Judges 7:13-15
When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Midian and all the host.” When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped; and he returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise; for the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand.”
Poor Gideon was the original nebbish. His humility often spilled over into a lack of confidence that God had to work overtime to amend. We first meet him — hiding from the forces of Midian who are oppressing Israel — in Judges 6:11. An angel appears and greets him as “you mighty man of valor.” Gideon responds, “Pray, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ but now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into hand of Midian.” God ignores this whining and tells Gideon bluntly, “Go in this might of yours to deliver Israel from hand of Midian; do I not send you?” Gideon wobbles, “How can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” God says, “But I will be with you.” Gideon says all the same he would like a miraculous sign. God gives him one. Gideon, temporarily emboldened, skittishly strikes a blow against the Midianites, starts to trust God a little bit, and then gets nervous again. So he lays out his famous fleece, asking God to cover it and nothing else with dew in the morning. God complies. Gideon hesitates, clears his throat, and asks if God would mind doing the same thing tonight except leave the fleece dry and cover everything else with dew. God complies again. So Gideon finally works up the moxie to lead his troops into battle. However, just to show Gideon that he really is fighting the battle for Gideon, God has Gideon reduce the size of his army from 32,000 men to 300 (undoubtedly renewing the jitters in our cautious hero). But then, as Gideon goes to spy out the Midianite camp, he overhears the conversation in today’s Scripture passage, and all his doubts and fears vanish. The Midianites, he realizes like a thunder clap, are more afraid of him than he is of them! God really is with him! Remember Gideon the next time you have to face down your own Midianites. “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
