Judges 7

God Shows Out, Victory with A Small Crew

1 Early in the morning, Jerubbaal (aka Gideon) and his squad set up camp near the spring of Harod. The Midianite army was camped out north of them down in the valley by the hill of Moreh.

2 The Lord told Gideon, “Listen, you got too many people with you. If I let you all win like this, Israel will think they did it without Me.”

3 “Tell everybody, ‘If you are scared or shook, go ahead and leave now.’” So 22,000 packed up and left. Only 10,000 stayed.

God Cuts the Squad Down Smaller

4 But the Lord told Gideon, “Still too many. Take them down to the water, I am going to test them there. I will tell you who to keep and who to send home.”

5 Gideon brought them to the water. The Lord said, “Watch how they drink. The ones who scoop the water with their hands and lap it like a dog, keep them. The ones who kneel down to drink, send them home.”

6 Only 300 men drank using their hands. The rest got on their knees.

7 The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will save you all and hand Midian over to you. Everybody else, send them back home.”

8 So Gideon kept the 300 and took their supplies and trumpets. The Midianite camp was below them in the valley.

God Gives Gideon Extra Confidence

9 That night, the Lord told Gideon, “Get up, go down to the Midian camp, I have already given it to you.”

10 “But if you are scared, take your boy Purah and go listen to what they are saying.”

11 “You will get the courage you need after that.” So Gideon and Purah slid down near the outpost of the camp.

12 The Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern folks were thick, covering the land like locusts. Their camels were so many it was like counting sand on the beach.

13 Gideon overheard a soldier telling his boy a dream, “Man, I dreamed this loaf of barley bread came rolling down into our camp and smashed the tent flat.”

14 His boy said, “That is must be the sword of Gideon, son of Joash. God’s handed Midian and this whole camp over to him.”

Gideon Makes His Move

15 When Gideon heard the dream and the meaning, he bowed down and worshiped God. Then he ran back to camp and told his crew, “Get up! The Lord done gave us this camp!”

16 He split his 300 men into three squads. He gave everybody a trumpet and an empty jar with a torch inside it.

17 He told them, “Watch me and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, do what I do.”

18 “When I blow my trumpet, you all blow yours too all around the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

The Sneak Attack

19 Gideon and his 100-man squad rolled up to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the midnight watch, just after the guards changed shifts. They blew their trumpets and broke their jars.

20 All three squads blew their trumpets, smashed their jars, grabbed their torches in one hand and trumpets in the other, and shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

21 They stood in place all around the camp, and the Midianites ran wild, screaming and panicking.

22 When the 300 blew their trumpets, the Lord made the Midianites turn on each other with their swords. They ran as far as Beth-shittah near Zererah, to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.

Israel Chases Them Down

23 Israelite men from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh were called out, and they chased the Midianites.

24 Gideon sent messengers through the hill country of Ephraim saying, “Come down and cut them off at the Jordan River before they get away!”

25 The men of Ephraim caught two Midianite commanders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the Rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the Winepress of Zeeb. Then they chased the Midianites and brought Oreb and Zeeb’s heads to Gideon across the Jordan.