Gideon and the 300 fools

Judges 7

After Gideon broke down the altar and received his new name Jarubbaal, the surrounding area and tribes joined together to fight with him against the Midianites.  The story and news had spread quickly, and Gideon soon had an army of 32,000 men!  Gideon's army set up camp in the valley, in clear view of the Midianite camp.  

"Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’  Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ ” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained".

Salvation is God's work, not man's.  We have such a tendency to forget how dependent we are on God, how helpless we are without him.  If we breathe, if our heart beats, if the sun rises and sets, it is only by His mercy.  He has numbered the days of out life and numbered the hairs on our head.  God made our hearts and he knows what is in our hearts.  He knows we forget him so, so quickly.  He knows that Israel will march into war singing his praises and forget him before the blood has dried.  So God decides to flex his muscles a bit.  

"Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ ” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained".

Gideon sent out messengers and blew trumpets to call an army, but it was not a bunch of soldiers who showed up.  There were old men and boys not even strong enough to hold a sword.  There was no boot camp or ranger school, and they were facing an enemy army with a king and trained fighters.  The message was sent out, "who is scared out of their mind?".   22,000 packed up and went home.  Normally I would think this was a terrible thing, a great chicken exodus, a huge lack of trust in God, but the army will shrink even more!   

If you are reading this far in Gideon's story, you have to agree this is some of the most fantastic imagery ever!  We thought Gideon was strange for creating the fleece test.  But now God creates the strangest test for army service that has ever been created.  

 "And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.”  So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.”    And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.  And the Lord said to Gideon, "With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”  So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley". 

I'll confess, I thought this sounded strange.  People lapping like dogs.  Then I tried to act it out and realized it is utterly ridiculous!  If you go to the bathroom to wash your face, how do you do it?  You cup your hands, fill them with water, and splash it on your face right?  Same when you're at a river trying to get a drink, kneel down, cup your hands, and get some water to drink.  That is, of course, you are like 99.7% of normal people.  If you are the .3%, you cup some water in your hands, stick your tongue out, and lap up the water with your tongue like a dog, with your eyes straight ahead.  If you are .3% of people, the other 99.7 think you are weird and look ridiculous.  Drinking like a dog does not make sense unless. . .  

Unless you're skittish.  Unless you've lived in constant danger, scared that if you kneel and drop your eyes for even a moment, some bully or step-father or Midianite will attack you.  You might have been a shepherd in lion country, or a hunter guarding his kill.  You might have been the runt of your family, constantly picked on and abused.  You might have been the funny-looking kid from a bad neighborhood.  Whatever the case you are cautious, scared, scarred, and even among your own soldiers, fearful for your life.  You don't have manners, you don't make eye contact.  You are the sort of person that the world does not take notice of, unless it is to kick you or make fun of you.  No leader would pick you to be a soldier in his army, who makes an army out of scared, hurt puppies?  You are a Nobody, but it turns out, God is looking for a nobody just like you.  

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men". We see this throughout the Bible; God picks a bunch of Nobody's to do his work.  He chooses afraid Gideon, tiny David, denying Peter, doubting Thomas, secret Nicodemus.

Check out the following passage:  

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 

  "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.  And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Imaging God and the Devil are picking players for a kickball team.  Gods give Satan first pick, and of course he picks the biggest kid in the class.  God picks the smallest.  Next the Devil picks the fastest.  God picks the slowest.  The Devil picks the tallest. God picks the short kid whose glasses don't fit.  God picks a goofy-looking misfit team, and the Devil's team can't do anything but laugh.  Haha, those losers are going to beat us??  Yeah, right!   

Paul call Jesus a stumbling block - why?  Because Jesus was not the Messiah the Jews were looking for!  They were looking for a mighty king to blow trumpets, gather an army and march out against the Romans.  They were looking for a Gideon, a mighty leader, but they forgot that Gideon started out a nobody with not one but God on his side.  Jesus didn't come shooting fire from his fingertips and juggling mountains.  He made himself a Nobody; he came as a servant, a healer, a teacher, a foot-washer; not a conquering King.  Jesus has divine superpowers, but he set them aside except in the few cases where he needed to demonstrate God's love and offer just a glimpse to boost the disciples faith.  Instead of conquering, he was conquered.  He died.  What kind of a king does that?  What kind of team loses the kickball game on purpose?  The Jews though that it was insane that Jesus claimed to be God?  They hung him on the cross, thinking, if he is God, let him contend for himself! (a lesson they learned from Joash!)  Jesus could have snapped his fingers and angels would parachuted to his rescue, but he didn't.  He died.  And if that was the end, our faith surely would be foolishness, but it turns out that God was fighting a different battle.  He was not fighting to impress men, he was fighting to save them.  Death brings life, an end to sin, an end to Satan's power, and eternal life for all who can believe in the ridiculousness of God.  

As for the wisdom of the Gentiles, What could be more foolish than believing, "Jesus loves me".  You think the creator of the universe cares about you?  That's crazy, arrogant, and only nut would think such a thing!  Unless we believe the Bible that God LOVES Nobodies, that he LOVES the people he formed out of dust, that he passionately cares and pursues us.  It's foolish to say that God would come to earth, that he would even give us a second thought.  But his story is one of Love to the nobodies of our world - throughout the Old and New Testaments, God had mercy on the dog-drinkers, the crippled, the young, the scared, the lonely.  It may be foolish, but God loves us!  

There's more to the story, but we should probably continue next week.  Let's close with this story by Sophie, a missionary nurse in Ethopia.  This stuff isn't just in the Old Testament, God still works through weaklings, fools, scaredy-cats, and losers today.   

Losers

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Sophie

I recently heard a statement made about a new missionary: “He still thinks he can win.” He has only been in the country for a few months, and hasn’t really experienced Ethiopia in all her beautiful, frustrating glory. He hasn’t come across those predicaments for which there is no good solution. He hasn’t spent months and years, waiting for a very important paper to receive the last stamp or signature needed. He hasn’t worked many hours on something, only to discover that every single minute had been spent in vain. I guess you could say that he’s not yet jaded.

I have every confidence that he will soon join the ranks of those of us who realize that we’re losers.  He will soon realize that we can’t get anything right. He will soon understand when someone else wonders how on earth people can still think that missionaries change the world. It won’t be long before he has been dragged through the mud enough times that he just doesn’t want to get up again.

For now, though, we’ll let him enjoy his rose-colored glasses. His time is coming, and I don’t envy him that. It’s a painful process, this removing of those rosy glasses.

In that moment, you realize that you are an absolute mess, and can’t get anything right. When nothing in you wants to keep going, and you wonder why on earth you ever thought that living in Africa was a good idea. That’s when you wonder if you can gracefully tell your supporters that they really should withdraw their support, because you will never accomplish anything worthwhile. That’s a hard moment.

You know what, though? It’s also a beautiful moment. It’s in that moment that God can use your absolute helplessness, to show you His beauty. It’s when God whispers in your ear, telling you that He is enough. He tells you that all the stuff you’re doing for Him, isn’t really what He wants. He reminds you that He doesn’t need you. He reminds you that He has put you in this incredible, frustrating, confusing, non-sensical place….because He wants you here. Not because He needs what you are doing. He doesn’t. He can very well do it without you. No, He has you here because this is the place where He wants you. For some reason, this is the place where His purpose will be accomplished in and through you.

You know what moment is even better than that? When you actually comprehend what He has told you. The moment when you realize that it’s not about you.  It’s not about what you do. It’s not even about those children who are getting fed because of your ministry. It’s about Him. And He has your life figured out. He has known since before time began, where you would be. He knows about every frustration that comes from this life. In fact, He orchestrates everything to work out according to His pleasure and will. And that includes your life. Right here. Right now. With all of its frustrations and failures.

When you realize that you will never win…and that’s OK. God’s purpose will prevail, and that’s enough. That is a beautiful moment.

http://sophinafrica.com/2012/09/08/losers/