Too many men?

So, here's Gideon attempting to assess the situation.

Gideon and the 'Isrealite army' were camped on the slopes of mount Gilboa in an area called Harod ['the fountain of trembling']. Across the plain to the north-west on the hill of Moreh was the massive Midianite army.

As he viewed this 'nightmare', with obvious death or capture and torture as the outcome, he hears a voice speak to him. Probably calm at first, so calm that maybe Gideon doesn't hear (or chooses not to listen) and then louder . . . .

"You have too many men"

WHAT? The Midianites outnumbered the Isrealites 4 to 1. How could Gideon possibly have too many men?

God tells Gideon that if any of his troops are scared, they can leave the battlefield and go home.

This sounds crazy!

However, this was a practice commanded from the law of Moses [Deut. 20:8]. But hardly a strategy that Gideon had in mind.

Gideon was feeling down hearted and afraid when he had 32'000 troops. Imagine what he was feeling now 22'000 of those troops had "legged it" back home!

NOW they were out numbered 13 to 1.

Love you x

Shalom seeker

Another interesting point about the 'fleece' incident is this . . . .

The first time Gideon asks that the ground be dry and the fleece still wet. This could have been seen as a normal occurrence, the ground would have probably dried before the fleece.

With the second request we see a truly amazing sight, the ground is wet but the fleece is dry.

Now that IS a sign from God.

In the old testament, dew was considered a sign of provision given [Gen. 27:28] or with held [Gen. 27:39]. Dew was a sign of security, prosperity and salvation. In short, SHALOM.

This was exactly what Gideon was looking for.

Love you x

My wife ROCKS!

It would appear Gideon has become a little addicted to signs from God.

Some people would argue that this sign was very cheeky of Gideon. Not only was he 'testing' God but he also required a double-sign (on his terms!).

When originally reading this portion of the story, I found myself having this out-look on Gideon. However, my wife [Janine], opened my eyes to another possibility.

Another angle to look at this event . . . Gideon was showing belief and faith in God AND in the fact that he could do ANYTHING!

God obliged, probably due to Gideon's faith.

To me, it seemed Gideon was being presumptuous AND lacking in faith of the previous wine press sign. But to Janine, she saw a powerful understanding of who God is and what He is capable of.

Go Janine!

Love you x

Magic [wine press] Moments

Gideon was still worried.

His newly formed army was very large [32'000], but they would still be out-numbered 4 - 1. Their weapons were few and battle knowledge / skill equally low.

Morale was low in the camps of army troops and so too for Gideon.

The miraculous message from the wine press had probably been long forgotten in the harsh light of reality.

Fighting and dying.

Nice!

Gideon needed reassurance.

Gideon needed another wine press moment.

Love you x

Follow the leader

God nurses Gideon forward into usefulness.

The call of Gideon is a process as well as an event, a journey as well as a crisis.

Important steps of development can be seen through Gideon's call to judge / deliverer of Isreal . . .

Gideon's ministry and influence was a gradual thing. He didn't just over night become Super Gideon! The development of faith (Gideon's and ours) is slowley progressive. Gideon didn't go from wine-press coward to nation-saver in one giant leap.

And the same goes for us.

We don't say the 'sinners prayer' on a sunday night and then start our Billy Graham-esq preaching tour on the monday!

This 'call to arms', this battle trumpet is first played to his own family.

Would they respond to the "baal-fighter"?

They did.

So encouraged by his families willingness and support, he took his trumpet "tooting" to the rest of the Manasseh tribe.

They too answered the call. This got Gideon totally buzzing. He went and took his call to the 3 neighbouring tribes [Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali].

These 4 tribes are the ones most hurt by the invading Midianites and would most likely answer Gideon's call.

As blatantly obvious as it sounds, Gideon was a leader because people were willing to follow him and recognized his gift.

He led _ They followed. [in this case into a battle situation where they were heavily out-numbered!]

If someone insists that their calling is in leadership but no one is following them, then they are just walking alone.

Gideon's status as "baal fighter" increased as word - of - mouth (gossip) spread. His popularity grew like a snowball once his family were on board - it made the rest of the Manasseh tribe believe Gideon was from God - once the Manasseh tribe got involved, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali tribes believed also.

The more people believed and followed Gideon, the more people believed and followed Gideon.

Love you X