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.

 

The Lord now created a wise test to show the military prowess of those He planned to give to Gideon for this battle.  This was a test of awareness.  Those who took a drink of water out of the pond or brook by bowing down completely on all both hands and both knees and drawing the water with their mouth were to be rejected.  Those who drank by getting on their knees, kneeling down, were also rejected from going to the battle.

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