“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. 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,” Judges 7:19-20.
The reason why every man who lapped water with his tongue, as a dog laps, verse 5, were chosen by the Lord as those by whom He would deliver Israel under Gideon’s leadership, is very simple to understand when we consider their posture and that of the others who were rejected. The majority of those who rallied to Gideon’s call drank in a manner described in verse 5. They boweth down upon their knees to drink.
The majority bowed right down with their mouth to the water. In that position, they displayed that their sole intent at that moment was to satisfy their thirst. On the other hand the three hundred scooped up water in their hand and “putting their hand to their mouth”, drank.
The latter group remained on watch, conscious of the nearness of the enemy while the larger group ignored the enemy and gave themselves to drinking. It was this distinction that decided the Lord’s choice. God wants those who are totally occupied with the purpose for which we have been called by Him. There is only a minority of the ‘Israelites’ who answered the call, who have this character and it is them the Lord uses in the battle!
What an honour was bestowed upon these three hundred! Doubtless, there would have been those who felt they demeaned themselves by adopting the posture of a dog, a creature deemed unclean in Israel. Likewise those who have the spirit of the three hundred are ‘looked down’ on today, indeed have alway been considered so! You cannot stand for Christ without “bearing His reproach”, Hebrews 13:13. Such has been the view taken by the world of the Saviour and His chiefest servants. As Paul said of himself and all of his spirit: “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day,” 1 Corinthians 4:10-13.
Yes, others joined in when the final rout of the Midianites and their allies took place, but the three hundred had the eternal honour of being to the fore in the great victory. (more…)
