Brother Rodger Castle brought the message.
Europe was a powerful force in WWI. America was attacked and joined in WWII. A few years later we found ourselves in the Korean War. General MacArthur took a strong force and in a short time a truce was made. Viet Nam followed. Over 50,000 people were killed. A large multi-nation assault won Desert Storm in a few hours.
In the Bible, Gideon had 32,000 men against a host of Midianites. God said that was too many. This was fought unlike any other war, with a “jug and a horn” i.e., a pitcher and a trumpet.
Judges 7: 1Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.5So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 6And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 7And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 16And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 17And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 18When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 19So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. 20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 21And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.
God called Gideon. He wanted assurance from God. That’s what we do. Sometimes it ends up being our excuse. God has a reason when he calls us to do something. He enables us and gives us the skills to do the job he needs us to do. We doubt God too much. God affirmed Gideon’s call. He had 32,000 men ready to go. Gideon felt good with that number against the huge number in the enemy camp. God had promised victory, but it would not come from a large army. Gideon’s army might get puffed up with such a large number. We too have to be careful in taking glory for ourselves. In order to get the number down Gideon was told to send home the ones who were afraid. Twenty-two thousand left. That may be the problem with many Christians today. We’re afraid to serve God, afraid to offend someone by talking to them about God. We have a small window of opportunity to win people. We need to take advantage every time we can.
With 10,000 men still in his army, God told Gideon to take them to the riverbank to drink and watch how they did it. Some got on their knees to drink. This meant they had to lay their weapon down. I’m afraid that many Christians today have laid down their weapon—the Bible. We must remember how needful it is to us. Only 300 of Gideon’s men got water in their hands and lapped like a dog. Those 300 were the ones God told him to use. The war would be won God’s way with 300 out of 32,000. That’s always the key. Doing things God’s way is what works.
The men were split in companies of three, 100 to each company. They encircled the enemy camp on the ridge top while they slept in the valley. Each man took a trumpet in one hand and a pitcher with a light hidden in it in the other. In the middle of the night they blew their trumpets and broke their pitchers to let the lights shine. They had no offensive weapons. Imagine being awakened to that sound and that sight in the middle of the night. The enemy got confused and fled.
Whoever and whatever your enemy is will surrender to the Lord. He will take care of it. You’ll be where you should be with God. The Lord helps us when we’re prepared. Only 300 of Gideon’s men were really prepared. The bottom line is that there are few Christians out there. The Bible says the broad road leads to destruction and many are on it. The narrow road leads to life and few are traveling it. Only a few believe in God, go to an evangelical church, and go more than on Sunday morning. There are many people out there who need to know about the Lord. We can go to them with love and peace in our hearts. They will be touched if we go to them in God’s way.
Be the Christian God wants you to be. Be as one of Gideon’s 300.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 