FOLLOW THE WORD OF THE LORD

Proclamation

“And it came to pass the same night, that The Lord said unto Gideon, ‘Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it unto thine hand’ … Then went he down to the host … when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped … he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers … and said … as I do, so shall ye do … and the three companies blew the trumpets, and break the pitchers … and cried, ‘The sword of The Lord and of Gideon.’  … the host ran, and cried, and fled … and set every man’s sword against his fellow … And the men of Israel … pursued after the Midianites … they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon …”  Judges 7:9-25 (KJV)

Explanation

These are the words of God which were written by the prophet Samuel under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After the death of Joshua and his generation of elders, the next generation did evil in the sight of The Lord. (Judges 2:10-13)  Then The Lord God raised up a series of judges to deliver and judge the Israelites.  When each judge died, the children of Israel returned to their corrupt ways and did evil in the sight of The Lord. (Judges 2:18-19)  The first judge of Israel was Othniel, the second was Ehud, the third was Deborah, and then there was Gideon. (Judges 6:11-16)  When he was called, Gideon did not believe that it was God who was talking to him so he asked for several signs to prove it. (Judges 6:17-40)  Afterwards, he gathered an army but The Lord God told him that he had too many men so he gradually reduced the number to 300 men. (Judges 7:1-8)  Gideon divided his men into three companies, sounded the trumpets, and the enemy turned on each other and some fled.  The Israelites captured the leaders of the Midianites, Oreb and Seeb, and killed them. (Judges 7:15-25)

Application

Gideon doubted that The Lord had chosen him (Judges 6:11-40) and he was afraid to attack the  enemy as God had commanded him (Judges 7:9-11) but he was obedient.  What we think is not important when it come to obeying The Word of God.  We need to obey His Word regardless of what we think.  If we are obedient, things will work out for our good. (Romans 8:28)  We do not have the capacity to understand His thoughts or His ways. (Isaiah 55:8-9)  Therefore we should not lean on our own thoughts or our understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)  We need to trust in The Lord. (Psalm 118:9 and Proverbs 3:5)  He is all knowing, all powerful, and everywhere all at the same time.