Key Words: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host
The Midianites were kin to Israel. They were the descendants from Abraham through Keturah, the woman Abraham married after the death of Sarah.
The Midianites were holding Israel hostage. We read in Judges 6:6a, “And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites.”
The Midianites had a simple plan for impoverishing Israel. They would allow Israel to plow and plant, toil and till, and bring in new crops; then they would come and spoil the harvest.
But God had a different plan than that of the Midianites. So he raised up a strong young man by the name of Gideon, who, with three hundred men, defeated the army of the Midianites.
The whole story of Gideon brings to mind the Scripture found in Romans 8:31, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”
It was not through the wisdom or power of Gideon that victory came; it was through the power of God. We today have access to God’s power, but so few of God’s children truly understand the power of God at their disposal.
In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.
Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, “Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable.” He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years, needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.
Gideon was successful because he understood and used the power of God, rather than relying on his own strength. We would do well to learn from Gideon.
What to do:
✞ Understand the power of God.
