Ep.107 300 Soldiers

Episode 107 300 soldiers. Welcome to the history of the Bible. In the last episode, Gideon had been told by the angel of the Lord to deliver the Israelites out of the hands of those who were pressing them, the Midianites. When Gideon realized he was talking with the angel of the Lord, he was overcome by fear, crying out, "Alas, O Lord God, for now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face." But the Lord told him not to fear. Gideon was not going to die. Then Gideon built an altar to the Lord, stating that the Lord is peace. It was during the night after encountering the angel of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Gideon. Starting in Judges 6, verse 25, "The Lord told Gideon to take your father's bowl and the second bowl seven years old and pull down the altar of Bale that your father has and cut down the ashrah that is beside it." As a side note, scholars debate whether the Lord told Gideon to get two separate bowls or to have a single bowl that was seven years old. The Hebrew word "could mean both" and as well as "namely." Later on, the bowl will be sacrificed, whether it is the second bowl or the only bowl is unknown. Either way, the Lord instructed Gideon to use a bowl to bring down the altar that had been built for the worshiping of Bale, the God of the Canaanites. The Lord would continue to tell Gideon in verse 26 to build an altar to the Lord your God on top of the stronghold. The altars built to the Lord were to be made out of uncut stones, stacked on top of each other. As Moses was told to do so in Deuteronomy 27, verses 5 and 6, "Build an altar of stones. Do not use an iron tool on them. Build the altar with field stones." If the instructions of building an altar to the Lord had been kept, Gideon would have gathered stones that were not cut or made to fit perfectly in place. More than likely, the stones used for the altar to worship Bale would have been cut in a way that made them fit perfectly. The Lord did not want man to attempt to make a perfect altar to himself by cutting the stones for the altar. They were to use stones gathered from the location, stacked them on top of each other, and use it to burn sacrifices to the Lord. What's also interesting, the Lord wanted Gideon to use a bowl or two bowls to pull down the altar set up for Bale. Yes, the altar may have been difficult to destroy using his hands, but bowls were not needed. The image most often used to depict the God of Bale is that of a bowl. Often the things that depict Bale or other Canaanite deities, the Lord would use that to go against those deities. This shows God as being the one true God who is more powerful than any other deity. Gideon was instructed to use the wood from the pole of the Ashrah to sacrifice the bowl to the Lord on the altar built to the Lord. Next to the altar for Bale was the pole of Ashrah, where sometimes called a tree or a pillar. This pole was dedicated to the goddess Ashrah, or sometimes called a starte. She was considered the mother goddess and worshipped alongside Bale as his partner. Because Bale and Ashrah were a couple, they were placed in the same area. Thus we see the altar built to Bale and the pole dedicated to Ashrah. Some say the pole was carved and prepared in a way to give reverence to the goddess of fertility. Gideon was to use the pole as firewood to make the sacrifice to the Lord. So in Judges 6, verse 27, Gideon is said to have taken ten men with him and did the deed of destroying the altar of Bale and building a new altar unto the Lord. Gideon was afraid of his family and the people of the city, so the event took place during the night. Here's what happened when the people awoke. In the morning, when the people of the town got up, there was Bale's altar demolished. With Ashrah pole beside it, cut down and the second bowl sacrificed on a newly built altar. They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon, the son of Joe Ash did it." The people of the town demanded of Joe Ash, bring out your son. He must die because he has broken down Bale's altar and cut down the Ashrah pole beside it. The people had gotten so far away from following the Lord. They were willing to kill Gideon for removing the altar dedicated to the God of Canaan. Gideon's father would stand up against the crowd and say, "Are you going to plead Bale's case? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by mourning. If Bale is really a God, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." So because Gideon broke down Bale's altar, they gave him the name "Drubb Bale." That day, saying, "Let Bale contend with him." The new name Gideon was given means "Let Bale contend." When ancient times, images representing a deity were believed to have the presence of the deity. Even though the thing was made by human, the image or item was indwelt with the spirit of the deity. Therefore, when Gideon destroyed the pole and altar, he was, in a sense, destroying items that held the spirit of those deities. It is believed if an item or place is desecrated or destroyed, it is the responsibility of the deity to stand up for themselves and bring justice to the person or people who did the damage. So when Gideon's father challenged the crowd who wanted to kill Gideon, he was telling them that it was the responsibility of the deity to bring justice, not the people. And if the people brought the justice, they would be found guilty of murder within the tribe and treat it as murderers. Though Gideon is still called Gideon, he is now known as "Drubb Bale." The name "Drubb Bale" has been discovered on a pottery shard. The shard dates to around 1100 BC. This would give a time frame of Gideon being judged about 300 years after Joshua and the Israelites entered the Promised Land. Now there is a debate about whether or not this was Gideon. After the event of Gideon tearing down the altar of Bale, the Midianites came back into the land and it was time for Gideon to move. In verse 34 of chapter 6, it says in some translations that the Spirit of God came upon Gideon. Others say Gideon was clothed in the Spirit of God. Either way, the Lord moved in Gideon to gather an army, an army that he would never have been able to gather in his own authority. Therefore, having the Spirit of God upon or in, Gideon was allowed to step into what God needed him to do. For his clan, Gideon was able to gather a following of men who would go to battle with him. In there, Gideon reached out to the surrounding tribes, Asher, Zebulin, Naftali, and the rest of his tribe, Manasseh. With the men gathered around the call Gideon put out. Gideon once again wanted a sign from the Lord. Indicating victory would be over the Midianites. Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised, look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know you will save Israel by my hand," as you said. And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day. He squeezed the fleece and rung out the dew, a bowl full of water. Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. me. make one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew. That night God did so, only the fleece was dry, all the ground was covered with dew. The test getting demanded to see of God is very close to divination. Doing some type of ritual to hear the voice of a deity. Leaders who are about to go into battle would seek guidance from their deity, most of the time it would be seen if the time in the battle was correct or if they should attack at all. When looking at ancient times, divination was used in ways to get answers from the deity. As mentioned, it was used in times of a military crisis. Secondly, it was used to get a yes or no answer. Thirdly, a person would use it to reassure themselves. Divination in ancient times was seeking reinforcement through signs. The difference between Gideon and others who divination is rather than just observing an event, Gideon prescribed what he wanted to happen. Gideon wanted to place a wall fleece on the ground and the wall fleece became wet from the dew, but the ground stayed dry. So the next day Gideon went out to the threshing floor and found just that. The wall was wet and the ground was dry. But Gideon wanted to double check and ask the Lord to do another sign. This time Gideon wanted the ground to be wet, but the wall fleeced to be completely dry. God did exactly what Gideon asked in testing God. The thought of Gideon, a normal guy from a minor clan of Israel and the least important clan of the tribe, would demand a sign from God is an interesting thought. Most of the time, when other leaders or kings sought out the will of their gods, they would get professional diviners to determine their will. Scholars believe that because Gideon demanded the signs, it would have been that the common people of the tribe had divinatory practices. Ways the common person would seek out the will of God or other gods in personal and domestic affairs. After the two additional signs were given to Gideon, he was prepared to follow through with gathering an army to fight against the Midianites. Beginning in chapter 7 of Judges, it was time to begin preparing for the coming battle. Gideon had already gathered men from four northern tribes, Menasa, Asher, Zebulin, and Aftali. It says in verse 3, 32,000 men gathered to Gideon. As always with the Bible, the word for "thousand" can mean clan or unit. And when it comes to the number of men, 32,000 could mean 32 military units. Because Egypt was one of the superpowers, most of the military terms and tactics would have come from them. And the Egyptian army, a military unit, told 250 men. If we were to go off the number of 250 men per unit, and Gideon had 32 military units, it would have only been 8,000 men and not 32,000. In verse 2 of chapter 7, the Lord tells Gideon, "The people with you are too many." Last Israel both saying, "My own hand has saved me." So the Lord wanted to send some of the men home to bring down the numbers. And due to our army 20 verses 5 through 8, the Lord gives the Israelites exemptions from service and the army. One of those exemptions is that if any man is fearful, he is to be sent home. Otherwise, his fear would spread to those around him. Then the officers should add, "Is anyone afraid or faint hearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too." When Gideon iterated the words of the Lord to the people, 22,000 men left. Or 22 military units left, leaving 10,000 men for 10 units. Again, if it is just 10 units remaining out of the 8,000 original men, 25,000 remained. 25,000 men were still too many for the Lord. That size of an army could still say they fought and won the battle on their own, separate from the Lord. So the Lord wanted to test the remaining men to bring down the numbers. The test that the Lord had for them was on how they drank the water. The Lord wanted Gideon to separate the men who drank the water by putting their mouth to the water. They would lie down and drink it like a dog. From those who drank the water by kneeling and brought the water to their mouth, using their hand. And verse 1 it says, "Gideon gathered the men at the springs of Herod. This spring is believed to have been about two miles north of where the Midianites were camping. It could have also been seen by the Midianites if they were passing by. It is believed that those men who had more experience fighting would have gotten on their stomachs to drink the water, bringing their mouths to the water. This would be done so they could keep a low profile from the enemy and still drink the water. Those who did not have as much experience fighting would have knelt down and used their hand to bring the water to their mouth. This would have exposed them to be seen by the Midianites. Why does this matter? Only 300 men drank the water by bringing the water to their mouth with their hands. This means 300 men were not experienced fighters. The Lord used this test to show the veterans of fighting to those who have not seen or very little of fighting. The Lord told Gideon to keep the 300 men who were the least experienced fighters. That way, when the victory came, the people would know it was because of the Lord. With those 300 men, the Lord told Gideon to go against the Midianites. But the Lord knew that Gideon was going to need another sign to show him that it was the Lord who was going to give him the victory. So Gideon brought his servant with him and went into the camp of the Midianites. When he arrived, there was a man telling another man about a dream he had. Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. I had a dream he was saying, a round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such forth that the tent overturned and collapsed. His friend responded, "This can mean nothing other than the sword of Gideon, son of Joe Ash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands." This type of dream the man had is considered to be a symbolic dream, where little dialogue happens in the dream. Instead, something symbolic is witness. These type of dreams often require an outside interpretation after the person wakes up. For Gideon, it was the sign he needed of the coming victory. That same night Gideon prepared his men to attack. The 300 men were separated into three different groups, and each man was given a trumpet, an empty jar, and a torch. The trumpet would have been the shofar, a trumpet made out of ram's horn. The jar would have been a small to medium-sized storage jar, and the torches would have been sticks with oil-soaked rags or a bundle of wheat tied around a stick. The torches were to be lit and placed inside the jar. This would have only caused the torches to smolder, not causing flames. This is all the men of Gideon had to fight with, and the battle plan was this, to surround the camp, blow the trumpets, smash the jars on the ground, and cry out for the Lord and Gideon. That will have to wait for the next episode. So join us next time in episode 108, as we dive into the battle Gideon had with the Midianites. Until next time, remember that you are love, special, and worthwhile.