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The Beginning of the End
The people were led down to the waterside, expecting to make
an immediate advance against the enemy. A few quickly took a
little water in the hand and sucked it up as they went on, but almost
all bowed on their knees and slowly drank from the surface of the
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stream—just three hundred out of ten thousand took the water in
their hands. These three hundred were selected, and all the rest were
permitted to return to their homes.
Those who were determined to care for their own wants in a
time of danger were not to be trusted in an emergency. The three
hundred chosen men not only possessed courage and self-control,
they were also men of faith. They had not defiled themselves with
idolatry. God could direct them, and through them He could bring
about deliverance for Israel. God is not honored as much by great
numbers as He is by the character of those who serve Him.
The Israelites were stationed on the edge of a hill overlooking
the valley where the invaders’ camp was spread out “as numerous
as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the
seashore in multitude.” Gideon trembled as he thought of the battle
that was coming in the morning, but the Lord told him to go down
to the camp of the Midianites—he would hear something there for
his encouragement.
Waiting in the darkness and silence, he heard a soldier telling
a dream to his companion: “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.” The other soldier
answered in words that stirred the heart of that unseen listener: “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.”
Gideon recognized the voice of God speaking through those
Midianite strangers. Returning to the few men under his command,
he said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into
your hand.”
God’s Simple Battle Plan
Through God’s direction a plan of attack was suggested. The
three hundred men were divided into three companies. Every man
was given a trumpet and a torch that was concealed in a clay pitcher.