And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, and empty pitchers, and torches within the pitchers.
Gideon sends three hundred men into battle with no sword, no spear and no shield. Each man carries a trumpet, a clay jar, and a torch hidden inside. Commentators read this strange kit as a picture of how God works with His people. Why arm them like this, and why does the light stay hidden at first?
By any military standard the kit makes no sense.
The weapons of their warfare were the most foolish things imaginable — trumpets, pitchers, and lamps in the pitchers! Faith's weapons must be mighty through God alone.
Even the small band is split again before the fight begins.
Gideon divided these three hundred men into three companies — as if even that number was too great to be trusted together. They were all armed alike, and in a strange way. They had no sword, no bow, no spear. In one hand they held only pitchers, earthen vessels with a light hidden inside. In the other hand they held a trumpet that was to sound out the note of victory.
Rossier reads the trumpet, the jar and the lamp as one picture of witness.
If the trumpets represent the word of God in testimony, and the pitchers represent ourselves, what are the lamps but the life of Jesus, the light of Christ? The first two only serve to show the third in the surrounding darkness. Gideon's men blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and the light shone out all about them.
Israel's trumpets had four uses, and battle was only one of them.
We find the use of the trumpets detailed in Numbers 10:1-10. 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 journeying of the camps, for battle, and also for the solemn feasts or worship. What the sound of the trumpets once meant for Israel, we now find in the word of God, in another and very precious way. By it God speaks to us. It regulates and directs the gathering together, the walk, the warfare, and the worship of the children of God.
The verse calls the jars empty, but Gideon does not leave them that way.
Notice that the pitchers had been empty, but Gideon put the lights — the brands or torches — inside. This helps us understand the treasure in the earthen vessels that Paul speaks of. From the context, it is clearly the knowledge of the glory of God. God had caused that glory to shine in our hearts, displayed in the face of the glorified Christ. But once we receive it, by the working of sovereign power and grace, it does not come and go. It remains as a lasting possession.
Rossier looks at what the jars themselves were worth:
The empty pitchers were probably some of the containers that had held the people's food. Now empty and worthless, they were only fit to be broken. When God raises up a testimony, He only glorifies Himself in instruments which He has broken.
A lamp sealed inside pottery gives no light at all.
Here you have the pitcher whole, with the light down inside it — and so the pitcher hides the light. There is nothing to do but break the pitcher. Then the light shines out unhindered. And you can understand that the more valuable the pitcher is, the less likely it is to be broken.
God, not us, does the breaking — and that is a comfort, not a threat.
Now, I do not have to break the pitcher, blessed be God for that. That is God's part. He will break the pitcher — be sure of that. If you are walking with God, you are certain to be in His mind when He breaks it. And take care that you do not put something else in the way to stop the light from shining.
The Christian's Friend names the two weapons we fight with now.
Now, the weapons we have to fight with are testimony by word of mouth and our own insignificance. Our power is in giving testimony to Jesus. We must never leave the place of being only "earthen vessels." Remember: the vessel only contains the light. Let us not pretend that it is the light.
- Trumpet — the voice of God. In Numbers 10 it gathered, guided, and called to battle and worship. The word of God does all four for His people now.
- Vessel — the jars were empty and worthless in themselves. God still used them, and He glorifies Himself only in instruments He has broken.
- Lamp — the treasure inside is the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Christ. It stays there as a lasting possession.
- Breaking — a whole jar hides its own light. God Himself breaks it. The more we prize the vessel, the harder we resist.
- Victory — no sword, bow or spear. The weapons look foolish on purpose, so that the power is God's alone. Never confuse the vessel with the light.
And he said to them, Look on me, and do likewise; behold, when I come to the extremity of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.
Gideon's three hundred men stand in the dark above a valley packed with the army of Midian. They carry no swords — only trumpets, clay jars and torches hidden inside — and their leader gives them one order: watch me, and copy me.
The order is simple. Gideon gives his men no plan to follow, only a person to copy.
Then Gideon told them to look at him and to do as he did. What a lovely picture of having Christ as our true leader! He does not only tell us what to do: He shows us by His own example, and we need only to follow Him.
Copying a leader in the dark only works if you never look away from him. One writer makes this the way a Christian knows what to do from moment to moment.
To know what to do at any given moment, we must have the "single eye." When Gideon was about to attack the Midianites, he said to his followers, "Look at me, and do likewise." So it must be now with the Christian. He must look on Christ so that he may do what he sees Him doing. His eye must be on Christ alone, seeing nothing but Christ, desiring nothing but His mind and His glory.
The command is empty until you know what the model does. Gideon sounded his trumpet and smashed the jar in his own hand.
Gideon blew his trumpet and broke his own pitcher at the same time. He commanded his companions to do the things they had "heard and seen" in their leader. As soon as they obeyed the word and followed his example, their enemies fled and they won a great victory. Breaking the pitchers mattered just as much as blowing the trumpet. Until they broke them, the pitchers hid the light inside; then the light shone out.
Three hundred men went out against an army with no sword in hand. Their equipment was itself the lesson.
The weapons of their warfare were the most foolish things imaginable — trumpets, pitchers, and lamps in the pitchers! Faith's weapons must be mighty through God alone.
A whole jar hides the flame it carries. One writer applies the breaking to self.
This self has now become the recipient of the grace of divine light. God has shined into the heart — now what are you to do? It is a question between the light that has shined in, and the vessel that contains the light and may hinder it from shining out. The vessel has received the light. That is what grace has done, and the same grace shows itself through a broken vessel.
The same writer weighs the jar's value against the treasure inside it.
The only way to let the light shine out is to break the pitcher. And you can understand that the more valuable the pitcher is, the less likely it is to be broken. And the more you realise that it is an earthen vessel in which you hold the treasure, the more ready you will be to break it, so that the treasure may be shown.
Each man carried a trumpet and a torch. God asks for both.
God does not want the trumpet testimony and darkness. He wants the testimony accompanied by light. He does not want words only. It makes no difference how powerful the words are, how true and clear they are, or what trumpet ring of victory they carry. He wants more than words. He wants the broken vessel, so that the light may come to the front.
They did what they had seen their leader do.
They came in the middle of the night, just after the changing of the watch. They blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, so the torches showed. So 300 lights suddenly appeared around the camp of Midian. The Midianites rushed from their tents, and the sound of the trumpets and the sight of the lights threw them into confusion.
- Look — the order is not a plan but a person; the leader goes first and the followers copy what they see.
- Look only — the eye must be fixed on Christ alone, seeing nothing else and wanting nothing else.
- Break — Gideon smashed his own jar; the light cannot shine while the vessel stays whole.
- Blow — trumpet and light go together; God wants testimony carried by a broken life, not words alone.
- Stand — foolish weapons in obedient hands put a whole army to flight, because faith's weapons are strong through God alone.
And when I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, ye also shall blow the trumpets around the whole camp, and shall say, For Jehovah and for Gideon!
Gideon's three hundred men stand in the dark around a camp too big to count. Their orders are not to charge, but to watch, blow, and shout — so what is the real weapon here?
(Older translations read the shout as "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon," and use "Jehovah" for "the LORD." The writers below follow that older wording.)
Before he tells them what to shout, Gideon tells them to watch him. One writer hears the Lord Jesus in those words.
A little later he says, "Look on me, and do likewise" (verse 17). In this expression Gideon foreshadows the Lord Jesus. Our Lord says to us today: "Look on me, and do likewise."
The trumpet was not a noise-maker. Israel's law had already fixed its use, and battle was only one of the four things it called men to.
We find the use of the trumpets detailed in Numbers 10:1-10. They were the voice of God, telling the people His mind on four important occasions. They gave the signal to gather the people, to move the camps, to go to battle, and to keep the solemn feasts or worship. What the sound of the trumpets once meant for Israel, we find today in the word of God, in another and very precious way. By it God speaks to us. It regulates and directs how the children of God gather together, walk, fight, and worship.
Trumpets, clay jars, and torches are not an arsenal. By any military measure the equipment is absurd, and that is the point.
The weapons of their warfare were the most foolish things imaginable: trumpets, pitchers, and lamps in the pitchers! Faith's weapons must be mighty through God alone.
Notice what the men are not carrying. They do not swing a sword here. They speak one.
The thought throughout is the stripping away of one thing after another, taking from him one prop after another. In the end he and the little band with him face that mighty host that covers the whole face of the earth. He is left with the three hundred, and not even a sword in their hands, only a sword on their lips. They have the trumpets and the torches, and that cry, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon." The sword here is a spoken sword, not a sword in their hands.
The shout puts the Lord's name first and Gideon's second. One writer says God led Gideon a long road before he could say it.
God led His servant along a long road of testing to the final victory. The many details are full of interest and instruction, but we must pass over them today. It is enough to say this: all God taught him brought him at last to a conquering faith. He could link his name with God's and cry, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon." His whole thought and purpose was one with the Lord's. He was like that other good soldier who could say, "The testimony of the Lord, and of me His prisoner."
Gideon's company blows first, and every other man answers from his own place. One writer turns that into direct instruction for us.
The three hundred stood, every man in his place around the camp, and cried: "The sword of Jehovah, and of Gideon!" This simple cry puts the world to rout! Bear testimony to Christ. Live Christ, taking no account of self. Let the two-edged sword of the Lord be your weapon. Then all the power of Satan and of the world will be unable to resist you.
- Look — Gideon's first order is not "attack" but "watch me." One writer hears Christ saying the same words to us today.
- Sound — the trumpet was God's voice for gathering, marching, fighting, and worship. Today His word does all four.
- Weapons — jars, torches and horns are the most foolish equipment imaginable. Faith's weapons are mighty through God alone.
- Sword — there is no blade in a single hand; the sword is on their lips, spoken, not swung.
- Name — the cry joins the servant's name to the Lord's, because his whole purpose has become one with His. Three hundred voices call it out, and the camp breaks.
And Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came to the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch; and they blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.
In the dark, Gideon and a hundred men reach the edge of the Midianite camp, with three hundred ringing it in all. Not one carries a sword — only a trumpet and a clay jar with a torch inside, which raises two questions: why this hour, and why these weapons?
The verse fixes the moment. Israel counted the night in watches, and this one had a set span:
The middle watch, from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M.
The sentries had only just changed, so the freshest guards were the ones caught off guard. Then Midian's own swords did the fighting:
They came in the middle of the night, just after the changing of the watch. They blew the trumpets and broke the jars, and the torches shone out. So 300 lights suddenly appeared around the camp of Midian. The Midianites rushed from their tents. They heard the trumpets and saw the lights, and fell into confusion. They thought the enemy had got inside their camp, so they struck out with their swords at others who had swarmed out of their tents.
Nothing in Gideon's equipment could wound anybody:
The weapons they fought with were the most foolish things imaginable — trumpets, jars, and lamps inside the jars! Faith's weapons must be mighty through God alone.
The trumpet was not just noise. Israel's law had already fixed what its blasts meant:
They were the voice of God, telling the people His mind on four important occasions. They gave the signal to gather the people together, to move the camps, to go to battle, and also for the solemn feasts or worship. What the sound of the trumpets once meant for Israel, we now have in another and very precious way, in the word of God. By it God speaks to us. It regulates and directs the gathering together, the walk, the warfare, and the worship of the children of God.
Each man carried two things at once. One writer takes them as two kinds of witness:
Now, let us take the trumpet as a figure of the testimony of the lip, and the torch as a figure of the testimony of the life. And both of these forms of witness are necessary to fight the "good fight" of faith.
The jars were ordinary containers, worth nothing once emptied. Why smash them? Because of how God works:
Empty jars represented what Gideon and his warriors were in themselves. Like Paul's earthen vessel, these empty jars were only fit to be broken. When God raises up a testimony, He glorifies Himself only in instruments He has broken.
Only a broken jar lets the light out. One writer turns that on the Christian:
What a strange way to fight — and how full of instruction for us! We too have to bear testimony, not of ourselves, but of Christ, as they blew the trumpets. We too must have death working in us, if there is to be life in those we serve, and the earthen vessels must break. That is how the light can shine out brightly.
A plan like this falls apart if one man moves early or wanders off:
Every man could be trusted to stand where he was told, and to do what he was told, even in the darkness of midnight and at the edge of the enemy's camp. Unquestioning obedience like this was needed to carry out the unusual kind of attack the Lord planned for them to make on the invaders.
So what won the battle?
God used not their skill and not their strength, but their testimony — their loud testimony to the Lord's mission, the Lord's will, and the Lord's handing of the Midianites over into their hands.
The trumpet, the jar and the torch still shape a witness today:
Bear testimony to Christ. Live Christ, taking no account of self. Let the two-edged sword of the Lord be your weapon, and all the power of Satan and of the world will be unable to resist you. Despite the broken jars, they found their safety and strength in the trumpets of Israel, whose notes were so piercing, and in the lamps of God, whose light was so bright.
- Timing — The attack came in the middle watch, just after fresh guards took their posts. Surprise, not strength, opened the battle.
- Weapons — Trumpets, jars and torches were the most foolish weapons imaginable. That is why the victory belongs to God alone.
- Voice — The trumpet stands for the word of God. It directs how His people gather, walk, fight and worship.
- Breaking — The torch only showed when the jar broke. God glorifies Himself in instruments He has broken.
- Place — Three hundred men stood where they were told. They lifted lip and life together, and routed an army they never touched.
And the three companies blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hand, and the trumpets in their right hand for blowing, and cried, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon!
This verse carries out the plan of the verses before it: in the dark, three companies blow the trumpets, smash their jars and shout. Not one of the three hundred men holds a weapon — a torch fills one hand and a trumpet the other.
The whole chapter has taken things away from Gideon, until he has nothing left to fight with. One writer counts what the three hundred still had in their hands. (The commentators quote an older translation of the cry: "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon.")
The thought throughout is stripping off one thing after another, robbing him of one prop after another. At last he stands with the little band that is with him, facing that mighty host that covers the whole face of the earth. He is left with the three hundred, and not even a sword in their hands, only a sword on their lips. They have the trumpets and the torches, and that cry, "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon." The sword is a spoken sword, not a sword in their hands.
The men blew, but the power was not in them. One writer turns that into a lesson for us.
Strange way of fighting this — and how full of instruction for us! We too have to bear testimony, not of ourselves, but of Christ, as they blew the trumpets. We too must have death working in us, if life is to work in those we serve, and the earthen vessels breaking. That is how the light can shine out brightly… God did not use their skill or their strength, but their testimony — their loud testimony of the LORD's mission, the LORD's will, and the LORD's giving of the Midianites into their hands.
The trumpets, the jars and the lamps make one testimony. One writer gives each part its meaning.
Of what use were these empty jars? To hold the lamps, the third and most important part of testimony for God… If, in testimony, the trumpets stand for the word of God, and the jars for ourselves, what are the lamps but the life of Jesus, the light of Christ? The first two only serve to make the third visible in the darkness around them.
Commentators differ on whose hand does the breaking. Some leave that work with God:
Now, I do not have to break the jar, blessed be God for that. That is God's part. But He will break it, be sure of that. And if you are walking with God, you are certain to be in His mind when He breaks it.
Others press it as a choice faith makes now, and warn against the half-measure of setting self carefully aside for later use:
The best and most effective way is not to take your light out, so to speak, and set the jar carefully to one side to use again. It is to break the jar, and that is the end of it. That is what faith will do.
Gideon had heard the enemy compare him to a loaf of barley bread. That picture makes the shout of this verse striking.
The enemy compared this mighty man of valour to a cake of barley bread, coarse and plain food — and this was "the sword of Gideon"! A fine sword indeed to strike this huge army with! But in reality the sword of Gideon was "the sword of the LORD," and that was where the power lay.
The joining of the two names is the end of a long training, not a boast at the start of one.
As a result of all that God taught him, he was able at last, in conquering faith, to link his name with God's, and to cry, "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon." His whole thought and purpose was bound up and one with the Lord's, like that other good soldier who could say, "The testimony of the Lord, and of me His prisoner."
One writer names the two weapons we fight with now, and adds a warning.
Now the weapons we have to fight with are testimony by word of mouth and our own insignificance. Our power is in giving testimony to Jesus. It lies in never leaving the place of being only "earthen vessels." Remember that the vessel only holds the light. Let us not pretend that it is the light.
- Stripped: God took away every prop. Three hundred men faced a vast army with no sword in their hands — only a sword on their lips.
- Sounded: The trumpet was testimony, not talent. God used their loud witness to Him, not their skill.
- Broken: The jar held the light but also hid it, so it had to break. Commentators differ on whether God breaks it or faith breaks it now.
- Shining: Trumpets picture the word of God, jars picture us, lamps the life of Jesus. The first two exist to make the third visible in the dark.
- Shared: The cry joins two names, but the power was the Lord's. The man He used was only a barley loaf.