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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Judges, Chapter VII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC07006.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC07008.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter presents us with Gideon in the field, commanding the army
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of Israel, and routing the army of the Midianites, for which great
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exploit we found in the former chapter how he was prepared by his
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converse with God and his conquest of Baal. We are here told,
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I. What direction God gave to Gideon for the modelling of his army, by
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which it was reduced to 300 men,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:1,8">ver. 1, 8</A>.
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II. What encouragement God gave to Gideon to attack the enemy, by
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sending him secretly into their camp to hear a Midianite tell his dream,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:9-15">ver. 9-15</A>.
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III. How he formed his attack upon the enemy's camp with his 300 men,
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not to fight them, but to frighten them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:16-20">ver. 16-20</A>.
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IV. The success of this attack; it put them to flight, and gave them a
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total rout, the disbanded forces, and their other neighbours, then
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coming in to his assistance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:21-25">ver. 21-25</A>.
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It is a story that shines very brightly in the book of the wars of the
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Lord.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jud7_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Gideon's Three Hundred Men.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1249.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>
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1 Then Jerubbaal, who <I>is</I> Gideon, and all the people that
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<I>were</I> with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of
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Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side
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of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
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2 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Gideon, The people that <I>are</I> with
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thee <I>are</I> too many for me to give the Midianites into their
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hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own
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hand hath saved me.
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3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people,
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saying, Whosoever <I>is</I> fearful and afraid, let him return and
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depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people
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twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
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4 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Gideon, The people <I>are</I> yet <I>too</I>
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many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for
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thee there: and it shall be, <I>that</I> of whom I say unto thee, This
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shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of
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whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same
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shall not go.
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5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his
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tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise
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every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
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6 And the number of them that lapped, <I>putting</I> their hand to
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their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the
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people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
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7 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that
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lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine
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hand: and let all the <I>other</I> people go every man unto his place.
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8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their
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trumpets: and he sent all <I>the rest of</I> Israel every man unto his
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tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of
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Midian was beneath him in the valley.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. Gideon applies himself with all possible care and industry to do the
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part of a good general, in leading on the hosts of Israel against the
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Midianites
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>He rose up early,</I> as one whose heart was upon his business, and
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who was afraid of losing time. Now that he is sure God is with him he
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is impatient of delay. He pitched near a famous well, that his army
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might not be distressed for want of water, and gained the higher
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ground, which possibly might be some advantage to him, for the
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Midianites <I>were beneath him in the valley.</I> Note, Faith in God's
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promises must not slacken, but rather quicken, our endeavours. When we
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are sure God goes before us, then we must bestir ourselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+5:24">2 Sam. v. 24</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. God provides that the praise of the intended victory may be
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reserved wholly to himself, by appointing 300 men only to be employed
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in this service.</P>
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<P>
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1. The army consisted of 32,000 men, a small army in comparison with
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what the Midianites had now brought into the field; Gideon was ready to
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think them too few, but God comes to him, and tells him they are <I>too
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many,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Not but that those did well who offered themselves willingly to this
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expedition, but God saw fit not to make use of all that came. We often
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find God bringing great things to pass by a few hands, but this was the
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only time that he purposely made them fewer. Had Deborah lately blamed
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those who <I>came not to the help of the Lord,</I> and yet in the next
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great action must those be turned off that do come? Yes;
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(1.) God would hereby show that when he employed suitable instruments
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in his service he did not need them, but could do his work without
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them, so that he was not indebted to them for their service, but they
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to him for employing them.
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(2.) He would hereby put those to shame for their cowardice who had
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tamely submitted to the Midianites, and durst not make head against
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them, because of the disproportion of their numbers. They now saw that,
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if they had but made sure of the favour of God, one of them might have
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chased a thousand.
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(3.) He would hereby silence and exclude boasting. This is the reason
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here given by him who knows the pride that is in men's hearts: <I>Lest
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Israel vaunt themselves against me.</I> Justly were those denied the
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honour of the success. <I>My own hand hath saved me</I> is a word that
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must never come out of the mouth of such as shall be saved. <I>He that
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glories must glory in the Lord,</I> and all flesh must be silent before
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him.</P>
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<P>
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2. Two ways God took to lessen their numbers:--
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(1.) He ordered all that would own themselves timorous and
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faint-hearted to be dismissed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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They were now encamped on a mountain close to the enemy, called
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<I>Mount Gilead,</I> from Gilead, the common ancestor of these families
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of Manasseh, which were seated on this side Jordan
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+26:30">Num. xxvi. 30</A>),
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and thence they might see perhaps the vast numbers of the enemy; those
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therefore who were disheartened at the sight were left to their
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liberty, to go back if they pleased. There was a law for making such a
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proclamation as this,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+20:8">Deut. xx. 8</A>.
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But Gideon perhaps thought that concerned only those wars which were
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undertaken for the enlarging of their coast, not, as this, for their
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necessary defence against an invader; therefore Gideon would not have
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proclaimed this if God, who knew how his forces would hereby be
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diminished, had not commanded him. Cowards would be as likely as any,
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after the victory, to take the honour of it from God, and therefore God
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would not do them the honour to employ them in it. One would have
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thought there would be scarcely one Israelite to be found that against
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such an enemy as the Midianites, and under such a leader as Gideon,
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would own himself fearful; yet above two parts of three took advantage
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of this proclamation, and filed off, when they saw the strength of the
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enemy and their own weakness, not considering the assurances of the
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divine presence which their general had received of the Lord, and, it
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is likely, delivered unto them. Some think the oppression they had been
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under so long had broken their spirits, others, more probably, that
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consciousness of their own guilt had deprived them of their courage.
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Sin stared them in the face, and therefore they durst not look death in
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the face. Note, Fearful faint-hearted people are not fit to be employed
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for God; and, among those that are enlisted under the banner of Christ,
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there are more such than we think there are.
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(2.) He directed the cashiering of all that remained except 300 men,
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and he did it by a sign: <I>The people are yet too many</I> for me to
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make use off,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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See how much God's thoughts and ways are above ours. Gideon himself, it
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is likely, thought they were too few, though they were as many as Barak
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encountered Sisera with
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+4:14"><I>ch.</I> iv. 14</A>);
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and, had he not forced his way through the discouragement by dint of
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faith, he himself would have started back from so hazardous an
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enterprise, and have made the best of his own way back. But God saith,
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they are <I>too many,</I> and, when diminished to a third part, they
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are yet <I>too many,</I> which may help us to understand those
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providences which sometimes seem to weaken the church and its
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interests: its friends are too many, too mighty, too wise, for God to
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work deliverance by; God is taking a course to lessen them, that he may
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be <I>exalted in his own strength.</I> Gideon is ordered to bring his
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soldiers to the watering, probably to the well of Harod
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>)
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and the stream that ran from it; he, or some appointed by him, must
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observe how they drank. We must suppose they were all thirsty, and were
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inclined to drink; it is likely he told them they must prepare to enter
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upon action immediately, and therefore must refresh themselves
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accordingly, not expecting, after this, to drink any thing else but the
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blood of their enemies. Now some, and no doubt the most, would kneel
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down on their knees to drink, and put their mouths to the water as
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horses do, and so they might get their full draught. Others, it may be,
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would not make such a formal business of it, but as a dog laps with his
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tongue, a lap and away, so they would hastily take up a little water in
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their hands, and cool their mouths with that, and be gone. Three
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hundred and no more there were of this latter sort, that drank in
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haste, and by those God tells Gideon he would rout the Midianites,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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By the former distinction none were retained but hearty men, that were
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resolved to do their utmost for retrieving the liberties of Israel; but
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by this further distinction it was provided that none should be made
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use of but,
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[1.] Men that were hardy, that could endure long fatigue, without
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complaining of thirst or weariness, that had not in them any dregs
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either of sloth or luxury.
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[2.] Men that were hasty, that thought it long till they were engaged
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with the enemy, preferring the service of God and their country before
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their necessary refreshment; such as these God chooses to employ, that
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are not only well affected, but zealously affected in a good thing. And
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also because these were the smaller number, and therefore the least
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likely to effect what they were designed for, God would by them save
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Israel. It was a great trial to the faith and courage of Gideon, when
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God bade him let all the rest of the people but these 300 <I>go every
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man to his place,</I> that is, go where they pleased out of his call,
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and from under his command; yet we may suppose those that were hearty
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in the cause, though now set aside, did not go so far out of hearing
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but that they were ready to follow the blow, when the 300 had broken
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the ice, though this does not appear. Thus strangely was Gideon's army
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purged, and modelled, and reduced, instead of being recruited, as one
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would think in so great an action it both needed and deserved to be.
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Now,</P>
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<P>
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3. Let us see how this little despicable regiment, on which the stress
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of the action must lie, was accoutred and fitted out. Had these 300
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been double-manned with servants and attendants, and double-armed with
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swords and spears, we should have thought them the more likely to bring
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something to pass. But, instead of making them more serviceable by
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their equipment, they are made less so. For,
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(1.) Every soldier turns butler: They <I>took victuals in their
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hands</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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left their bag and baggage behind, and every man burdened himself with
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his own provision, which was a trial of their faith, whether they could
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trust God when they had no more provisions with them than they could
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carry, and a trial of their diligence, whether they would carry as much
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as they had occasion for. This was indeed living from hand to mouth.
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(2.) Every soldier turns trumpeter. The regiments that were cashiered
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left their trumpets behind them for the use of these 300 men, who were
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furnished with these instead of weapons of war, as if they had been
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going rather to a game than to a battle.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud7_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud7_15"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>9 And it came to pass the same night, that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto
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him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it
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into thine hand.
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10 But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant
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down to the host:
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11 And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine
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hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down
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with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that
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<I>were</I> in the host.
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12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children
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of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for
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multitude; and their camels <I>were</I> without number, as the sand by
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the sea side for multitude.
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13 And when Gideon was come, behold, <I>there was</I> a man that
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told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a
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dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of
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Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and
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overturned it, that the tent lay along.
|
||
|
14 And his fellow answered and said, This <I>is</I> nothing else
|
||
|
save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: <I>for</I>
|
||
|
into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
|
||
|
15 And it was <I>so,</I> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
|
||
|
delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
Gideon's army being diminished as we have found it was, he must either
|
||
|
fight by faith or not at all; God therefore here provides recruits for
|
||
|
his faith, instead of recruits for his forces.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
I. He furnishes him with a good foundation to build his faith upon.
|
||
|
Nothing but a word from God will be a footing for faith. He has this as
|
||
|
full and express as he can desire,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. A word of command to warrant the action, which otherwise seemed rash
|
||
|
and indiscreet, and unbecoming a wise general: <I>Arise, get thee
|
||
|
down</I> with this handful of men <I>unto the host.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. A word of promise to assure him of the success, which otherwise
|
||
|
seemed very improbable: <I>I have delivered it into thy hand;</I> it is
|
||
|
all thy own. This <I>word of the Lord</I> came to him the same night,
|
||
|
when he was (we may suppose) greatly agitated and full of care how he
|
||
|
should come off; <I>in the multitude of his thoughts within him these
|
||
|
comforts did delight his soul.</I> Divine consolations are given in to
|
||
|
believers not only strongly but seasonably.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. He furnishes him with a good prop to support his faith with.
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. He orders him to be his own spy, and now in the dead of the night to
|
||
|
go down privately into the host of Midian, and see what intelligence he
|
||
|
could gain: "<I>If thou fear to go down</I> to fight, go first only
|
||
|
with thy own servant
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>)
|
||
|
|
||
|
and <I>hear what they say</I>"
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>);
|
||
|
|
||
|
and it is intimated to him that he should hear that which would greatly
|
||
|
strengthen his faith. God knows the infirmities of his people, and what
|
||
|
great encouragement they may sometimes take from a small matter; and
|
||
|
therefore, knowing beforehand what would occur to Gideon, in that very
|
||
|
part of the camp to which he would go down, he orders him to go down
|
||
|
and hearken to what they said, that he might the more firmly believe
|
||
|
what God said. He must take with him <I>Phurah his servant,</I> one
|
||
|
that he could confide in, probably one of the ten that had helped him
|
||
|
to break down the altar of Baal. He must take him and no one else with
|
||
|
him, must take him with him to be a witness of what he should hear the
|
||
|
Midianites say, that out of the mouth of these two witnesses, when the
|
||
|
matter came to be reported to Israel, the word might be established. He
|
||
|
must take his servant with him, because two are better than one and a
|
||
|
little help is better than none.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. Being so, he orders him the sight of something that was
|
||
|
discouraging. It was enough to frighten him to discern, perhaps by
|
||
|
moon-light, the vast numbers of the enemy
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
the men like grasshoppers for multitude, and they proved no better than
|
||
|
grasshoppers for strength and courage; the camels one could not count,
|
||
|
any more than the sand. But,
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. He causes him to hear that which was to him a very good omen; and
|
||
|
when he had heard it he went back again immediately, supposing he now
|
||
|
had what he was sent thither for. He overheard two soldiers of the
|
||
|
enemy, that were comrades, talking; probably they were in bed together,
|
||
|
waking in the night.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) One of them tells his dream, and as our dreams generally are, and
|
||
|
therefore not worth telling again, it is a very foolish one. He dreamed
|
||
|
that he saw a barley-cake come rolling down the hill into the camp of
|
||
|
the Midianites, and "methought," says he (for so we speak in telling
|
||
|
our dreams), "this rolling cake struck one of our tents" (perhaps one
|
||
|
of the chief of their tents) "and with such violence that" (would you
|
||
|
think it?) "it overturned the tent, forced down the stakes, and broke
|
||
|
the cords at one blow, so that the tent lay along and buried its
|
||
|
inhabitants,"
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>In multitudes of dreams there are divers vanities,</I> says Solomon,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:7">Eccl. v. 7</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
One would wonder what odd incoherent things are often put together by a
|
||
|
ludicrous fancy in our dreams.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) The other, it may be between sleeping and waking, undertakes to
|
||
|
interpret this dream, and the interpretation is very far-fetched:
|
||
|
<I>This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Our expositors now can tell us how apt the resemblance was, that
|
||
|
Gideon, who had threshed corn for his family, and made cakes for his
|
||
|
friend
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:11-19"><I>ch.</I> vi. 11-19</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
was fitly represented by a cake,--that he and his army were as
|
||
|
inconsiderable as a cake made of a little flour, as contemptible as a
|
||
|
barley-cake, hastily got together as a cake suddenly baked upon the
|
||
|
coals, and as unlikely to conquer this great army as a cake to
|
||
|
overthrow a tent. But, after all, do <I>not interpretations belong to
|
||
|
God?</I> He put it into the head of the one to dream and into the mouth
|
||
|
of the other to give the sense of it; if Gideon had heard the dream
|
||
|
only, and he and his servant had been left to interpret it themselves,
|
||
|
it had so little significancy in it that it would have done him little
|
||
|
service; but, having the interpretation from the mouth of an enemy, it
|
||
|
not only appeared to come from God, who has all men's hearts and
|
||
|
tongues in his hand, but it was likewise an evidence that the enemy was
|
||
|
quite dispirited, and that the name of Gideon had become so formidable
|
||
|
to them that it disturbed their sleep. The victory would easily be won
|
||
|
which was already so tamely yielded: <I>Into his hand hath God
|
||
|
delivered Midian.</I> Those were not likely to fight who saw God
|
||
|
fighting against them.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Lastly,</I> Gideon, observing the finger of God pointing him to this
|
||
|
very place, at this very time, to hear this dream and the
|
||
|
interpretation of it, was exceedingly encouraged by it against the
|
||
|
melancholy apprehensions he had upon the reducing of his army. He was
|
||
|
very well pleased to hear himself compared to a barley-cake, when it
|
||
|
proved to effect such great things. Being hereby animated, we are told
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. How he gave God the glory of it; he worshipped immediately, bowed
|
||
|
his head, or, it may be, lifted up his eyes and hands, and in a short
|
||
|
ejaculation thanked God for the victory he was now sure of, and for
|
||
|
this encouragement to expect it. Wherever we are, we may speak to God,
|
||
|
and worship him, and find a way open heavenward. God must have the
|
||
|
praise of that which is encouraging to our faith, and his providence
|
||
|
must be acknowledged in those events which, though minute and seemingly
|
||
|
accidental, prove serviceable to us.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. How he gave his friends a share in the encouragements he had
|
||
|
received: <I>Arise,</I> prepare to march presently; <I>the Lord has
|
||
|
delivered Midian into your hand.</I></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_16"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_17"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_18"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_19"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_20"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_21"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_22"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
||
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
||
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Midianites Surprised.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1249.</TD></TR>
|
||
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>16 And he divided the three hundred men <I>into</I> three companies,
|
||
|
and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers,
|
||
|
and lamps within the pitchers.
|
||
|
17 And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and,
|
||
|
behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be
|
||
|
<I>that,</I> as I do, so shall ye do.
|
||
|
18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that <I>are</I> with me,
|
||
|
then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and
|
||
|
say, <I>The sword</I> of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and of Gideon.
|
||
|
19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that <I>were</I> with him, came
|
||
|
unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle
|
||
|
watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the
|
||
|
trumpets, and brake the pitchers that <I>were</I> in their hands.
|
||
|
20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the
|
||
|
pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the
|
||
|
trumpets in their right hands to blow <I>withal:</I> and they cried,
|
||
|
The sword of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and of Gideon.
|
||
|
21 And they stood every man in his place round about the camp:
|
||
|
and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.
|
||
|
22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> set
|
||
|
every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the
|
||
|
host: and the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, <I>and</I> to the
|
||
|
border of Abel-meholah, unto Tabbath.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
Here is,
|
||
|
|
||
|
I. The alarm which Gideon gave to the hosts of Midian in the dead time
|
||
|
of the night; for it was intended that those who had so long been a
|
||
|
terror to Israel, and had so often frightened them, should themselves
|
||
|
be routed and ruined purely by terror.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. The attack here made was, in many circumstances, like that which
|
||
|
Abraham made upon the army that had taken Lot captive. The number of
|
||
|
men was much the same: Abraham had 318, Gideon 300; they both divided
|
||
|
their forces, both made their attack by night, and were both victorious
|
||
|
under great disadvantages
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+14:14,15">Gen. xiv. 14, 15</A>);
|
||
|
|
||
|
and Gideon is not only a son of Abraham (so were the Midianites by
|
||
|
Keturah) but an heir of his faith. Gideon,
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) Divided his army, small as it was, into three battalions
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
one of which he himself commanded
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
because great armies (and such a one he would make a show of) were
|
||
|
usually divided into the right wing, and left wing, and the body of the
|
||
|
army.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) He ordered them all to do as he did,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He told them now, it is very likely, what they must do, else the thing
|
||
|
was so strange that they would scarcely have done it of a sudden, but
|
||
|
he would, by doing it first, give notice to them when to do it, as
|
||
|
officers exercise their soldiers with the word of command or by beat of
|
||
|
drum: <I>Look on me, and do likewise.</I> Such is the word of command
|
||
|
which our Lord Jesus, the captain of our salvation, gives his soldiers;
|
||
|
for he has <I>left us an example,</I> with a charge to follow it: <I>As
|
||
|
I do, so shall you do.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(3.) He made his descent in the night, when they were secure
|
||
|
and least expected it, which would put them into great consternation,
|
||
|
and when the smallness of his army would not be discovered. In the
|
||
|
night all frights are most frightful, especially in the dead of the
|
||
|
night, as this was, a little after midnight, when the middle watch
|
||
|
began, and the alarm would wake them out of their sleep. We read of
|
||
|
<I>terror by night</I> as very terrible
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+91:5">Ps. xci. 5</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and <I>fear in the night,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+3:8">Cant. iii. 8</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(4.) That which Gideon aimed at was to frighten this huge host, to give
|
||
|
them not only a fatal rout, but a very shameful one. He accoutred his
|
||
|
army with every man a trumpet in his right hand, and an earthen
|
||
|
pitcher, with a torch in it, in his left, and he himself thought it no
|
||
|
disparagement to him to march before them thus armed. He would make but
|
||
|
a jest of conquering this army, and goes out against them rather as
|
||
|
against a company of children than against a host of soldiers. <I>The
|
||
|
virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee,</I> and <I>laughed
|
||
|
thee to scorn,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:22">Isa. xxxvii. 22</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The fewness of his men favoured his design; for, being so few, they
|
||
|
marched to the camp with the greater secresy and expedition, so that
|
||
|
they were not discovered till they were close by the camp; and he
|
||
|
contrived to give the alarm when they had just mounted the guards
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
that the sentinels, being then wakeful, might the sooner disperse the
|
||
|
alarm through the camp, which was the best service they could do him.
|
||
|
Three ways Gideon contrived to strike a terror upon this army, and so
|
||
|
put them into confusion.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[1.] With a great noise. Every man must blow his trumpet in the most
|
||
|
terrible manner he could and clatter an earthen pitcher to pieces at
|
||
|
the same time; probably each dashed his pitcher to his next man's, and
|
||
|
so they were broken both together, which would not only make a great
|
||
|
crash, but was a figure of what would be the effects of the fright,
|
||
|
even the Midianites' killing one another.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[2.] With a great blaze. The lighted torches were hid in the pitchers,
|
||
|
like <I>a candle under a bushel,</I> until they came to the camp, and
|
||
|
then, being taken out all together of a sudden, would make a glaring
|
||
|
show, and run through the camp like a flash of lightning. Perhaps with
|
||
|
these they set some of the tents on the outside of the camp on fire,
|
||
|
which would very much increase the confusion.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[3.] With a great shout. Every man must cry, <I>For the Lord, and for
|
||
|
Gideon,</I> so some think it should be read in
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
for there the sword is not in the original, but it is in
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.</I> It should seem, he
|
||
|
borrowed the word from the Midianite's dream
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
it is <I>the sword of Gideon.</I> Finding his name was a terror to
|
||
|
them, he thus improves it against them, but prefixes the name of
|
||
|
Jehovah, as the figure without which his own was but an insignificant
|
||
|
cypher. This would put life into his own men, who might well take
|
||
|
courage when they had such a God as Jehovah, and such a man as Gideon,
|
||
|
both to <I>fight for,</I> and to <I>fight for them;</I> well might
|
||
|
those follow who had such leaders. It would likewise put their enemies
|
||
|
into a fright, who had of old heard of Jehovah's great name, and of
|
||
|
late of Gideon's. The sword of the Lord is all in all to the success of
|
||
|
the sword of Gideon, yet the sword of Gideon must be employed. Men the
|
||
|
instruments, and God the principal agent, must both be considered in
|
||
|
their places, but men, the greatest and best, always in subserviency
|
||
|
and subordination to God. This army was to be defeated purely by
|
||
|
terrors, and these are especially the <I>sword of the Lord.</I> These
|
||
|
soldiers, if they had swords by their sides, that was all, they had
|
||
|
none in their hands, but they gained the victory by shouting "The
|
||
|
sword." So the church's enemies are routed by <I>a sword out of the
|
||
|
mouth,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+19:21">Rev. xix. 21</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. These soldiers, if they had swords by their sides, that was all,
|
||
|
they had none in their hands, but they gained the victory by shouting
|
||
|
"The sword." So the church's enemies are routed by <I>a sword out of
|
||
|
the mouth,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+19:21">Rev. xix. 21</A>.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. This method here taken of defeating the Midianites may be alluded
|
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|
to,
|
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|
|
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|
(1.) As typifying the destruction of the devil's kingdom in the world
|
||
|
by the preaching of the everlasting gospel, the sounding of that
|
||
|
trumpet, and the holding forth of that light out of earthen vessels,
|
||
|
for such the ministers of the gospel are, in whom the treasure of that
|
||
|
light is deposited,
|
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|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+4:6">2 Cor. iv. 6, 7</A>.
|
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|
|
||
|
Thus God chose the <I>foolish things of the world to confound the
|
||
|
wise,</I> a barley-cake to overthrow the tents of Midian, that the
|
||
|
<I>excellency of the power might be of God only;</I> the gospel is a
|
||
|
sword, not in the hand, but in the mouth, the sword <I>of the Lord and
|
||
|
of Gideon,</I> of God and Jesus Christ, him that sits on the throne and
|
||
|
the Lamb.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) As representing the terrors of the great day. So the excellent
|
||
|
bishop Hall applies it; if these pitchers, trumpets, and firebrands,
|
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|
did so daunt and dismay the proud troops of Midian and Amalek, who
|
||
|
shall be able to stand before the last terror, when the trumpet of the
|
||
|
archangel shall sound, the elements shall be on a flame, the heavens
|
||
|
pass away with a great noise, and the Lord himself shall descend with a
|
||
|
shout!</P>
|
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|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. The wonderful success of this alarm. The Midianites were shouted
|
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|
out of their lives, as the walls of Jericho were shouted down, that
|
||
|
Gideon might see what he lately despaired of ever seeing, the
|
||
|
<I>wonders that their fathers told them of.</I> Gideon's soldiers
|
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|
observed their orders, and <I>stood every man in his place round about
|
||
|
the camp</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
sounding his trumpet to excite them to fight one another, and holding
|
||
|
out his torch to light them to their ruin. They did not rush into the
|
||
|
host of Midian, as greedy either of blood or spoil, but patiently stood
|
||
|
still to <I>see the salvation of the Lord,</I> a salvation purely of
|
||
|
his own working. Observe how the design took effect.
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. They feared the Israelites. <I>All the host</I> immediately took
|
||
|
the alarm; it flew like lightning through all their lines, and <I>they
|
||
|
ran, and cried, and fled,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There was something natural in this fright. We may suppose they had not
|
||
|
had intelligence of the great diminution of Gideon's army, but rather
|
||
|
concluded that since their last advices it had been growing greater and
|
||
|
greater; and therefore they had reason to suspect, knowing how odious
|
||
|
and grievous they had made themselves and what bold steps had been
|
||
|
taken towards the throwing off of their yoke, that it was a very great
|
||
|
army which was to be ushered in with all those trumpeters and
|
||
|
torch-bearers. But there was more of a supernatural power impressing
|
||
|
this terror upon them. God himself gave it the setting on, to show how
|
||
|
that promise should have been fulfilled if they had not forfeited it,
|
||
|
<I>One of you shall chase a thousand.</I> See the power of imagination,
|
||
|
and how much it may become a terror at some times, as at other times it
|
||
|
is a pleasure.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. They fell foul upon one another: <I>The Lord set every man's sword
|
||
|
against his fellow,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In this confusion, observing the trumpeters and torch-bearers to stand
|
||
|
still without their camp, they concluded the body of the army had
|
||
|
already entered and was in the midst of them, and therefore every one
|
||
|
ran at the next he met, though a friend, supposing him an enemy, and
|
||
|
one such mistake as this would occasion many, for then he that slew him
|
||
|
would certainly be taken for an enemy, and would be dispatched
|
||
|
immediately. It is our interest to preserve such a command of our own
|
||
|
spirits as never to <I>be afraid with any amazement,</I> for we cannot
|
||
|
conceive what mischiefs we thereby plunge ourselves into. See also how
|
||
|
God often makes the enemies of his church instruments to destroy one
|
||
|
another; it is a pity the church's friends should ever be thus
|
||
|
infatuated.
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. They fled for their lives. Perhaps when day-light came they were
|
||
|
sensible of their mistake in fighting with one another, and concluded
|
||
|
that by this fatal error they had so weakened themselves that now it
|
||
|
was impossible to make any head against Israel, and therefore made the
|
||
|
best of their way towards their own country, though, for aught that
|
||
|
appears, the 300 men kept their ground. <I>The wicked flee when none
|
||
|
pursueth,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:1">Prov. xxviii. 1</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Terrors make him afraid on every side, and drive him to his
|
||
|
feet,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+18:11">Job xviii. 11</A>.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_23"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_24"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Jud7_25"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
||
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
||
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Gideon's Victory.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1249.</TD></TR>
|
||
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>23 And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of
|
||
|
Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued
|
||
|
after the Midianites.
|
||
|
24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim,
|
||
|
saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them
|
||
|
the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim
|
||
|
gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Beth-barah
|
||
|
and Jordan.
|
||
|
25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb;
|
||
|
and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the
|
||
|
winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of
|
||
|
Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have here the prosecution of this glorious victory.
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. Gideon's soldiers that had been dismissed, and perhaps had begun to
|
||
|
disperse themselves, upon notice of the enemies' flight got together
|
||
|
again, and vigorously pursued those whom they had not courage to face.
|
||
|
The men of Israel out of Naphtali and Asher who did this
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>)
|
||
|
|
||
|
were not such as now came from those distant countries, but the same
|
||
|
that had enlisted themselves
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:35"><I>ch.</I> vi. 35</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
but had been cashiered. Those who were fearful and afraid to fight
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
|
||
|
|
||
|
now took heart, when the worst was over, and were ready enough to
|
||
|
divide the spoil, though backward to make the onset. Those also that
|
||
|
might not fight though they had a mind to it, and were disbanded by
|
||
|
order from God, did not as those,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:10,13">2 Chron. xxv. 10, 13</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>return in great anger,</I> but waited for an opportunity of doing
|
||
|
service in pursuing the victory, though they were denied the honour of
|
||
|
helping to force the lines.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. The Ephraimites, upon a summons from Gideon, came in unanimously,
|
||
|
and secured the passes over Jordan, by the several fords, to cut off
|
||
|
the enemies' retreat into their own country, that they might be
|
||
|
entirely destroyed, to prevent the like mischief to Israel another
|
||
|
time. Now that they had begun to fall, it was easy to say, Down with
|
||
|
them,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+6:13">Esth. vi. 13</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
They <I>took the waters</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
that is, posted themselves along the river side, so that the
|
||
|
Midianites, who fled from those who pursued them, fell into the hands
|
||
|
of those that waited to intercept them. Here were <I>fear, and the pit,
|
||
|
and the snare,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+24:17">Isa. xxiv. 17</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. Two of the chief commanders of the host of Midian were taken and
|
||
|
slain by the Ephraimites on this side Jordan,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+7:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Their names perhaps signified their nature, <I>Oreb</I> signifies a
|
||
|
<I>raven,</I> and <I>Zeeb</I> a <I>wolf</I> (<I>corvus</I> and
|
||
|
<I>lupus</I>). These in their flight had taken shelter, one <I>in a
|
||
|
rock</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+2:21,Re+6:15">Isa. ii. 21; Rev. vi. 15</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
the other by a <I>wine-press,</I> as Gideon for fear of them had lately
|
||
|
hid his corn by a wine-press,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:11"><I>ch.</I> vi. 11</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But the places of their shelter were made the places of their
|
||
|
slaughter, and the memory of it was preserved to posterity in the names
|
||
|
of the places, to their perpetual infamy: <I>Here fell the princes of
|
||
|
Midian.</I></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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