Judges 7:11-15

Judges 7:11

And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.

Gideon could be assured of one thing.  He would not be caught as a spy on the edge of the Midianite camp.  He was to position himself in such a place that he would be able to hear what was being said and the Lord assured him that after he heard what they were saying, that he would be strengthened in his military attack against them.  So the two of them had gone down to the edge of the camp and listened to what was being said by the host.  The host was the army of the enemy.

Judges 7:12

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

This is probably what frightened many of the Israelites and which caused them to fear and desire to go back home.  It seems the alliance of these three nations had netted them an army which was very humongous that was compared to an infestation of grasshoppers which when invading a land actually covers the land completely.  Not only were there a great multitude of soldiers, but there was a large number of camels which was as the sand of the sea on a beach which means there was at least hundreds if not thousands and once the soldiers mounted those camels, it would make them swift in battle like a blitzkrieg.  So the Israelites were really up against a massive enemy.

Judges 7:13

And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.

Gideon and Phurah made it down to the edge of the enemy camp and while they were here, they heard one of the soldiers elaborating on a dream he had.  Obviously this dream was very vivid and had an impact on the man who had it.  Just like Joseph who dreamed that the sheaves of his brothers had done obeisance to his sheaf.  It made such an impact that he had to tell it to them which, of course, made them hate him much the more.  This man dreams that a simple cake of barley which would have represented something that was small and really harmless.  If someone tossed you one, it would not hurt you when you caught it or even if it missed you and fell against your chest.  Here this man dreams that a simple barley cake had tumbled into the camp of the Midianites and hit a tent and with that strike it caused the tent to fall over and turn on its side.  It shows a very small, light object having the ability to overturn a tent which was probably heavy since it might have been made of some type of animal hide.  A prophecy of things to come shortly.

Judges 7:14

And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.

Then the other man whom he told the dream to had given a prophetic interpretation of the dream.  He knew right away that the dream meant that the barley cake represented the sword of Gideon and the fact that the barley cake had struck a tent and turned it over meant that there was going to be total destruction of the alliance of the three armies.  In other words, these men knew that they were going to die in the upcoming battle.  The Midianites probably knew that Gideon had amassed an army of 32,000 men in which 31,700 had left ranks and went back to their homes.  They saw Gideon’s army as a small one represented by the barley cake which was also small.

Judges 7:15

And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.