“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘ “I will never leave you nor forsake you” ‘ ” (Hebrews 13:5, emphasis supplied).
Dear God, it is with a grateful heart that we draw near to the Throne of Grace to receive from You words of eternal life! We are holding fast to Your promise that You will never leave or forsake us. This promise gives us hope! Thank You so much, in the blessed Name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
I believe at this point in Gideon’s journey the dialogue between him and God is going to sound somewhat differently. I believe God knows when our faith has grown sufficiently for Him to take the reins and lead; knowing that it will be easier for us to follow.
Listen:
“And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘ “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained’ ” ‘ ” (Judges 7:2-3).
Silence:
Really? Where is the Gideon who needed a sign for everything? No request of a sign this time? Well it seems that Gideon’s faith has grown to the place where he knows that beyond the shadow of any doubt, God will be with him, just as He promised He would, the very first time He spoke to him (Judges 6:16)!
But there is more to it than meets the eye. God is the one who is going to do the testing for Gideon, before his very eyes, that will prove that God has to be with him for this to work!
“But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water.
I would have loved to be there to see the expression on Gideon’s face at this time; but he never said a word! By now he knew that the God who was able to grant him all the signs he requested, could surely grant him the victory with three hundred men!
I have now come to my favorite part of the story! The part of the story that speaks of a personal God who remembers that we are dust, and will not allow our new-found faith to be tested above what it is able to bear – but with the testing, will make a way for it to past the test! Thank You Jesus!
“Then the Lord said to Gideon, ‘ “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. . . .It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp” (7, 9-11, emphasis provided). Merciful Savior! Wonderful Lord!
So Gideon went down to the camp with Purah his servant. What he is going to hear will be more than enough to prepare him to face this apparently invincible coalition! (see Judges 7:11-14).
This part of the story is intended to teach us several lessons:
- The Lord can also give dreams to the enemy!
- The enemy may know more about your God than you imagine!
- The enemy can discern when you are favored by God!
- The Lord may use the enemy’s mouth to proclaim your victory!
In our next devotional we will be talking about Gideon’s victory in battle!