Earlier Judges
495
messengers to the tribe of Ephraim, rousing them to intercept the
fugitives at the southern fords. Meanwhile, with his three hundred,
“faint, yet pursuing,” Gideon crossed the stream hard after those who
had already gained the farther side. The two princes, Zebah and
Zalmunna, who had been over the entire host, and who had escaped
with an army of fifteen thousand men, were overtaken by Gideon, their
force completely scattered, and the leaders captured and slain.
In this signal defeat not less than one hundred and twenty thousand
of the invaders perished. The power of the Midianites was broken, so
that they were never again able to make war upon Israel. The tidings
spread swiftly far and wide, that Israel’s God had again fought for His
people. No words can describe the terror of the surrounding nations
when they learned what simple means had prevailed against the power
of a bold, warlike people.
The leader whom God chose to overthrow the Midianites occupied
no prominent position in Israel. He was not a ruler, a priest, or a
Levite. He thought himself the least in his father’s house. But God
saw in him a man of courage and integrity. He was distrustful of
himself and willing to follow the guidance of the Lord. God does not
always choose for His work men of the greatest talents, but He selects
those whom He can best use. “Before honor is humility.”
Proverbs
15:33
. The Lord can work most effectually through those who are
most sensible of their own insufficiency, and who will rely upon Him
as their leader and source of strength. He will make them strong by
uniting their weakness to His might, and wise by connecting their
ignorance with His wisdom.
If they would cherish true humility, the Lord could do much more
for His people; but there are few who can be trusted with any large
measure of responsibility or success without becoming self-confident
[554]
and forgetful of their dependence upon God. This is why, in choosing
the instruments for His work, the Lord passes by those whom the
world honors as great, talented, and brilliant. They are too often proud
and self-sufficient. They feel competent to act without counsel from
God.
The simple act of blowing a blast upon the trumpet by the army of
Joshua around Jericho, and by Gideon’s little band about the hosts of
Midian, was made effectual, through the power of God, to overthrow
the might of His enemies. The most complete system that men have