Then Jerubbaal ( that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. The Lord said 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 has saved me.” Judges 7: 1-2
Gideon received his answer from God. He may still be somewhat apprehensive but he moves forward to obey God. Obedience does not mean there is no anxiety but that it is put on the backburner. Gideon and his 32,000 men are ready to move into position to fight the Midianites.
Encamped beside the spring of Harod They move to Harod’s spring (now called Gideon’s spring) which is at the foot of Mount Gilboa. This gives Gideon a view of the Jezreel valley and the Midianite army encamped in it. Harod’s Spring produces clear water
flowing into a stream from which Gideon’s men will soon drink.
The camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in
the valley The enemy’s massive army is seen clearly. The reality of the situation now hits Gideon and his men. The enemy is real, the battle will soon be real, the danger is real and they are massively outnumbered.
The Lord said to Gideon Once Gideon gets into position, the Lord speaks to him again. We see a truth shown over and over in scripture. God does not give us all the details in the beginning. He gives one step and waits for us to obey. When we do, He reveals the next step. One would think it would get easier to obey God and trust Him the further we got into our assignment. The opposite is usually true. Often the risk increases and the chances of success seem to decrease. As Gideon and his army look at the large Midianite army they probably think, “it can’t get much worse than this”, odds of 4:1. Then God breaks into the story to reveal the next part of His plan – one that requires even greater faith to carry out.
The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand God gives Gideon a stunning message. His army is too big. Despite being outnumbered God is not satisfied with
the composition of Gideon’s army. God tells Gideon his army is too big for God to give him the victory. God tells Gideon what he feared. If he goes into battle with this army, he is going to lose.
Lest Israel boast over me, saying, “My own hand has saved me” God then tells Gideon the problem. If Israel were to win this battle they would take the credit. The Israelite army, despite being outnumbered 4:1 could claim they pulled off a great military victory. This would reinforce the sin that got them into this situation
in the first place – pride and self-worship. God will not allow that to happen.
What can we learn? At this point we learn a critical lesson about the tests and trials God allows into our lives. The primary purpose of those tests is not to defeat the enemy. God could do that with one word from His mouth. (The Lord will do just that at the battle of Armageddon.) Instead, God allows tests in our lives for one overarching reason. He wants us to see His greatness and to learn to trust Him, not ourselves. As He creates in us spiritual maturity, it means we know Him more fully. This is how John describes spiritual maturity – “I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning”. (I John 2:13)
So God tells Gideon the spiritual reason for his test and for reducing his army. As we encounter tests and trials in life, this should always be our request from God. “Teach me to trust you, grow my faith.” Otherwise we may get through a battle in this life but fail to grow spiritually which means we lost an eternal opportunity to glorify God.