? When did 
he do it? Did he march in there on noonday sun? No, he went at 
night because he was afraid of the townspeople. What's the point? God takes insignificant, lowly 
people and he raises them up and he does great things through 
them so that God is glorified, so that God is praised, so that 
God is honored. Think about the church for a 
moment. It is quite hip to bash the church. The church really 
hardly ever gets credit for any good things they do. But the 
church is full of hypocrites, the church never gives money, 
the church has no love, and the church betrays the most vulnerable 
among them. That's pretty much the common 
report about what we hear concerning the church. Do we ever entertain 
for just a moment that the church is made up with a bunch of Gideons? The church is made up with a 
bunch of redeemed sinners who nevertheless have remaining corruption? 
that there are times to be sure when we are hypocrites, there 
are times to be sure when we don't exercise benevolence and 
love like we ought, there are times to be sure when we are 
not engaged in the good works that the Lord has commanded as 
we ought, but by and large, by the grace of God, the church 
seeks to march on doing what she is supposed to do, so that 
through her foibles, through her weakness, through her powerlessness, 
God manifests His glory in the salvation of sinners, in the 
assembling together of a great multitude that no man can number, 
people from every tribe, people, tongue, and nation, so that one 
day they will enter into His presence and praise Him world 
without end. Amen. God is in the midst of 
the weakness, and He is manifesting His power and His glory and His 
majesty through it. Gideon's request for a sign, 
the reduction of Gideon's army, Gideon's fear and his need for 
encouragement. All these things evidence for 
us that we would probably not have voted for Gideon as the 
deliverer or the judge in Israel. Would you? All that said about 
Gideon. Would you say, he's got my vote. 
Do guys go out on the campaign trail saying, you know, I'm weak. 
I come from an insignificant town. I struggle greatly with 
fear. I mean, I'm afraid. I need affirmation. I need confirmation. I need constant 
and perpetual stroking. That's just me. Vote for me. 
We don't want that. We want the cock of the lock. 
We want the guy who says, I was raised here. I did that. I accomplished 
this. I accomplished that. Well, what 
happens when that man is victorious? He gets the praise. When Gideon 
is victorious with 300 men, and we see the heads of Zorab and 
Zeb, it's God who gets the praise. That's the point. It's how you're 
supposed to read the section. It's how you're supposed to understand 
what's going on. The Lord knows our propensity 
to claim glory, doesn't he? Doesn't he? what he says, lest 
Israel claim glory for itself against me. Ralph Davis makes 
this perceptive comment, does not 7.2 speak to us? Does it 
not? He says, does it not tell us 
there is a certain deviousness in God's people, a tendency to 
steal God's praise? Does it not teach us that sometimes 
he cannot trust us with his work unless we realize how inadequate 
we are to do it? This may explain why God frequently 
chooses such unlikely instruments. There is in each of our hearts 
that little desire for some glory, isn't there? There is in each 
of our hearts a little bit of a doubt. Maybe not in all of 
us, but in some of us. Some of us less sanctified ones. We want to be able to pat ourselves 
on the back. We want to just take a shred 
of credit. We make some progress in holiness 
and we want to write books to help people. Sure we do. We want people to praise and 
celebrate the holy accomplishments of brother so-and-so. God will 
not give his glory to another. Sometimes this path of humility 
is a difficult one. Because if we're proud and we're 
arrogant, the Lord God has his ways of knocking us down. What was Peter's claim? Lord, 
if everyone else denies you, I will not. Peter. You will deny me three 
times before the cot crows. I think I've shared with you 
before, this is why the weather vane of the rooster is on the 
top of buildings. The weather vane of the rooster. 
You think, what does a rooster and weather have in common? Nothing. What is that weather vane telling 
us when we look at that rooster? Remember Peter. Remember from 
whence you've come. Remember the reality of how easy 
it is to be caught sure in one sense and then deny the Lord 
in another. God's not going to share His 
glory. So what does He do? The first troop reduction. He says, bring the 10,000... 
Actually, first tell them Deuteronomy 20. Deuteronomy 20 ain't specified. that there were psychological 
reasons for men not to go to combat. If you're fearful and 
you can't stand there in combat, we don't want you there. If you're 
gonna shake when you're holding a rifle, or you can't swing a 
sling, or you can't use a knife or a sword because you're paralyzed 
with fear, it is stipulated in Deuteronomy 20 that you can leave. Go ahead. The preparations for 
war, there was a humanitarian privilege. If a man just got 
married, you don't have to go to war. You can enjoy your wife 
for a year. Isn't that nice? We look at the 
old covenant Israelites and say, what a barbaric situation. Do 
you know how many guys are away from their families, serving 
in the military, that would love something like that? But there 
was this psychological privilege. If you can't stand fast and fight, 
then go. I'd like that. Who hasn't thought 
about that in the church? If you ain't with us, then go. 
I don't mean that literally. Don't get up and walk out right 
now because you're tired. There's a mission to accomplish. We've got to be on board, man. 
So God says go. Look what happens. 22,000 of 
the people return and 10,000 remain. What do you think Gideon 
is thinking? Gideon's watching his army walk 
away. We forget the human element. 
We forget the human dynamic. Gideon's already expressed his 
fear. Gideon already once, not once, but twice, asked for God 
to put water on the fleece or on the ground. Gideon's not this 
macho man for Jesus, saying, get out of here, like I just 
did. He says, I want you to stay here. I want my troops. We're going into a hard battle. 
God says, get rid of them. Okay, well I guess 10,000 is 
going to have to do it. So what does God say? Take the 
10,000 down and let them drink water. Now there's two categories 
here. The text is a little rough in 
five and six, but the idea is lappers versus kneelers. You 
have those who lap, 300, and you have those who kneel, 9,700. 
Some have in here an evidence, a mark, of the strategy and the 
ability of the lappers. The text tells us no sort of 
thing. Listen to Davis. Davis says, 
the commentators who see the distinction based on ability 
rather than sovereignty. He says, it is amazing how virtuous 
the lappers become in the view of expositors. They are heralded 
as the vigilant. Watching the enemy. Though at 
this time, the enemy is miles away. They couldn't have seen 
him with night vision goggles. But they're vigilant. The kneelers, 
they don't pay attention. All they think about is themselves 
and their gluttony for water. Nothing could be further from 
the passage. Davis says, it is amazing how 
virtuous the lappers become in the view of expositors. They 
are heralded as the vigilant, watchful ones who lean down, 
scoop a little water always with their eyes on the enemy, while 
the kneelers are the careless who think only of their thirst. 
The text doesn't indicate that at all. It is simply a means 
by which God whittles them down from 10,000 strong men to 300 
strong men. Gill is a much more perceptive 
commenter. So is Davis. He's just rehearsing 
what others do. Gill says, though it seems that 
all the 10,000 men were men of courage, they were because the 
others left, he says, And this method was taken not to distinguish 
those that were the most courageous from those that were the least 
so, but only reduce the number that should be engaged in this 
battle. It has nothing to do with whether 
you're a lapper or a kneeler. The lappers didn't say, good 
with you, I'm glad you're gone, you wretched kneelers. It was 
a means under the sovereign hand of God to whittle the army. Why? Verse 2, Last, Israel claimed 
glory for itself, and say, My hand has delivered me. The point 
is absolutely crucial of verse 2. Davis again says the 300 are 
the sign of Israel's weakness, not the epitome of her strength. If we take that wacky position, 
then we'll have to see these 300 are the very strategically 
minded. They're the watchers, they're 
the vigilant. But that's exactly the point 
of the passage, is to tell us that the victory does not come 
about because of their vigilance, because of their ability, because 
they are crack shots. It comes because of God. Davis 
then, I think, beautifully illustrates this point with a lesson from 
church history. Perhaps you've heard of the Cambuslang 
Revival. was a place, Cambuslang, where 
George Whitefield ended up going and preaching during a time of 
great revival in the First Great Awakening. You see, even before 
the arrival of George Whitefield, revival had broken out. And this 
is what Davis says concerning a particular William McCulloch. Few would have ever suspected 
William McCulloch of kindling a revival. He was a parish minister 
in Cambuslang, Scotland about 1740. A scholarly pastor excelling 
in languages, especially Hebrew, he had nevertheless little gift 
for the pulpit. His own son described him as 
not a very ready speaker, not eloquent. His manner was slow 
and cautious. Thanks, son. Let me get a text today from 
Josh. Micah will text me from Idaho. 
Yeah, guess what? Do you get the point? McCulloch 
is not Spurgeon. McCulloch is not Whitfield. McCulloch 
is not Edwards. Nobody wears a t-shirt today 
that says William McCulloch is my homeboy. Nobody knows who 
William McCulloch is. We all know Whitfield, we all 
know Edwards, and people do wear shirts that say, George Whitfield 
is my homeboy. In fact, he was called an ale 
minister. That's right, A-L-E, minister. Which meant that when he rose 
to speak, a number in the audience left to quench their thirst at 
the local tavern. Yet, God chose to use William 
McCulloch's ministry as the means of revival in Cambuslang, sometime 
before George Whitefield visited there. Davis muses, now I cannot 
divine the divine ways, but I wonder if God was pleased to use William 
McCulloch in order to make it clear that the Cambuslang work 
could not be explained by eloquence or human dynamism, but only by 
the Spirit of God. The necessity of weakness, that 
is often Yahweh's method. You see, that's what God is doing. 
Get rid of the guys that are afraid, out. Get rid of the kneelers, 
out. Dwindle it down to 300 men, and 
they received instruction in verses 7 to 8. 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. 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. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. Now 
let's move thirdly to the encouragement of Gideon. Gideon probably needed 
a shot in the arm about this time, don't you think? We already 
see that he struggles. We already see that he puts out 
the fleece. We already see that he needs 
God to give him some assurance, some sign, some wonder, so that 
Gideon will have the wherewithal to go into battle against the 
Midianites. Now, in this instance, what is truly amazing is that 
Gideon doesn't seek a sign here. Notice that in verses 9 to 15, 
it is God who undertakes to encourage Gideon. Look at verse 9. It happened 
on the same night that the Lord said to him, Arise, go down against 
the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. Look at our 
God in verse 10. But if you are afraid to go down, 
He knows His servant, doesn't He? He knows Gideon, doesn't 
He? Do you think when you come to 
the Lord, you say, Lord, I'm so scared, I'm so frightened. He's like, what? I don't get 
it, I don't understand. How are you like that? Get back 
out there. No, He understands His servant. He comes to His 
people. He is our rock. He is our shield. He is our defender. He is our 
protector. He does deal with us as a Father. Pities His children. Gideon, 
if you're afraid, I have another sign for you. Do you want this 
sign, Gideon? What do you think Gideon says? 
Yes, give me this sign. I don't want to go into battle 
yet. Lord, I've got 300 people. I don't know how we're going 
to do this. They've got scads of men, soldiers, Midianites, 
Amalekites. God says, come on, Gideon. I 
want to show you one more piece of evidence. I want to show you 
one more piece of affirmation. I want to give you one more confirmed 
sign so that you will go with joy in your heart to the battle 
that I have set before you. And what's the point? In verses 
9 to 15. He tells him to shimmy his way 
down with his associate, with a lieutenant, and listen to what 
the men of Midian are speaking about. Note that God uses two 
pagan privates, private being the lowest soldier in an army. These are two privates, they 
happen to be discussing things, and Gideon and Purah are in earshot, 
able to hear what is going on. Isn't this glorious? Isn't this 
amazing? God's not going to put a sign 
in the heavens and say, go do this. God's going to send you 
on your way to listen to the enemy speak for a moment. Just 
get an earshot, Gideon. Just listen to what these two 
privates have to say. Just listen to them discuss their 
common everyday things. You want to talk about the sovereignty 
of God? You want to argue that God is 
not sovereign? How does God orchestrate all 
these things apart from his absolute sovereignty? Two pagan men standing 
together, chilling out, just speaking about things that are 
on their hearts. Gideon and Peor are there, they 
want to hear what is being said. The one man says, I had a dream 
last night. And in this dream, this little 
barley loaf rolled into camp and it knocked down the entire 
tent. Now again, if you struggle with 
sovereignty, you should probably go away. What does the other 
private say? How does he possibly know this? 
Because God is in the heavens and He does whatever He pleases. He takes the pagan, he forms 
the words so that Gideon will hear what this pagan private 
testifies in verse 14. Then his companion answered and 
said, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son 
of Joash. Now, you have to imagine that 
in the Midianite army, with these hundred thousand people, you 
find the two privates, one of which had a dream about a barley 
loaf rolling into camp and knocking down a tent, and he happens to 
be standing with a man who interprets dreams. Do you not see sovereignty? Do you not see providence? Do 
you not see God in this passage? This is nothing else but the 
sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand 
God has delivered Midian and the whole camp. It's amazing, 
isn't it? Gideon thought it was the only 
time in the book of Judges where it is said that an Israelite 
worships Yahweh. They are said to worship in other 
contexts, but it's Baal or Ashtoreth. You see, for Gideon this was 
a showstopper. Gideon didn't struggle with sovereignty, 
Gideon embraced sovereignty. Gideon understood that the report 
of these two men, the one dreamer and the one interpreter, was 
a sign in the significance of which under God was, Midian, 
take these 300 men and go decimate Israel, or Midian. Verse 15, 
and so it was when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and 
its interpretation that he worshipped. He returned to the camp of Israel 
and said, arise for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian 
into your hand. And that brings us finally to 
the victory over the Midianites. He explains the strategy. It's 
a simple strategy, isn't it? It's got 300 guys. Take this 
torch, take this jar and do what I say. Do what I do. Verse 16, 
then he divided the 300 men into three companies and he put a 
trumpet into every man's hand. with empty pitchers and torches 
inside the pitchers. And he said to them, Look at 
me and do likewise. Watch, and watch the whole camp. 
You shall do as I do. When I blow the trumpet, I and 
all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every 
side of the whole camp and say, The sword of the Lord and of 
Gideon." Now if you were watching this on CNN or Fox News, you 
were looking at the war room and Gideon was plotting his attack 
on Midian, you'd probably be screaming at your television 
right about now saying, I don't know that that's going to work. 
Gideon, I don't know that that's the way to do this particular 
task. I don't know that that's going 
to successfully carry out the desired effect of bringing victory 
to the armies of Israel. He explains the strategy. Now 
notice they wage the battle in verses 19 to 22. The troops are 
placed, the troops cry out, the troops are devoted to what they're 
supposed to do, but notice specifically the victory. You see, if we're 
watching this strategy, if we were listening to what he said, 
if we were thinking in strictly human terms and military strategy, 
it would be destined to fail. You see, the necessary element 
involved in all of this is the God of heaven and earth, the 
God of the armies of Israel. And specifically what happens 
in verse 22 is this. Most of the soldiers in Midian 
are asleep. It is about midnight. They're resting peacefully. Have 
you ever had anybody come and yell in your ear while you're 
resting peacefully? If you've been in the military, 
you've had that. They have this nasty practice 
of yelling at you at 5 a.m. to get out of bed, get your stuff 
in order, get outside. I mean, it's just amazing. You 
know what happens when that horn goes off and the men start yelling? 
There's pandemonium. There's panic. It takes a moment 
to gather your thoughts, doesn't it? Somebody came to your house 
and said, come on down, we gotta go. Wait a minute, let me have 
coffee first. What happened? The crashing of 
the jars, the sight of the torches, the sound of the soldiers threw 
them off. In their panic, Midianite took 
up sword against Midianite. This is what the text says. Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. The 300 are outgunned. But 100,000 men in chaos in Pandemonium, 
armed with swords, start swinging and hacking at anything near 
them. And they're killing their own soldiers. So verse 22 indicates, 
when the 300 blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword 
against his companion. Gil says, "...and so slew one 
another, either suspecting treachery, and so in revenge, wrath, and 
indignation, drew their swords on each other. Or through the 
terror and amazement that they were in, at the sounds they heard, 
and the blazing torches dazzling their eyes, they knew not what 
they did, or who they fell upon, taking their friends for foes, 
supposing the Israelites were got into their camp." within our lifetimes. I think 
we've seen something of this. I remember a particular instance 
where at least a federal government descended upon a particular compound 
that they wanted to overtake. They played very loud music and 
they just kept lambasting it upon this particular compound. 
What does that do? It messes with you psychologically. Daniel Bloch sees it this way. 
The bedlam in the enemy camp is described in three verbs. 
And they, all the camp, ran. And they cried out wildly, and 
they fled. He says, this is the natural 
response of those who have been awakened from the deepest of 
sleep at midnight to the sound of horns blowing, jars smashing, 
people shouting, and the sight of 300 blazing torches around 
the camp. He says, this is psychological 
warfare at its best. You see, God doesn't need 100,000 
in his army. God needs 300 obedient men who 
do exactly what he says, and he will bring victory on the 
camp of Midian. They then pursue. He tells the 
tribe of Ephraim to go in pursuit. And what does Ephraim do? They 
find the two princes, Oreb and Zeb, and they bring those two 
men's heads to Gideon. Again, our delicate sensitivities 
are put off a little bit. I mean, they had to be dripping 
blood. I don't want to be too gross or too callous or too harsh, 
but these were heads that had been recently severed from their 
bodies. We think, oh, that's icky. No, 
that's victory. It's God undertaking on behalf 
of the Midianites. I have to think that if I was 
in one of the occupied countries at the time of the Nazi regime, 
and my guys came walking into town holding two heads of Third 
Reich lieutenants, I'd probably rejoice. I'd much prefer to see 
them than the Gestapo walking down my road taking my food." 
You see, it's a matter of perspective. Oreb and Zeb, in all of their 
bloody gore, highlight this fundamental truth, that God, the Lord of 
Israel, saves His people. That's what those heads ought 
to teach you. Well, as we conclude, we ought to recognize a few things 
by way of reminder, and then we close. First, the whole account 
demonstrates the power of the spirit. Gideon is not a self-appointed 
man. Gideon was not elected by popular 
vote. Gideon's tactics are not renegade, 
they're not maverick. Gideon functions as the man of 
God, chosen for a particular task, clothed with the Spirit 
of God, or even more better, the Spirit is clothed with Gideon 
so that he can undertake to break the oppression of Israel's enemies. It's the Spirit at work in this 
section of Judges. As much as we appreciate and 
as much as we enjoy reading the book of Acts and seeing the Spirit 
coming down and filling the place where the disciples were, we 
ought to appreciate the manifest of the Spirit of God in the destruction 
of Israel's enemies in this particular context. Secondly, we have cause 
to note, again, the patience and mercy of God. It is God who 
is patient with Gideon. He gives him the assurance of 
the fleece. He understands that he's afraid, so he sends him 
and Purah down to listen to these two pagan privates talk about 
a dream. Every step of the way, it's as 
if God takes him by the hand and marches him along to do the 
task that he has called him to. And shall we not hear our Lord's 
words in the Great Commission? Go, therefore, and make disciples 
of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." What does he underscore 
all of this with? And lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the age. When the Church is facing Hermitianites 
and Amalekites, she does not do it in her own strength. She 
does it held by the hand of her Lord Jesus Christ. So that when 
we preach the gospel, when we worship our God, when we testify 
our witness, we can be assured that our Savior is with us. Thirdly, 
the sovereignty of God is conspicuous. The emphasis in the entire section 
is on His power in delivering Israel from Midian. Verses 2, 7, 9, 14, and 22. the means that God employs. Again, I think we have sufficiently 
brought this out by a way of reminder. His sovereignty is 
underscored in his choice of Gideon. The sovereignty is underscored 
in the reduction of troops. The sovereignty is underscored 
in the dream of the private. And his sovereignty is underscored 
in the strategy employed. He turned Midianite against Midianite. And as well, we ought not to 
leave this passage without appreciating the emphasis of verse 2. We really 
need to struggle to fight against pride. We really need to pursue 
humility. You know, over this past year, 
especially I think when I prepared this particular message for our 
Wednesday night study, it had come out that there were a handful 
of evangelical pastors in America that had paid money so that books 
they had written would make it to the New York Times bestsellers 
list. God doesn't need that. He can use a non-bestseller. He can use a non-Spurgeon. He can use a Gideon from a small 
clan that is insignificant. He can use 300 men armed with 
nothing more than a trumpet, than a jar, and a torch. You see, we've got it exactly 
backwards today. We wouldn't hire Gideon. We wouldn't 
let him pastor us. We wouldn't let Paul pastor us. How does Paul describe himself? 
When I came to you, I came trembling and in weakness. We'd say, no, 
we need a man up there that's a take charge fellow, a CEO, 
a commander, a man who gets things done. Paul, you go find the door. 
Today, in evangelicalism, and some, unfortunately, within the 
Reformed world, we're driven by this celebrity mindset. We won't go to a conference where 
there's some unknown guy that's speaking, but if Sproul is there, 
and this isn't anything ill against Sproul, or if Piper's there, 
or if so-and-so's there, we've gotta be there. Why is that? Because we don't understand the 
mindset of God in Judges 7-2. I don't want you to praise Piper. I don't want you to praise MacArthur. I don't want you to praise Butler. I certainly don't want you to 
praise Spurgeon. I want you to praise God. Has 
the church understood that? Do we get that? Is 2 Corinthians 
4 a reality? Gospel treasure is placed in 
earthenware vessels so that the excellence of the power may be 
of God and not of men? This is something Judges 7 holds 
out to us, and we need to grapple with, and we need to understand. 
And then finally, if you're here this morning and you're an unbeliever, 
you're not a Christian, you probably think it's odd that we're preaching 
about this. Well, first, it's in the Bible. 
We love the Bible, so we preach the Bible. Two, you wonder, how 
does this affect me in the 21st century? I'm not a Christian. What can you tell me this morning 
that is good news? Well, I think from this passage 
I can tell you this, that salvation, that means God coming to you 
to draw you out of sin or save you from your sin and give you 
the righteousness of Christ, salvation involves the destruction 
of enemies. And I think we learned that at 
least from Oreb and Zeb. Hopefully Oreb and Zeb remind 
us of John in 1 John chapter 3. You say, well, how does Oreb 
and Zeb remind us of John? Because John tells us that Jesus 
came to forgive us of our sins and he was manifested so that 
he might destroy the works of the devil. Oreb and Zeb indicate 
for us that God's salvation involves the destruction of His enemies. And if you are not a believer 
this morning, your primary enemy is sin. It's got a hold of your 
heart. It has made a slave and a captive 
out of you. It has caused you to think irrationally. It has caused you to pursue those 
things that Pastor Cam mentioned before. whether it be money, 
whether it be sex, whether it be status, whether it be whatever. Anything that you pursue more 
than God is an idol, and it's folly, and it's wickedness, and 
it's terrible. That enemy needs to be destroyed. Oreb and Zeb tell us that there 
is a greater than Gideon that is able to cut the head off of 
your sin, that is able to break the back of your sin, that is 
able to destroy your sin, because the Father sent His Son and hung 
Him on the cross and punished Him in the place of sinners. 
Oreb and Zeb teach you and tell you that there is forgiveness 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. As well, the Bible shows us that 
men outside of Christ are subject to the devil. Ephesians chapter 
2 verses 1 to 3. The devil doesn't play games. 
This conception of the devil in a suit with his horns and 
his pitchfork and the long tail is probably nothing like the 
situation. He's perfectly content thinking 
you don't believe that he's there. He's perfectly content, you thinking 
there is no devil, thinking that this is a whole bunch of fairy 
tale and fable. The devil has you where he wants 
you, and the only sufficient power to break that oppression 
is the cross. It's Jesus. He was manifested 
so that he might destroy the works of the devil. And then 
you know what else we're all subject to? It's death. Isn't 
that the reality of it? Isn't that a promise? The wages 
of sin is death? In Adam all die. In Christ, we 
have everlasting life, but there is a physical death that we must 
go through. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 tells 
us that currently, right now, current session of Christ, he 
is lowering his foot on all of his enemies. The last enemy that 
Jesus Christ will destroy is death itself. So when you see 
Oreb and Zeb, you think about the power of the Christian gospel. 
You think about the power and the magnificence of Jesus Christ. 
You think about the ability and the competency of our Christ 
to defeat the enemies of God, to defeat the enemies of sin, 
the enemy of the devil, and death itself. And if you have not come 
to Christ, believe. I gotta tell you, Midianite oppression 
in chapter 6 verses 1 to 5 is a walk in the park compared to 
being outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just lacking 
for food that you will undergo. It will be exclusion from the 
presence of God Most High and from the presence of the Lamb 
Himself. The way of escape, the way of hope, the way of help 
and salvation is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you 
shall be saved. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in Heaven, we thank you for your word and we thank you for this 
passage in Judges 7. We thank you that Gideon points 
us forward to a greater than Gideon. We thank you that all 
these earthly judges and all the kings, the good kings, the 
monarchs in Israel point us forward and typify the great King of 
Kings and Lord of Lords, even Jesus Christ our Savior. I pray 
that you would deal in the hearts of men and women and boys and 
girls here I pray that there would be conviction for sin and 
that you would show men, show women, boys and girls, that Christ 
alone saves to the uttermost. Cause there to be faith in Him 
and repentance unto life and rejoicing in heaven today. And 
we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.