READ THE BIBLE WITH AMANDA GRACE JULY 7-19-2020

The Armor of God Part 4: Gideon Part 2: THE BATTLE AND THE 300!! JUDGES 7

Judges 6:
So where we left off at the end of Judges chapter 6 last time, Gideon had not once, but TWICE, put fleeces out to the Lord as a way of testing whether.  God was truly greater than baal, because Gideon still was not convinced because all of Israel was in TEBEL, confusion, by having the Lord do specific things with the dew of the ground and a sheep's fleece Gideon put out. Baal was known as god of the rain, storm, and dew so if the Lord in Gideon’s mind could truly do this, do greater than what baal was supposed to be known for, God was then greater for sure than baal. 

The fleece was not a positive thing, it is not a sign of spiritual maturity or one with great Faith. We are not to put the Lord thy God to the test like this. HOWEVER, through God’s Mercy he ALLOWS it because the Lord has to get Gideon to trust Him to take Gideon victorious through this upcoming battle, and to be the great judge the Lord has called Gideon to be…

Judges 7:1:
The Hebrew moreh is derived from the verb yarah, "to teach," "to direct," and indicates one who directs, or gives oracular answers. We might therefore read "hill of the teacher," the height being associated with such a person who had his seat here. The hill is named only in describing the position of the Midianites before Gideon's attack.

NOTE: Gideon’s name, Jerubbaal, meaning “let baal strive against him.”

Keep in mind the midianites are in a valley, it seems nothing good in God’s word happens in a valley. Psalm 23: “yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”

If we put these two pieces together right off the bat in Judges chapter 7 there is much symbolic meaning. For the true teacher, Almighty God, was about to teach the Midianites and baal a lesson about striving against His people Israel and luring them into idol worship!

Judges 7:2-2:
Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are too many people with you for Me to hand over Midian to them, otherwise Israel will boast [about themselves] against Me, saying, "My own [a]power has rescued me.'"

What is interesting here is now the Lord is going to TEST Gideon, where as in the end of Chapter 6 Gideon Tested God. Well now Gideon is going to get some tests from God to ensure he will listen too but HAVE FAITH in the instructions and power of the Lord Adonai.

The Lord says to Gideon that basically he has too many men with Him for God to get the glory for the Victory, because the Victory is a sure thing. You see The Lord is THE WORD!

Hebrews 4:12 12:
For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged [a]sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. Exposing and judging the thoughts and intentions of the heart…The Lord already knew because Israel have lead themselves into TEBEL, confusion, with this mixing of idolatry with the law of the Lord that Israel, being their hearts were already corrupted would not give God the Glory for this Victory but themselves!. They would boast (paar in hebrew) in their own strength The Lord already knew this.. The Lord wanted Israel to understand that He is the one who gives Israel its Victories. This is all part of bringing them out of tebel (confusion) So the Lord was going to put Israel and Gideon in a position where they not only had to trust the Lord for their safety but to give them the Victory, in turn glorifying the Lord.
The Lord then has Gideon issue 2 tests, a WEEDING out process, with Israel’s men, because after all the tares are removed the true wheat remains.

Judges 7:3:
So now, proclaim in the hearing of the people, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men returned [home], but ten thousand remained. That is 2 out of 3 men left.

This was just following the law of Deuteronomy 20:8: Then the officers shall speak further to the soldiers and say, ‘Who is the man who is afraid and lacks courage? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not cause his brothers’ courage to fail like his own.’

Because fear is contagious. It can have disastrous demoralizing effects on an army of large group of people. There is a prophetic mouthful for what we have seen happen with this whole Covid issue. The fear has spread quicker worldwide than any virus did. It seems a staggering amount of people were infected with fear more so than any viral contagion. We are having a paper towel and toilet paper shortage because of fear. Fear is an amazing and excellent way to control a large group of people. Just look at any dictator is history going all the way back to Pharoah, they controlled the people through fear. 

The Lord is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart and already knew the hearts of those 22,000 men had way too much fear in them which could hijack and take Control away from what the lord wanted to do. If there were 32000 men total and 22,000 were fearful, that means majority rules and they could of completely prevented the other 10,000 from following the Lord’s instruction.
22,000 was enough to cause mass panic and in mass panic there is confusion, TEBEL. The Lord is trying here to deliver them out of tebel not throw them into even greater confusion than they already are.

Look what is happening today. There are groups and media outlets hell bent on throwing the masses into deeper and greater confusion and fear as a way of stealing their liberation and gaining power that they would then severely abuse.

It is the FEAR that becomes contagious that then causes people to give up FREEDOMS for a safety that is not safe because that safety is being provided by very corrupt people hungry for power over the people not to empower the people.

NOTE: So total Israel starts out with 32,000 men!

Right off the bat, “whoever is scared can run their heinies home now!!! Then just like that 22,000 men hightailed it home!So now they are left with 10,000 BUT the Lord tells Gideon, NOOO that is still too many!!

Judges 7:4-5:
Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many people; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels down to drink.”

So out of the 10,000 those who drank the water but scooping it up in their hand and bringing it to their mouth was 300, the rest all 9,700 other men kneel down to drink. The separation between the two categories is vastly different and Gideon is left with 300 men, the cream of the crop the best of the best to go in with.

So this is how it works, all 10,000 men left would have to get down on their knees because there was no other practical way back then to drink from a stream. HOWEVER exactly how they drank from that stream would be the determining factor.

So those who use their hands like a cup and bring the water up to their mouths would be put in one group. And those who pet their mouths down to the water and drank it like a dog would be in another group.

So here is the idea. The ones who cupped the water in their hands and brought it up to their mouths were instinctively better fighters because they were wary, even while they drank being aware of their surroundings, always watching. The ones who put their face down to the water, were looking at the water and not what was around them and instinctively were not good fighting men.

So the first test lets the fearful go home. And the second test weeds out those who are careless.The result from this weeding process of the Lord were a mere 300 men were left to go to battle with Gideon. As far as the lord was concerned this was the right balance so He would have to give them the Victory. They would now have to solely depend on Him and have FAITH in His power because in the natural the odds were completely stacked against Gideon and the 300! Only 1% of the men who showed up willing to fight were going to be used. It Kind of gives a different perspective to the verse in Matthew. 

Matthew 18:12-13: 
“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that is lost? And if it turns out that he finds it, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost. The midianites and Amalekites had 135,000 including women and children as that is how these nomadic armies functioned, the families traveled with them 135,000 forces to 300 This is a ratio of 400 midianites to every one Israelite soldier. OVERWHELMING ODDS in the midianites and Amalekites favor!

Now The Lord wanted to make this idolatrous generation of Israel VERY aware that he was still watching, he is Still Acting , He is still saving. He is still the God of Israel and he is still Ruling and reigning on the throne. There is none other like Adonai and he still loves Israel even though they have grossly strayed.

Gideon obeyed God on the weeding out of the 300 men. He is not totally comfortable with all of this, he is still skeptical. When we step out of our comfort zones under the leading of the Lord, God does not expect us to remain comfortable. This is the entire point!

We do uncomfortable things in faith. So do not think you are not demonstrating faith when facing a very difficult challenge, a challenge that really makes you step way out on a limb with the Lord, and you have fears and worries along the way. We are in the flesh we are going to have them, especially when the Lord is stretching our faith and processing us to raise us up for His Glory. Because you see the Lord is taking us through the same process He took Gideon. Getting us to TRUST in His abilities as Almighty God and Have FAITH that no matter the odds the Lord will Deliver us because he said it and so shall it be!

Ask any soldier, army, marines, who has ever been in combat if they were afraid…And there answer, ABSOLUTELY, the issue becomes controlling that FEAR so you control the fear instead of the FEAR controlling you and dictating your actions. So,Even though Gideon would have to be in appearance sure and confident to His men, the 300 chosen, nothing frightens troops more and makes them uneasy than a wavering leader in the face of adversity.

Judges 7:7-8:
And the Lord told Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will rescue you, and will hand over the Midianites to you. Let all the other people go, each man to his home.” So the three hundred men took people’s provisions [for the journey] and their trumpets [made of rams’ horns] in their hands. And Gideon sent [away] all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but kept the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. So Gideon in a way has a birds eye view of the midianite/Amalekite Army. They are camping in a valley, not a very good sign for them
So this is different than the battle of Joshua. The Israeli forces here were a militia while the midianites were a nomadic group of bandits, they were raiders they knew how to attack camps and take them for all they had,so the Midianites are deployed by Mt Moreh, but they are in the valley, the Jezreel valley, which is where they nomadic bandit groups preferred to come every year.
They valley of Jezreel is so key to practically every battle concerning Israel. Why this is so key is because in the book of revelation when the Bible speaks of the battle of Armageddon, that battle takes place in the Jezreel Valley.

So here we have in the old testament a picture a snapshot of this battle of Armageddon in Revelation…Those who oppose the antichrist (baal in this case), and this enormous army of bandits who serve baal (the anti Christ).

Judges 7:9-10 :
Now on that same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Arise, go down against their camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down [by yourself], go with Purah your servant down to the camp.

Because the Lord discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart, he knows Gideon is still not fully convinced that the Lord is going to deliver them. Remember God is undoing in Gideon many years on indoctrination that came from mixing baal worship with that of the Lord. So Gideon takes his servant and goes down to the outpost of the camp of the midianites and the Amalekites
Now this is what they say.

Judges 7:12:
Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying [camped] in the valley, as countless as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

However, the Lord ALLOWS Gideon to be privy to a conversation being had within the camp between 2 guards. In this time that Gideon was in dreams were considered very important and were taken quite seriously.

Judges 7:13-14:
When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling a dream to his friend. And he said, “Listen carefully, I had a dream: there was a loaf of [b]barley bread tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.”  And his friend replied, “This [dream] is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given Median and the entire camp into his hand.”

Now why would this soldier interpret this dream in such a manner that is fatal for their army? Why does he see Israel being symbolized by a barley loaf or round , tselil in Hebrew? This is a flat bread sort of cooked on a griddle like surface, so in this dream there is round barley loaves tumbling into a tent.

First of all they were very aware how many, 32000 men, had initially answered the call of Gideon to battle. If these biblical numbers are accurate it meant midian had a 4 to 1 advantage over Israel. Now if this was a racehorse in the Kentucky derby and a horse had 4 to 1 odds over the rest of the field at face value you would think that horse was sure to win. However these favorable odds were not comforting to this midianite soldier.

Secondly in Gideon’s time barley was used by the poor to make bread. Barley was far less desired than wheat when it comes to bread making. Barley was used because it ripened in late winter to early spring where wheat would ripen during the summer months.

Barley at times has been used to represent Israel in the Bible, including in this instance. However take notice of what season the nomadic midianite army arrives in the valley. We find this answers here in 

Judges 6:11:
Then the angel of Adonai came and sat under the pistachio tree in‘Ofrah that belonged to Yo’ash the Avi‘ezri. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from Midyan.
Gideon was threshing wheat, wheat matures in summer, so the midianites were arriving in the valley of Jezreel to confiscate the wheat harvest from Israel. You see the Lord is doing this with Gideon step by step to bring him out of tebel, confusion, and into knowing what the Lord god Adonai says is true and just. The Lord is also building Gideons FAITH by doing this with him because its 135,000 to 300. So Gideon needs steadfast faith in the Lord that he will indeed deliver them. That truly God is far greater than baal or any other false idol there is.

So what does Gideon do when he hears all of this......

Judges 7:15:
When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hand.”

He bows down immediately and worships the Lord! There is the submission, there is Gideon completely now submitting to the lord and giving himself over to be utilized for the Lord’s purposes! Now he is filled with the Spirit of the Lord and boldness and faith. He tells his men to arise, get up now!!! Gideon was ready to march right on in! 

Throughout the Bible Israel has used deception or a sneak attack in the dark hours of the night to triumph over their enemies (deceive the deceiver). He was armored up, he was braced with the armor of God, the Spirit of the Lord, and his faith was now at the level it needed to be to triumph against such a vast army. You see in this case with the natural odds overwhelmingly against Gideon God, Adonai, is the equalizer. It did not matter they had only 300 men because they had an army of millions of waring angels ready to go to battle with them. They had the Lord leading and instructing them. When the lord says he is going to give you the victory, it is a sure thing. Gideon now KNOWS this.

Now Gideon does something very interesting.....

Judges 7:16  
Then he divided the 300 men into three columns, and he put into the hands of all of them shofarot and empty pitchers, with torches inside the pitchers.

NOTE: Shofarot definition: A trumpet made of a ram's horn, blown by the ancient Hebrews during religious ceremonies and as a signal in battle, now sounded in the synagogue during Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur.

The clay pots were used to conceal the torches light so the midianites would not see them coming
Gideon divides the men into 3 groups of 100 each. He gives each of them a shofar and empty pitchers with torches in those pitchers. There in 3 groups but 1 army, they are three but they are 1 surrounding the camp. Sound familiar (Father, Son, Holy Spirit, They are 3, but they are one).

He gives them these instructions:

Judges 7:17-18: 
Then he said to them, “Watch me, and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, whatever I do, you do the same.  When I and everyone with me blow the shofar, then you blow your shofars all around the whole camp, and shout, “For Adonai and for Gideon!”

Now why for Adonai and for Gideon? 

Because it fulfills the dream of the Midianite soldier using his own words Judges 7:14:
And his friend replied, “This [dream] is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given Midian and the entire camp into his hand.” God supernaturally gives this dream to this Midianite soldier so Gideon could hear it. You see the Midianites made a choice of their free will to come, However the Lord was now making a choice to supercede their will to defeat them!

Judges 7:19-21: 
Gideon and the hundred men with him, arrived at the edge of the camp, a little before midnight, just after they had changed the guard. They blew the shofars and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. All three companies blew the shofars, broke the pitchers and held the torches in their left hands, keeping their right hands free for the shofars they were blowing; and they shouted, “The sword for Adonai and for Gideon!” Then, as every man stood still in place around the camp, the whole camp was thrown into panic, with everyone screaming and trying to escape.

Now it was unusual for all men in an army to have their own shofars, usually only the leaders had them, But this was a supernatural battle where all men would need a shofar
All 300 blowing those shofars was a battle cry that reached the Heavens and compelled the Lord to respond. All of them IN ONE ACCORD, blowing the shofars in agreement, in obedience, releases the fierce power of God, the Lion of Judah, against the midianite/Amalekite army
The number 300 is associated with Victory over the enemy. But not just any victory. A Victory that comes by the by the hand of God that defies human ability (livingwordin3D.com).
It is interesting Gideon divided them into companies of 100 each. Abraham was 100 when Isaac, THE PROMISE, was birthed forth. So what was promised has been birthed. The Lord promised Gideon if he had faith and did what the Lord told him to do he would attain the promised Victory that the Lord was going to give. So it is very interesting they were divided into 3 groups of 100. They were about to receive the fulfillment of this promised Victory.

Now something VERY interesting happens in Judges 7:22:
Gideon’s men blew their 300 shofars, and Adonai caused everyone in the camp to attack his comrades; and the enemy fled beyond Beit-Sheetah near Tz’rerah, as far as the border of Avel-M’cholah, by Tabat.

This is very interesting because first we see all Israel in tebel, confusion, doing things they should not be doing mixing idolatry with the worship of Almighty God. The Lord brings Gideon out of tebel, confusion, and into FAITH and serving the Lord. And now the entire midianite/amalekite camp is thrown into complete confusion and they turn on each other and attack each other
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In the mythology of Canaan, baal, the god of life and fertility, locked in mortal combat with Mot, the god of death and sterility. If Baal triumphed, a seven-year cycle of fertility would ensue; but, if he were vanquished by Mot, seven years of drought and famine would ensue this was the end of a 7 year oppressive rule the midianites had over Israel. 

The Lord was sending a message with this. Not only Gideon and the 300, but other tribes, were called upon then to come fight and pursue the midianites who were fleeing for their lives.

So this was the Lord’s way of symbolically saying the midianites and baal’s free ride off the people of God is OVER and they were now going to experience some famine because baal has been defeated by Adonai, Almighty God!

This demonstrates that no matter the odds against you, when you submit to the Lord and His leadership and put on the armor of God, no matter how many gather against you the Almighty God and the weapons he provides of your warfare that are not carnal but MIGHTY THROUGH GOD TO THE PULLING DOWN AND DESTRUCTION OF STRONGHOLDS, you will have the Victory if You trust in Him, His strategy, and have FAITH in Who Almighty God is!

Psalm 91:2-4
Who say to Adonai, “My refuge! My fortress!My God, in whom I trust!” —
he will rescue you from the trap of the hunter and from the plague of calamities; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his truth is a shield and protection.
There is the shield of faith right in verse 4. The shield of faith is TRUTH. Faith in the Lord is trusting in His authority, power, ability to lead you through what you could not be victorious on your own. This is exactly what the Lord did with Gideon and was one of the greatest Victories Israel had against their enemies.

Israel then entered 40 years of peace (there is that number 40 again) under Gideon’s leadership as a Judge!