How many midianites

Remember David and Goliath? It was small versus big. Today, many churches and Christians approach service to God with a public relations mentality. Everything must be huge, splashy and well-funded. The angel of the Lord found him hiding from enemy forces in a wine press threshing wheat. The poor guy was just trying to make some bread without someone stealing it. In the ensuing dialogue, we learn that God is the angel of the Lord.

Think about this: God specializes in overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. Almost 2, years ago, all the forces of hell assembled against a man crucified between two thieves. On Sunday morning, Jesus conquered them and the greatest enemy of all: death. Click here for visual aids and story-telling methods. Click here to download these illustrations and slideshow. Be selective. Too many illustrations can be confusing so eliminate any that cover other stories or details you do not wish to emphasise in this lesson.

How to choose the best learning activities for my teaching situation. Check the Teaching Ideas page on this website for ideas that are adaptable to any lesson. Note: Also see the Gideon and the Fleece Story on this site. Some of the resources relate to both stories. I will use them to save you, and I will allow you to defeat the Midianites. Let the other men go homes…. The story above states that the Lord used the men who scooped water in their hands. Thanks for your message.

You sent me back to my Bible to check again and that is always a good thing! I read again to make sure but I think what I wrote is correct. It becomes more clear when you read Judges together. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. Let all the others go home. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Skip to content. Previous Lesson Next Lesson List of all lessons on this website.

Like this: Like Loading Let the other men go homes… Judges The story above states that the Lord used the men who scooped water in their hands. Hi Amberly, Thanks for your message. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. Loading Comments Email Required Name Required Website. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Previous Lesson.

And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. Here He reduced it from 10, to We rarely think that bigness can be a hindrance to the work of God. Yet it is harder to truly rely on God when we have many wonderful resources at hand.

Though it certainly can be done, it is hard to be big and to rely only on the LORD. Paul was in danger of being too strong for his own good. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there : This seems a strange test, and there are different ideas as to why God used this to separate the soldiers. Perhaps it was because those who cupped the water in their hands and brought it to their mouth were better soldiers because they kept their eyes on their surroundings even when taking a drink.

As a dog laps : The ancient Hebrew word for laps is yalok , used to imitate the sound a dog makes when lapping water. Men in such a position were not on guard against sudden surprise. We might say that God eliminated the fearful and those who thought first only of convenience, the easy way. How many Christians are so fearful of the enemy that they are of no real use in this warfare, and how many of the remainder are so self-centered, rather than God centered, that they find little place for effective ministry.

By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand : God assured Gideon that victory was certain, even through only men. Gideon could only trust in God because there was nothing else to trust.

But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp. He is there to guide us and to keep us and to encourage us all along the way. Afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp : This is the tender mercy of God. He dealt with the doubts and fears of Gideon, and wanted to assure him.

Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp. A loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian : Only the very poor ate barley bread. The vision meant that the camp of the Midianites would be knocked over by a humble nobody.

This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon : God allowed Gideon to see a great confirmation of His future work. This was obviously no coincidence and no display of luck.

God used this situation to build the faith of Gideon, and it worked so well that all Gideon could do was worship God. It was no accident that the man dreamed the dream that night; no accident that he told his friend about it at just that moment; no accident that Gideon came to the exact place where he overheard the man telling the dream.

Verily, I perceive that the Lord worketh all things with unfailing wisdom, and faileth not in his designs. He offered the judge a further sign that He would be victorious, and Gideon immediately seized it. Instead He strengthened his faith. Christ takes uncertain and fearful folk, strengthens their hands in the oddest ways, and makes them able to stand for him in school or home or work.

Therefore the reduction of the army was not so much intended to glorify God by demonstrating His ability to deliver with only as it was to put Gideon in a position where his fear would be exposed. Gideon sought to gain some security by his self-conceived sign with the fleece, and though God acquiesced to that request, He immediately countered by putting Gideon in an even more vulnerable position.

If Gideon struggled to trust God with 32, Israelites against a Midianite force of , see Judges , how would he react when he had only a force of ? In this light the words of God in Judges take on great significance. Gideon and his servant heard two enemy soldiers conversing on the outskirts of the Midianite camp.

One soldier was relating a dream he had had to his friend. The writer probably included the reference to the apparently innumerable Midianite enemy Judges to emphasize the greatness of the victory God gave His people. Every dream was believed to be capable of interpretation, though this was, of course, the point where difficulties arose. Yahweh obviously sent this dream. The tent was the home of all the Midianite, Amalekite, and Arabian Bedouins. The soldiers had obviously heard of Gideon and his plans to engage them in battle.

The irony is stunning: hearing the promise directly from the Lord did not convince Gideon, but hearing it from the Midianite soldier did.

Upon hearing this interpretation Gideon received courage to believe that God would indeed grant him victory Judges Gideon is, significantly, the only judge to whom God speaks directly, though this privilege does not allay his faintheartedness. This too had to have been from the Lord. The three companies of Israelites may not have completely encircled the enemy. Nevertheless the presence of three widely separated groups of soldiers gave the Midianites the impression that a very large number of Israelites was out there in the dark.

The trumpets were rams horns that the Israelite soldiers tied around their necks.