“When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit.” Judges 8:4
I was recently reading in the book of Judges, and focused on chapters 6-8. These few chapters recount the incredible story of Gideon, whom the Lord raised up to deliver the children of Israel from the Midianites, who were severely oppressing them. No doubt that these three chapters would make an exceptional, most definitely R-rated, film, if one was ever produced. There are so many great themes in this short story that inspire such tenable faith in the midst of overwhelming circumstances, but it was this phrase, “the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit,” that really caught my attention.
Perhaps it’s personal to me, but the ideas of smaller numbers, crossing over, exhaustion, and still pursuing, all have personal and prophetic significance to me.
Gideon’s few encounters, with the Angel of the Lord, finally assure him that he was the one whom the Lord was going to use to deliver Israel from the hands of the Midianites and restore the nation back to its covenantal worship of God alone. Here are a few thoughts from these three chapters in the book of Judges.
THERE WAS ECONOMIC SUFFERING AND UNWANTED CIRCUMSTANCES.
In short, Gideon is found by the Angel of the Lord, threshing wheat, in a winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites who made it their business to destroy Israel’s produce and leave no sustenance for the Israelites. The Bible says that, “Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord”. It must be said that the cause of this Midianite oppression was due to Israel’s decision to “do evil in the sight of the Lord” by breaking their covenant commitment to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In God’s mercy, He heard the cries of His children and determined that oppression and depression were about to be reversed.
IT'S OK TO ASK THE TOUGH QUESTIONS.
I love Gideon’s realism and brutal honesty when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and greeted him with these words, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.” Gideon responds by basically saying, “Oh really? If the Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us?” And by the way, “Where are all the miracles that our fathers told us about?” He had heard the stories, but he hadn’t seen the glory. As the story unfolds, we see that Gideon’s cynicism was only a thin veneer covering over the might and valor that truly lay beneath.
DORMANT FAITH IS ABOUT TO DOMINATE.
Unfazed by Gideon’s assessment of things, the Lord just said, “Go in this might of yours, and save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.” Gideon is like, “Who am I?” “How can I be the one to save Israel?” “My clan is the weakest in the tribe and I am the least in my father’s house.” There’s just something about who the Lord chooses to use. This was the word of the Lord to Samuel when he went to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons as king of Israel. “God doesn’t see like man sees. Man looks at the outward, God looks at the heart.”
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”
HEART WORK AND HOMEWORK MUST PRECEDE HIS WORK.
Gideon was instructed to tear down the altar of Baal that his father set up and cut down the wooden image beside it. He was required to remove the idolatry in his own heart and in his own home and restore the altar of the Lord to its proper place. He built an altar to the Lord and called it, SHALOM — The Lord is Peace. Peace is established when perversion is removed.
TOO MANY PEOPLE FOR GOD TO WORK.
Interesting thought, huh? Listen to what the Lord said to Gideon who showed up with thousands for the fight. "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.’” Gideon shows up with thousands and the Lord says, “I can’t work with this!” Pretty astonishing, isn’t it? We tend to think that numbers are impressive but God gets the glory only when it’s obvious that God does the work. In order for that to happen, in this particular case, God had to get some people out of the way, so that He could do His work.
IF YOU ONLY KNEW WHAT THE ENEMY IS THINKING.
After some very significant signs that the Lord was with Gideon, the Lord instructs him to sneak into the enemies camp. I love how the Lord knows exactly what to say. He says, “Gideon, if you are afraid to go alone, take your servant with you and you will hear what the enemy is saying and you will be strengthened and encouraged to go against them.” Gideon and his servant, Purah, which means “bough,” come into the camp and hear a guy telling his friend about a dream he had. The dream was basically that a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, struck a tent, and the tent collapsed. The guy’s friend interpreted the dream saying, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon. Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”
EXHAUSTED BUT STILL IN PURSUIT.
After an unbelievable victory with three hundred men, three hundred trumpets, and three hundred empty pitchers and torches, the men of Israel routed the Midianite army, captured two princes of Midian and killed them. They continued after the two Midianite kings, and this is what the scriptures say,
“When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit.”
This season has definitely been one for the books. I think the thing that was speaking to me in this particular verse was to keep the focus on the pursuit, not the exhaustion. Gideon and his men were weary. They asked for help from others and received none. Yet, they pressed on and they accomplished their divine assignment. I think we should be encouraged by these verses to keep pressing on and believing God who is working in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure. I’ll end with this:
The Apostle Paul said it best in his letter to the Philippians in Philippians 3:12-16:
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”
Still in pursuit.