In the book of Judges there is a fascinating account about a man named Gideon. Let me set the stage:
The people of Israel are
now established in the promised land. After wandering in the wilderness
for 40 years you'd think they would gratefully honor God and live in
their new land according to his words and promises. Instead they once
again waver in their obedience to the Father and begin worshiping false
gods, continuing the miserable cycle of disobedience/forgiveness,
oppression/deliverance.
As Dr. Phil would say, "What were they thinking?"
At this point they are
suffering under the hands of the Midianites, a powerful people who had
invaded Israel and destroyed their cattle and crops "all the way to
Gaza." (Judges 6:4) The Israelites had to camp out in the mountains and
caves for survival.
Into this setting an angel
appears to a young man named Gideon and tells him that he is the one who
will lead his people in victory over the Midianites. Gideon, however,
is not exactly enthusiastic about that idea. He unsuccessfully argues
with God that he is not the man for the job. He has every excuse in the
book. He wants proof! This is where we get the phrase, "Gideon's
fleece." Read this entertaining story in Chapter 6.
Have you ever argued with God that you are not the man for the job?
Finally, convinced that he
must be the one to lead the fight, Gideon gathers together a rag-tag
army of Israelites, about 32,000 men. But God speaks to him again and
tells him there are too many soldiers. What? How can you possibly have
too many soldiers? God actually tells Gideon the reason for this. He
says in Judges 7:2, "In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her."
God gives Gideon a "weeding
out" plan that, interestingly, includes getting rid of any man who is
afraid. In the end Gideon is left with 300 men to go up against a huge
Midianite army that was "thick as locusts." (Judges 7:12) He must have
been sweating bullets by this time, don't you think?
So into battle they go --
but with some very strange weapons. The Bible tells us they are given a
horn to hold in one hand and an empty clay jar in the other hand, with a
torch inside it.
The paltry 300-man army
surrounds the Midianite camp in the night. At the designated moment, the
soldiers blow their horns and break their clay jars so the torches
flare; then they all roar, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" Their
confused and terrified enemies turn on each other with their own swords
and flee; 120,000 enemy swordsmen are killed that day. (Judges 8:10)
Israel wins the battle against their oppressors.
But wait! Did we say the
Israeli army held horns in one hand and torches in the other? What did
they fight with? Neither hand was free to hold a sword.
Why? Because the sword was
in God's hand. There can be no doubt whatsoever who is the victor in
this battle. The Israelites aren't even holding weapons. The victory is
the Lords.
Friends, the symbolism here
is amazing. When we have a battle too big to fight on our own, just
remember that God holds the sword. When we are broken, as were the jars
of clay, the fire is released. And combined with the sound of praise
from the horns and the shout of victory from our mouths, our enemy is
defeated.
A mere 300 men cannot
conquer so huge an army. God obviously wanted it to be crystal clear:
the victory had everything to do with God's power to defeat the enemy.
And that is the same power that is at work today conquering enemies too
big and too powerful for us to fight alone.
Whether your battles today are emotional, physical or spiritual, please remember this:
The Weapons of War
in the kingdom are not always the sword; they are the broken vessels of
clay and the offering of praise to the One who fights our battles with
us and for us.
Hallelujah!
Greg
