Victory Through Grace

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⁶ And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

⁷ And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

⁸ So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

⁹ And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.

¹⁰ But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host:

¹¹ And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.

¹² And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

¹³ And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.

¹⁴ And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.

¹⁵ And it was so, 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 Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.

¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into 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 that, as I do, so shall ye do.

¹⁸ When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.

¹⁹ So Gideon, and the hundred men that were 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 were 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 withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, 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 Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

Judges 7:1-22 (KJV)

In the story that we read, the people of Israel were suffering under the Midianites. They will plant their crops, harvest them, and the Midianites will steal it from them. The people of Israel were so oppressed during the time. And the Lord found Gideon. God talked to Gideon to deliver the people of Israel against the Midianites. Gideon has a weakness, however. He lacked trust. He always asked God for signs. He was reluctant. But still the Lord, by his grace, favoured Gideon.

Now, in relation to that battle, in Gideon’s time, it was a physical battle. To us, Christians of the New Testament, the Bible tells us that we are still considered soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We still belong to the army of God. But today, our battlefield is no longer physical, but spiritual. The problem is our enemy cannot be seen. The battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. A lot times, this battle resides in our minds. The challenges that we face both by trials and temptations. They seem to oppose us. They seem to be so against us especially if what we will do is for the Lord. That is why we need the grace of God.

The Lord works with the chosen few to victory.

We can see in comparison that Gideon’s army is insignificant compared to the Midianites and the Amalekites! This is 300 men against a multitude like grasshopper or sand by the sea. Do you think that if Gideon’s army remained 32,000, they fight would have been more on par with each other? But the Lord didn’t want that, otherwise they would claim victory as their own. They will credit themselves, instead of giving back the glory to God.

Our victory is not dependent on our own strength or our numbers. Remember, whatever victory we may won in our lives, it is not from our own strength. It is not due to our expertise nor our numbers but all because by the grace of God.

The Lord will not work with the fearful to victory.

If there is anything that will stop us from achieving victory, that is the fear in our hearts! The Lord doesn’t want fear to rule our lives as a Christian. All of us have fears. So here’s a question – if the Lord allowed us to fail, will you just give up? Our fear says, we should stop. But if our faith is established, we know that we must carry on. To have fear is natural. It is human nature. But prolonged fear is the absence of faith.

The Lord will send trials to those whom He will give victory.

Before you experience any victory, we must first undergo trials. How can you have victory without trial? In our trials, we may fail. But our defeat and failures will only remain a defeat and a failure if we don’t rise from it. We will always be defeated and we will always be a failure. But if we carry on, we will not stay defeated. We will not remain a failure. What we see as trouble, God sees as training.

The Lord will encourage those who will lead towards the victory.

In verse 11, God said, “thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host”. The Lord knows how to encourage His leaders! In taking a leadership position, it can be scary. There will be fear of responsibility, fear of failure, fear of accountability… it is natural to fear leading a group. But if you are nominated or asked to lead a ministry, find your courage and faith in the Lord that He will enable you. Yes, we cannot do it with our own strength and wisdom, but the Lord bestows His blessings to those who are willing.

The Lord will do His own way towards the victory.

In verse 17, we can see how essential it is to follow a leader. We, as a church, we are being taught here to follow the leader of this church – our pastor, our elders, our teachers, and our ministry leaders. If a member doesn’t know how to follow, we will not get the victory as a church. Not everyone are called to lead, but we can all be followers of the authority. That is why this verse is written in the Bible. Gideon is telling his people that whatever he do, they must follow.

The lesson of this point is that we should follow what the Lord has commanded us no matter what it is. Let us also follow God’s appointed leader in our church and surely, the Lord will do His own will to lead us towards a victorious Christian life.