The Book of Judges
Lesson 13 - Chapters 7 and 8

According to Judges chapter 7 verse 4 the Lord says that the Shophet Gideon had too many
troops at his disposal to fight against the invading Midianites and Amalekites; and this was
after he had already dismissed about 2/3rds of the Israelite soldiers to go home. In the 2nd
round of cut-downs the number was further reduced to 300 men, or only about 1% of all the
Israelite tribesmen who had answered Gideon’s call to Holy war.
What makes this puny number all the more astounding is that the size of the forces they were
going to face was about 135,000, a ratio of more than 400 Midianites to every Israelite soldier.
Now the reality is that probably of that 135,000 something around an additional 100,000 were
women and children because that’s how the nomadic armies from the eastern desert regions
traveled and fought: their families traveled with them and they all moved around as a cohesive
group.
Why would the Lord insist on this seemingly outlandish tactic? Verse 2 says: "There are too
many people with you for me to hand Midyan over to them, because I don't want Isra'el
to be able to boast against me, 'We saved ourselves by our own strength.'
The Lord wanted to make this idolatrous generation of Israel acutely aware that He’s still
there, He’s still watching, He’s still acting, and He’s still saving. He’s still Israelite’s God, He
still loves Israel (despite their unfaithfulness towards Him) and there is no other like Him. That
Gideon obeyed God on this (even though we find that he is certainly skeptical about it all)
should be seen as to his merit. When we step out of our comfort zones at the leading of the
Lord, He doesn’t expect us to remain comfortable; that’s the whole point. If it wasn’t
uncomfortable then we’ve merely stepped from one comfort zone into another. The idea is that
we do UNcomfortable things in faith. So don’t ever think that you aren’t demonstrating
sufficient faith when facing a grueling challenge and you have fears and worries along the way.
Ask any soldier who has ever been in combat if they were afraid and they’ll tell you
“absolutely!” The issue is CONTROLLING that fear and still functioning, not dismissing it.
Even so Gideon would have to appear sure and confident among his men; nothing frightens
troops more than a wavering leader.
Let’s pick up on this story at verse 7.
RE-READ JUDGES 7:7 – end
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Well it seems the nervous Gideon needs yet another sign and the Lord was merciful to provide
it since obviously He knew every thought that Gideon harbored deep within. So Yehoveh tells
Gideon that if he’s STILL concerned about what lay ahead he should take a man named
Purah with him, sneak down the hillside below where the enemy was camped, and listen in to
what was being said.
We’re told that they went to the outermost area of the Midianite camp; this was where a guard
of watchmen would have been set up because surely the enemy were aware of the thousands
of Israelite troops that had come to aid Gideon and knew that something was up.
And what Gideon over heard was one guard talking to another, telling him about a dream he
had. In this era dreams were considered very important and taken seriously. And the Midianite
soldier says that he dreamed that a barley cake fell into the midst of their encampment and hit
his tent such that it fell down. The other Midianite soldier interpreted the dream as meaning
that the Gideon-led Israelites were about to attack in the name of the God of Israel and that
Israel would prevail.
Why would the soldier interpret that dream in such a fatalistic manner and why does he see
Israel as being symbolized by the barley cake? First, as I said, they were well aware of the
many thousands of Israelite tribesmen who had answered the call of Gideon (around 32,000 in
all). If the biblical numbers are accurate that meant that there was around a 4 to 1 advantage
for Midian but that still didn’t seem to be comforting to this Midianite soldier.
Second, barley was in that era used to make the bread of poor people. Barley was much less
desired than wheat for making bread (and if you’ve ever tried barley bread you’d know why).
Yet, of course, much barley was used simply due to the realities of growing seasons (barley
naturally ripens in late winter to early spring and wheat was a summer crop). Barley is at times
used to symbolize Israel in the bible; and in this particular case notice what season the
nomads came. We’re told back in Judges 6:11 that the malach YHWH (the Angel of the Lord)
first commissioned Gideon when Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress. They came to
confiscate the wheat harvest, not the barley harvest.
Now even though most bibles say that it was a barley cake that tumbled into the camp, that is
just a poor translation left over from the King James Bible era. The Hebrew word being
translated is tselil; and tselil means a round or circular loaf, and it is also a kind of slang that
means, “rolling”. It’s the shape of Bedouin bread that is cooked NOT as a square baked loaf
but as a flat bread cooked on a griddle (much like our pita bread). It is a word play that works
with the Hebrew word haphak that is properly translated as “tumbled”. So we have a rolling or
round batch of barley tumbling into a tent.
In any case when Gideon heard this it greatly strengthened him, and he fell on his knees in
both relief and worship kind of like when we get that biopsy back from the doctor and it turns
out that the tumor is benign. Now he was ready to stake his life on the Word of God. So he told
his men to arise for the moment has come that the Lord will deliver Israel from the hand of their
oppressor.
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It was nighttime and a surprise attack was planned. We see throughout the Bible Israel using
deception and the dark hours to gain an advantage over the enemy in wartime. Gideon’s
strategy was to divide up his troops into 3 groups of 100 each. Now we find out why Gideon
had those Israelites who had been dismissed to leave their shofars behind; because every one
of his 300 men now was armed with one (it was, of course, not usual that every man would
have a shofar; usually it was only the leaders). Each man was also given a torch and a clay
pot of some kind that they could hold over the torch so that it would conceal its light. They
move into positions around the Midianite encampment. Gideon tells his men that they are to
follow his lead, and when he sounds the shofar they are to suddenly and in unison begin to
blow their shofars. After blowing the shofars for a few moments that are to shout the words,
“For Yehoveh and for Gideon”. Why those words? Because it fulfilled the dream of that soldier
using his own words: ("This can only be the sword of Gid'on son of Yo'ash, a man of
Isra'el. Yehoveh has given Midyan and all its army into his hands.")
The implication is that the Lord God supernaturally implanted this dream in the Midianite
soldier (not an unusual thing by the way) stressing a principle that is often overlooked; it is that
despite the completely Scripturally unfounded Christian saying that the Lord will never override
a man’s will that in fact He did so regularly and we’ve seen it in numerous stories from the
Torah, including the Pharaoh of Egypt and Bil’am the Sorcerer.
This is a dream that soldier would have shared among his fellows, who would have shared it
among their own fellows, and so on. Scuttlebutt moves rapidly among troops and that was part
of God’s plan.
Beginning in verse 19 the attack is launched in earnest at the start of the middle watch,
meaning around 10 pm. The whole camp (soldiers, their wives and children) would have been
asleep for a while and only the sentries were left to fend for the camp. At the same moment
Gideon and his men blew those horns, they broke the clay covers over their torches and held
them up high in their left hands, leaving their right hands free to hold their shofars and
continued to blow them. I can’t even imagine the racket and the confusion it caused. Can you
picture being in a deep slumber from a hard day when suddenly this shattering din of 300
shofars interrupts the quiet desert night and startles you awake, and you look out of your tent
and in the pitch black darkness you see hundreds of torches that obviously belong to the
enemy surrounding you? And that the last you knew 32,000 Israelite soldiers had arrived for
the battle?
You see up to this point Gideon’s 300 men hadn’t even drawn their swords (in fact both
hands were busy, one holding a torch the other a shofar); they simply scared their enemy into
a panic. Verse 21 says that every man (Israelite) stood in his place. And from there they
watched as men grabbed up their wives and children and started running for their lives. The
camels would have stampeded. Some of the soldiers began lashing out in the dark at any
silhouette that moved, killing countless numbers of their own, certain that hordes of Israelite
fighters had descended upon them.
These human locusts took flight and instinctively began to race back towards where they had
come from, across the Jordan River to the east and south. All 3 towns mentioned in verse 24
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as their exit route were in the general area of Jabesh-Gilead.
Now let’s stop for a minute and forget that we’re reading Scripture and focus instead on the
tale. These nomads were real people responding to a dangerously real situation. They reacted
just like people from any society in any era would react. The same went for the Israelites. You
don’t keep the existence and whereabouts of 32,000 Israelites or a quarter of a million
invaders secret. The Hebrew (and Canaanite for that matter) inhabitants of the hill country to
the north and south of the valley of Jezreel (where this was taking place) had been carefully
watching this situation because they knew that in one way or another they would be affected
by the outcome. Unlike we moderns that sleep soundly because we trust our police and our
military to protect us, no such condition or thought existed in that day. Tribal and clan leaders
watched over their territories 24/7 with a jealous and wary eye at all times. And that
watchfulness was not only for the foreign enemies but also for their own brethren from other
clans and tribes who often sought to take advantage of a situation for their own benefit.
The initial summons by Gideon to Holy War was to Manessah, Asher, Zevulun, and Naphtali.
Even though they were dismissed, they were now recalled. In verse 23 the flight of the enemy
led to a general call of Israel to arms. And as one can imagine, everybody loves to join in a rout
and take some credit and vengeful enjoyment from it; so Hebrews from several of the tribes
started pouring out of the woodwork But now another tribe was specifically solicited to join in
the action: Ephraim. Partly this was due to the paths the fleeing Midianites would have taken
through Ephraim’s territory as they attempted to get back to home and safety. But it was also
due to Ephraim’s great status at this time.
The men of Ephraim were prepared and ready to pounce at a moment’s notice because they
had been observing. So they took up position along the many tributaries and forks of the
Jordan River at the fording points in order to intercept the marauders from the east and trap
them. Two of the key Midianite leaders were captured: ‘Orev and Ze’ev and only their lifeless
heads were turned over to Gideon. Notice the names attributed to the two places where they
were executed: the Rock of ‘Orev and the Winepress of Ze’ev. Probably these two places had
no recognized names before these events, but later they were referred to by the actions that
took place there. So many place names in the Bible happened in exactly that way, often
replacing an earlier place name.
Let’s move on to chapter 8 where the saga continues.
READ JUDGES CHAPTER 8 all
The tribe of Ephraim enjoyed a status of supremacy over all the other tribes of Israel, at least
the more northern tribes (notice again how we don’t see any mention of the southern tribes
Judah or Simeon). This stemmed from the fact that Joshua was an Ephraimite, and that
Ephraim had been given the special birthright privileges not only over his older brother
Manessah, but even over his uncle Reuben. As was Jacob’s deathbed blessing back in Egypt
more than a hope and a dying man’s wish, Ephraim indeed was fulfilling the Genesis 49
prophecy that Joseph (his father) would become very fruitful. Ephraim controlled fertile fields,
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lush hills, and had grown large and powerful. Other tribes deferred to them, and Gideon (being
of the tribe of Manessah) did the same.
So in verse 1 we have the leaders of Ephraim come to Gideon with a complaint: “Why didn’t
you call on us when you went to fight Midian?” Right. As though Ephraim had NOOOOO idea
any of this was going on. Here was Gideon, God’s anointed Shophet, who had just risked
everything to rid the land of these invaders, and the leaders of Ephraim are upset because
Gideon broke protocol in their eyes.
Again it’s good to kind of forget that we’re studying Scripture because too often we lose sight
that we’re dealing with real people in real situations, and they responded in ways completely
customary for their particular culture in their era. Ephraim was the big dog in Canaan at this
moment; and the leaders of Ephraim expected to not only be personally consulted before any
grand undertakings near their territory but also be allowed to have their place at the head of
the line when it came time for the things that automatically result from victory.
Shiloh and Bethel were undoubtedly two of the most revered and hallowed places for all of
Israel and they were both in Ephraim’s territory. So even the religious centers for all Israel
bore Ephraim’s mark. But there was an even baser reason for Ephraim’s sharp rebuke of
Gideon: 135,000 soldiers plus their families leave a lot of spoils of war behind when they flee,
and more is acquired when they’re captured. Understand: robbery, kidnapping, victory in
battle, and projection of power were usually the methods used in tribal societies to gain wealth
and authority. It was always a zero-sum game: one tribe gained because they took it from
another. Back and forth it went over the centuries. As some tribes became more settled and
became stable nations (as Israel was in process of doing), they became less predatory among
each other and more interested in producing than pilfering. But other societies of the Middle
and Far East remained nomads and thus behaved as the figurative term “locusts” suggests.
Gideon proves to be a wise man and responds to the Ephraimite leaders’ accusations with a
soft and diplomatic response. He uses a typical farm metaphor to curry favor and says that the
leftover grapes on the vines of Ephraim are better than the best crops of Avi’ezer (Avi’ezer is
Gideon’s clan). He’s saying that even though it might seem that the full harvest of Gideon’s
victory over Midian WITHOUT the help of Ephraim is greater, in fact the mop-up operations
(the seeming gleanings or the leftovers of the harvest) of Ephraim were the most important
thing, and full and complete victory was impossible without it. The part played by Ephraim
(though not so spectacular and widely known as the prime battle led by Gideon) was the real
reason for ultimate success, Gideon says. We are witnessing some major sucking-up here in
typical Middle Eastern style. Essentially Gideon was helping Ephraim save-face and thus avert
a serious insult that almost assuredly would have led to inter-tribal warfare.
Gideon reminds Ephraim that it was they who had the glory of capturing and executing those
two key leaders of the Midianites, ‘Orev and Ze’ev. It worked. Ephraim was given their pound
of flesh (and undoubtedly MANY pounds of gold and silver), and Gideon publically submitted to
them so Ephraim didn’t have their status challenged and so they calmed down.
Interestingly a few years (and chapters) from now this same problem with Ephraim getting their
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uppity feelings hurt ended up in far more tragic consequences.
Beginning in verse 4 we find Gideon and his band of 300 giving chase to the fleeing nomads.
Gideon was doing exactly as he should; he was doing what Joshua and Joshua’s successors
failed to do: take the battle all the way to the enemy’s front door if necessary and don’t quit
until the enemy is eradicated.
You know, it’s an odd thing among Christians: we talk and speak glowingly of when Messiah
will return and evil will end. It’s as though this will be some relatively painless, humane and
sanitary event. So the discussion of evil eventually winds up in people talking about “he who is
without sin throw the first stone”, or some other misplaced platitude that essentially relegates
evil from reality to a wispy theory and not what it actually is. One of the reasons that the Old
Testament is often detested is that some see it as all about a blood thirsty God who orders his
followers to carry out a process of bringing evil to justice in a final and harsh way. But
somehow at times we can’t seem to grasp that evil is only present and active in two forms:
spiritual beings and human beings. Evil isn’t a thing that stands by itself nor is it something
that can be bottled and placed in a museum for study. Evil only exists within beings that have
wills. Rocks aren’t evil. Oceans aren’t evil. Exploding Stars and meteors that hit the earth
aren’t evil. Trees and plants aren’t evil and neither are such fearsome creatures as Lions or
Bears. Dinosaurs weren’t evil and neither were fiery volcanoes. Hurricanes and Tornadoes,
forest fires, flooding rains, none of these things have any element of evil in them. On the
earthly side ONLY men are evil and on the spiritual side only Satan and his demons are evil.
What I’m getting at is that the eradication of evil by definition MEANS the eradication of evil
people and eventually of the spiritual Evil One. But understand; if Satan died today humans
would still carry with us an evil inclination and still do evil things. Thus the Lord will at
Armageddon wipe out all evil humans and then lock away the chief evil spirit being.
Even then, with no Satan to tempt or accuse, over the 1000-year reign of Messiah some men
will give in to evil because they still have vestiges of the evil inclination remaining in their
corrupt bodies. Not until we receive new bodies to go along with our new spirits will the evil that
dwells in humanity be eradicated.
Throughout the Torah Yehoveh has defined for us what it is that makes people “evil”. And it is
of course all wrapped up in what they are, whom they worship, and how they behave.
So the next time you ponder why a Messiah was needed, remember what evil is and where it
exists. And the next time you think about the horror of a lawful execution, or the violent deaths
of Islamic Jihadists, or police shooting and killing a dangerous person remember that what is
being dealt with is evil in the only physical form it exits; in humans. And thus it is our sad duty
before God to deal harshly with evil, which means dealing severely with people who are evil.
Gideon was doing exactly that with the Lord God’s full agreement and it is something that
should still be happening today and especially as it concerns His reborn State of Israel and
those who would take it from His people.
Since the 300 elite troops of Gideon didn’t have the usual retinue of some women and children
bringing up the rear with supplies and food, they would have to forage as they tracked down
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the remnants of the Midianite invaders. They stopped at a town called Succoth and asked for
food as they were tired and famished. Gideon explained what they were doing and the leaders
of Succoth declined to help; they wouldn’t even give them the customary (and required)
hospitality of a meal and rest. That the residents of Succoth were Israelites made this offense
all the worse and Gideon would see to it later that this offense was not forgotten.
Here’s the picture we need to get from this so that we can understand the condition of Israel at
this time: those 3 Israelite tribes residing on the east side of the Jordan had taken yet another
step away from their former unity with their brethren who lived on the west side of the Jordan in
Canaan. Reuben, Gad, and ½ of the clans of Manessah no longer had any sense of
brotherhood with the other 9 ½ tribes and certainly no feeling of obligation. They were closer in
mindset and allegiance to those “children of the east” who Gideon was chasing than as family
of the pursuers.
Thus Gideon said that when he returned there would be severe punishment. Exactly what that
punishment was to be (as explained in verse 7) is not entirely clear. They may have intended
to drag the offenders over thorn bushes like a sled over the threshing floor, or perhaps use
thorn branches like small whips to tear the flesh off of their bodies. The Hebrew word
translated here as “tear” (dosh) is more normally used to mean, “thresh” (like in threshing
wheat). In any case an unpleasant fate awaited those unpatriotic Israelites when Gideon had
finished off the enemy. Succoth was located in the tribal territory of Gad. The town of Penuel
lay about 5 miles further east from Succoth. At Penuel Gideon made the same request and
they gave the same answer. Apparently Penuel had built a watchtower that was well known
and important to their survival; Gideon said he would punish Penuel’s treason by destroying
that tower. Penuel was a well-known place in Hebrew lore because it was there that Jacob had
his strange wrestling encounter with a spirit being that donned physical form. Both of these
towns in the Trans-Jordan were around 50 miles from the main battle sight in the Jezreel
Valley so Gideon’s men had reason to be hungry and tired at this point.
Verse 10 explains that two Midianite leaders remained who were his main interest: Zevah and
Tzalmuna. Now in Hebrew Zevah refers to a certain class of sacrifices that are voluntary,
usually associated with vow offerings. Tzalmuna is also Hebrew that means, “withheld its
hospitality”. Since these leaders were Midianites they hardly had Hebrew names and
especially not names with those kinds of meanings; thus these names are what they became
called by the Hebrews sometime later and before the editor that compiled the Book of Judges
began his work.
These two enemy leaders were in a place called Karkor, a place they must have felt was safe.
About 15,000 men remained of the 135,000 enemy fighters and like Sisera in Deborah’s time
that slept in Ya’el’s tent under a false sense of security, so it was for these Midianite men and
their leaders. Gideon attacked them and they were totally unprepared for it. Let’s face it, who
would think that Gideon would follow them all that distance? But they probably still didn’t know
that Gideon had only 300 men and so the recollection of all that panic but a few days earlier
was still with them.
It says Gideon and his men followed this remnant of 15,000 using the “route of the nomads”.
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Actually this isn’t a colorful description of the route it’s the formal name of a known desert
highway in that era. Huge masses of people couldn’t travel like Lewis and Clarke, blazing new
trails everywhere they went. They needed established routes, usually beaten down and easily
identified that went by the necessary water sources and re-supply points where traveling
caravans would know to meet up with travelers.
Verses 11 and 12 explain that eventually Gideon and his men caught up to the army and
defeated them, although without doubt they did not annihilate them all. The two leaders did
what leaders did in those days; they fled when they knew they were in trouble. But Gideon
soon captured Zevah and Tzalmuna and then headed back towards home, stopping for some
revenge along the way.
We’ll end here and talk about that next time.
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