Gideon: earthen vessels
Gideon put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers (Judges 7:16).
When Gideon visited the Midianites’ camp with his servant Purah, God confirmed through the Midianite guard’s dream that Gideon would defeat Israel’s enemies. Gideon, who had expressed doubts and needed constant reassurance, worshipped God (v. 15). I think this was such an important moment in Gideon’s spiritual experience. He was no longer hesitating or doubting, but overcome by the greatness of the grace of God. His heart was filled with worship. When we understand God’s grace towards us, our hearts are filled with the wonder of His Person, and we worship. Our faith is empowered, and our doubts are removed. Service follows worship, not the other way round. It is not what we can do, but what God does in and through us.
Gideon returned to his small army, full of faith and with a remarkable clarity of purpose. He acted with confidence and certainty. He divided his three hundred men into three companies, and he gave each man a trumpet, an empty pitcher and a torch to place inside the pitcher. These objects were not weapons of war; in fact, they were no weapons at all. But it was not the first time God had used trumpets to demonstrate His power. Jericho was defeated with trumpets in Joshua 6. Then the men of war followed the ark and the seven priests who blew seven trumpets as they encircled Jericho for six days, but the people were silent. On the seventh day from dawn, they circled the city seven times. The seventh time, as the priests blew the trumpets and the people shouted, Jericho’s walls fell. The shout of the people heralded God’s power in destroying the city. God gave Gideon some of the same resources He used at Jericho – trumpets, and the shouts of his army.
We see Gideon as a strong leader. He instructed his forces to follow his actions: “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’” (Judges 7:17-18). At the beginning of the middle watch, they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers. The torches announced their presence. The trumpets and the shout of “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” heralded God’s action, as He caused the Midianites’ forces to fear and attack each other. Gideon and his men did not use a weapon until their enemies were defeated and fleeing.
We learn vital lessons through the ways God worked in and through Gideon. All blessing begins in the heart of God. Weakness is not an obstacle to God’s power. God’s grace increases our faith and removes our fears. God’s presence and care for us fill our hearts with worship. Worship leads to service. Our service is to witness through our lives and voices in a dark world, just like Gideon’s torches shone, and the voices of his army were heard. Finally, we trust God to act in sovereign grace and blessing. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).
