Nothing, Apart from Him
The Lord wants us to know that, apart from Him, we can do nothing of true, eternal consequence. Too easily do we take credit for successes that belong to Him.
In Judges 7, Gideon gets this vital message by means of a living object lesson…and surely the form of this lesson would’ve been rather unsettling!
The Midianites were a formidable foe. For years, they’ve oppressed the Israelites, who’ve consequently lived in fear of this ruthless, heartless enemy. And now the Midianites have joined forces with the Amalekites and other lesser military forces to engage the weak, defenseless Israelites in battle.
The size of enemy army itself would rattle anyone. Judges 7:12 states that they “were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side in multitude.”
And Gideon’s force? A paltry 32,000 men.
But the Lord declared that those odds weren’t high enough; some of those 32,000 had to go. So Gideon dismissed all who would admit they were afraid.
22,000 hightailed it for home.
“Still too many,” the Lord said, “I don’t want Israel to become arrogant and say, ‘My hand has saved me!’” So another plan for thinning out the forces was established—one that’s often misunderstood.
The remaining 10,000 headed to a water source to get a drink. There were two ways to drink: either get down on all fours and lap like a dog, or scoop up the water in your hands and bring it to your mouth.
As it turned out, the dog-like drinkers were sent home—all 9,700 of them—and the scoopers were kept, leaving an unremarkable force of 300.
Some have tried to explain the logic of this selection by claiming that the Lord wanted Gideon to have the most alert men go to battle. Since they scooped, they could keep their eyes on the horizon while looking for the enemy.
That explanation, however, doesn’t wash.
Remember, the Lord was doing everything possible to eliminate the chance that Israel could say, “My hand has saved me!” To have selected the best 300 soldiers would fly in the face of that stated objective.
So why did the Lord pick the scoopers? Simply because there were fewer of them!
In other words, if 9,700 men had scooped and 300 had lapped, He would’ve chosen the lappers.
Get the point: the Lord wasn’t interested in choosing the bravest, most skillful, strongest soldiers; He was interested in making sure everyone knew that He gave the victory.
You know the rest of the story. With that small handful of water-scooping soldiers, the Lord routed the Midianites and their allies.
Apart from the Lord, we can do nothing; empowered by the Lord, a weak, insignificant, obscure “water-lapper” can be an instrument in His hand to bring Him great glory!
In Judges 7, Gideon gets this vital message by means of a living object lesson…and surely the form of this lesson would’ve been rather unsettling!
The Midianites were a formidable foe. For years, they’ve oppressed the Israelites, who’ve consequently lived in fear of this ruthless, heartless enemy. And now the Midianites have joined forces with the Amalekites and other lesser military forces to engage the weak, defenseless Israelites in battle.
The size of enemy army itself would rattle anyone. Judges 7:12 states that they “were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side in multitude.”
And Gideon’s force? A paltry 32,000 men.
But the Lord declared that those odds weren’t high enough; some of those 32,000 had to go. So Gideon dismissed all who would admit they were afraid.
22,000 hightailed it for home.
“Still too many,” the Lord said, “I don’t want Israel to become arrogant and say, ‘My hand has saved me!’” So another plan for thinning out the forces was established—one that’s often misunderstood.
The remaining 10,000 headed to a water source to get a drink. There were two ways to drink: either get down on all fours and lap like a dog, or scoop up the water in your hands and bring it to your mouth.
As it turned out, the dog-like drinkers were sent home—all 9,700 of them—and the scoopers were kept, leaving an unremarkable force of 300.
Some have tried to explain the logic of this selection by claiming that the Lord wanted Gideon to have the most alert men go to battle. Since they scooped, they could keep their eyes on the horizon while looking for the enemy.
That explanation, however, doesn’t wash.
Remember, the Lord was doing everything possible to eliminate the chance that Israel could say, “My hand has saved me!” To have selected the best 300 soldiers would fly in the face of that stated objective.
So why did the Lord pick the scoopers? Simply because there were fewer of them!
In other words, if 9,700 men had scooped and 300 had lapped, He would’ve chosen the lappers.
Get the point: the Lord wasn’t interested in choosing the bravest, most skillful, strongest soldiers; He was interested in making sure everyone knew that He gave the victory.
You know the rest of the story. With that small handful of water-scooping soldiers, the Lord routed the Midianites and their allies.
Apart from the Lord, we can do nothing; empowered by the Lord, a weak, insignificant, obscure “water-lapper” can be an instrument in His hand to bring Him great glory!
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