{"id":27387,"date":"2023-08-03T22:00:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T05:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-7_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-07-18T15:15:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T22:15:39","slug":"judges-7_13-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-7_13-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Forever Faithful, Always Encouraging"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judges 7:13-25 \u00a0<\/strong>Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 7:13-25.\u00a0 But let\u2019s start at verse 8 so that we get some context.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 7:8-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0During that night the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The\u00a0LORD\u00a0has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-15:\u00a0 At night the LORD told Gideon in verse 9 to get up and go down into the valley against the Midianite camp.\u00a0 But just in case Gideon was still afraid to go, to give Gideon some extra assurance, the LORD tells Gideon to take his servant Purah and first go down to the Midian camp and listen to what the Midianites are saying (v10-11).\u00a0 When Gideon and Purah go down to the massive Midianite camp, Gideon happens to overhear one man confessing to his friend a dream he had that a big round loaf of barley bread tumbled into the Midianite camp and destroyed it.\u00a0 Both the man\u2019s friend (v14) and Gideon (v15) interpret this dream to mean that the God had given the Midianites into the Israelites\u2019 hands.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When God speaks to you, He will often communicate the same message to you more than once and in different ways.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, notice the effect that God\u2019s Word had on Gideon: it encouraged him to go in the direction that God was already taking him in (v15).<\/p>\n

Judges 7:16-22a (NIV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and for Gideon.'”
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and for Gideon!”
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 16-22a:\u00a0 Like great leaders do, Gideon leads by example.\u00a0 But notice what kind of example Gideon sets: he doesn\u2019t even carry a sword.\u00a0 All he has is, in his right hand, a trumpet and, in his left hand, an empty jar with a torch inside it.\u00a0 So sharp was the sword of God\u2019s promise in Gideon\u2019s heart, Gideon didn\u2019t think he needed to carry a physical sword.\u00a0 Amazingly, his army follows him.\u00a0 At the sound of the Israelites\u2019 trumpets blasting, the Midianites flee in a panic and end up turning on each other.<\/p>\n

Once again God proved faithful to His promise.\u00a0 He is able to do more than we ever could in our own strength.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Judges 7:22b-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n22<\/sup>\u2026The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they took the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 22b-25:\u00a0 We will look at these verses more tomorrow in connection with Judges 8.<\/p>\n

Thank You Father that You are forever faithful to Your promises and ever encouraging with Your Word.\u00a0 I pray that I would be open, humble and attentive enough to hear You each time You speak to me.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 7:13-25.\u00a0 But let\u2019s start at verse 8 so that we get some context.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 7:8-15 (NIV)
\n8\u00a0\u00a0So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
\n9\u00a0\u00a0During that night the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.
\n10\u00a0\u00a0If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah
\n11\u00a0\u00a0and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.<\/p>\n

On verses 8-15:\u00a0 At night the LORD told Gideon in verse 9 to get up and go down into the valley against the Midianite camp.\u00a0 But just in case Gideon was still afraid to go, to give Gideon some extra assurance, the LORD tells Gideon to take his servant Purah and first go down to the Midian camp and listen to what the Midianites are saying (v10-11).\u00a0 When Gideon and Purah go down to the massive Midianite camp, Gideon happens to overhear one man confessing to his friend a dream he had that a big round loaf of barley bread tumbled into the Midianite camp and destroyed it.\u00a0 Both the man\u2019s friend (v14) and Gideon (v15) interpret this dream to mean that the God had given the Midianites into the Israelites\u2019 hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27387"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27390,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27387\/revisions\/27390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}