JUDGES 7
This book shows us the principles on which God will help and deliver His people in days of departure. At every period of the church’s history God has His own way of bringing in deliverance for His people. We have to be exercised to see what God’s way is, so that we are not deceived by what is great and pretentious, but we learn to value what is of God.
It was carnal self-confidence when they said that only a few need go in Joshua 7. They did not take sufficient account of the power of the enemy; they were self-confident. But here [p. 148] it is a question of God giving deliverance in a way that was manifestly of Himself. It was “lest Israel vaunt themselves against me”. God takes great pains to preserve us from vaunting ourselves. So here it is sifting things down; quality was wanted, not quantity, an important thing in a day of departure. 2 Timothy is a sifting epistle, an epistle that would reduce the available number.
The men that lapped were proved to be good soldiers; they were so in Jehovah’s account. The object of 2 Timothy is to secure men who are retained as being serviceable to the Master. There is a great profession and Paul has to say that many had turned away from him. There is a kind of sifting in 2 Timothy to find vessels to honour. Paul says, Be a good soldier, one of the three hundred. The fearful element is eliminated: “God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion”, 2 Timothy 1:7. If there is not courage, we shall not maintain anything for God, but give way to the influence of the moment. The people of God protest, but give way. The lack at the present moment is that there is no moral courage to stand for what is of God.
In the previous chapter it is more the personal exercise of Gideon, but now it is a question of the kind of instruments God can use. God will not use anything that will bring glory on what He uses; He will keep the glory for Himself. There is a great lust for numbers among the people of God. Numbers do not always mean unity; the greater the number, often the less the unity. We had better have three hundred of one mind, joined in soul, and all minding and speaking the same thing, than 32,000 that are so many men, and so many minds.
If we want to be chosen and retained, we must be very particular as to how we do small things, things that seem to be trifling. Let each pray, Lord, retain me for service. Paul says to Timothy, “Take thy share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”. What is personal must precede what is collective. It was apparently a very simple thing to be brought down to the water to drink, but it was a divine test, and none of us knows when we are going to be tested. It makes it very solemn how we go on through the details of everyday life. Something may come to light, in the way I do the small details of my personal or home life, that disqualifies me to be retained for service in any special way; and in connection with small things some feature may come to light which God approves [p. 149] for His service. You may see a person retained for service; we can often recognise those who are so retained, but we do not know the secret. Perhaps in some small ordinary matter they have acted for the Lord, and He says, I will retain you for my service. There are vessels for honour, meet for the Master’s use, retained for service. One would covet to be retained for service so that one could serve Israel, and could serve in a definite and effective manner.
They had to drink; it was a necessity, but they just picked it up in their hands and lapped it; there was no taking it easy, no indulgence. It was a small thing, but it has come to me that any of us may be tested constantly in little things, and, if we do not do little things in a way pleasing to God, we shall not be retained for service; we shall be dishonoured. It is not a question of whether we are Christians, but we shall not be retained. The question is, Does the Lord approve me? I do not approve myself; the apostle says that it is not the one who commends himself, but whom the Lord approves. What is the use of my commending myself to the brethren, if the Lord does not commend me to the brethren? I am simply nothing, and, if the Lord does not commend me to the brethren, I cannot serve them.
In divine movements it is a great thing to be confirmed. God delights not only to guide, but He takes pains to confirm His people, so He sends Gideon down to the camp to hear the dream and the interpretation. Not only was Gideon’s hand strengthened, but he was made a worshipper. The worshipper alone is a true warrior. It is a fine thing to get this dream and the interpretation; it would make us all worshippers.
By the cake of barley bread Gideon would learn his own littleness. Gideon was a true cake of barley bread at the beginning; he says, “I am the least in my father’s house”. He has small thoughts of himself; that is power. Have we accepted the fact that Christ was crucified through weakness? That is the power of God. “The weakness of God is stronger than men”, 1 Corinthians 1:25. It is wonderful that God should set Himself forth in such a statement. God has taken the way of utter weakness. Nothing could be weaker than a dead man; as long as a man is alive there is some strength, but when a man is dead there is utter weakness. Now God says, That is my power. We are slow to take it in and accept it. The cake of [p. 150] barley bread sets forth the utter weakness and insignificance of what God takes up, and if we are to be of any service in Israel we have to come to it that God takes up weak things, ignoble things, despised things, and foolish things, and things that are not. Are we prepared to be taken up in that character? If not, God will not take us up at all.
In the consciousness of that we worship, and that will fit us for conflict. Worship means that I have entirely done with myself; God alone is before me. There is no worship until God is the exclusive Object of the heart. I may only be sustained for a few minutes, but when I worship there is nothing present to my soul but God. That is power; there is nothing so powerful as worship. The creature filled with God is a creature filled with power. The apostle dwells on it with great assurance. “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling”, 1 Corinthians 2:3. These are not figures of speech; I believe the apostle went about his service actually trembling. I am often glad when I see a brother trembling when he gets up to speak. I think, The saints will now get something. I believe this chapter is the Old Testament version of 2 Corinthians 4. Earthen vessels indicate in a striking figure the kind of instruments that God delights to use. How little one has been impressed by the fact that weakness is really power!
Barley sets forth Christ in all the lowliness and outward weakness in which He was found here; He had no resources in Himself. Here it is rather a figure of the saints than of Christ, that we have to be prepared to take the place of being of no account. Paul learned to glory in being a cake of barley bread; he lived to learn to glory in his weakness. Paul had to go through a great deal of discipline and he learned experimentally in his service that weakness and fear and much trembling attached to him. Then he learned it under the discipline of God; he had a thorn for the flesh, which was an additional help to him, so he had nothing at any time but the consciousness of weakness. Then he was thrown into prison; he had no chance of preaching; he was circumscribed in every way, and the power of God never came out in him in such a way as it did after he was in prison. He learned the secret of “when I am weak, then I am powerful”, 2 Corinthians 12: 10. He was in the spirit of worship like Gideon — “he worshipped”. It is wonderful to be made to realise one’s own weakness, and [p. 151] only to have a feeling of worship. We see it in type in Gideon, I but we see it in personal experience in Paul.
When we come to battle, the weapons of warfare are not carnal. There is a trumpet and a torch and a vessel here; in actual battle there is a trumpet, a torch and a broken vessel. The trumpet suggests the testimony rendered, as Paul says, “we also believe, therefore also we speak”, 2 Corinthians 4:13. If we can bring in what is of God, that defeats the enemy, in whatever shape he may be found. I suppose power lies always in divine testimony; power is the setting forth of what is of God. Nothing delivers from what is not of God except bringing in what is of God.
The torch would answer to God shining in the heart of a man for the shining forth of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. That is the torch, the light. Paul says, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels” — it is the light in the earthen vessel, but then the breaking of the vessel is needed. It comes out in Corinthians in the way that the vessel is subjected to the most severe discipline. The vessel is brought into correspondence with the death of Jesus. It is the light that is the treasure; He has shone in our hearts for the shining forth. The light shines in to shine out, and we have it in earthen vessels. I have no doubt that this chapter was in Paul’s mind. The excellency of the power is from God, and not from us. “Every way afflicted” — that is the vessel “but not straitened”, that is the power of God. “Seeing no apparent issue” — that is the vessel — “but our way not entirely shut up”, that is the power of God to keep the way open. “Persecuted” — that is the vessel — “but not abandoned”, for God is there. “Cast down” — that is the vessel — “but not destroyed”; there is the power. As to the vessel there is nothing but the experience of affliction; all this is like the breaking of the vessel. So the light shines out. If what is of God shines out, it efficiently and completely overthrows what is of the enemy.
What marks the vessel is not strength but weakness. It is an earthen and broken vessel. The servant must come into harmony with the dying of Jesus, and it is bearing it in our bodies. The dying of Jesus is the breaking of the golden bowl. All the blessedness of what God is came out through the breaking of the golden bowl. In the dying of Jesus we see a divine Vessel; but then all in that Vessel only became available [p. 152] to men through His dying. That is the secret. Now are we prepared to be in harmony with that? That is the way of power. The great exercise with us now is that the life of Jesus should be manifested. The life of Jesus is love in activity. If that is to come out in me, it means death to all that I am naturally; that is the way of power. None of us likes it naturally; but it is the way of power.
Gideon says, “Look on me, and do likewise”. That is the true power of a leader; he not only tells us what to do, but he exemplifies it himself. That is a true leader; the apostles could say, “Look on us”, Acts 3:5. The blowing of the trumpets is the sounding forth of the testimony of God. “We also believe, therefore also we speak”. The trumpet sounded very loudly from Paul. Nothing more was needed to be done; the enemy was destroyed.
This chapter shows confidence in God in contrast to confidence in the flesh, and the willingness to be reduced so that glory may all belong to God. That is a very important principle. When the trumpet has sounded it speaks only of God; it is what is of God, brought into evidence. That does its work. The apostle tells us that the weapons he used were powerful through God for casting down strongholds.
In the sovereignty of God He will retain those whom He will for His service. We have to recognise that it is a matter of sovereignty, but that does not shut out desire on our part, so that we can have exercise and desire to be retained for service. When God takes up a person sovereignly, it will be found that there are moral features in that person suitable to God. It is like the “vessels to honour”, gold and silver vessels. When God puts honour on a vessel there will be found suitable moral features. God has not provided for His own dishonour. The thing is to be serviceable, to be ready: we might not be used necessarily, but am I ready to be used? In the sovereignty of God I might not be used in His service, but am I ready? I have seen it illustrated in works where it is necessary that things should go on; there are two engines, and one apparently does nothing, but in case of emergency it is ready. It is a great thing for us to be ready; so, if the Lord wants a vessel, we are just where He can use us, and we are in a condition to be used. The three hundred represent vessels ready for the Master’s use; they are retained for service.