The Pulpit Commentaries
Judges 7:1-8
EXPOSITION
Jerubbaal. The mention of this name seems intended to keep before our minds that it is emphatically the servant of the Lord who is going forth to victory. The well of Harod, i.e. of trembling, so called, no doubt, from the incident recorded in Judges 7:3, that every one who was afraid (Hebrew, hared) departed from Mount Gilead. The well of Harod is not mentioned elsewhere, though two of David's mighty men are called Harodites (2 Samuel 23:25); but it is thought to be identical with "the fountain which is in Jezreel" (1 Samuel 29:1), on the slope of Mount Gilboa, and now called Ain Jahlood, the spring of Goliah. On the north side, etc.Gideon and his Abi-ezrites were naturally on the south side of the plain, on the hill, apparently Mount Gilboa, which there shuts in the plain. The Midianitc host was encamped to the north of him (so it is in the Hebrew), in the valley, i.e. the plain of Jezreel (Judges 6:33, note). By the hill of Moreh. Nowhere else mentioned; probably only a hillock, of which there are many in that part of the plain.
And the Lord said, etc. It must be remembered that this whole movement was essentially a religious one. It began with prayer (Judges 6:6, Judges 6:7), it was followed up by repentance (Judges 6:27, Judges 6:28), and the great purpose of it was to turn the hearts of the nation back to the God of their fathers. The Lord himself, therefore, graciously forwarded this end by making it plain that the deliverance from their oppression was his work, and his only. For the general sentiment compare Deuteronomy 8:10-5; Psalms 44:3; Zechariah 3:6, etc.
Depart early. The Hebrew word so rendered only occurs here. Its exact meaning is uncertain, but the old versions generally give the meaning of "depart," "go back." Some, with much probability, connect the word with the Hebrew for a sparrow, and give the sense of "flying," i.e. returning in haste. The sense of "early" expressed in the A.V. does not seem to be any part of the meaning of the word. See Deuteronomy 20:8 for the form of the proclamation. From Mount Gilead. These words cannot be explained with certainty. The conjectures are—
1. That there may have been a Mount Gilead on the western side of Jordan, on which Gideon's army was en-camped, though it is not elsewhere mentioned.
2. That Gilead is a transcriber's error for Gilboa, which only differs by one letter in Hebrew. It is pretty certain that Gideon was encamped on Mount Gilboa.
3. That the phrase was the formula used by the whole tribe of Manasseh, on the west as well as on the east of Jordan, although properly applying only to those on the cast.
4. Some (reading maher, in haste, for mehar, from the mount) render "let him return in haste to Gilead," i.e. to his home.
The water, viz; of the well or spring of Harod. That lappeth, etc. It showed a much more soldierly and self-controlled spirit just to quench the thirst by lapping the water out of the palm of the hand, than to kneel down and drink without stint out of the spring itself. The Lord saw the difference of character indicated by the two actions, and chose his instruments accordingly.
By the three hundred, etc. Compare the saying of Jonathan, "There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few" (1 Samuel 14:6). The same principles which run through the choice of God s instruments on other occasions appear here. The instruments are to be such in quality or in quantity as to make it quite manifest that the excellency of the power is God's, not man's; and yet the instruments themselves are to be conspicuous for their rare excellence. The shepherd boy who sat on the throne of Israel was manifestly made to sit on that throne by the appointment of God; but what a ruler, what a noble character David was! It has always been deemed one of the proofs of the Divine origin of Christianity that its apostles were men of such humble station, and yet were able to change the whole religion and morality of the world; and yet what noble stuff Peter and John and Paul were made of! And so here the overthrow of the hosts of Midian by three hundred Israelites was manifestly the effect of the power of God fighting on their behalf. But yet what marvellous heroism was there in those three hundred! what strength of purpose, what iron-firmness of nerve, to see above thirty thousand of their comrades leave them in the face of the myriads of their foes; to remain quietly at their post, and, when the time came, to leave their camp and pour down into the plain. Their self-possession and self-restraint and absence of self-indulgence in the matter of the water was a true index of the unequalled qualities which they displayed in the sequel.
So the people took, etc. It is almost certain that the passage ought to be rendered, "And they took the victuals of the people in their hands, and their trumpets," i.e. the three hundred took or borrowed what provisions they needed for a few days, and the trumpets, which were to play an important part in the stratagem, from the people who were about to return to their homes. And the host of Midian, etc. The writer repeats this to give a perfect picture of the situation. The whole army returned to their homes; the three hundred alone with Gideon in the camp; the Midianite host in the plain beneath.
HOMILETICS
The sifting.
When we consider the extraordinary reduction of Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300 by a process of winnowing, not merely as an isolated fact, but as a portion of the instruction of God's word, we are at once struck with its analogy, in principle, to other broad teachings of the same Scriptures. Let us first consider the case before us, and then compare with it the analogies to which we allude.
I. In a great emergency, at the call of Gideon, 32,000 men with much apparent devotion flocked to his standard. Leaving their homes and their families and their substance, they came forward willingly to meet danger and to endure hardship. To all outward appearance they were all animated by the same spirit, and might alike be credited with a resolution to die for their country and for their faith. But by and by a test was proposed: "Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart;" and forthwith more than two-thirds of that band shrank from the undertaking. Their hearts failed them; they thought of their homes left unprotected, they thought of the dreadful Midianites and Amalekites and children of the East, so numerous, so fierce, and so irresistible; their faith in God was a dead letter; the shame of deserting their comrades was not sufficient to restrain them; they left the camp and returned, 22,000 in number, to their own homes. But 10,000 remained true to the cause. These faced the danger and stood firm. Another test was then proposed, which should go much deeper, and sift the very choicest spirits from those of more ordinary mould. Of the 10,000 that remained, only 300 were found whose rigid self-denial, and stern self-discipline, and self-possessed presence of mind, showed them to be of that stamp which was necessary for a hazardous undertaking requiring boldness, endurance, watchfulness, and perseverance to insure success. And these 300 elect were accordingly retained to do the work alone; and they did it.
II. Now this is in accordance with THE ANALOGIES both of nature and of Holy Scripture. Take the creation of mankind viewed as intended to glorify God by the proper exercise of the splendid gifts bestowed upon them. Sift them first through a coarse sieve which will only separate the grossly wicked and ungodly, and yet what a large number will thus be found to come short of the purpose for which they were created. If all the irreligious, all the evil livers, all the impure and violent and unjust among mankind, stand separate, what a comparatively small number will remain who seem true to the end of their being, even in outward appearance and in the rough! But if we go on further to sift with a finer sieve, so as to separate the careless, and the selfish, and the worldly, and the hypocrites, and the lukewarm, and so on, and so as to isolate the true saints of God, the little flock, the faithful followers of the Lamb, those who shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, and he to him for a name and a praise, alas, how will the number be reduced! Apply the same method to Israel. The seed of Abraham were separated from the rest of man, kind to be God's peculiar people, to fulfil a special purpose in the world as witnesses for God's unity and truth. But, as St. Paul teaches us, "they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called." There be many called but few chosen. There were the multitude, a disobedient and gainsaying people; and there was the remnant according to the election of grace, who believed the gospel, and who trusted in the promised Messiah and obeyed his voice. Or take the parable of the sower. One lot of seed falls by the wayside, and the fowls of the air devour it; another lot falls on the rock, and is soon burnt up by the scorching sun; a third is choked by the thorns, and brings no fruit to perfection; it is only one quarter of the seed sown that falls on good ground, and brings forth fruit with patience. Any one looking at the whole sample would have thought it all destined to be fruitful; but lo! only one fourth part comes to anything.
Now it is important to note this:—
1. With a view to ourselves, that we may sift ourselves before any winnowing of God comes unawares upon us. There are states of the world, or states of society, or conditions of outward circumstances, when the grain and the chaff, the wheat and the tares, the good fish and the bad, all pass muster, and there is no marked difference between them. Gideon's 32,000 all pass for good men and true. There come changes of circumstances, there comes a winnowing of God, events and situations which try men, which test their character, which put their faith, their integrity, their sincerity, their conscientiousness, their principles, to the proof, and presently of the 32,000 only 300 stand firm. Now it is a matter of infinite moment that we should examine our own selves and prove our own selves before such a sifting takes place. Just as workmen try the strength of the iron which is to support a certain weight, and do not leave it to chance whether it shall be found strong enough or not, so ought we carefully to try our own religious principles, whether they are of a kind that will stand the day of temptation, or of the kind that will break down. It is not enough to come to the front like Gideon's thousands for a moment; are we prepared to stick to our post like Gideon's 300 in the day of conflict and danger? It is not enough to be on the Christian side with the world s multitude for a time; we want that strength and perseverance which will secure our standing with the few when the multitudes fall away. It is important—
2. To notice this lesson of sifting with a view to forming a correct estimate of the probable issues of events. Look at any number of men engaged in any work, secular or religious, that requires steadfastness, tenacity of purpose, fixedness of principle, fortitude to brave danger and meet difficulties, and the probability is that only a small proportion of them will go through with what they have begun. Faint-heartedness, weariness, fickleness, inconstancy, and clashing considerations, will stop the many midway, and the work, if accomplished at all, will be the work of the few. Especially in work done for our Lord Jesus Christ, for the advancement of his kingdom and for the good of his Church, we must look to the few. The men of prayer, the men of earnest faith, the cross-bearing men, the men whose conversation is in heaven, and who are waiting for Christ, are the handful; but they are the men who will fight the real battle, and who, by grace, will win the real victory.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Divinely-ordained tests.
What a contrast the present position of Gideon as Israel's leader, within a few hundred yards of the dreaded foe, from that in which we first find him, threshing wheat in the wine-press secretly! Thus far has the Lord brought him, but much has to be done ere the soldiery he has shall be rendered efficient. Both leader and men have to pass through an ordeal such as must try them to the utmost. Not yet is the onset to be made that shall definitively retrieve the fortunes of Israel. Truly God's thoughts are not as men's thoughts. Everything is in apparent readiness, but delay is observed, and two mysterious tests are enjoined.
I. THE DESIGN OF THESE TESTS. Although they must have seemed arbitrary, if not capricious, to many concerned, there is evidently "method in the madness." A partial explanation is given in the words, "The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." The tests are meant, therefore—
1. To check the unbelief and self-conceit of men. The vast multitude is reduced to a few that men may give the praise to God, and his power be manifest. It is easy to suppose that such a tendency would show itself amongst the miscellaneous crowd. God could do the work by "many or by few," and it was well for them all to know it.
2. To secure efficiency. This would consist first, in the tried courage and discipline of those who remained; and secondly, in their faith and inspiration
II. THEIR ADAPTATION TO THIS DESIGN. By the adoption of the first expedient we are not to suppose that so many as left were lacking in ordinary courage. But they were not all heroes, and it was the heroic spirit that was needed. The anxious, irresolute, and timid were got rid of, and those who remained were men in earnest. The second test revealed the presence or absence of rarer qualities. This seems to be its rationale: the Israelites were close to the camp of the Midianites, who must have been watching the singular manoeuvres of their foes. The water where they drank must have been within easy reach for a demonstration, but they remained inactive. This created carelessness, a spirit of bravado in most. When they came to the water, therefore, they thought only of their thirst, and either forgot or despised the enemy. Flinging themselves down, they abandoned themselves to the luxury of quenching their thirst, and by their attitude exposed themselves to surprise and panic. But the three hundred stood up whilst drinking, and so had to lap. In this way they kept themselves alert, and showed that duty, not self-indulgence, was uppermost in their minds. It is the combination of prudence and self-denial with courage which is the most valuable thing in a soldier. The soldiers so tried are kept for the special effort, and the others who had not gone away are held in reserve to follow up the first blow struck, But over and above the special aim of each test, there was a discipline in the compulsory waiting and observing all that they involved—the loss of time, the trial of temper by apparent folly and arbitrariness, and the insignificant handful surviving the tests. So were Israel and its leader prepared. Is not all this like the discipline of life? God is so dealing with his children. The revelation and guardianship of great truths are committed only to the tried few; the signal movements and heroic duties of his kingdom are the care of elect sou]s, who when tested have been found true. The qualities requisite for a critical movement in a campaign are just those most valuable in life—faith in the leader, dauntless courage, superiority to self-indulgence, and constant prudence. We are to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We know not what faults have to be corrected, what high service lies before us.—M.
Mine own hand hath saved me.
Nothing more impressive than the secrecy observed by God in bringing on his kingdom. He is not lavish of signs and wonders. Sufficient for the occasion, and no more. Not always asserting himself. So unobtrusive, that vain and empty minds are ready to conclude him non-existent or inoperative. "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." The place of God at the beginnings of things—the springs and roots; and the spiritual nature of God accounts for much of this He loves to work by despised instruments and obscure agencies. "Thy gentleness hath made me great."
I. HOW PRONE THE NATURAL MIND IS TO THIS IMPRESSION. Israel, as here stated, was constantly imagining it. The moral systems, ancient and modern, social and political nostrums and panaceas, of men show this. The glorification of courage, intellectual gifts, material resources.
II. ITS MISCHIEVOUS EFFECTS. Egotism; materialism; intellectual and moral pride. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:3). "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40).
III. PROOFS THAT MAN CANNOT BE HIS OWN SAVIOUR.
1. The miraculous deliverances of Israel. The weakness of luxurious and materially enriched times. The providences of life. The soul's inner experiences.
2. The true conception of salvation. A spiritual more than a material fact. Our relation to the law of God. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done," etc. (Titus 3:5). "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness," etc. (Philippians 3:9). Inward witness—"By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10).—M.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY
Success not dependent on numbers.
One of the first objects of a general's anxiety is to see that he has a sufficient number of men under his command. But Gideon is made to understand that he has too many, and must reduce his hosts before going to battle with the sanction and assistance of God. In Christian work the tendency is to rely on external appearances of strength manifested by a great array of workers rather than on the inconspicuous spiritual sources of real power. While remembering the need of more labourers of the right kind for God's field (Matthew 9:37, Matthew 9:38), we must also understand that the work may be suffering through excess in numbers of those labourers, whose character and method of work are not of the highest order.
I. THE POWER OF GOD IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY HUMAN AGENCY. In all Divine work the real energy is centred in God. We are but the instruments in his hands. The temptation is to forget that the true power and blessing come wholly from him (Deuteronomy 8:17), and to think so much of our labour in planting and watering as to ignore the one most important thing, God giving the increase (1 Corinthians 3:7). A gardener can only minister to the spontaneous life of nature; and if he becomes so infatuated with his skill as to attempt to manufacture a plant, his total reliance on his own resources will, of course, only reveal folly. So anything which leads us to magnify human agencies at the expense of Divine power will as surely produce failure.
1. The imposing appearance of too great numbers may lead us to neglect the aid of God. When we are few we feel our helplessness, and so learn to turn to God for strength; when we are many we imagine ourselves strong, and thus while we are (apparently) strong in ourselves we are really most weak. Presumption takes the place of faith, and human agency is relied on instead of Divine energy. The numbers of the Church, the elaborate organisation of her societies, the gifts and genius of individual men are all snares if they tempt us to neglect the one supreme source of success. The danger of the Church in the present day is to rely too much on the machinery of her institutions, instead of seeking the vital power which can alone inspire the energy of spiritual work.
2. The character of too great numbers may be such as to hinder the bestowal of the help of God. God cannot bestow his spiritual gifts on a people who are not spiritually-minded. If we gain numbers at the expense of spirituality, we do this also at the expense of Divine aid. Better be few, and constituting such a worthy temple that the Holy Ghost can dwell and work in us, than numerous, but possessed by a worldly spirit which degrades the temple into a house of merchandise.
II. THE QUALITY OF ANY HUMAN AGENCY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE SIZE OF IT. It has been well said that it would be better for the cause of Christianity in the world "if there were fewer Christians and better ones." Xerxes found the vast numbers of his Asiatic hordes a hindrance to effective warfare with the disciplined Greeks. The great want of the Church is not more labourers, but better ones—better ministers, missionaries, teachers; not more sermons, but more able preaching; not a more ponderous library of Christian literature to meet the attacks of unbelief, but a few more powerful works (one book, 'Butler's Analogy was probably more effective in counteracting the influence of Deism than all the rest of the voluminous apologetic writing of the eighteenth century). It would be well if Church discipline were a reality, and Christian workers selected with conscientious care. The workers should be sifted by tests applied to their character and abilities.
1. Tests of courage and zeal are useful; so Gideon dismissed the timid, and only willing men were retained. The only valuable soldiers in Christ's army are the volunteers who delight in his service.
2. Slight incidents will often reveal character, and serve as tests of the quality of God's servants (Judges 7:7).—A.