The Lord’s 300
14th Sunday after Pentecost at Epiphany on August 29, 2010
Judges 7:1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. 4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go." 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." 6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 7 The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place." 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
The Battle of Thermopylae took place in 480 B.C. with only 300 Spartan warriors defending their post against a Persian army of several hundred thousand. The Spartans fought bravely and fearlessly, taking their stand on a little hill, fighting in a circle facing outward with wave after wave of enemies attacking from all directions. The 300 Spartans fought tirelessly for two days defending Thermopylae against all odds. The Persians seemed utterly unable to annihilate the small band of Spartans.
In fact, when King Leonidas of the Spartans was killed, he was some distance away. So some Spartans formed a tight group, fought their way to his body, picked it up and then fought their way back to the main group on the hill.
You can watch a bloody, violent but great action movie of the Spartans called 300. But here is the spoiler alert – the Spartans lost. However, they made such a dent in the Persian army, that even though the Spartans lost the battle, the Persians would ultimately be defeated shortly thereafter.
That was Leonidas and his Spartan 300 who fought for home and family but lost. The original 300 was Gideon and his Israelite army who fought for the Lord and won.
To set the stage, the Israelites had been under Midianite rule for 7 years. Each crop season, the Midian people and their allies would attack Israel destroying all the crops and taking all their animals. Judges 6:6 reports, “Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.” I think this is a very telling verse about the spiritual approach of the Israelite people throughout the Old Testament: worship idols > crisis > cry out to God > God performs miracles and saves the Israelites > worship God momentarily > back to worshipping idols > cycle repeats. Sounds pathetic. But really, how much different is our spiritual approach in our lives?
But God is going to spare His wayward people. The angel of the Lord appears while Gideon is threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress (in an effort to hide the wheat from the Midianites, a chore typically done out in the wind to separate the chaff). The angel of the Lord assured Gideon, “Midian may have hundreds of thousands, but it will still be no contest for you. The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12).
Then the Lord tells Gideon to go with the strength he has in God. God didn’t give him any superpowers, didn’t clear the way, didn’t remove the Midianites. He was going to use Gideon to defeat the Midianites. We don’t need to have it all figured out, don’t need to be perfect, we just need Jesus.
After this, Gideon sent messengers throughout the land to summon an army. Again, Gideon wasn’t so sure about all this. He was hesitant. He probably sensed that the majority of his troops were hesitant, too. Gideon’s army was small and weak. The Midianites were numerous, powerful and battle-tested. So Gideon asked for a sign not once, but twice, that the Lord would prove himself. First he asked that a fleece of wool be wet while the ground around it was dry and the next day that the wool be dry while the ground around it was wet. The Lord did what Gideon asked. God performed these miracles and proved that he would do the impossible. Gideon was satisfied. What Gideon did not yet know, however, was just how far the Lord would lengthen the odds to prove the humanly impossible.
Away Gideon went with 32,000 soldiers. That may sound like an impressive number of soldiers. But when compared to the number of soldiers in the Midianite army, it was a minute militia. The Midianite army was like a swarm of locusts. Humanly speaking, it would be a mismatch. The battle wouldn't be much of a contest. But God saw it differently, and he said to Gideon: “You have too many men. Announce to the people: ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” 22,000 scaredy cats left. That’s two-thirds of Gideon’s army. Now Gideon had 10,000 soldiers left in his army. Again the Lord said to him: “There are still too many men.” Following the Lord's instructions, Gideon took these 10,000 soldiers down to the water. He told them to take a drink. Those who got down on their hands and knees to lap the water like a dog were dismissed. 9,700 left. Now Gideon had 300 soldiers. But they were 300 who were brave and courageous and alert. They were 300 who had been chosen by God. They were 300 who were ready to do what the Lord wanted them to do, no matter how impossible it may have seemed.
Gideon’s army numbered 300. The Midianite army numbered 135,000. Gideon’s men were outnumbered 450 to 1!
If we would face terrible odds like that, would we be terrified and run home to Mommy or would we stay and fight? Would we follow the Lord’s instructions even though the odds were against us? Would we have faith in God’s promises for the victory?
Those are some important questions. As Christians, we have allied ourselves with Christ. Therefore, we will have enemies. We will be hated and scorned and persecuted. We will be outnumbered. But we must stand up and fight.
As Christians we will face enemies like atheists who claim there is no God, so they try to take God out of society. We face evolutionists who deny that there is an almighty Creator of the universe, deny there is such a thing as sin, and deny there is a need for a Savior. We face the media who almost always places Christians in a bad light. We face Hollywood who promotes violence and vulgarity and perverse acts of nature as normal. We face critics of the Bible who reject miracles, like wet wool on dry ground, as mere superstition. We face false prophets who subtract or add to the teachings of Scripture. We face all the trappings of the world with its wealth, security, and pleasures. And then we also face our chief enemy, Satan, who is leading all these forces of evil against us.
With all these enemies against us, it would be easy for us to be filled with anxiety and fear, and give up. There was a sign on a fence in the Indiana countryside which read: “If you cross this field you had better do it in 9.8 seconds. The bull can do it in 10 seconds. No trespassing.” Now, that’s anxiety. When we face the enemies of Christ, we may have feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, and even outright panic. But as we control our anxiety, we become mighty warriors for our Lord.
With only 300 soldiers, we would expect that Gideon's army had the best weapons possible. We would expect that they would be armed to the hilt with swords, battle axes, catapults, horses and chariots. But listen to what they had: “each man had a trumpet and an empty jar with a torch inside of it.” Trumpets, jars and torches. Not exactly what you would expect to use to win a battle. But this wasn't any ordinary battle. God was letting Gideon and his army know that He was the one who was going to win this victory. 300 men with torches, jars, and trumpets should not be able to defeat 135,000 armed soldiers. God was making it very clear that He would provide the victory.
When it comes to us and our battles, God also provides us with the necessary weapons. God gave Gideon and his army trumpets, torches, and glass jars. God has given us a splash of water, a wafer of bread, a sip of wine and a book – these are our only weapons. They appear meager, modest and minimal, but they are all we need to go into battle against the prince of this world and the gates of hell. Water with God’s Word that rips a child out of Satan’s clutches and places him in God’s hands for safekeeping. With a splash of baptismal waters, heaven is opened and hell is closed to that precious child of God. Bread and wine with God’s Word that becomes Christ’s body and blood that feeds and nourishes us for the war with the world. With the Lord’s Supper we receive the strength and sustenance necessary in this very violent and bloody skirmish for souls.
God also gives us the offensive weapon of a book, the Bible, which is the sword of the Spirit. When we go into the spiritual crusade, swinging the sword of God’s Word, no one can stand. We will be victorious. At times we are on the defensive. At other times, we like the Lord’s 300, go on the offensive. Satan will not be making us his victims. With God’s Word we will also be rescuing victims from Satan’s grasp.
We are in the Lord’s army of 300 Christian soldiers. Stand up for what you believe. Don’t back down. Stand strong against temptations and tell Satan to “Get lost!” Fight against what God opposes. Speak out and let your voice be heard. Let others know what God says. Go to your school board. Vote your faith in elections. Teach your morality. Tell your family members that what they believe isn’t true. Tell your children that their lifestyle isn’t God-pleasing. Tell your friends that Christ can be their eternal Savior or their eternal Judge. Tell your fellow Christians and church members if you see inconsistencies in their life.
There are times to keep silent and there are times to fight. Fighting for the Lord means not giving in to the decadence. It means not caving in to the depravity. It means not wavering in your convictions. It means going on the offensive.
With their trumpets, jars and torches Gideon, and his men reached the camp of the Midianites. They went on the offensive. At the appointed time they blew their trumpets and smashed their jars. Holding the torches they shouted: “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.” The Midianites thought they were being attacked by a huge army with the sudden flash of lights and all the shouting. They saw their fellow soldiers trading places for guard duty and mistook all the movement as an attack. The confusion in the camp was so great that the Lord caused the Midianites to slash their swords at anything that moved. Those who survived being slaughtered by their own army then broke into a run. God had kept His promise. Against all odds, Gideon and his army were victorious.
Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday School. “Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Gideon behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to defeat the evil Midianite army. When he got outside their camp, he had his army open fire with their Uzis and bazookas. Then Gideon used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters and call in an air strike. They sent in bombers to blow up the camp and they wiped out the Midianites.” “Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?” his mother asked. “Well, no, Mom, but if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!”
The 300 faced impossible odds, but God allowed them to win. Our Christian life will always be a struggle. We are battling spiritual forces bent on doing us harm. It is a battle of cosmic proportions, but that need not fill us with anxiety. For the help on our side is cosmic also. Jesus fights for us. He pounded the stake of the cross through Satan’s demonic heart. Jesus came into the world to rescue us from the world. Jesus came as God in human flesh so that our flesh might one day be like His glorious body.
The famous preacher, John Wesley, once said, “If I had 300 men who feared nothing but God, hated nothing but sin, and were determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I would set the world on fire.” We are Jesus Christ’s 300. Let’s go into battle and fight, setting the world on fire for our Lord. Amen.
Sword of the Lord song
Judges 7:1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. 4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go." 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." 6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 7 The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place." 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
The Battle of Thermopylae took place in 480 B.C. with only 300 Spartan warriors defending their post against a Persian army of several hundred thousand. The Spartans fought bravely and fearlessly, taking their stand on a little hill, fighting in a circle facing outward with wave after wave of enemies attacking from all directions. The 300 Spartans fought tirelessly for two days defending Thermopylae against all odds. The Persians seemed utterly unable to annihilate the small band of Spartans.
In fact, when King Leonidas of the Spartans was killed, he was some distance away. So some Spartans formed a tight group, fought their way to his body, picked it up and then fought their way back to the main group on the hill.
You can watch a bloody, violent but great action movie of the Spartans called 300. But here is the spoiler alert – the Spartans lost. However, they made such a dent in the Persian army, that even though the Spartans lost the battle, the Persians would ultimately be defeated shortly thereafter.
That was Leonidas and his Spartan 300 who fought for home and family but lost. The original 300 was Gideon and his Israelite army who fought for the Lord and won.
To set the stage, the Israelites had been under Midianite rule for 7 years. Each crop season, the Midian people and their allies would attack Israel destroying all the crops and taking all their animals. Judges 6:6 reports, “Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.” I think this is a very telling verse about the spiritual approach of the Israelite people throughout the Old Testament: worship idols > crisis > cry out to God > God performs miracles and saves the Israelites > worship God momentarily > back to worshipping idols > cycle repeats. Sounds pathetic. But really, how much different is our spiritual approach in our lives?
But God is going to spare His wayward people. The angel of the Lord appears while Gideon is threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress (in an effort to hide the wheat from the Midianites, a chore typically done out in the wind to separate the chaff). The angel of the Lord assured Gideon, “Midian may have hundreds of thousands, but it will still be no contest for you. The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12).
Then the Lord tells Gideon to go with the strength he has in God. God didn’t give him any superpowers, didn’t clear the way, didn’t remove the Midianites. He was going to use Gideon to defeat the Midianites. We don’t need to have it all figured out, don’t need to be perfect, we just need Jesus.
After this, Gideon sent messengers throughout the land to summon an army. Again, Gideon wasn’t so sure about all this. He was hesitant. He probably sensed that the majority of his troops were hesitant, too. Gideon’s army was small and weak. The Midianites were numerous, powerful and battle-tested. So Gideon asked for a sign not once, but twice, that the Lord would prove himself. First he asked that a fleece of wool be wet while the ground around it was dry and the next day that the wool be dry while the ground around it was wet. The Lord did what Gideon asked. God performed these miracles and proved that he would do the impossible. Gideon was satisfied. What Gideon did not yet know, however, was just how far the Lord would lengthen the odds to prove the humanly impossible.
Away Gideon went with 32,000 soldiers. That may sound like an impressive number of soldiers. But when compared to the number of soldiers in the Midianite army, it was a minute militia. The Midianite army was like a swarm of locusts. Humanly speaking, it would be a mismatch. The battle wouldn't be much of a contest. But God saw it differently, and he said to Gideon: “You have too many men. Announce to the people: ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” 22,000 scaredy cats left. That’s two-thirds of Gideon’s army. Now Gideon had 10,000 soldiers left in his army. Again the Lord said to him: “There are still too many men.” Following the Lord's instructions, Gideon took these 10,000 soldiers down to the water. He told them to take a drink. Those who got down on their hands and knees to lap the water like a dog were dismissed. 9,700 left. Now Gideon had 300 soldiers. But they were 300 who were brave and courageous and alert. They were 300 who had been chosen by God. They were 300 who were ready to do what the Lord wanted them to do, no matter how impossible it may have seemed.
Gideon’s army numbered 300. The Midianite army numbered 135,000. Gideon’s men were outnumbered 450 to 1!
If we would face terrible odds like that, would we be terrified and run home to Mommy or would we stay and fight? Would we follow the Lord’s instructions even though the odds were against us? Would we have faith in God’s promises for the victory?
Those are some important questions. As Christians, we have allied ourselves with Christ. Therefore, we will have enemies. We will be hated and scorned and persecuted. We will be outnumbered. But we must stand up and fight.
As Christians we will face enemies like atheists who claim there is no God, so they try to take God out of society. We face evolutionists who deny that there is an almighty Creator of the universe, deny there is such a thing as sin, and deny there is a need for a Savior. We face the media who almost always places Christians in a bad light. We face Hollywood who promotes violence and vulgarity and perverse acts of nature as normal. We face critics of the Bible who reject miracles, like wet wool on dry ground, as mere superstition. We face false prophets who subtract or add to the teachings of Scripture. We face all the trappings of the world with its wealth, security, and pleasures. And then we also face our chief enemy, Satan, who is leading all these forces of evil against us.
With all these enemies against us, it would be easy for us to be filled with anxiety and fear, and give up. There was a sign on a fence in the Indiana countryside which read: “If you cross this field you had better do it in 9.8 seconds. The bull can do it in 10 seconds. No trespassing.” Now, that’s anxiety. When we face the enemies of Christ, we may have feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, and even outright panic. But as we control our anxiety, we become mighty warriors for our Lord.
With only 300 soldiers, we would expect that Gideon's army had the best weapons possible. We would expect that they would be armed to the hilt with swords, battle axes, catapults, horses and chariots. But listen to what they had: “each man had a trumpet and an empty jar with a torch inside of it.” Trumpets, jars and torches. Not exactly what you would expect to use to win a battle. But this wasn't any ordinary battle. God was letting Gideon and his army know that He was the one who was going to win this victory. 300 men with torches, jars, and trumpets should not be able to defeat 135,000 armed soldiers. God was making it very clear that He would provide the victory.
When it comes to us and our battles, God also provides us with the necessary weapons. God gave Gideon and his army trumpets, torches, and glass jars. God has given us a splash of water, a wafer of bread, a sip of wine and a book – these are our only weapons. They appear meager, modest and minimal, but they are all we need to go into battle against the prince of this world and the gates of hell. Water with God’s Word that rips a child out of Satan’s clutches and places him in God’s hands for safekeeping. With a splash of baptismal waters, heaven is opened and hell is closed to that precious child of God. Bread and wine with God’s Word that becomes Christ’s body and blood that feeds and nourishes us for the war with the world. With the Lord’s Supper we receive the strength and sustenance necessary in this very violent and bloody skirmish for souls.
God also gives us the offensive weapon of a book, the Bible, which is the sword of the Spirit. When we go into the spiritual crusade, swinging the sword of God’s Word, no one can stand. We will be victorious. At times we are on the defensive. At other times, we like the Lord’s 300, go on the offensive. Satan will not be making us his victims. With God’s Word we will also be rescuing victims from Satan’s grasp.
We are in the Lord’s army of 300 Christian soldiers. Stand up for what you believe. Don’t back down. Stand strong against temptations and tell Satan to “Get lost!” Fight against what God opposes. Speak out and let your voice be heard. Let others know what God says. Go to your school board. Vote your faith in elections. Teach your morality. Tell your family members that what they believe isn’t true. Tell your children that their lifestyle isn’t God-pleasing. Tell your friends that Christ can be their eternal Savior or their eternal Judge. Tell your fellow Christians and church members if you see inconsistencies in their life.
There are times to keep silent and there are times to fight. Fighting for the Lord means not giving in to the decadence. It means not caving in to the depravity. It means not wavering in your convictions. It means going on the offensive.
With their trumpets, jars and torches Gideon, and his men reached the camp of the Midianites. They went on the offensive. At the appointed time they blew their trumpets and smashed their jars. Holding the torches they shouted: “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.” The Midianites thought they were being attacked by a huge army with the sudden flash of lights and all the shouting. They saw their fellow soldiers trading places for guard duty and mistook all the movement as an attack. The confusion in the camp was so great that the Lord caused the Midianites to slash their swords at anything that moved. Those who survived being slaughtered by their own army then broke into a run. God had kept His promise. Against all odds, Gideon and his army were victorious.
Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday School. “Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Gideon behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to defeat the evil Midianite army. When he got outside their camp, he had his army open fire with their Uzis and bazookas. Then Gideon used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters and call in an air strike. They sent in bombers to blow up the camp and they wiped out the Midianites.” “Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?” his mother asked. “Well, no, Mom, but if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!”
The 300 faced impossible odds, but God allowed them to win. Our Christian life will always be a struggle. We are battling spiritual forces bent on doing us harm. It is a battle of cosmic proportions, but that need not fill us with anxiety. For the help on our side is cosmic also. Jesus fights for us. He pounded the stake of the cross through Satan’s demonic heart. Jesus came into the world to rescue us from the world. Jesus came as God in human flesh so that our flesh might one day be like His glorious body.
The famous preacher, John Wesley, once said, “If I had 300 men who feared nothing but God, hated nothing but sin, and were determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I would set the world on fire.” We are Jesus Christ’s 300. Let’s go into battle and fight, setting the world on fire for our Lord. Amen.
Sword of the Lord song
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