Joel M Bradshaw

2The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

4And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” 5So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” 8So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.–Judges 7

Every kid who grew up going to Sunday school remembers this story. It’s the first thing you probably picture if somebody mentions Gideon. I would invite you to ponder the ‘why’ and not the ‘how’.

Every Sunday school teacher has their theory or explanation on how God chose rules to pare down the force from thousands to 300. Commentators spill much ink regarding this. I personally don’t find how God did this to be anything more than interesting.

It’s about the why. Gideon has just come through the two fleece incidents with flying colors and no doubt felt very self-confident and ready to go. His sense of security was riding high. God was patient through Gideon’s doubt and through the fleece testings, but He now counters by putting Gideon in an even more vulnerable position with these troop reductions. Neither Gideon nor Israel could possibly receive the glory from the upcoming victory…only Yahweh could.

This sums up much of the Christian life. God puts you in situations and brings you through them in a manner that gives himself glory. So many of us are focused on our legacies and our resumes. We should instead focus in our impossible situations on God. A great prayer would sound like this, “God, this situation is impossible. I pray you provide in such a way that everyone will see that you came through when only you had the power to come through. use this situation to teach me to not base my confidence in life on myself over you. Help me to trust you and depend upon you.”

If Gideon marched down there with tens of thousands of men, they would all be singing his praises and leadership skills. But 300? A victory would require a miracle. Only God could get the glory from that. God brought Gideon to the point where he was either going to trust God or reject him. When it comes to your situation and the sovereign plan of God, don’t always get caught up in the how. Focus on the why.–JMB