And all Midian and Amalek and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.
Gideon has just pulled down his father's altar to Baal. The answer comes fast. The whole eastern coalition crosses the Jordan and camps in Israel's richest plain. Why does the storm break just when a man starts to obey? And what does God do with a valley full of enemies?
Commentators read the timing as no accident. As long as Israel put up with Baal, Midian stayed away. The trouble starts when the compromise ends.
When we mix with the world, Satan has no reason to disturb us. Let him be alarmed, and up come Midianites, Amalekites, and the rest.
These enemies are also read as a picture of what a believer fights inside. Amalek stands for the flesh.
The Midianites, with their allies the Amalekites (a figure of the flesh), came out to fight against Gideon. This was natural, and it is so today. You may be sure of this. If your heart is drawn heavenward, you will have to fight these combined powers. The flesh does not love the things of Christ. It finds its satisfaction in the things of earth.
Gideon had already faced hostility from his own townspeople over the altar. That anger was held back; this army was not.
At first Gideon met hostility from those who bore the name of the people of God. For a time, the sincerity of his testimony held that hostility in check. Midian and Amalek (v. 33), however, were not held back in that way. The men of the city, in their folly, tried to hinder their own deliverance. The world, for its part, made a determined effort to crush the revival that was to free Israel from bondage.
They camped on the standing battlefield of the land. Its history runs from Israel's early victories to the last battle of prophecy.
The wide valley or plain around Jezreel, in southern Galilee. It has been called the battlefield of Palestine. Barak won there, and Josiah was defeated there (Judges 5:19; 2 Chronicles 35:22). Megiddo is in the same area. It is also perhaps the place where the great battle of Armageddon will be fought, Revelation 16:16. It is a very fertile plain.
The order of the record matters. The army gathers only after God has finished preparing His man. The gathering serves God's purpose, not Midian's.
Gideon is now a vessel set apart and fit for the Master's use. So we get the crowning qualification of power… Satan can never get ahead of God. While God is preparing Gideon, the Midianites and the rest stay still; when Gideon is ready, God gathers them together for destruction. They marshal their forces to destroy Israel; but the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon, and now it is God Himself against the Midianites.
A huge enemy camp can be read the other way round. Its size measures the power that is coming to silence it.
God's purpose is to assure the soul of this. Christ has triumphed over every power of evil. Just as surely, every display of evil is a guarantee to us that a far greater power is close at hand. And further, the greater the evil opposition, the plainer the power that overcomes and silences it. In every circumstance of life we should comfort ourselves with this: "when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord raises up a standard against him."
The Bible Treasury (the writer quotes Isaiah 59:19 in an older translation)
Darby marks the same moment as a change of stage in the story:
The Midianites come up against Israel. All is ready for the Lord's intervention… This is a new phase in the history; not only faithfulness, but power.
The altar came before the army. Writers press this as the rule, not the exception.
Again let us note, faithfulness does not begin with the Midianites; it begins at home. This is a great principle, whether for an individual soul or for the Church of God. Gideon must attack the evil inside his father's house, and in Israel itself. Only then does the Lord use him to save Israel out of the hands of the Midianites.
Darby ties the Spirit's power to that same faith:
The Midianites come up against Israel. All is ready for the Lord's intervention… The power of the Spirit, which sways the minds of men, is with the faith that acknowledges God, that acknowledges Him in His relationship to His people, and faithfully puts away the evil that does not fit that relationship.
- Home first — the altar in his father's house had to fall before the army in the valley could. Usefulness for God starts where you already live.
- Then hostility — an untroubled life can mean an undisturbed enemy. Opposition comes when compromise goes, from religious neighbours and open enemies alike.
- Then the gathering — the enemy musters only when God's man is ready. What looks like Israel's ruin is the enemy collected for destruction.
- Then the power — the size of the camp in Jezreel measures the help. The greater the flood, the plainer the standard God raises.
- Then the victory — the fight is no longer Gideon against Midian. It is God Himself against Midian, on the field where Israel has always fought.
And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon, and he blew the trumpet, and the Abi-ezrites were gathered after him.
Midian and its allies have camped in the Valley of Jezreel, and Israel's answer is one man who had been threshing wheat in hiding. What changes him is not new courage but the Spirit of the LORD taking hold of him.
The order of events matters. Gideon had already destroyed the idols at home before any power came on him.
The overthrowing of the idols is the secret of power; the Spirit of the LORD only came upon Gideon when he had done this. We do not have, as he did, Baals of stone and groves of wood. But we have many other idols, and, unlike him, we often prefer them to the power of a faithful walk with God.
The same writer brings this into daily life.
Unqualified obedience to the word of God is the path of power. At certain periods of our lives power has marked our service, at other times it has been missing. Let us then ask ourselves whether we have rebuilt some idol we had destroyed. All public service for the Christian must begin with faithfulness in the small circle where he is called to live.
The wording here is unusual, and one writer explains it by reversing the picture we expect.
In the case of three men (Gideon, for instance: Judges 6:34) the expression is a peculiar one. It means that the Spirit of the Lord clothed Himself with the man. He took full possession of him for a purpose, and until that purpose was achieved.
Gideon was not the only man used this way.
There were others like Gideon, Amasai and Zechariah, with whom the Spirit clothed Himself for the time being, so that He might witness through them… But in all these cases the Spirit acted upon men from the outside. He used men for His purpose without reference to their inward moral character.
Compare what Gideon's hands were doing before with what his lips do now.
The Spirit of the LORD comes upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet. This is the same Gideon who was threshing wheat to hide it from the Midianites. Now he puts a trumpet to his lips and sounds out defiance in the face of the enemy. In the same way, Peter had trembled before a servant girl. Once the Spirit clothed him with power, he charged the rulers with the sin of crucifying Christ. The apostles too, being filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
The first thing the Spirit's power produces is not an attack but a gathering. Trumpets in Israel had a set list of uses.
They were the voice of God, telling the people His mind on four important occasions. They gave the signal for gathering the people together; for the moving of the camps; for battle; and also for the solemn feasts, or worship… Gideon began where God begins (Num. 10). "He sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him." He carried the voice of God, gathering Israel together again after their own failure had scattered them.
Abiezer was Gideon's own clan — the very men who had just called for his death. Their change of mind is part of the miracle.
The Spirit of God equips him for special work. In response the men of Abiezer, who had demanded his death not long before, join his standard, and so do Manasseh, Asher and Zebulun. Truly, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God lifts up a standard against him. Let there be the first work of God in a soul, and he will find that others long for freedom from bondage too. They will follow his lead, as he follows Christ.
The armies gather at the exact moment the man is ready.
Satan can never get ahead of God. While Gideon is being prepared, the Midianites and the others stay still. When Gideon is ready, God gathers them together for destruction. They line up their forces to destroy Israel. But the Spirit of the LORD comes upon Gideon, and now it is God Himself against the Midianites. Let us make sure we never move forward against the enemy except in the power of the Spirit of God.
- Altar first. The idol at home came down before the Spirit came on Gideon. Obedience in the small circle opens the door to power in the large one.
- Clothed. The wording means the Spirit clothed Himself with Gideon. He took full possession of him for a purpose, until that purpose was done.
- From outside. In the Old Testament the Spirit acted on such men from the outside, for a time. Their inward moral character had nothing to do with it.
- Trumpet. The first act of that power was not a blow struck but a call sounded — the voice of God gathering a scattered people.
- Standard. The clan that had demanded his death now follows him. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit lifts up a standard — and it is God Himself against Midian.
And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were gathered after him; and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
Gideon has just pulled down Baal's altar in his own father's yard. Now the Spirit of the Lord is on him, he blows a trumpet, and four tribes leave home to follow a man who had been threshing wheat in hiding.
Gideon could not have rallied Israel against Midian while an idol still stood at home.
Here is Gideon with his own people against him, and the enemies of Israel gathered and camped in Jezreel. But he has peace with God, and the Lord is (so to speak) bound to appear on his side. How does he act? The Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, and he blows the trumpet. Had Gideon been serving Baal, he could not have blown the trumpet like this. But Baal is down, and the altar of God is set up in the ordered place. He sends messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they gather to him too, along with Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. All these gather around the man who is least in his father's house, the poorest of the tribe of Manasseh — the man to whom the Lord has said, "Go in this your might."
The men of his own clan had recently wanted him dead for what he did to their altar. The Spirit changed their minds, not Gideon's persuasion.
Everything is ready for the Lord's intervention. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon. This is a new phase in the history; not only faithfulness, but power. Gideon blows the trumpet, and those who shortly before would have killed him now follow in his train. He sends messengers to all his tribe, and Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali come up too. The Spirit's power sways the minds of men. It goes with the faith that acknowledges God, and acknowledges Him in His relationship to His people. That faith is faithful to put away the evil that cannot stand with that relationship.
Israel's trumpets had fixed uses, laid down in the law long before Gideon picked one up. Gideon's first act with the Spirit's power was not an attack but a summons.
We find the use of the trumpets detailed in Numbers 10:1-10. They were the voice of God, telling His mind to the people on four important occasions. They gave the signal to gather the people together. They gave the signal for the camps to move, for battle, and for the solemn feasts or worship... Most of God's children think that Christianity is only about taking the gospel to people who don't believe. Gideon understood the testimony of faith in another way. He began where God begins. "He blew the trumpet, and Abiezer was gathered after him." He carried God's voice, calling Israel together again after their own failure had scattered them.
The response was not a handful of volunteers. It was a whole country waking up.
In short, there was a thorough awakening. The tide of spiritual energy rose high and carried hundreds and thousands along with it. The work that had begun in Gideon's heart was spreading far and wide, across the whole land. The Spirit of the Lord was displaying His mighty energy, stirring up multitudes to gather round the standard that the hand of faith had raised.
Some writers find a lesson in the names of the tribes that answered.
The Spirit of the Lord now clothes Gideon. No mere human wisdom or strength is enough in this fight. We are safe only when we depend on Him. He blows the trumpet, and Abiezer, then all Manasseh, gather behind him. Manasseh's fitness for this place is plain in Gideon, himself a Manassite. The world can only be overcome by the man whose goal lies beyond it, and this is what Manasseh represents. Then Asher, the "happy," Zebulun, the "dweller in relationship," and Naphtali, the "struggler" who overcomes, follow after Manasseh. So Israel's army of victory comes together.
Two of these tribes had answered a call like this once before, in the days of Deborah and Barak.
We are very glad to see our friends Zebulun and Naphtali here again. They stood out in the revival in Deborah's and Barak's day. They risked their lives in the high places, ready to die to defend what belonged to God. Here they are in the front line again. This is a very fine thing to see — consistency in the desire to maintain what belongs to the Lord. Now this trumpet call led to this army of 32,000 that was going to meet the Midianites.
- Cleared — the idol came down at home before the trumpet went up in public. Peace with God came first; the call to others came second.
- Clothed — the Spirit came on Gideon, and the same neighbours who had wanted him dead now marched behind him. The power that sways men's minds is the Spirit's, and it goes with faith that puts evil away.
- Called — God gave the trumpet first to gather scattered people, not to start a fight. Gideon began where God begins.
- Carried — a work begun in one hidden heart spread through the whole land. Thousands rallied to a standard that faith had raised.
- Consistent — Zebulun and Naphtali had answered such a call before, and they answered again. This trumpet call raised an army of 32,000 to meet Midian.