Father, for some of us, the story we're going to read is very, very familiar.
And for others of us, Father, we're going to be hearing it for the first time.
We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do a wonderful work,
both for those who know this story very well and those of us who've never heard it,
that you would bring the story deep into our heart.
Father, I ask that it's not that people will remember my words or think that I am wise.
We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit will bring your word into each of our lives,
that your word will be what forms us and grips us at our heart.
And this I ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So some of you know I'm a runner.
Actually, as I get older, I probably shouldn't call myself a runner.
It's probably fairer to say that I shuffle very rapidly along the canal as I get slower, as I get older.
And on Friday afternoon, late afternoon, I went for a run along the canal.
I don't know, 3.30, 4 o'clock, something like that.
And as you know, it was bad weather on Friday.
And so I come to the canal and the path along the canal hasn't been plowed,
which makes the, you know, whatever, this much snow.
It's not very comfortable.
I get to where the ice has been open for people to skate.
And I look down, and as often the case, right along the edges,
there's a bit of a strip where it's been plowed but not ice.
So it's like hard-packed, flat snow.
So I go down there and I do the rest of my run.
I'm doing the rest of my run on the ice or beside the ice.
And as I'm sort of going down a little bit,
I see off in the distance ahead of me about three or four men.
And they're all, like, skating more like this.
You know, they're not skating like they did minor hockey as kids.
And they're all, you know, they're tottering around.
And as I'm getting closer to them,
one of them starts to totter over towards me
and starts saying something which I can't understand at first.
And then I realize he has a really deep Georgia or Mississippi or Alabama accent.
You know, one of those real southern accents.
And he's saying to me,
You're cheating.
And I said to him,
I am.
And then we just, I kept running,
and he sort of tottered over to the side.
So I'm going to begin this story.
You heard John read the beginning.
I'm going to, for those of you who have never heard the story,
I'm going to cheat and tell you the ending.
The ending, God does a remarkable, miraculous, providential thing.
And Gideon lives.
So I'm giving you the ending.
I'm going to cheat.
And for those of you who have never heard the story,
I'm going to let you know that Gideon wins.
But for those of you who've heard the story many times,
often Sunday school teachers,
in an attempt to spice things up,
not putting down Sunday school teachers,
many pastors,
they put parts and missed parts of the story
that are actually really, really significant
if they're going to affect our hearts.
So let's look at the story.
It's Judges chapter 7.
Judges chapter 7.
And if we were doing,
if we were,
if Netflix approached us to do a movie
on the story of Gideon,
it would be,
this would be episode 2 of three episodes.
And so last week in episode 1,
we meet Gideon,
amongst other things,
and we discover that Gideon is this Jewish man
who worships Baal, Baal, and the Asherah,
so he's paganized or Canaanized.
And Israel has been brought very, very, very, very low.
They, every, periodically,
at least once or twice a year,
the Midianites, the Amalekites,
and other nomadic tribes
come and enter into the land of Israel.
And it's not just that,
they don't just,
they don't come to conquer,
they don't come to occupy,
they just come to steal
whatever they can carry
and whatever they can eat,
and whatever they haven't stolen
and whatever they haven't eaten,
whatever's left,
they destroy it
so that the Israelites can't eat it.
So what this story is,
they've been brought low for seven years.
There's been seven years of attempted genocide.
Seven years of attempted genocide
of the people of Israel.
And Midian has been brought very, very low.
And just before we start to read this,
one of the things we talked about last week
is if you go through all of the book of Judges,
one of the things the book of Judges as a whole
wants to show you
is that it's not true that all paths lead to God.
It is not true that all paths lead to God.
But it is true that the triune God
uses many paths,
many different paths,
to bring people to himself.
And so in the book of Judges,
you're going to see God
constantly delivering his people,
but he does it in a different way every time.
And so last week,
we heard about Gideon and his call,
and God is going to be the one
who delivers them from the Midianites,
but he's going to use Gideon.
And so now we actually see it happen.
And here's how it begins.
I hope I point this the right way.
I think I did.
That's, yes.
Okay, so here's how it begins.
Then Jerobal, that is Gideon,
and all the people who were with him
rose early and encamped
beside the spring of Herod.
As we'll see in a moment,
Gideon's raised an army.
And the camp of Midian was north of them
by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
Verse 2.
And just before I read verse 2,
verse 2 is the key to understanding
the entire story of Gideon
from the beginning to the end.
In other words,
if we were to make this into a Netflix movie,
and you saw episode 1,
which is chapter 6,
episode 2,
which is chapter 7,
and episode 3,
which is chapter 8,
and maybe into chapter 9
because it's connected to what happens there.
If you,
verse 2 is the key text
to help you to understand
what's going on in the whole story.
And it's the key
to being able to interpret it.
And here's what it says.
The Lord said to Gideon,
The people with you
are too many
for me.
Too many.
Your army's too big
for me to give the Midianites
into their hand.
Lest Israel
boast
over me,
saying,
My own hand
has saved me.
Now therefore,
proclaim in the ears
of the people,
saying,
Whoever is fearful
and trembling,
let him return home
and hurry away
from Mount Gilead.
Then 22,000
of the people
returned
and 10,000
remained.
So,
this advice
that the Lord
gives Gideon,
we have at least
one veteran
in the room,
is completely
insane advice.
Normally what you do
is you say,
Okay,
we got 32,000 people.
How can we get
30,000 more
so we can really guarantee
that we win this battle?
And I can also
well imagine
that many,
many commanders,
maybe even this is
what went through
Gideon's mind,
we're not told.
Gideon might have thought,
Sure,
I can say
whoever's afraid
go on home
because I know
my troops
and two will go home
because I know
my troops.
They're all
men's men
and they're all
pumped for this battle.
So he gives this thing
and before he knows
it,
over two-thirds
two-thirds
of the army
leaves
and he's left
with 10,000.
The book doesn't
go into the psychology
of what was going
through Gideon's mind
but it must have
been terrifying
for him to see
over two-thirds
of all of his troops
just leave,
left to 10,000.
But remember
verse 2,
God says,
the Lord says
to Gideon,
The people with you
are too many
for me to give
the Midianites
into their hand
lest Israel
boast over me
saying,
My own hand
to save me.
So,
what happens next?
Well,
what happens next
is in verse,
it's going to get worse.
Those of you
who've never heard
the story,
it gets worse.
Verse 4 and 5.
And the Lord
said to Gideon,
the people
are still too many.
Take them down
to the water.
I will test them
for you there.
And the word test
is different
than the word test
used other places
in the story of Judges.
This is a word
about refining.
I'm going to refine
them more
for you there.
And anyone
to whom I say to you,
still at the part
of verse 4,
anyone of whom
I say to you,
this one shall go
with you,
shall go with you.
And anyone of whom
I say to you,
this one shall not
go with you,
shall not go.
So Gideon brought
the people down
to the water.
And the Lord
said to Gideon,
everyone who laps
the water with his tongue
as a dog laps,
you shall set by himself.
Likewise,
everyone who kneels
down to drink.
Now just sort of pause.
If it's a little bit,
I think I've skipped
a bit here.
No, I didn't.
I think I'm fine.
If it's a little bit confusing,
this is one of the few places
in the Old Testament
where there is some confusion
in the grammar.
And if you read something
like the New Living Translation,
it smooths it out.
But it's not important
to get all the words right.
And I'll explain why
in a moment.
Let's see what happens next.
It's verses 6 and following.
And the number of those
who lapped,
putting their hands
to their mouths,
was 300 men.
But all the rest of the people
knelt down to drink water.
And the Lord said to Gideon,
with the 300 men who lapped,
I will save you
and give the Midianites
into your hand.
Let all the others
go every man to his home.
So the people took provisions
in their hands
and their trumpets.
And he sent all the rest
of Israel,
every man to his tent,
but retained the 300 men.
And the camp of Midian
was below him in the valley.
So now, once again,
the Lord has done
completely and utterly
crazy advice.
He's given another test
and he's got the people
down to 300.
Now here's where
many pastors
and many well-meaning
Sunday school teachers
make a big mistake.
The point of the test
is to get the number
down to 300.
It is not the point
to find out
Arnold Schwarzenegger
and The Rock
and Jason Statham
and 297 other
super soldiers.
That's not the point
of the test.
If that was the point
of the test,
they could still boast.
They could say,
listen,
we don't need 32,000 people.
All we need is The Rock
and maybe Stallone
and maybe Schwarzenegger
and we can handle
all of those people.
That's not the point
of the story.
I mean,
it could have been,
I don't know,
who scratched their chin
this way.
It could have been
who didn't pick their nose.
Like,
the point of the test
is it's not about
some type of special vigilance
or anything like that.
Just as,
and I don't want to
rain on the parade
of some people
and they're preaching,
there's no special power
about Israeli horns.
There's not.
It's completely irrelevant.
Like,
there's a whole,
there's whole,
like,
training sessions
in churches.
The shofar,
I think that's what it's called.
You know,
if you really want
to have success,
get a shofar
and,
no!
The point of it is,
you ask the average soldier,
would you rather go in
with a rifle or a horn
and they'll pick
the rifle every day.
Do you want to go in
with a sword or a horn?
They'll pick the sword.
The point is
that God's going to do
the delivery.
That's the whole point
of the story,
right?
God's going to do something
so that nobody
with even an ounce
of intelligence
can look and say
that we had anything
to do with the victory.
That's the point
of the story.
It's not to say
there's something special
about Israeli horns
and shofars.
Sorry,
I hope I didn't offend
anybody who's here
or who listens
to the sermon later.
But,
that's what's going on
in the text.
So now we have
300 people.
Well,
what's going to happen?
Let's see,
what happens next.
Now,
one of the things
which is really neat
is that,
and this is really important
for us in the story.
See,
the thing about these stories
is that if you read them
and read them
and they get into you,
it forms you in a way
that me being able
to talk doesn't form you.
It forms you in a way
that,
it forms you
at a deep level.
Stories form you
in a very subtle,
but at the end of the day,
maybe even a more important way
than using something
like a creed.
And one of the things
which is so wonderful
about the story
is this,
that the Lord knows
when you're afraid.
Like,
if there are some of us
here today
who are struggling
with fear
about something,
you don't have to worry
about pouring your heart out
about your fear
to the Lord
because the Lord
already knows
you're afraid.
And the Lord
doesn't despise you
because you have fear.
If you go back
and you read in the Gospels
time and time
and time and time again,
Jesus says,
do not be afraid.
He doesn't say,
do not be afraid
to shame you
if you're afraid.
He lets you know
that he's with you
even though you're afraid.
And so here,
even before Gideon
can say,
Lord,
I am terrified,
the Lord knows
he's afraid.
And so the Lord
goes ahead
of Gideon's fear,
so to speak,
speaks into it.
We don't know
whether Gideon
would have been
too afraid
to acknowledge
it before him or not,
but the Lord
knows he's afraid
and that's what
happens next.
That same night,
verse 9,
the Lord said to Gideon,
arise,
go down against the camp,
in other words,
right up to the very edge
of it,
for I have given it
into your hand.
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 hand shall be
strengthened
to go down
against the camp.
Then Gideon
went down
with Purah,
his servant,
to be to the outposts
of the armed men
who were in the camp.
So the Lord knows
he's afraid.
And the Lord knows
he's afraid
even to go down
and get close.
So he speaks
into it
because the Lord
knows we're afraid
when we're afraid.
And,
you know,
just once again,
think of verse 2.
he wants them
to know
that he is
the mighty deliverer,
that there's no reason
that we should boast
about our strength
or our accomplishment.
In other words,
he wants them
to understand
that they're weak.
And it isn't
that the Lord
looks down
and says,
I'm only going to
save the strong people.
I'm only going to
save the fearless people.
No,
he saves us
when we are fearful.
And this next part
of the story,
which is very subtle,
also says,
I'm going to
deal with you
and save you
even though
your heart
is still given
to a pagan
understanding
of me.
It's a very
small thing,
but just before
we get that,
we have to see
something that's
going to help
emphasize the magnitude
of what the Lord
is about to do.
Verse 12,
And the Midianites
and the Amalekites
and all the people
of the East
lay along the valley
like locusts
in abundance,
and their camels
were without number
as the sand
that is on the seashore
in abundance.
So here's Gideon
and Purah.
He has
299 men
back in the bush
and he looks down
and he sees
that you can't even
begin to count them.
Like 32,000
wouldn't have been enough.
They just seem
to stretch on forever
into the distance.
The lights
of the torches
and the campfire.
It just goes on
and on and on
like sand
in the seashore.
But Gideon
goes on down
close to the outpost
and here's
where we see
the Lord
takes great compassion
on him.
You see,
the Lord
doesn't wait
for you to have
perfect theology
to save you.
The Lord
doesn't wait
for you to have
like all religion
and all spirituality
says,
okay,
start to get
your life together
and learn
how to do
these rituals
and learn
how to do
a few good things
and then if you do that
you can sort of
start to maybe
talk to me
and I'll pay
a little bit
of attention
to you
and if you really
do that
very well
then I'll save you.
And the gospel message
is the complete opposite.
The gospel message is,
listen,
I know you can't
defeat Midian
and I know you like
to boast
and I know
that at the end
of the day
you have more
of a pagan notion
of God
than me
but I'm going
to deliver you.
And the Christian
life flows out
of God
delivering us
when we were
weak and helpless
and not deserving
of being saved
and all of the
Christian life
flows out of
God's mighty
deliverance
when we were
unworthy.
So here's
how it works here
if you look
at verse 13.
When Gideon
came
now he's right
up against
the edge
of the outpost
behold a man
was telling
a dream
to his comrades
so this is a
Midianite
or an Amalekite
or one of the
nomadic tribes
from the east
that's there
they're armed
they're on the
edge of the camp
keeping watch
and so I'll read
verse 13 again
when Gideon came
behold a man
was telling
a dream
to his comrade
and the man
said behold
I dreamed a dream
and behold
a cake
of barley bread
tumbled
into the camp
of Midian
and came
to the tent
and struck
it
so that it
fell
so it fell
and turned
it upside
down
so that the
tent lay
flat
now just
before I read
verse 14
the interpretation
this is like
most dreams
this is absurd
like I'm not
a camper
but generally
speaking if a
barley muffin
fell in the
tent I wouldn't
worry the
tent's going
to collapse
and so here
we have
a little
a bun
barley bun
in the dream
it's like
dreams
it comes
rolling in
the whole
tent gets
not only
knocked over
but turned
upside down
completely absurd
dream
like most
of our
dreams
right
but here's
the interpretation
verse 14
his comrade
answered
this is no
other than
the sword
of Gideon
the son
of Joash
a man
of Israel
God has
given into
his hand
Midian
and all
the camp
now just
sort of
you know
pause here
for a second
why did I
say that
this is
actually
God
condescending
to Gideon
like if you
go back
and read
episode 1
you'll discover
that
in chapter 6
you'll discover
that when
Gideon finally
has like a
huge miracle
done in front
of him
and he believes
in fact
that the Lord
is calling him
to do this
remarkable thing
and he goes
back and you
discover that
Gideon's
family are
the ones
who look
after Baal
and the
Asherah
they're the
sponsors
the patron
for it
they're in a
sense the
leading Baal
worshippers
of their
community
and then
you go
and you read
the story
and how
God tells
them to
tear it
down
and destroy
it
now
here's the
really big
thing
unlike idols
the triune
God is love
and he loves
ordinary people
like you
unlike idols
the triune
God is love
and he loves
ordinary people
like you
you see
if
so Louise
and I
I think
can
have to be
we'll be
39 years
married in
October
it's a long
time
not long
enough
long time
and if
on our
wedding day
Louise and I
talk to each
other
exchange our
vows
and then
for the
next
39
years
we
never
talk
to each
other
and we
can
I mean
we talk
to other
people
but we
never
talk
to each
other
that would
be just
wrong
weird
and wrong
because it's
of the nature
of love
to talk
to each
other
it's
of the
nature
of love
to reveal
yourself
to the
other
person
and you
reveal
yourself
not just
by your
actions
but also
by your
words
as you
interpret
your
actions
or try
to
or you
deal
with it
in
consistency
with it
and last
week
one of the
things
that we
saw
was that
the charge
that God
brought about
his people
is and we
don't really
grasp what
this means
because we
don't fully
grasp the
uniqueness of
the triune
God
that in the
nature
the very
nature
of the
triune
God
is that
from all
eternity
the Father
has loved
the Son
and the Son
has loved
the Father
and the Holy
Spirit
is both
another
person
also
communicating
love
but is also
sometimes
described as
love itself
and you
have this
marvelous
picture of
from all
eternity
this
over
flow of
love
given
and received
this
overflow
of
communication
given
and received
and it's
out of
this
overflow
of
love
that
God
creates
but for
idols
the gods
create
human beings
to be
their slaves
to feed
them
and in
much of
the world
you have
a distant
God
like in
Islam
you have
a distant
God
and when
you have
a distant
God
when you
have a
solitary
God
or when
you have
the gods
the God
doesn't
speak to
you
directly
like in
Islam
Allah
does not
speak to
Muhammad
Allah
speaks to
an angel
who speaks
to Muhammad
because the
God
does not
communicate to
you directly
because it's
really at the
end of the
day
love
is not the
defining
characteristic
of the
God
that is
described by
that religion
or spirituality
and so
that's why
it is
that in
most religions
dreams are
really important
because that's
how God
communicates to
you indirectly
through dreams
in Islam
dreams are
remarkably
important
and many
Muslims
will make
no decision
unless they
have first
had a dream
that communicates
to them
what God's
will is to
them communicated
indirectly
as with
paganism
as with
much of
monism
the dream
is spectacularly
significant
we don't
fully appreciate
that because
the Christian
view
is that God
is the
triune God
whom from
all eternity
has been
loving the
son and the
son has loved
the father
and the
holy spirit
is love
and the
father is
good to
the son
and the
son is
good to
the father
and there's
in a sense
this communication
this revelation
this opening
of the self
and the
giving of
the self
and the
receiving of
the self
and God
has created
us out of
who he is
the triune God
has created
us out of
who he is
and so it
is that the
triune God
reveals himself
in words
directly
Gideon
hasn't got
this entirely
and because
he is
canonized
now he
really gets
it
because
a dream
is revealed
you see
once again
I'm just
going to
this
this is
part of
why the
story is
so important
to us
you see
God
doesn't wait
for you
to have
a perfect
theology
he doesn't
wait for you
to have
a perfect
understanding
of who
he is
he doesn't
wait until
you're only
strong
and never
weak
he doesn't
wait until
you're only
good and
never bad
but when
you had
bad within
you
and when
you had
the most
crazy
absurd
ridiculous
notions
of God
still
he loved
you
and sends
his son
to die
for you
and he
does
everything
that needs
to be
accomplished
for you
to be
made right
with him
you do
nothing
so what
happens
next
well
now
Gideon
is really
energized
look at
what happens
in verse
15
as Gideon
as soon as
Gideon
heard the
telling of
the dream
and its
interpretation
he
worshipped
just pause
this is
just a
small thing
but it's
very important
and there's
nothing wrong
when we think
of the word
worship
we think
of all
of us
standing
and putting
our arms
up like
this
and exalting
we exalt
you
we exalt
you
that's
in a
sense
what we
understand
but here
you have
to understand
that what
they're
saying
is
face
time
as soon
as God
as Gideon
understands
it
he's flat
on his
face
arms spread
out
prostrate
that
usually
when you
see the
word
worshipped
in the
Old Testament
it's
describing
complete
and utter
prostration
it's an
acknowledgement
that
it's
making
yourself
defenseless
before the
triune God
and that's
what Gideon
does
he falls
flat on
his face
his arms
out
he is
defenseless
he is
worshipping
he is
trusting
continues
on
and he
returned
to the
camp
of
Israel
and said
arise
for the
Lord
has given
the
host
of
Midian
into
your
hand
remember
you
couldn't
even
see
them
they're
like
the
sand
on
the
seashore
and
now
he's
heard
the
dream
he's
had
God
speak
to
him
he's
heard
the
dream
God
condescends
to
his
weakness
as part
of
his
grace
and his
mercy
and his
goodness
and
verse
16
and
Gideon
divised
the
300
men
into
three
companies
and
put
trumpets
shofars
into
the
hands
of
all
of
them
and
empty
jars
with
torches
inside
the
jars
and
Gideon
said
to
them
look
at
me
and
do
likewise
when I
come
to
the
outskirts
of
the
camp
do
as
I
do
when I
blow
the
trumpet
I
and
all
who
are
with
me
then
blow
the
trumpets
also
on
every
side
of
all
things
about
this
story
is
it
helps
us
at
a
story
level
to
understand
how
it
is
that
God
answers
prayer
and
what
it
is
that
we're
asking
when
we
pray
now
I
don't
know
what
the
latest
statistics
are
but
I
believe
it's
something
like
90%
of
Canadians
or
more
at
least
pray
last
time
I
saw
a
statistic
one
third
of
all
atheists
pray
the
fact
the
matter
is
and
this
should
humble
us
if
you're
here
as
a
Christian
it
might
very
well
be
that
your
non
Christian
office
workers
pray
way
more
than
you
do
and
you
should
never
talk
to
them
as
if
I
pray
I
mean
it
might
very
well
be
wouldn't
it
just
be
terrifying
if
one
day
God
just
showed
up
and
just
paused
everybody
and
you
discovered
your
horror
hurt
well
you
did
pray
three
weeks
ago
and
this
person
who's
the
atheist
beside
he's
been
praying
every
day
like
human
beings
pray
I've
had
people
talk
to
me
I
remember
having
this
conversation
with
this
one
person
and
he
said
you
know
I
grew
up
in
a
completely
non
religious
household
I
didn't
go
to
a
religious
school
I
only
watch
secular
media
I've
never
been
to
a
church
a
synagogue
or
a
mosque
and
I
pray
every
day
I
pray
every
day
now
here's
what
works
in
prayer
so
we
pray
maybe
you
have
a
loved
one
they're
here
for
winter
lude
and
they're
going
to
drive
home
to
Toronto
this
evening
and
so
we
pray
for
them
not
just
we
maybe
our
atheist
friends
and
our
Muslim
friends
and
our
completely
and utterly
non
spiritual
Jack
Daniels
drinking
never
go
to
church
make
fun
of
Christians
friends
and
they
pray
as
well
that
the
person
will
get
home
safely
on
their
car
and
what
they're
not
praying
is
that
every
time
a
vehicle
veers
in
front
of
you
that
God's
hand
will
pick
the
vehicle
up
so
you
can
keep
going
they
just
pray
that
you
get
there
safely
don't
really
think
about
it
most
of the
time
way
that's
praying
for
a
miracle
but
generally
speaking
a
miracle
is
something
that
only
God
can
do
and
nature
can't
do
it
by
the
normal
way
that
nature
works
that's
what
we
pray
for
when
we
pray
for
a
miracle
and
we
do
pray
for
miracles
but
generally
we're
praying
that
God
will
work
through
the
normal
course
of
events
everybody
still
exercising
their
free
will
and
God
will
work
through
the
normal
course
of
events
in
such
a
way
that
his
purpose
and
you're
praying
that
his
purpose
will
be
what
you're
asking
is
that
he
will
take
this
on
as
his
purpose
and
that
his
purpose
is
accomplished
what
we're
going
to see
here
in a
sense
let's
read
the
text
and
then
I'll
explain
why
I
mentioned
all
of
this
verses
19
so
Gideon
and
the
hundred
men
who
were
with
the
camp
at
the
beginning
of
the
middle
watch
so
the
middle
watch
would
have
been
around
midnight
so
at
around
midnight
all
those
guards
on the
outskirts
of the
camp
and
within
the
camp
they're
all
going
to
have
a
lie
down
and
as
they're
going
I
think
as
those
of
you
who
are
military
veterans
can
correct
me
but
I
think
they
don't
leave
their
post
and
the
new
guys
go
there
the
people
who
are
going
to
be
there
they
go
to
the
posts
at
least
that's
the way
it's
supposed
to be
done
and
when
they're
all
there
the
people
who
are
there
start
to
go
back
so
it's
well
after
midnight
most
people
have
been
sleeping
for
four
hours
or
more
and
there's
a whole
pile
of
armed
men
coming
back
to
their
tents
so
I'll
begin
at
verse
19
again
so
Gideon
and
the
hundred
men
who
were
with
him
came
to
the
outskirts
of
the
camp
at
the
beginning
of
the
middle
watch
when
they
that
is
the
Midianites
and the
Amalekites
and the
nomadic
tribes
from the
east
had
just
set
the
watch
and
then
the
Israelites
blow
their
trumpets
and
smash
the
jars
that
were
in
their
hands
verse
oh I
maybe did it
too quickly
sorry
verse 20
then
then the
three
companies
blew
the
trumpets
and
broke
the
jars
they
held
in
their
left
hands
the
torches
and
in
their
right
hands
the
trumpets
to
blow
and
they
cried
out
a
sword
for
the
Lord
and
for
Gideon
every
man
stood
in his
place
around
the
camp
so
they
would
you
can
read
it
I
don't
know
if
I
pronounced
it
correctly
and
the
men
of
Israel
were
called
out
from
Naphtali
and
from
Asher
and
from
Almanasseh
did I
read
too
far
no
I
didn't
and
they
pursued
after
Midian
so
just
sort
of
pause
here
like
on
one
level
you
can
come
up
with
a
tiny
bit
of
a
naturalistic
explanation
about
what
happened
in
this
particular
story
there
has been
at least
one
dream
who
knows
how
many
dreams
and
they
take
these
dreams
as being
messages
from
the
gods
and
those
of
you
who
have
been
any
type
of
a
large
organization
one
of
the
things
about
large
organizations
is
that
gossip
travels
faster
than
orders
that's
probably
true
you
know
in
civil
service
gossip
especially
bad
gossip
bad
news
travels
faster
than
orders
and
if
you
think
about
it
for
a
second
on
one
level
you
could
say
this
is
a
very
uneasy
alliance
like
if
there
were
three
four
of
you
hopefully
there's
not
and
four
of
you
and
you're
completely
and utterly
committed
to
murdering
people
and
for a
while
it's
good
for the
four
of
you
to
hang
out
together
because
you
like
murdering
people
but
at
some
point
in
time
you'd
have
to
wonder
to
yourself
I
think
I'd
like
to
murder
this
guy
beside
me
and
they're
probably
thinking
you know
I wouldn't
mind
murdering
this
guy
beside
me
because
I
like
murdering
so
on
one
hand
you
could
see
how
this
could
all
work
out
in
a
naturalistic
explanation
there's
armed
men
walking
towards
the
tents
there's
all
of a
sudden
the
lights
and
all
of
that
and
the
yelling
and
all
of
a
sudden
the
basic
fears
in
the
and
people
can
say
well
there's
a
bit
of
a
naturalistic
explanation
for it
but
that's
what
you
see
here
is
how
prayer
usually
works
which
is
that
God
brings
about
the
result
that
God
wants
to
bring
about
even
though
there
are
natural
processes
and
nobody's
free
will
is
overwhelmed
but
in
this
particular
case
it
would
be
hard
even
to
come
up
with
a
naturalistic
explanation
the
army
self
destructs
and
flees
before
300
men
armed
with
a
torch
and
a
trumpet
with
shards
of
broken
pottery
so
just
sort
of
want
to
wrap
this
up
as
we
come
to
an
end
the
story
is
the
main
thing
but
here's
the
thing
in
terms
of
an
extra
thing
to
try
to
bring
it
home
to
us
we
all
know
that
it's
very
easy
in
life
we
see
it
all
the
time
in
work
some
poor
secretary
does
all
the
work
the
boss
comes
in
and
he
or
she
just
sort
of
takes
the
work
that
the
secretary
or
the
lowly
admin
person
has
done
and
they
sign
their
name
to
it
and
it
gets
praised
and
they
take
all
the
credit
we
see
that
happen
all
the
time
we
see
it
happen
all
the
time
of
a
person
taking
credit
for
what
was
it
that
old
joke
about
George
W.
Bush
as he
somehow
thought
he
was
a
self
made
man
without
realizing
he
was
born
on
third
base
he
didn't
have
to
go
all
the
way
around
the
bases
he
subtle
ways
and
this
story
is
preparing
us
for
the
fact
that
God
there
is
a
true
and
greater
median
that
we
need
to
be
delivered
from
and
this
true
and
greater
median
is
we
are
delivered
from
this
true
and
greater
median
by
the
true
and
greater
act
of
deliverance
which
is
Jesus
and
his
death
upon
the
cross
for
unworthy
people
such
as
you
and
me
because
the
fact
the
matter
is
that
many
of
us
have
murderous
anger
and rage
towards
people
we're
too
well
brought
up
and
we're
too
Canadian
to
act
on
it
but
we
have
murderous
rage
and
we
have
pride
and
every
single
one
of
us
if
we
honest
have
had
times
in
our
lives
where
somebody
who
has
hurt
us
and
something
bad
happens
to
them
maybe
we
find
out
that
they
get
cancer
and
part
of
us
is
actually
pleased
that
this
terrible
thing
has
happened
to
the
other
person
and
the
true
and
greater
Midian
that
we
all
face
is
not
just
the
fact
that
there
is
Midian
within
us
but
also
that
there
is
sin
and
death
we
had
a
beginning
and
we
will
have
an
end
and
every
single
one
of
us
will
one
day
come
face
to
face
to
death
and
we
cannot
defeat
it
and
this
story
is
preparing
us
to
understand
who
Jesus
is
that
he
comes
and
faces
the
true
and
greater
Midian
that
we
cannot
defeat
partially
because
we
are
Midian
that
the
seeds
of our
eventual
death
are
already
within
us
as
well
as
there
is
evil
in
every
one
of
our
lives
and
every
single
one
of
us
has
a
Midian
that
we
cannot
defeat
and
the
Lord
does
what
we
cannot
accomplish
for
ourselves
in
his
life
and
death
and
resurrection
he
does
it
when
we
are
unworthy
he
does
it
for
us
and
his
hope
is
he
doesn't
want
to
make
us
little
I
mean
that's
the
power
of
the
story
the
power
of
the
story
is
that
Gideon
is
delivered
that
when
God
does
what
only
God
can
do
showing
that
Gideon
cannot
do
anything
it
doesn't
leave
Gideon
squashed
but it
leaves
him
delivered
and
free
and
so
it
is
that
God
in
the
person
of
his
son
accomplishes
for us
what we
can
never
accomplish
for
ourselves
and
that
as
that
story
grips
us
that
is
how
we
become
a
Christian
and
as
that
story
grips
us
that
is
the
story
by
which
we
can
start
to
understand
and
see
the
things
around
us
and
look
at
the
things
within
us
looking
at
the
Midian
within
us
in
the
confidence
that
God
has
already
defeated
that
Midian
in
the
person
and
the
work
of
his
son
the
story
prepares
us
for
the
story
of
the
true
and
greater
king
who
defeats
the
true
and
greater
Midian
to
deliver
ordinary
people
like
you
and
me
because
he
is
love
invite you
to stand
father we
ask that
you bring
this story
deep into
our
hearts
and
into
our
minds
and
into
our
imaginations
into
our
memories
we
ask
father
that
not
only
will
this
story
be
brought
into
our
minds
and
our
hearts
and
our
imaginations
but
that
we
will
understand
how
it
prepares
the
way
for
Jesus
the
great
act
of
love
that
he
has
for
us
the
great
victory
that
he
wins
for
us
the
great
acceptance
and
mercy
and grace
which he
only
reason
we
stand
and
that
there
is
nothing
that
we
can
boast
of
in
his
mighty
act
to
redeem
us
we
ask
father
that
would
grip
us
and
father
you
know
today
those
of us
who are
struggling
with
fear
you
know
today
father
those
of us
who
are
confused
because
our
thinking
isn't
formed
by
your
word
you
know
those
of us
today
father
who
struggle
because
we're
so
addicted
to
boasting
about
our
own
resources
that
when
we
look
at
some
problem
we
think
that
you
are
smaller
than
that
problem
but
we
give
you
thanks
and
praise
father
that
just
like
you
could
destroy
the
host
to
bring
to
defeat
the
host
of
Midians
that
there
is
no
problem
that
any
of
us
face
that
you
are
smaller
than
that
problem
that
you
are
bigger
and
you
are
not
bigger
in a
way
that
will
crush
us
but
bigger
and
more
loving
and
more
good
and
more
knowledgeable
and
more
wise
and
more
filled
with
grace
and
mercy
than
we
can
possibly
get
our
minds
around
and
we
can
call
out
to
you
that
you
would
deal
with
that
problem
and
help
us
to
deal
with
that
problem
father
you
know
those
of
us
who
need
to
bring
that
to
you
today
and
we
ask
that
your
Holy
Spirit
would
bring
this
wonderful
story
of
Gideon
home
to
us
that
we
might
live
the rest
of
the
day
and
the rest
of
the
week
and
the rest
of
our
lives
out
of
that
story
and
not
the
stories
of
the
world
and
all
God's
people
said
Amen