Human wisdom

 

Judges 7:12

The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count!

If you were an army general, facing an overwhelming enemy army like the one mentioned above on your doorstep, what would human wisdom have you do? Most definitely not what God instructed Gideon to do in Judges 7!

God’s strategy was to firstly reduce Gideon’s army to only three hundred men. Totally against what human wisdom would dictate. The method of selection of that final three hundred was to observe the men drinking water out of a spring – those who bowed down on their knees were sent home; those who cupped their hands and lapped with their tongues like a dog were chosen. Human wisdom in selecting an elite fighting force would have taken skill with weapons and agility and overall training and proven bravery into account.

 God then instructed Gideon to go into the enemy camp at night and listen to what the men on the enemy’s side were saying. He overheard a Midianite man telling of a dream that he had had, (we know it was God-given), showing his tent being struck and flattened by - of all things - a barley bread. These Medianite men interpreted it correctly, knowing that God had given Midian and all their host into Gideon’s hand – whose army in the natural could never have overcome the great opposing force facing them. This piece of intelligence greatly increased Gideon’s faith, as God knew it would do!

Then came the war strategy and the weapons of choice. Gideon divided his men into three groups of one hundred each, armed them with trumpets and empty pitchers, and put torches inside the pitchers. This general’s instructions to his troops on this grievously dangerous occasion were to station themselves around the enemy’s camp in the deep of the night, watch him carefully, and follow his lead. Yes, no war room planning and various strategies depending on various outcomes as we, in our human wisdom, would have planned.

The outcome is legendary. As those men blew their trumpets and shouted and smashed the pitchers so that the light within could suddenly be seen, the Lord set every Midianite’s sword against his comrade and this enemy army was sent into complete disarray so that their only choice was to flee for their lives in total chaos!

Why did God have Gideon do these (what men would call) foolish things? We read what God says to Gideon about this in Judges 7:2 ….the Israelites will boast to Me that they saved themselves by their own strength. They had to KNOW without any doubt that it was God only who delivered them, and not their human wisdom.

Points to ponder:  What strategies has God given you that would look foolish to those around you? Seek godly counsel to affirm that you have heard Him clearly, and then implement these strategies, trusting Him to lead you and guide your every step!

Whatever your plan is