The Pulpit Commentary — Judges — Section 76

~iismiss that army :without striking a ~low. Just when he was about to ncquire immortal_ fame !o lnmself, and to save h_1s country, and establish the great religious reforma_hon ~-luch he had be~un, by thell' means, to see them, and nil hie own pros- pects with them, melt a':"11)'. hke a heap of.snow, bef_ore the sun, and that by his own act, m1rnt haYe been II tnal mdeed. But Gideon s faith stood the trial. Before God's cl~ar c?mmand all ~is natural_ feelings an~ wishes gave way at once. He might havn said with St. Paul, What tlungs were gam to me, those I counted loss for Christ -" for ~e acted_ in ~hat_ self-same spirit. _His faith prompted him to obey, at whatev~r sacnfice o~ mclmation and natural desire. That places him on a very high pedestal am?ng h_ehev~rs •. But let _us look again at the extraordinary singleness of eye with which Gideon s faith led hun to act. The loss of the first 22 000 men was indeed a heavy one, but still they went away of their own free will'. But the 101000 who remained had given pro~£ of a brave and constant spirit, and ho,v could he put upon them the affront of sendmg them away, after a test of an arbitrary kind as men ur,fit to ~ace the ene_my_? It w1!-8 now !'JOt Gideon's ambition only, not his a'mour-propre, winch would nse m rebellion agamst a hard command, but his feelings as a soldier as a comrade, as one who desired to retain the good opinion of his countrymen and wh~ wished to be popular amongst them. Dismiss the 9700 men who had left l~ome and were come to share the danger with him, and who had refused to leave him when they might have done so ! Expose himself to the charge of fickleness and folly-to be thought like a man who builds a house and then plucks it down with his own hands• to be liable all his life to the hatred and resentment of those whom he had s~ affronted! (See 2 Chron. :xxv. 10.) How could he obey such a hard command? But if Gideon' s natural man spake thus, the voice of his faith spake in contradiction to such thoughts, and spake with authority. His faith still prompted him to obey, and he did obey, because he looked with a single eye to the will of God, and took no count of consequences to himself or others. Here again then his faith was of a very high quality. II. THE RISKS OF FAITH. But we may look at Gideon's faith in a little different light, and mark the immense risks that he ran, having all human probabilities against J,im, and only the promise of God for him. Here was a vast host of 135,000 men within less than an hour's march of him_ His position was anyhow one of the utmost danger. To weaken his force even by 1000 men must seem an act of great impru- dence. To denude himself of his whole force except a handful of 300 men was like courting destruction, like putting his head in the lion's mouth. Humanly speaking, Gideon and his 300 would be crushed like insects under the feet of the Midianite host. And yet he deliberately reduced his force to 300 men, and then marched down from his stronghold into the enemy's camp. He set the word and promise of God on one side, and all the fearful risks and dangers on the other, and these last were in his eyes as nothing in comparison with the former. He went down with his 300 in full confidence of the victory which he won. In this too his faith was worthy of all praise and imitation. III. VERIFICATION OF THE WORD OF Goo. But here perhaps a caution is necessary, lest we miBtake what faith is. Faith is such an entire trust in the word of God that it produces obedience to that word, whatever it requires of us. But we must not mistake our own fancy, or our own wishes, or our own opinion, for the word of God. Had Gideon rushed down upon the Midianite host upon the impulse of his own courage, or in reliance on his own stratagem, or under an unfounded belief that G~d had sent him, instead of admiring his faith, we should have had perhaps to blame hnn for foolhardiness, or to accuse him of foolish vanity, or to pity him for his fanaticism. It was because his course was founded upon the clear and distinct word of God that it is held up to ue as an object of admiration and imitation. And it is worth observing in this connection what abundant assurance waa given to Gideon that the very word of God was his warrant for what he did, and how cautious Gideon was to obtain such assurance. The distinct aprearance and words of the angel at first, his ~arrying by the terebinth tree at Gideon s request, the fire which consumed the sacnfice at the touch of the angel's staff, the vanishing of the angel out of his sight, his re:ippear- ence·that same night, the sign, twice repeated, of the fleece of wool1 the re1_t11_rat~d communications by the word of the Lord, and the dream that he heard m the M1chamte Cll, VU, 9-25.] THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 81