No King in Israel (17)

When the Lord calls a man to lead his people, these leaders do not generally ask those they lead to do things they are unwilling to do themselves. They do not sit in their comfy tents far behind the battle lines like the kings of the nations, shouting out orders while taking no risks themselves. Rather, they are right in there with their people, doing the same things they are asking them to do and taking the same risks they are.

I don’t want to read too much into a small turn of phrase from Gideon, but it’s hard to miss the takeaway here.

II. Twelve Judges in Chronological Order (continued)

5. Gideon (continued)

Judges 7:16-18 — ‘Do As I Do’

“And he [Gideon] divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. And he said to them, ‘Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, “For the Lord and for Gideon.” ’ ”

Gideon led by making himself a model for his men. “Look at me,” he said, “and do likewise. Do as I do.” He began his service for God by building an orderly altar, and he continued it by instructing his men to follow his lead. Anybody in Gideon’s little army who wanted to know his own role had only to look to his leader and do exactly what he saw Gideon doing. Orderly conduct characterized the smaller Israelite army, while the much larger Midianite camp would shortly be plunged into chaos.

But if the plan failed, Gideon was as likely to die as any of his 300. He was right there among his men, doing everything he expected of them, and doing it first.

When the Lord is leading his people, we always see this sort of thing. Paul writes to Corinth, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” The same principle applies in all the churches of the New Testament. Elders are shepherds among sheep, not lording or domineering, but leading by example. Accordingly, the ‘troops’ fall into line. “You who are younger, be subject to the elders.”

Judges 7:19-23 — A Sword for the Lord

“So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’ Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.”

Night Watches

The Psalms mention the “night watches” frequently as a time for seeking the Lord. Scholars say the Jews divided the night into three watches of four hours prior to the Roman conquest of Judea, so it’s likely Israel observed some similar division of time in Gideon’s day. Some say the “beginning of the middle watch” would be ten p.m., just as the Midianite army were comfortably in bed and some soldiers were drifting off to sleep. Other scholars say the time was midnight. Either way, the sudden noisy disruption of 300 men all around the camp all blowing trumpets, crying out and lighting torches simultaneously caused precisely the chaos the Lord intended, and the Midianites and Amalekites began to run, in the process cutting down anyone who stood in their way. Of course, these were all their own men. Gideon’s troops were safely in the hills around the camp. None of the 300 ever had to raise his sword in the initial melee.

For the Lord

Gideon’s three companies all cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” Again, I don’t think we are reading too much into the order of operations. The sword is first and foremost “for the Lord”. It is the Lord’s army, and it is the Lord’s battle. If not, we can have no confidence that he will give the victory. If it is only for ourselves or for other men that we engage in spiritual warfare, there is no real prize to be had. Secondly, the sword is “for Gideon”. Without a judge to rally them, Israel would never have risen up against Midian in the first place. The Lord had already demonstrated to Gideon that the Midianites knew and feared his name, so why not declare it?

The Army Fled

Pinning down the places to which the Midianites and Amalekites fled in their haste and confusion is no easy task. Of the four town names mentioned here (Beth-shittah, Zererah, Abel-meholah and Tabbath), only Abel-meholah appears elsewhere in scripture. (It was the home town of Elisha the prophet, so we can identify its location with greater certainty than the others.) What seems evident is that the fragmented allied forces fled east toward the Jordan, trying to get to the relative safety of the far side of the river. Reaching the river, some turned north as far as Beth-shittah, near the Jordan south of the Sea of Galilee, while others turned south to Beth-barah, just north of the Dead Sea. The distance from one town to the other is about fifty kilometers. So the enemy was spread out over a great distance, entirely unable to respond effectively even if they had been inclined to fight.

Called Out

Earlier we read that the Lord sent “all the rest of Israel every man to his tent”, leaving only Gideon’s 300. There was no expectation that those initially discharged would stand in readiness for service. (He also said to them “return home” and “hurry away from Mount Gilead”.) These men of Naphtali, Asher and Manasseh who Gideon now called on for help were not close by, but with the Midianite army so spread out, they didn’t need to be. The entire fifty kilometers I referred to previously on the near side of the Jordan was in Manasseh’s tribal territory, thus “all Manasseh” was involved. The homes of Naphtali and Asher were further north, but the men who had had originally volunteered from those tribes had probably not traveled far yet; they had not had time to make it to their destination.

Judges 7:24-25 — Getting Ephraim Involved

“Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, ‘Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.’ So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.”

Ephraim’s tribal allotment was closest to Beth-barah, so it was natural for Gideon to appeal to Ephraim for help even though the men of that tribe had not been part of the original volunteer force in chapter 6. We will see how that plays out in the next chapter. These succeeded in gaining the most obvious victory to date, killing the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and bringing the grisly proof back to Gideon.