Judges 7:1-8 Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod… I. THEN, LITTLE THINGS MAKE GREAT DIFFERENCES IN LIFE. It was a little thing that made the difference between "the three hundred" and the rest of the army — "lapped." But little things represent great equivalents. Little things test and reveal character. II. THEN, QUALITY IN HUMAN INSTRUMENTALITY IS OF MORE IMPORTANCE THAN QUANTITY. We are taught here that success in God's cause does not depend upon numbers. The victory is already potentially ours when we use the right means in the right spirit. The great want of the Church is not more members but more of the right stamp. The only soldiers that amount to anything in God's service are volunteers; men who enlist, put on the armour, obey orders, and delight in the service. III. THEN, THE FEW MAY STAND FIRM, AND DO NOBLE SERVICE IN SPITE OF THE BAD EXAMPLE OF THE MANY. IV. THEN, GOD IS WORTHY OF OUR TRUST AND HEARTY CO-OPERATION IN SELECTING HIS AGENTS AND CARRYING ON HIS WORK. Divine wisdom was afterwards seen in the selection of these men. So it must be in God's spiritual army, in our conflict with self and sin. Evil habits, unholy practices, false principles, must all be pursued, tracked to their hiding places, and remorselessly slain with the edge of the sword. It is harder to live Christianity than to be converted to it. V. THEN, IS IT GOD'S FIXED PLAN TO WORK THROUGH THE FEW, RATHER THAN THE MANY? No; it is God's plan, all things being equal, to work, not through a part, but through all His people whether few or many. Why, then, did He reduce Gideon's army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred men? Happily we are not in the dark as to the cause; God Himself tells us why He did it. He had to do so in order that His power might be recognised in the victory. (T. Kelly.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. |
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