Judges 7:1-5
Judges 7:1
Then
Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early,
and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on
the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
At
this time Gideon had 32,000 men with him and they had rose up early and went and
encamped by the well of Harod. The
well or spring of Harod was by the Valley of Jezreel which was about 20 miles
(32 km) southwest of the Sea of Galilee.
The Midianites were camped by the hill of Moreh which was only about 5
miles (8 km) north of them which was not a long distance away.
Judges 7:2
And
the LORD said unto Gideon, 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.
Here
the Lord comes to Gideon and tells him that the 32,000 men he has with him are
too many for the Lord to defeat the Midianites.
I am sure that Gideon probably thought to himself, doesn’t the Lord mean
not enough? Then God gives him the
reason that there are too many. God
is going to deliver Israel but He does not want Israel to vaunt themselves as if
they were the ones who delivered themselves.
The word “vaunt” means to “boast, brag, or gloat over.”
Judges 7:3
Now
therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is
fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there
returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
Gideon made the announcement that those who are fearful of going into battle may
return to their homes. It seems that
many of the men had begun to think about their commitments they left behind and
maybe their families. Some may have
just seen the immensity of the Midianite encampment and just plain got scared
thinking there was no way they could ever defeat that large army and were
probably thinking that it would be a total massacre.
It seems that the army of Israel had not yet formed one encampment as
many of them were still across the Jordan River probably on their way to meet
up. So those who were still in
Gilead had heard the announcement of Gideon and decided to return to their homes
which now left Gideon with 10,000 men.
Judges 7:4
And
the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the
water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say
unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of
whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
The
10,000 men that were with Gideon was still too much of an army for the Lord to
deliver without Israel vaunting itself up.
So the Lord basically told Gideon to go down to the water and He will try
the men for Gideon. This is a basic
picture of election. God was the
one who was deciding who should go to the battle and who should not.
It is just like salvation, God is the one who chose and named His Elect
from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 17:8 (KJV) The beast that thou
sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into
perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were
not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they
behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
The difference in this election is that God chose for Gideon the best
fighters and bravest men whereas in salvation for eternity, God chose many
people for various reasons and not necessarily because they are the bravest or
the best, including this author.
Judges 7:5
So he
brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one
that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set
by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.