And Gideon sent messengers throughout mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters unto Beth-barah, and the Jordan. And all the men of Ephraim were called together, and took the waters unto Beth-barah, and the Jordan.
Gideon's three hundred men have just broken the Midianite camp, but the enemy is still running. So Gideon sends messengers across the hill country of Ephraim with one order: take the water crossings before Midian can escape.
God had cut the army down to three hundred. Only after the win did the rest of Israel come running. One commentator marks the order:
Faith does not wait for numbers, and it does not lean on them in the battles of the Lord. But others follow once the enemy has clearly been beaten. Israel gathered from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh and chased Midian, and Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim — and so the victory was complete.
Water was the one thing a fleeing army could not do without:
Gideon also sent messengers throughout Ephraim to bring their armies in to finish the work. They were to take from the enemy the watering places that an army needs so badly. In doing this they also captured and killed two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, then brought their heads to Gideon on the other side of Jordan.
Gideon did not keep this victory to himself. One writer reads his motive in the sending:
Gideon sends messengers to show them that he does not want the credit of the victory himself. He sends messengers to Ephraim, to go down and take the crossings of the Jordan, so that they can wipe out the enemy completely.
One writer draws from that same invitation a lesson for anyone who has learned their own weakness:
We are powerless in ourselves to bring blessing, and we have found this out. But we have also proved how good it is to depend simply on God. So, like Gideon, we can call others into fellowship with us (v. 24, 25). But let us not set ourselves up. Everything depends on the presence of the Holy Spirit, ungrieved and unhindered. Let this be told, and let us hide ourselves.
Ephraim had a real share in this victory, though not the leading share. One writer also finds meaning in the names of the two men they killed:
Ephraim is now called to take part in the fight. They answer the call and win a decisive battle. They take two princes of Midian — Oreb and Zeeb, the "Raven" and the "Wolf" — and bring their heads to Gideon, on the other side of Jordan. There is indeed a place for Ephraim in a fight like this, though it is not the first place. The spiritual meaning again throws light on the history. The names of the princes killed seem to show that they stand only for the rougher and lower of Israel's enemies — or the Church's; and the word used is the plain word "princes," not "kings."
Jealousy followed the victory, and argument is not what answers it:
Here, Christian reader, is the true way to overcome jealous and envious brothers. The cake of barley bread and the empty pitcher can overcome jealous Ephraimites as well as hostile Midianites. A self-hiding spirit is the grand secret of victory over envy and jealousy, in all their hateful forms. It is difficult, if not impossible, to quarrel with a man who is down in the dust, in true self-abasement.
Another writer turns the mirror on the complainers themselves:
Here is Ephraim, though: they are simply jealous, because God had used a more spiritual instrument than themselves. Jealousy is a proof that God cannot use you. If you are jealous of another, if you envy the spiritual state or spiritual power of another, it is just the proof that God cannot use you. You would not be jealous of another if God could use you. What jealousy should teach you first is to go down in the dust and own to God that you are not a faithful instrument. The man who envies his brothers should rather criticise himself.
Scripture later points back to this victory as a picture of one still to come:
Isaiah 10:26 shows that Gideon's victory over Midian at the rock of Oreb foreshadows the final victory over the Assyrian. In the same way, Barak's victory over Sisera at Megiddo pictures the final slaughter of the armies that will gather in the last days at Armageddon.
- Few first. Faith does not wait for a crowd; the crowd arrives once God has already broken the enemy.
- Then many. Gideon refuses the credit and calls others in: take the waters, finish the job.
- Real work. The water crossings were the practical prize; holding them turned a rout into a complete victory.
- Second place. Ephraim's part was genuine but not first, and the two they killed were princes, not kings.
- Self hidden. The same self-emptiness that beat Midian also quiets envy: no one can quarrel with a man in the dust.
And they took two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb; and they pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.
Gideon's attack has scattered Midian, and the men of Ephraim now block the shallow crossings of the Jordan, where a fleeing army has to pass. The verse asks who owns a victory, and why two death sites were worth naming.
Gideon does not keep the closing work for himself. He calls in the tribe that missed the night attack.
After the victory, with the enemy in flight, the rest of Israel gather together and join in the pursuit. Gideon, in fact, sends messengers to show them that he does not want the credit, if we may use that word, of the victory himself. He sends messengers to Ephraim. They are to go down and take the fords of Jordan, so that they may wipe out the enemy entirely.
One writer draws the line between calling others in and putting yourself forward:
We are powerless in ourselves for blessing, and we have found this out. But we have proved how good it is to depend on God alone. So we can, with Gideon, call on others to have fellowship with us. But let us not be setting up ourselves. Everything depends on the presence of the Holy Spirit, ungrieved and unhindered. Let this be told, and let us hide ourselves.
One writer reads the two names, and the two places where they died, as a picture:
The two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, were slain. Oreb means "raven" and Zeeb means "wolf." Oreb, the raven, is slain on the rock and Zeeb, the wolf, at the winepress. The raven is the bird that represents darkness and evil, so it is the type of corruption. The wolf is the destroyer of the sheep. The rock and the winepress are pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Cross. There the victory over both was won.
Why can a winepress stand for the cross? One writer traces it back to what a press produces:
The winepress reminds us of the blood of the grape, and of His blood that cleanses from all sin. It may well then suggest the cross, the winepress for Him. And this is indeed an effective shelter and hiding place for faith from all the power of the world. We take our place by the cross, and no Midianite dare dispute our position.
Ephraim comes into the fight late, and the men they kill are named by rank:
Ephraim is now called to take part in the contest, and they respond and win a decisive battle. There is indeed a place for Ephraim in such a contest as this, though it is not the first place. The spiritual meaning again lights up the history. The names of the princes slain seem to show that they represent only the ruder and lower of Israel's — or the Church's — enemies. According to the plain word, they are "princes," not "kings."
The ground Ephraim held matters as much as the men they killed:
Nor is it wise or right to run down the work of Ephraim. Oreb and Zeeb — Raven and Wolf — the princes of Midian, had fallen at their hands at the fords of Jordan. These names suggest the destructive character of that world whose prince spares no one. But the fruits of the Spirit overcome the hosts of this world, and the principalities and powers who lead them. When works are in their true place — at the Jordan, the river of death — they do their work most effectively.
Their share in the win was real, but it did not keep them content:
The men of Ephraim are seen at the close of chapter 7 slaying Oreb and Zeeb. (They are allowed to come in for blessing as a result.) Now they turn and argue with Gideon for not having called them at the first.
The rock kept the dead prince's name, and a prophet later took up that day:
In Isaiah 10:26, the victory of Gideon over Midian at the rock of Oreb foreshadows the final victory over the Assyrian. The victory of Barak over Sisera at Megiddo does the same. It pictures the final slaughter of the armies that will gather in the last days at Armageddon.
- Shared, not hoarded. Gideon sends for Ephraim so the pursuit is not his own trophy. A man who has proved his own weakness can call others in without pushing himself forward.
- Named. Raven and Wolf mean corruption and the destroyer of sheep. They fall at a rock and a winepress — pictures of Christ and His cross.
- Ranked. They are princes, not kings — the coarser, lower enemies. Ephraim's place in the fight is real, but it is not the first place.
- Placed. Ephraim's work told at the fords of Jordan. Service done in its true place, at the river of death, does its work best.
- Remembered. The rock keeps Oreb's name, and Isaiah takes that day as the pattern of a final deliverance still ahead.