Judges 7:9

GIDEON IN THE CAMP OF MIDIAN

"And it came to pass that same night, that Jehovah said unto him, Arise, get thee down into the camp; for I have delivered it into thy hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Purah thy servant down to the camp: and thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down into the camp. Then went he down with Purah his servant unto the outermost part of the armed men that were in the camp. And the Midianites, and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the sea-shore for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man telling a dream unto his fellow; and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream; and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came unto the tent, and smote it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: into his hand God hath delivered Midian, and all his host."

"If thou fear to go down, go thou down with Purah" (Judges 7:10). This was God's concession to the human weakness of Gideon, who no doubt was indeed afraid to go down into the camp of the 135,000 Midianites and their allies. Gideon admitted that fear, when he took Purah with him on that journey. This mention of the great hero's fear was cited by Cundall as denying any probability of "Any fabrication of this narrative."[10] True to the Biblical character observable in both the O.T. and the N.T., the sins, weaknesses and shortcomings of its heroes are mentioned along with their successes and achievements.

"Cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian ... came unto the tent ... turned it upside down" (Judges 7:13). "The word `tent' here is a proper name, such as `Pentagon.'"[11] "It probably means `the tent of the king of Midian,' or that of the captain of his host."[12]

"Cake of barley bread" (Judges 7:13). Barley bread was the prevailing diet of the poor; and in context, it here stands for Israel or Gideon.

This dream signified that God would deliver the whole host of the Midianites and their allies into the hands of Gideon.

"This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon" (Judges 7:14). This revealed a very significant fact regarding the Midian host, namely, that they were fully aware of Gideon's identity, having no doubt heard of his exploits in destroying the altar of Baal. Their intelligence service was also fully aware of the thousands who had rallied behind Gideon.

There was another factor that struck fear into the hearts of the invading raiders. "The great host of the Midianite enemies contained not only fighting men, but the whole baggage of the army, which had invaded Israel as nomads, with their wives, their children, their flocks and herds, etc."[13] The seven previous years of uninterrupted plundering had resulted in that extremely vulnerable conglomeration of marauders.

As a result, there must have been vast numbers of the invaders who were extremely apprehensive of the situation as it developed. The way "his fellow" interpreted the dream proves this.

There can be little doubt that Gideon and Purah returned from their mission of reconnoitering greatly encouraged and brimming full of confidence of the success of their assault against the Midianites.

The dream featured in this passage was a prophecy, "Of the overthrow of `the Tent,' symbolical of the rout and destruction of the Midianite host."[14] God Himself caused the dream, having determined beforehand both the dream and its inspired interpretation, and He caused Gideon to descend into the Midianite camp in order to hear it, thus greatly strengthening Gideon's faith and determination.

GIDEON ANNOUNCES THE STRATEGY OF ATTACK

The text does not state that God commanded Gideon exactly what to do, but he obviously did so. It is simply inconceivable that any mortal commander could have devised such a strategy from merely human considerations.