Last week, we were introduced to Gideon, starting in Judges 6, and we got all the way to verse 35. Well, this week, we're going to start in verse 36, where we have a very interesting passage, one that doesn't get a lot of attention, but it's rather bizarre, unique, and that is the sign of the fleece. Starting in verse 36 we read this Then Gideon said to God if you will deliver Israel through me as you have spoken Behold I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor If there is dew on the fleece only and it is dry on all the ground Then I will know that you will deliver Israel through me as you have spoken and it was so and When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. Now this is, like I said, this is a strange section. And at first reading, it's not something you would have expected. I mean, God had just shown Gideon a lot of why he was with him. And there, with the two things that were covered in verses 33 to 35, The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and the people responded in mass to Gideon's call and Gideon then tested the Lord. Now there seems to be a lot of hesitation on the part of Gideon. One commentator stated that Gideon, quote, needed additional preparation. The same commentator went on to write, in this case he devises a test. Testing God in the Old Testament is prohibited in Deuteronomy 6 16 Both because it calls into question God's faithfulness and Because it reflects great disdain on the part of the one testing it is normally an attempt to force God to do something and He goes on and says, Here, however, the Lord accepts the idea, no doubt because it grows out of Gideon's fluctuating sense of security and his continuing need for assurance. God's patience and mercy, therefore, pierce legal expectations and allow for honest searching. But we're not done. Go to verse 39. Then Gideon said to God, do not let your anger burn against me that I may speak once more. Please let me make that test once more with the fleece. Now it be dry only on the fleece and let the dew be all on the ground. So just the opposite of what he just asked. God did so that night for it was dry only on the fleece and the dew was all on the ground. So even with the first test, the first sign of the fleece and the stuff before that, showing Gideon that God was with him, in overwhelmingly providing the dew on the fleece in the first test, Gideon asked for another one. He remained in his state of apprehension and asked for this additional sign. the sign would be reversed from the prior one. So it wasn't just an accident, right? But even with that additional request, God remained patient. And God granted it as Gideon had requested. Now the patience of God here is something to behold. It really is. Because God complied with Gideon's ask indicates that Gideon really wasn't trying to force God's hand. God had assigned Gideon to lead the nations, and Gideon's faith needed divine help. In the summary of these verses, verses 36 to 40, both testing of the fleece, Daniel Bloch wrote this. These verses catch the reader totally by surprise. Even though Gideon has been empowered by Yahweh and is surrounded by a vast army of troops, he hesitates. He continues to test God with demands for signs, this time specifically for assurance that God will indeed use him to provide deliverance for the nation, as he has promised. The latter expression, which occurs twice in verse 36 and verse 37, is the key to this text. Contrary to popular interpretation, this text has nothing to do with discovering or determining the will of God. The divine will is perfectly clear in His mind, and we see that way back in verse 16. He goes on and says, Gideon's problem is that with his limited experience with God, he cannot believe that God always fulfills his word. Or possibly that he will use Gideon in fulfilling that word. The request for signs is not a sign of faith, but of unbelief. This is what Block says. Despite being clear about the will of God, being empowered by the Spirit of God, and being confirmed as a divinely chosen leader by the overwhelming response of his countrymen to his own summons to battle, he, Gideon, uses every means available to try to get out of the mission to which he has been called. The narrator apparently recognizes the incongruity of the situation by deliberately referring to God by the generic designation Elohim rather than his personal covenant name Yahweh. Apparently Gideon has difficulty distinguishing between Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, and God in a general sense. The remarkable fact is that God responds to his tests. He is more anxious to deliver Israel than to quibble with this man's semi-pagan notions of deity." That's quite a statement. Gideon had a lot to learn. You know, and that's why we talked about a little bit last week, you know, the Gideon's international use use Gideon as their, you know, as their, you know, in their name, you know, Gideon had issues as do all people in the Bible. But that doesn't mean God isn't going to use him because God has chosen him. You know, when you read through that, you read through what Gideon was doing. Everyone here, I would think if you're not in this group then fine your excuse, but everyone here Our faith needs divine help It's God that gives us faith. We do not have faith in God because of something we manufacture in ourselves So, how do we get faith Well, let's go to Romans chapter 10, verse 16 and 17. However, they did not all heed the good news, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. And then we can go to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. Now, a lot of you know this passage. It's a very familiar passage. But we're going to focus on a couple words here that maybe get skipped over sometimes. Because we usually talk about Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 that we are saved not of works. And that's true. But Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 says, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, It is the gift of God. What is the gift of God? The faith. God has given us faith. We have been through faith. It is the gift of God, not as a result of work so that no one may boast. Our faith is a gift from God. It would be a good idea probably for all of us to, when we pray, thank Him for giving us faith. There's one website that said this, faith is the avenue or instrument God uses to bring salvation to his people. God gives faith because of his grace and mercy, because he loves us. And it goes through Ephesians chapters four and five there. It says, faith comes from God in the form of a gift. We need to learn that. We need to understand that. So God provided all that Gideon needed for his faith to trust in him and to carry out his assignment. And we need to be very careful here when we look at Gideon's testing of God with this fleece. What happened here was unique to Gideon's situation. We should not test God in a manner like Gideon and expect a similar result. That would be folly. I went out to a website called makingandmaturing.com and this was posted on October 28, 2015. The title is, Why Did Gideon Put Out a Fleece and Should We? It says this, It's time to pit this whole putting out a fleece madness to bed. The expression putting out a fleece comes from Judges 6, 33-40 where Gideon requests God's guarantee of victory through two tests. The first test, Gideon puts a fleece garment on the ground and asks God to miraculously cause dew to only collect on the garment and not on the rest of the ground. In the second test, Gideon reverses the test. Now he asks for fleece to be dry and the ground to be covered with dew. It goes on, it says, many Christians have taken this narrative as a positive and adopted the practice of, quote, putting out a fleece, testing God in order to determine His will. For example, in a dating relationship, someone might say, God, if they send me a card in the next six hours, then I'll know you want me to marry them. Yikes. And that was actually, yikes was right what was written in that. He says, let me be as clear as possible. Putting out a fleece is not a positive. In fact, it is a sign of a lack of faith. Let's set the record straight on a few aspects of Judges 6, 33 to 40. Number one, Gideon was not asking God to reveal what he should do. Did you have a question? Well, Gideon shouldn't have done it. Gideon should not have tested God. But as Daniel Bloch said, God was going to make him the leader, and he wasn't going to show him that what he was doing was wrong. He was going to answer him to get this thing going. He could have said, yeah, you're putting me to the test. Don't do that. Did Gideon's test surprise God? No. He knew it was going to happen. You know, and God, in his mercy and his patience, gave Gideon what he asked for. Surprising a lot of people. Despite the sin. Despite that he shouldn't have done that. Yeah, Gideon had a big need and his faith was weak. He was not ready to trust God. Yes? how God dealt with Zacharias, John the Baptist. He was a priest. Yeah. And it struck him... Yeah, it struck him dumb until John the Baptist was born. So it's kind of like... Yeah, this is definitely the same. It was probably even more severe than Zacharias. Yeah, Zacharias. Definitely knew better. Yeah, definitely knew better The next thing that's in this website talking about it That God was not getting was not asking God to reveal what he should do because God had already told him You're gonna leave my people you're gonna You're gonna you know spice the Midianites We found that in verse 14 of verse 16. I And Gideon was trying to get a guarantee that God was the one who was speaking, who would grant him the victory. Now this was a common practice in the ancient Near East cultures. But Gideon was seeking confirmation based on his terms, not on God's terms. And Gideon's test really shows that he had a Canaanite theological perspective, remember? bad theological practices that crept into Israel. He was part of that. He tore down the Baal and the Asherah pole, but that doesn't mean he was immune from all those influences. Here we see that he was. The third thing is Gideon was trying to get a guarantee that God of Israel was greater than the God of Baal. Baal was the Canaanite god of the storm, rain and lightning, etc. In one Baal tale, his weakness results in a drought of both rain and dew. Guess what the Hebrew word for do is in Judges 6.33? It's tal. There is no doubt that Gideon here is testing God to see if he is really greater than Baal. Gideon, the one who fought with Baal in Judges 6.25-32, isn't quite convinced that Baal isn't the real deal yet. So the fleas test are a result of Gideon's Canaanite way of thinking and his lack of faith in God, the God of Israel. And then the last thing they say in this article, putting God to the test is sinful, as Deuteronomy 6.16 states. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massa. And in Judges 6.39, look what Gideon said. Let not your anger burn against me. Let me speak once more. Just let me test once more with the fleece. He even uses the same verb for testing found in Deuteronomy 6.16. So if we count Gideon's request for a sign from God's messenger in Judges 6.17, really he's tested God three times so far. So why does God put up with Gideon's lack of faith and Gideon's sin in testing him? Why does he answer the test? Yeah, the only answer is God's covenantal faithfulness to the nation and his grace Here's a condensation to Gideon's Canaanite worldview isn't meant to condone testing God or Demanding signs and like I said, you know when this was written there was this Oh put out of fleas put out of fleas ah God is patient with our lack of faith. He's patient with our faulty theology and our fear. But the message is not to imitate Gideon, but rather to learn about God ourselves and from his experience. This narrative encourages us to believe God without the extra drama. Once again, in Judges, Othniel's simple faith, we've read in Judges 3, stands out when contrasted with Gideon. It concludes and says, let's learn from Gideon's experience. God is greater than any false god. He is able and willing to save, and he is motivated by his grace. Do not test God. Believe God. So that's what we learn from the sign of the fleece. The next thing we have, we're starting in chapter 7 now. His Gideon chose his men in the first 18 verses. that is Gideon, that's where his father renamed him. And all the people who were with him rose early and camped beside the spring at Herod. And the camp of Midian was on the north side of the hill of Mora in the valley. The Lord said to Gideon, the people who are with you are too many for me to give Midian into their hands. For Israel would become boastful, saying, My own power has delivered me. Now therefore, come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead." So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained. Sixty percent. That's a rough number, but it's close enough. The Lord's statement to Gideon that he had too many men, I would think would be, what? Confusing to Gideon. How can you have too many soldiers when you're against a strong foe that had a lot more than 20 to 32,000? They had like 120,000. So they were outnumbered to begin with, right? Now, as we look back on this, we can see that God was going to show everyone that it was His battle. It wasn't their battle. And it wasn't their might that's going to bring about a victory. It was God and God alone. And that's consistent with so many battles we've gone through. Gary Phillips wrote this. He said, What God was about to do must not be explainable in any possible way by human agency. So the man whom God called while winnowing grain was about to winnow his army. And the nation of Israel was to learn the lesson, later affirmed by Jonathan, that nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few. If you had never heard of the story of Gideon as told in scripture, the first time you were made aware of what happened and the next steps are extremely odd, to say the least. I mean, how many military leaders call up all their troops? Can you imagine Eisenhower doing this at D-Day? If you guys are scared, go home. you'll get an honorable discharge. All right? I mean, who does that? That's what Gideon did. And 22 of 32,000 people left. Just under 70%. Pretty amazing. Yeah, and if you're one of the 10,000 staying back you're going Right If nothing else this also shows that the majority of the soldiers did not think they're gonna win It shows they had no trust in God You're going to lead us to victory. Look at that army over there. And if that's not enough, it keeps going. God keeps going in verse four. Then the Lord said to Gideon, the people are still too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, this one shall go with you, he shall go with you. But to everyone whom I say to you, this one shall not go with you, he will not go. So who's doing the testing? God's doing the testing. God's setting the rules. I wonder what Gideon was thinking at that point. Yeah, you know, the fleece was wet. The ground was dry, the ground was wet, the fleece was dry. But, no, you want me to do what? God had directly told Gideon, and he knew this, that he would deliver Israel through him. And Gideon, somewhere it clicked, somewhere God's faith became real to Gideon. Hebrews 11.32 says this, Gideon is mentioned in Hebrews as a man of faith. Wasn't always there with Gideon as we just saw. But I'm thinking that Gideon's faith in God was growing and growing and growing as God made it true to him. In this narrative, we do not have any indication that after the fleece incident that Gideon put God to the test again. And like I said, the first thing I noticed in verse four is it was God who is doing the testing. It was not Gideon. And then he is told, he of whom I say to you, this one shall go. He's going to go. And if this one shall not go, he will not go. God was the sole determiner of who would stay and who would not. Now, these 10,000 people showed some valor. They weren't afraid. Okay. And this was also not a lineup of, well, we're going to get the best archers and we're going to get the best swordsmen and the best fighters. We have no indication that they're going after the best of anything. Right. It was a strange lineup, to say the least, from our perspective. And then verse five and six. Well, what is this test that God is going to do? Excuse me, verse five to eight. So he brought the people, these 10,000, down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, you shall separate everyone who laps water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink. That's the strangest test you've probably ever seen or ever will see of who's qualified to be a soldier in an army. Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300. But all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. The Lord said to Gideon, I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped, and will give the Midianites into your hands. So let all the other people go, each man to his home. So the 300 men took the people's provisions and their trumpets in their hands, And Gideon sent all the other men of Israel each to his tent, but retained the three hundred. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley." All along they could see the Midianites out there, 130 some thousand. Speaking of that, this is totally going south. I read an article yesterday or the day before that there's been a recent archaeological discovery where when you remember when the Assyrians, Assyrians came and surrounded Jerusalem with Hezekiah and 185,000 of them died in one night. There's been some kind of a view that someone got from way up in either from a satellite or somewhere up there where they actually could see the ring showing where those Midianites would have been camping. I started reading it, it was way behind, not Midianites, Syrians would have been camping and they said it actually validates that there was 185,000 of them there. I started reading it and it was I couldn't understand how it did it, but it was pretty interesting. And they actually went to the site and found Syrian pottery. They found what? Syrian pottery. Yeah. So this stuff really happened. And the more we uncover archaeologically and that type of thing, it all validates the Bible. Interesting how God does things. Okay, where was I? Yes. So Gideon's faith was growing. And Gideon went right to the task in verse 5 of bringing the people down to the water. God said, okay, what's the task? Obviously, he told him what to do. Go take them down there and let them drink. Okay. And at that point, I don't think Gideon had any idea how many would pass and how many would fail or what the pass or the fail was. Some interpreters insist that God's test was select to select, and I've heard this in the past, only those men who maintained a greater overall sense of military preparedness or diligence. But it doesn't seem to be the case. The criterion for the test may have been entirely arbitrary, simply designed to diminish the army in drastic ways. Regardless, God made a promise to Gideon. With the 300 men that lapped, I will save you and give the Midianites into their hands." The rest of the men returned to their encampment, and now the 300 took the provisions and the trumpets from their comrades. You've got to wonder what was happening, what they were talking about, you know. Well, they took the trumpets from the 10,000 who had them and weren't going to be using them. Trumpets were announcing. I mean, they were shofars type of things, I'm assuming. There's no walls though. Next thing we see is the Lord encouraged Gideon The Lord encouraged Gideon with his army down to 300 men I'm sure that this was a great encouragement to Gideon. We don't have any idea that he was testing the Lord anymore But you know encouragement is always good from the Lord and we can always find that in Scripture So now the same night Okay, all this happened, you know the same night It came about that the Lord said to him, Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands. But if you are afraid to go down, go with Pura, your servant, to the camp, and you will hear what they say. So afterward, your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp. So he, being Gideon, went down with Pura, his servant, down to the outpost of the army that was in the camp. So go down and see what you can hear. So Gideon and his servant, we don't know anything about his servant except the word pura means young boy. Okay, so he was a young boy. Went to the outer edges of the Midianite camp and God told them to listen to what was being said. So they were close enough, we see, to hear their conversation. And quite a conversation it was in the next two verses. Things start turning here a little bit. Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts. Their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, Behold, I had a dream. A loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian. And it came to the tent and struck it so hard that it fell and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat. His friend replied, This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand." The first thing we are told is the size of the Midianite army and the Amalekites. They were huge, as numerous as locusts. And they're camels without number. I don't know if you've ever driven. I have driven on a road. And when the Mormon crickets go crazy, and they're everywhere, and you're riding through it, that's the picture I get. They're everywhere. They cover the road. Camels without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. What would you have thought knowing, well, I've got 300 men to go against that? The next we are told of the dream and what was being discussed between two Midianite soldiers. Clearly this was not just a random dream, but one that was placed in the soldier by God himself. Dreams. That would be quite a subject for a big old long PhD study. Dreams in scripture. Frequently, they play an important role in scripture. Sometimes God spoke to people through dreams. In Genesis 20, God spoke to Abimelech, the king of Jerar in a dream, warning him that Sarah was Abraham's wife, not the toucher. You remember that? In Genesis 37, there is the dream of Joseph, where he dreamt that his brothers were bowing down to him, causing them to hate him even more than ever. And they called him, what did they call their brother Joseph? That dreamer. That's what they called him. In Genesis 40, beginning with Joseph, we have both the cupbearer's dream and the baker's of the king of Egypt. They both had dreams that Joseph accurately interpreted. was good, and one was bad for the other one. And then there's the famous dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2. I mean, so God uses dreams. The one thing to notice is that dreams from God occurred in both followers of God and non-followers of God. Here in Judges, the dreams from God were given to those who did not follow Him. Now concerning dreams, In the Believer's Church Bible Commentary, the author wrote, In the ancient world, dreams were viewed with the utmost seriousness. They were considered channels through which the gods communicated their wishes and intentions. Furthermore, the importance attributed to dreams also increased according to the status of the dreamer. Pharaoh's dreams, for example, were for some a matter of life and death. So in Gideon's case, the dream of a Midianite soldier carries great significance. In this case, God gave the second soldier the meaning of the dream. Here's what it means. Why did he give it to him? I would think that it would greatly encourage Gideon as well as his servant, Purah, even though they only had 300 men. They could tell there was some kind of fear going on. There was something going on here. The soldier, hearing the dream, understood that it meant they would be defeated by Israel. And two, if you notice, they were aware that Gideon was leading the army of Israel. They knew that. How they knew it, I don't know. But they knew it. So, going on in the next three verses. Starting with verse 15. When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, what did he do? He bowed in worship. Returned to the camp of Israel and said arise for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hands This is the same night Right after his troops had gone from 10,000 to 300 He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. He said to them, Look at me and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do." When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you shall also blow the trumpet all around the camp and say for the Lord and for Gideon. So Gideon's response was to worship God. We don't see a person who is dealing with faith issues at this point. He'd been convinced. God had convinced him. God had given him the faith that he needed. He returns to his camp of 300, reinforces the fact that God had provided the victory, and gives them their orders. Now, one thing that's left out of this whole narrative is the faith that each of the 300 must have had as well, that the Lord would provide the victory. Be nice to interview some of those guys. You know, some of the 300. They could see what they were up against. There was no, you know, no hiding this massive army. But they complied with the orders and followed them out as directed. Now, what were the main components to use to be used in their attack? Trumpets or ram's horns or shofars. Empty pitchers or a clay jar. So far, not a four-foot one because it would be too big to carry all that probably. A clay jar and a torch. The weapons are quite a list. The plan was as unique as the weapons. Divide into three groups. That would mean 100 in each group. Then wait and follow what Gideon did. And from what the narrative suggests, the men accepted their orders without question. Perhaps they sensed that God was going to do something divine, which is exactly what he did. So now we're set up for the battle. Starting in verse 19. So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch. And when they had just posted the watch, they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. When the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers and held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing and cried, a sword for the Lord and for Gideon. Each stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran, crying out as they fled. When they blew three hundred trumpets, the Lord set the sword of one against the other, even throughout the whole army. And the army fled as far as Beth Shittah and towards Zerioth, as far as the edge of Abel, Meholah by Tabath. And the men of Israel were summoned from Naphtali and Asherah Manasseh, and they pursued Midian. It's the same night. It's the same day that they went out and drank from the brook. That night they went out and did this. And what a sight. This would have been fun to make a movie out of it. I don't know how you'd film this. It would be fun. At the beginning of the middle watch, it says, which is probably just after midnight, Gideon and his men begin their what I would call assault on the enemy camp. It began just after those in the second watch. There's three watches in the night. And those who posted the watch, who just started their post, they've probably been a little bit groggy or tired. You know, they start your watch right after midnight. It's not your prime time of the day. So they most likely would have had just a few hours of sleep before they began their watch. Not that it would have mattered, because it was God who sent the mass confusion. It wasn't their tiredness. It wasn't anything else. It was God who did it. So the Midianites apparently thought a massive surprise attack was coming quickly, and all chaos broke out. Phillips describes it this way, quote, enemy soldiers were startled from the deepest sleep of the night. Suddenly from three sides, 300 trumpets sounding, each of which they would expect represented several hundred men or maybe even more. 300 pitchers shattered in a sound like a thunderstorm 300 torches bathed the camp in just enough dim light so that awake but blurry everything around them looked like the enemy and 300 voices were screaming the Israelite battle cry as loudly as they could Goes on they got up half-asleep confused camels everywhere started battling against what they took for the nearest enemy and And he goes on says the confusion was perhaps intensified because the Amalekites and the Medianites both spoke different languages Plus presumably they were a coalition army without identifying uniforms Block describes the scene as psychological warfare at its best But it was God he was doing all that The description of the battle, if you can call it that, uses three verbs. In verses 21, the armies ran, they cried out, and they fled. Another significant point is brought out in verse 21 is that Gideon's 300, what did they do? Did they jump in there and start battling? They didn't have anything to battle with. They had a torch, a pitcher that was now broken, And the shofar. It said, they stood in their place as instructed as the chaos took place with the Midianites and the Amalekites. They just stood back and watched. That's pretty cool. Then in verse 23, the men of Israel were summoned from Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh and they pursued Midian. These men included those who were part of the original 32,000. 22,000 of them which were too afraid. One commentator stated that they responded so quickly implies that the initial success of the 300 gives added reference, added confidence to those who previously succumbed to fear. However, it is not clear why additional forces are apparently deemed appropriate at this stage of the conflict when they were dismissed earlier. Perhaps the Lord's opening demonstration at the Midianite camp was sufficient to present any misappropriation of credit. So everyone would know this was God who did it. Beyond the support of the original tribes, additional assistance was now requested from the tribe of Ephraim. We see this in 24 and 25. Ephraim had a more southerly location, and it was assigned the task of blocking the fleeing Midianites near one of the tributaries that entered into the Jordan River. They do this with limited success, They do capture Oreb and Zeb, two of the Midianite leaders. We see this starting in verse 24. says here, And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take the waters before them, as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they took the waters as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. They captured two leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeb. They killed Oreb at the Rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb. I guess I know how those got those names. while they pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gideon from across the Jordan. So what was once a formidable army, Midianites and Amalekites, capable of the devastation of Israel that was described way back in the first of Judges chapter six, of stealing their produce and stealing their animals and they're making them live a life of destitution. That's gone. This is the same group that caused Gideon to beat out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. They're now in full retreat. Its leaders are killed, all due to the army, the army of 300 men who never rose, that never even had a sword in their possession. armed with shofars, pitchers, and torches. But the most important thing they were armed with was God. And that gets us through the end of chapter 7. I thought about taking and going, starting into chapter 8, but we're going to save that for next week, where we get to Ziba and Zalmuna were routed, who were the kings of the Midianites and what happened there. So real quickly, Quite a day. Again, I want to see a YouTube of this. Alright? Pass it on? But when God's going to do something, God's going to do something. And as I was talking this morning, the thought occurred to me. And I thought about going off to that little rabbit trail, but I think we have time now to go off on that rabbit trail. If you look at today's world, And I've seen maps of all the countries that want to destroy Israel, Iran being the chief spokesman for it, but not the only one, and how they surround the land. And I've seen maps, you know, this is this little sliver of land that Israel has, and this is all the land that the enemies of Israel have. And it kind of reminded me a little bit of Midianite and the Amalekites surrounding Israel. We're going to kill Israel. I mean, that the the lead of Iran, my goal is to devastate, destroy and totally, totally destroy Israel forever. You know, I mean, he's got lots of help. He's got lots of weapons. And we know from Scripture God isn't going to let that happen, but it's so easy for me. Maybe it's not for you to look at that and go, how is that going to happen? You know, there's so far outnumbered. How is it going to happen? Israel is a small country. That's what the size of Ada County, maybe maybe a little bigger. I don't know. Not very big. You know, and. But look what happened here. 300. against 125,000, it's very similar. But when God is running the battle, running the show, and he has promised to preserve his nation, he's going to preserve it no matter how big and how powerful all these other countries that line up against him are. And we need to have faith that that's going to happen. Hard to see it sometimes. Imagine the 300 were going how are we going to defeat these people? And then they sat back and watched them defeat themselves How is it going to happen in the future? How's God going to do it don't have a clue? Will he use torches and pitchers and shofars? Maybe he could if he wanted to But God will do that And we can look to Him in faith and in confidence and anticipation of what He will do to bring glory to Himself. Any questions?