GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 28 ~ ~ Judges 7:16-20 ~ ~ “ Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ”
19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”
From the book—THE POWER OF GOD’S NAMES –by Tony Evans
In Judges 7, we find Gideon and more than 30,000 Israelite soldiers about to face the Midianites. God knew that Gideon saw Him as Lord and ruler—as ADONAI– and would obey and surrender to His will, so God revealed to Gideon a plan that reduced the army of 30,000 down to just 300 men. Three hundred men plus ADONAI is worth more than an army of thousands.
Gideon and his 300 men defeated the Midianites because they didn’t come up with plan B. They didn’t try to rationalize and keep some men hiding in the wings. Gideon knew that to win this battle and to defeat this enemy, he would have to do it God’s way. He would have to recognize and surrender to God as ADONAI.
Sometimes that’s hard to do. It’s difficult to see God as ruler and master when so many others are competing for that place. Ourselves, our own thoughts, other people in our lives…many things and other voices try to dictate our decisions. We must not let them.
We see this illustrated in Isaiah’s life as well. “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord (ADONAI) sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple” (Isaiah 6:1) Notice when Isaiah saw God as ADONAI—the year his human king, Uzziah died. Why is this important? Because human kings often appear to be the keys to our victory.
When we look to others for advice or to make decisions, they hold a lot of influence over us. Yet when Isaiah’s human king died, he was enabled to see who really owned and ruled over everything. King Uzziah couldn’t make any more decisions for the nation Isaiah cared so deeply about, but ADONAI was still seated on the throne and still running the show.
Sometimes we can’t see ADONAI until he allows something to die in our circumstances. He allows that thing, person, or idea that we depend on to lose its influence on us. This may not include a physical death, but something happens wherein we can no longer depend on that which we once did. He might let a job go away, or our finances suffer, or a person to be removed form our lives whom we thought we could never live without.
Whatever it is, God often allows this so that we can truly discover He is in charge and dependable—that He is the owner of all.