LEARNING DAILY

 

Judges 7:2, And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me.”

 

God chose Gideon to lead the army of Israel against the Midianites, the oppressors of Israel. The army of Gideon numbered 32,000 (7:3). That number might have been sufficient if God, Himself was not with Gideon. But, because God was in charge, he did not need that many in His army. He told Gideon to tell those in the army that the fearful, those afraid needed to go home, 22,000 left. There was still 10,000 who remained and that should be enough to defeat the Midianites – God was with Gideon. No, that was still too many and God gave Gideon a plan to reduce the army some more. He was to watch who lapped and put the water from their hand to their mouth and who would get on their knees to drink the water. Those who lapped the water were thought to be more vigilant from those on their knees who would be in a more vulnerable position. The army of God and Gideon was now down to 300 men. With these 300 men, the Midianites are soundly defeated by God’s plan.

 

 Stop for a minute and think this through. Do you understand what happened at this time and what it means to you and me today? God is with them, causing His plan to happen in order for all to see He is in control of the situation and the outcome. It is God’s presence and His involvement that guarantees victory for His people; and He does not need an army, only a small number of dedicated people. Zechariah 4:6 tells us, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord. The way the army was reduced to 300 speaks of being alert and dedicated. For you and me, that speaks of being spiritually alert and dedicated. That is what God wants from us today.

 

God wanted Gideon to know he was not sufficient on his own for the mission he was to lead, He needed to depend on Him. God, also, wanted the glory! We, humans, have a problem with wanting to take or be given the credit when victories are achieved. You know what I mean. Well, I really did not have (You fill in the blank). Or, look how well I did on this! When we do this we are really saying we are self-sufficient in our victories. Thinking this way is really saying we do not need God to be with us because, “I got this”. That thinking becomes more dangerous than losing the battle. The DJSB notes give a statement about the humility we need to have when walking with the Lord, “People can never be too small for God to use, but they can be too big in their own minds.” John 3:30 is a statement by John the Baptist about his relationship to the Lord Jesus and would apply to you and me. “He (Jesus) must increase, but I (you and me) must decrease.”

 

Who knows what the days ahead will bring? God wants men and women, you and me, who walk in faith and stand strong in the face of all opposition to evil and ungodliness. He wants us to be spiritually alert, knowing He is with us and our strength is in Him alone! It is only in God’s presence with us and in His strength that we will be able to meet life’s challenges to come. Throughout all, we give God the praise, the honor, and the thanksgiving He deserves!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.