Read Judges 7 and Jeremiah 20.
This devotional is about Judges 7.
God chose some unusual characters to lead Israel in this book of Judges. Those unusual characters used some unusual weapons, too. Gideon fit right in with the other oddballs God used in Judges. He was a weak man from a weak family and a weak tribe in Israel. He had no military experience, and no killer instinct. He did everything he could to shirk the assignment God gave him to rescue Israel from the Midianites.
I think Gideon had enough disadvantages already, but in today’s chapter God weakened his army even more. In verse 3, God told Gideon to announce that anyone who was too scared could go home, and twenty-two thousand men took him up on that offer. But God thought Gideon still had too many troops. I’m sure Gideon didn’t think it was funny, but I laughed when I read, “I will thin them out for you” (v. 4). Uh.., thanks?
Anyway, after sending home all the guys who kneeled down to drink, Gideon was left with three hundred men (v. 8). Using nothing but trumpets, torches, jars, and their voices, God defeated the Midianites with those three hundred water-lapping Hebrew men.
The point of this strange approach to fighting was to give glory to God. In verse 2 we read, “The Lord said to Gideon, ‘You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, “My own strength has saved me.”’” By choosing a weak man to lead using a small group and an unconventional method, God was able to demonstrate his power to Israel again and call them to trust him and stop worshipping those false gods.
God doesn’t always use weakness and strange methods to do his work, but this certainly wasn’t the only time he worked this way, either. The lesson for us is to rely on God to use us not our superior tools or preparation. I’ve been guilty in my life and ministry of relying on excessive preparation and the best tools possible, at times, while neglecting prayer and faith in the power of God to work. Passages like this remind us that we need God’s power and promises far more than we need human power, ingenuity, and tools.
Have you ever thought or said, “I could never do “x” for God because I don’t have “y?” For instance:
- I could never teach a Sunday School class because I don’t have enough time to prepare.
- I could never give my testimony in church because I don’t have confidence to do public speaking.
- I could never talk to someone else about the gospel because I don’t know every answer to any question they might ask me.
If you’ve ever thought or said something like this, then you should apply this lesson from Gideon to your life. God wants to use you and has promised to do so if you rely on him. What kind of act of faith might he use you for if you trusted him?