Spying on the Midianite camp: (Judges 7:11-15)

Gideon and Purah go down to the camp to see the absurd number of enemies scattered across the valley. They overhear the conversation of two men, with one speaking of a dream he had. Gideon discovers some astonishing things: that the enemies had already heard of him, that they were terrified, and that there was a rumour going around that God had delivered the Midianites into his hands.

“I have had a dream: to my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed. Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand, God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”

In other words, God had already done all the marketing work for Gideon. His enemies, though they seemed super strong and numerous, were very, very afraid. Whilst Gideon had an army of 300 proven brave men, the Midianites had a multitude of fearful men. Their advantage (their larger number) turned into a disadvantage. God had already done all the work!

In the dream, the barley bread comes in and out like a hurricane and knocks down everything in its path. Most likely, they had heard of Gideon from what he had done when he sacrificed his father’s ox. When the men of the city arrived, they saw the forest all cut down, the trees on the ground, the altar of Baal destroyed, and the idols smashed to pieces. Since the ten men probably didn’t confess that they were with him, it was rumoured that Gideon did it all by himself, bringing it all down like a hurricane. Therefore, in the eyes of the Midianites (who were descendants of Abraham and Keturah, so they knew about God), God was obviously with Gideon, or Baal would have already done something to him… They knew the stories and they knew that if God was with Israel, they would be lost. The enemies themselves recognised God in Gideon, whilst he was still heeding the word of fear in his heart.

Gideon already saw himself as a leader, but he did not realise that his enemies were seeing him as an invincible hero. In that moment, he understood what God was doing. And he also understood that the image his enemies had of him was the image of God projected onto him. Because he had the Spirit of God, everyone would see in him the image of God: an invincible, strong, unbeatable hero. It is at this point that Gideon’s fearful spirit is replaced by a spirit that assumes its position before God. In this faith, he does not think twice: he returns to alert the other men that the battle is about to begin.

Continues tomorrow…

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