Today’s passage: Judges 7:1-18
Helpful thoughts:
- Israel’s army decreased from 32,000 to 300 men by God’s decree. If they had all fought, they would have taken the credit for the victory. There were 135,000 Midianite soldiers…
- 22,001 of the Israelite soldiers were afraid. 22,000 of them left because of it. God told Gideon that He would have victory, but if he was afraid, God would graciously give him one more sign…and Gideon sought the sign.
- Once Gideon was convinced of God’s promise, he was ready to go. He devised a plan and prepared his small army.
Questions to consider:
- How would you feel if you were about to lead 32,000, 10,000 or 300 men into real battle against 135,000? (We can learn from Gideon’s fear in the midst of God’s kindness and faithfulness…and be careful not to be judgmental toward him)
- Was God surprised by Gideon’s fear? What can we learn about God from this passage?
- What seems significant about the battle cry, “For the Lord and for Gideon”? In what way might it be a positive evidence of Gideon’s growing faith? In what way might it evidence that Gideon is still not on the same page with God?