April 2 - Judges 7:1-9:21

Good morning everyone,

Today we begin our reading with Gideon, having been convinced God wants to use him, is camped at the spring of Harod with all of his troops 32,000 strong.  But God knowing how easy it is for us to take credit for His work “helps” Gideon reduce the size of His army first by 22,000 and then by 21,700, leaving a scant 300 men to go to war against the Midianites. 

With all of the  soldiers that got sent home so went Gideon’s courage. To say he was intimidated may be a bit of an understatement. I can see Gideon up on the hill all alone in the dark, probably on one knee with his elbow resting on it, his hand cupping his face, rubbing his whiskers while looking down on the Midian camp of approximately 135,000 men, thinking “Oh, buddy!”, but God, of course, was not surprised by this and so He told Gideon to go have a “looksie”. When Gideon did, what he saw were troops of men that were more afraid of him than he was of them and while he was down there checking things out, he found his courage, which we know he had all the time. Right? :-) Then Gideon strategically marched his 300 men down there, positioned them around the camp and with torches in their left hands and trumpets in their right they shouted “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” then stood and watched the Midianites, in their fear and confusion, started attacking and killing each other while trying to flee.

When the men of Ephraim saw what God had accomplished through Gideon they were a little put out, challenged him vigorously and complained about the strategy, asking Gideon “Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” But don’t you just love how humble and selfless Gideon was? He essentially told them, “Hey, what we did pales in comparison to your effort” making them feel a part of the victory and very good about themselves. A lesson in “sacrificing ones own interest for the greater good” we should all learn.

Gideon, will go on to pursue Zebah and Zalmunna  the two Midianite kings, and at last, capture and kill them himself as justice for the death of his brothers. The Israelites would then say to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” and I love this, 8:23, But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” The Lord will rule over you! How easy would it have been for Gideon when the Israelites were patting him on the back saying things like “Way to go! You’re the man! You rocked that, Gid!” to let his head swell and think “By golly, I am awesome!”, but he didn’t. Despite all of his fears Gideon recognized the importance of putting God first. 

Many of us miss out on living the “blessed life” because we fail to put God first. In order to receive God’s full blessing in our lives He must come first. He wants us to put Him before our jobs, our money, any of our “things,” even our spouse and children. He wants to be our number one priority. It begs the question, are our lives as blessed as they could be? Am I always, are you always putting God first in our lives? When we put God first, everything else in your life will line up, too. In Matthew 6 Jesus says, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.” 

Where God guides, have faith, allow yourself to be blessed and let God provide. Amen?

I pray you have a really good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …