Bird's-eye view
In Judges 7, we come to the heart of the Gideon narrative, and it is a master class in divine strategy. The central lesson is not about military tactics but about the steadfast determination of God to receive all the glory for the victories He grants His people. This entire chapter is an exercise in subtraction. God takes an already outnumbered Israelite army and systematically whittles it down to a laughable remnant. He does this for one stated reason: to remove any possibility of Israel boasting in their own strength. The story is a living parable of 1 Corinthians 1:27, where God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and the weak things to shame the strong. The victory is won not with swords and spears, but with trumpets, torches, and clay pots, instruments of proclamation and revelation. It is a story designed to teach Gideon, Israel, and all subsequent generations that the battle belongs to the Lord, and He will not share His glory with another.
The narrative arc is simple: God reduces the army, reassures the commander, and reveals the strategy. Through two successive culls, the fighting force shrinks from 32,000 to just 300 men against an innumerable horde of Midianites. When Gideon's own faith understandably wavers, God graciously provides confirmation from the mouth of the enemy. The battle plan itself is absurd from a human standpoint but perfectly suited to God's purpose. It is a plan that requires faith, not skill, and obedience, not strength. Ultimately, this chapter serves as a permanent reminder that God's people triumph only when they abandon self-reliance and trust entirely in the God who gives the victory.
Commentary
Judg. 7:1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and camped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
The action begins with Gideon, pointedly called Jerubbaal, "Let Baal contend." His new name, earned by tearing down the altar of Baal, is a walking reminder of the spiritual victory that must precede any military victory. The contest is first and foremost with false gods. Having dealt with idolatry at home, Gideon is now ready to deal with the oppressors from abroad. They rise early, showing diligence, and camp by the spring of Harod, which means "trembling." The name of the place is a foreshadowing of what is to come. The enemy is arrayed in the valley below, a formidable and visible threat.
Judg. 7:2 And Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, lest Israel honor themselves, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
Here is the central thesis of the entire chapter, laid out plainly by God Himself. The problem is not that Gideon's army is too small, but that it is far too large. Human logic would say, "We need more men." Divine logic says, "You have too many." Why? Because with 32,000 men, a victory, however unlikely, could still be explained away by human effort, a brilliant strategy, or a stroke of luck. God is rigging the game, but He is rigging it against the possibility of human pride. The greatest enemy here is not Midian, but Israel's own propensity to boast. God is engineering a situation where He, and He alone, will get the credit. This is a foundational principle of salvation: God saves in such a way that no man can boast before Him.
Judg. 7:3 So now, come, call out in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’ ” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.
The first filter is fear. This is in accordance with the law in Deuteronomy 20:8, which allowed the fearful to return home so they would not dishearten their brothers. But God is using it here for His own sovereign purpose. The spring was named "trembling," and now the trembling ones are sent home. The result is staggering. More than two-thirds of the army packs up and leaves. Twenty-two thousand men confess that their hearts are not in it. This reveals the true spiritual state of the nation. They were willing to show up, but they were not willing to trust God in the face of long odds. Faith is not a matter of popular opinion or showing up for the rally. It is a robust trust in God when the numbers do not add up. The army is now significantly weaker by worldly standards, but stronger by God's.
Judg. 7:4 Then Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it will 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.”
Ten thousand men are still too many. With ten thousand, a victory would still make a great story of heroism, the tale of the underdog few who defeated the many. But God is not interested in making heroes out of men; He is interested in showing Himself as the hero. So a second test is required. Notice that God says, "I will test them for you there." This is not Gideon's idea. The test is arbitrary, designed not to select the "best" soldiers, but to demonstrate God's sovereign choice. God will point out who stays and who goes, and the basis of His choice will be inscrutable to human wisdom.
Judg. 7:5-6 So he brought the people down to the water. And Yahweh said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set him aside by himself, and so also everyone who kneels to drink.” Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water.
This is one of the most misunderstood tests in the Bible. For centuries, preachers have tried to find the virtue in lapping water like a dog. They say the lappers were more alert, scooping water with their hands while keeping their eyes on the horizon, while the kneelers were careless, putting their faces down in the stream. This is pious nonsense, and it completely misses the point. The text does not commend the lappers for their technique. The point of the test was its very arbitrariness. God could have just as easily said, "Keep the men with red hair," or "Keep the men who are left-handed." The test was designed to show that the selection criterion was not any inherent quality in the men, but rather the sovereign pleasure of God. He chose the 300 not because they were the elite, but simply because He chose them. He was reducing the army to a number so absurd that only His power could explain the coming victory.
Judg. 7:7 And Yahweh said to Gideon, “I will save you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his place.”
God now makes the promise explicit. The salvation will come through this tiny, strangely selected band. "I will save you." The agency is God's. The 300 are the instrument, not the source of the power. The remaining 9,700 men are dismissed. The stage is now set. It is 300 Israelites against an enemy "as numerous as locusts." The odds are impossible, which is exactly how God wants them.
Judg. 7:8 So the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
There is a curious detail here. The 300 men take the provisions and the trumpets from the departing soldiers. They are a small band, but they are equipped with the symbolic instruments of a much larger army. The trumpets, shofars, were used to signal, to proclaim, to announce the presence of God. They are being armed, not with swords, but with instruments of proclamation. They are to be a great noise, a great light, not a great fighting force.
Judg. 7:9-11 Now it happened the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands. But if you are afraid to go down, then both you and Purah your young man, go down to the camp, and you will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened, that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his young man down to the outskirts of the armed men that were in the camp.
God gives the command to attack, along with the promise of victory. "I have given it into your hands." It is a done deal in the heavenly court. But God knows Gideon's heart. He knows the man is terrified. And in a moment of beautiful pastoral condescension, God makes a provision for Gideon's fear. He does not rebuke him for his weakness; He provides a remedy for it. "If you are afraid..." This is a tender mercy. God invites Gideon to go on a reconnaissance mission, not for tactical intelligence, but for spiritual encouragement. God is going to strengthen Gideon's hands for the task by letting him overhear a conversation in the enemy camp.
Judg. 7:12-14 Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Then Gideon came, and behold, a man was recounting a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I had a dream; a loaf of barley bread was 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 answered and said, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand.”
First, the sheer scale of the enemy is re-emphasized. They are like a plague of locusts, their camels like sand on the seashore. The visual reinforces the impossibility of the situation. Then comes the sign. It is not a thunderclap from heaven, but a whispered conversation between two pagan soldiers. God's providence is so meticulous that He gives one enemy a dream and another the interpretation, and arranges for Gideon to be in earshot at just the right moment. The dream is wonderfully humbling. Israel is not a mighty lion or a soaring eagle. It is a loaf of barley bread, the food of the poor, a humble, common thing. This tumbling barley cake demolishes a tent. The interpretation, coming from the enemy, is unambiguous. They know who Gideon is, and more importantly, they know who Gideon's God is. "God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand." The enemy preaches the gospel to Gideon. They declare God's sovereignty and Gideon's victory before the first trumpet is even blown.
Judg. 7:15 Now it happened that when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hands.”
Gideon's response is twofold, and in the right order. First, worship. He hears the word of the Lord, confirmed from this unlikely source, and his immediate reaction is to bow down. Faith recognizes the hand of God and responds with adoration. Only after worship does he turn to action. His fear is gone, replaced by a holy confidence. He returns to his men and echoes the words of the Midianite soldier, but he gives the credit where it is due. "Arise, for Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hands."
Judg. 7:16-18 And he divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. Then he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, I will come to the outskirts of the camp, and it will be that just as I do so you do likewise. And I and all who are with me will blow the trumpet. Then you also shall blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon.’ ”
The battle plan is now revealed, and it is glorious in its absurdity. The men are divided into three companies to surround the camp. Their weapons are not swords, but trumpets, empty pitchers, and torches. The plan is to create a cacophony of sound and a sudden blaze of light in the middle of the night, giving the impression of a massive army attacking from all sides. The key is coordinated action. "Look at me and do likewise." This is a principle of leadership and discipleship. The people are to follow the example of their God-appointed leader. The battle cry gives the proper order of authority: "For Yahweh and for Gideon." God is preeminent, and Gideon is His servant. The victory will be the Lord's, achieved through a strategy that defies all human military wisdom, for the sole purpose that He might get all the glory.
Application
The story of Gideon's 300 is a permanent cure for our trust in human methodologies, numbers, and strength. In the church today, we are constantly tempted to measure our effectiveness by the size of our budget, the number of our attendees, or the cleverness of our programs. God's methods are often different. He delights in taking the small, the weak, and the foolish to accomplish His purposes, so that no one can boast.
This passage calls us to a radical trust in God, especially when circumstances seem impossible. God is not limited by our resources. In fact, He often strips away our resources so that we are forced to rely on Him alone. The victory He wins in our lives, our families, and our churches is meant to bring glory to His name, not ours. Our job is to be faithful with the trumpets and torches He gives us, to proclaim His truth (the trumpet) and to live lives that shine as lights in the darkness (the torch). We are to follow the commands of our Captain, Jesus Christ, and to give the battle cry that all glory belongs to God. When we are weak, then He is strong, and His victory is all the more sweet for it.