Ver. 22-ch. viii. 4, 10-13.-Followino UP. advantage. A model of diplomatic skill, judicial sternness, and coldier-like hardihood and resolution. Far from home, nmid hardship in at.range regions, he tracks the enemy even into the inaccessib]P. Hauran. There is a Syrian proverb, He fled into the Wa'r of the SiJJa, i. e. into an unassailable refuge. J. THE CO-OPERATION IS SOUGHT OF' ALL JBRAELITE8 WHO CAN BE OF HELP. He had reasons for keeping the glory to his own trusty band. But there is no selfishness in his disposition. The advantage of his nation and the glory of Jehovah is uµper- most in his mind. He finds work, therefore, for all. All are engaged, that it may he a national victory. Some have to lay the foundations, begin the work, sow the seed; others can then carry out. The least Christian has something he can do. It is a duty of leaders to make and indicate fitting work for all. "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few." Ephraim can do one part of the work best; he another. And having hitherto abstained, they were quite fresh now. II. A SAGACIOUS AND KINDLY FORBEARANCE IS SHOWN TO TTIE JEALOUSIES OF' BRETIIREN. No word of rebuke is spoken to the tribes that held back. Persuasion is used, opportunity for usefulness is presented, the patriotism of the tribes is relied upon. It was no time for questions and wranglings. '\Vell would it be for the different branches of Christ's Church did they follow a similar policy. Would that we were all so busy that we had no time for doctrinal disputes and questions of precedence and apostolic authority l Ill. No PAUSE on REST IS OBSERVED UNTIL THE TASK IS COMPLETED. The deserted Midianite camp with all its riches does not tempt. Hunger and thirst and weariness are endured rather than lose the advantage. Only a determination to follow up the surprise with thorough and exemplary vengeance could have sustained him. So the conflict with sin and the worlrl is to be conducted. Better to wear out than to rust out. Evil habits, unholy practices, false principles have to be tracked out to their last refuges and finally disposed of. It is harder work to live out Christianity than to be converted to it; harder work to follow out in detail, and into the practice and life of every day, the great doctrines of righteousness than to understand and explain them intellectually. There is a loud call for vigour, thoroughness, patient continuar:ce in well-doing. The day is Christ's; let us mo.ke it wholly his.-M. Vers. 16-18.-Gideon's ruse. I. THE ASSURANCE OF SUCCESS IR A HELP TOWARDS ATTAINING IT. Gideon had feared to attack the hosts of Midianites and Amalekites till he had discovered that they feared him ; then he took courage and energy to devise the plan of victory. Too much diffidence is dangerous. Hope inspires with ingenuity ns well as with courage; it is a brightness, an influence that enlivens thought. Therefore hope has its place in the first rank of Christian graces (1 Cor. xiii. 13). The promises of the Bible are not only comforting, they are inspiring. Our great encouragement should be that the powers of evil fear Christ and his army. II. THOUGHT IS SOMETIMES MORE NEEDFUL THAN FORCE, Gideon's victory WllB a triumph of thought, of contrivance. The right diAposition of our energies is more im- portant than the mere sum of them. It would be well if Christ inns practised on behalf of the causA of Christ the same wisdom which men of the world display in business, in politics, &c., so far as this is not inconsistent with perfect honour (Luke xvi. 8). Christ requires us to be wise and harmless (Matt. x. 16). Dulness ib not holiness. Intellectual gifts should be consecrated to God, not despised ns unfit for his service. The diplomatist and the tactitian may find work in the service of Christ. In mission work organisation, economy of stren,:\th, ingenious adaptation of means to ends should be carefully studied, and the gift of wisdom sought in addition to that of zeal. III. MORAL INIILUENCE IS DETTER THAN PHYSICAL FORCE. Gideon had conquered he fore he had struck a blow. The dismay be created and the confusion this produced m the hostile camp secured him victory. Though we cannot be justified in descencJ- i11~· to deception, we rnny aim at influencing others by thoug-ht and feeling• ratlwr than by direct physical means. Christianity is a triumph of idens. It is a sig-n .,f intellectual and spiritual foilure when the Church desires to effect by the aid of the law what she should have done by the influence of moral suasion, ns in restrnini, g i1111norn!it.y, &c. a2 84 THE DOOK OF JUDGES. [CH, VIII. 1-3,
IV. IGNORANCE IS WEAKNESS. The Midianites and Amalekites were ig-nornnt of the number of Gideon's army, or they would not have been deceived. They were too self-confident to inquire, as Gideon had done, concerning their condition. Ignor- ance and superstiti~': C'.reate imaginary foes. An evil conscience is quick to imagine dang~r (Pro_v. x.xvm. 1). The ~errors which surround u~ are worse in ima_gination than m reality. Darkness and ignorance make men their own worst enemies (ver, .2).-A. EXPOSITION. and indisposed to glory, he wns willing to CHAPTER VIII. give the Ephraimites full credit for their Ver. 1.-The men of Ephraim. It is share in the great victory ; pnident, and a possible that the transfer of the birthright lover of his country, he saw the immense from Manasseh to Ephraim (Gen. xlviii. importance of union among themselves, and 13-19) may have produced some estrange- the danger of intestine divisions nnd discord, ment between the tribes, It is also possible and so at once met Ephraim's taunts by the that Ephraim, in view of their great tribal soft answer which turneth away wrath power, and the distinction conferred upon (Prov. xv. 1). The grapes. The insertion them bv the judgeship of Joshua the son of of the word grapes, which is not in the Nun (Numb. riii. 8), and the possession of Hebrew, rather spoils the proverb. It would his grave (Josh. xxiv. 30), may have grown run better, The gleaning of Ephraim is better haughty and domineering, and perhaps more than the vintage of Abi-ezer. The word disposed to rest upon their former glories 'l,in/,a,ge sufficiently shows that the gleaning than to embark in fresh undertakings. Any- meant was a gleaning of grapes. Ephraim, how Gideon did not consult them, nor ask who came in at the end of the fight, like the their aid, in the first instance. Now that gleaner when the vintage is finished, had got the war had been so successful, the men of more glory by the capture of Oreb and Zeeb Ephraim were mnch displeased at not having than the Manassites, who had gone through been consnl tcd. the whole campaign. The passage above re- Ver. 2.-What have I done, &c. Gideon's ferred to in Isaiah (eh. x. 25) implies that a character comes ont splendidly in this answer. great slaughter of the Midia.nites took place Humble and Dl!assnming (eh. vi 15, 36, note), at the rock of Oreb,