And he said to the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people that follow me, for they are faint; and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
Gideon has crossed the Jordan with three hundred exhausted men. He is still chasing the two Midianite kings, and he stops at an Israelite town to ask for bread. The answer he gets turns a small request into a test of loyalty.
The men Gideon asks are his own people. He is fighting their war.
Gideon and his 300 men pursued Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. They grew weary after a long day's fighting. Crossing the Jordan, they came to Succoth, a city of Israel, and there asked for bread for the army (v. 5). They had every right to it, for they were fighting Israel's battles. But the leaders of the city refused proudly. In effect they said that if Gideon had already defeated Zebah and Zalmunna, he might have reason to expect food from Succoth (v. 6).
Succoth and Peniel both have meaningful names. One writer sets those names against the answer the two towns gave. (Peniel is another spelling of Penuel.)
What a contradiction to their names. Midian, you remember, is the world and its power, and Succoth means "tents"; it is a pilgrim word. Men who lived in tents should have been completely willing to help overthrow the power of the world. And Peniel means "the face of God." Men who look on the face of God should have been ready to give all the help they could to capture the kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna. How their conduct gives the lie to their names.
Gideon explains his request by saying his men are worn out. Some translations read "faint, yet pursuing" in verse 4 where the ESV has "exhausted yet pursuing." One writer sees the weakness itself as the reason the pursuit continues.
What is the connection between those two words? I think we might almost read it, "pursuing them because faint." It is still "out of weakness made strong." It is the very faintness and helplessness of the man that leads him to press on, for it is God who is working in him.
The same words are read as a description of ordinary Christian life — not a temporary low patch, but the normal shape of the journey.
What three little words could be more descriptive of the Christian than these — not "faint, and sitting down," not "faint, and giving up," but "faint, yet pursuing." We deal with Him who "gives power to the faint" (Isaiah 40:29). "To him who has no might He increases strength." Our faintness and weariness have a blessed use: they draw on the full supply of grace and strength in Christ.
One writer reads Succoth's refusal as a picture of the world itself.
This history teaches us next that the world is neither able nor willing to refresh the man of faith. The world never gives. It may concede something to us if we concede something to it, but it never gives. What it asks from us is usually the sacrifice of faithfulness.
Another writer hears unbelief in that refusal: it wants proof before it will commit.
To them it seemed a foolish thing to be fighting with three hundred men against such enemies. So we seem to be very fools when we speak of certain glory. We must make up our minds to this. "You say you are kings and priests to God, that you are to have glory," is the taunt of unbelief, "but you cannot show us anything for it. When we see you in the glory, we will believe."
The refusal came from inside Israel. One writer treats holding back the bread as a choice of sides.
Ephraim had gone out to fight the enemy. But the men of Succoth held back, and they were in fact on the side of Midian. No one can be neutral at a time when the lines between Christ and the world are drawn. No one can be neutral without being on the side of the enemy. "Whoever is not with me is against me," says the Lord. So these men were as much the enemies of God as Midian was. They were more so, because they claimed to be God's people.
In the same chapter Gideon meets a complaint from Ephraim and a refusal from Succoth. He answers the two in opposite ways.
The men of Ephraim scold him for not calling them to the battle. With them he takes the lower place, the place of grace. That is the true, wise and godly position to hold toward those who want to stand out... But toward the men of Succoth and Penuel, who refused to supply bread to the "faint yet pursuing," he acts very differently. They must receive no quarter. Their conduct in refusing food to the 300, while they were fighting the enemy, was against the cause of God.
- Faint. Gideon asks for bread because his men are spent. He admits the weakness rather than hiding it.
- Pursuing. The faintness does not stop the chase; strength comes from God who gives power to those who have none.
- Refused. Succoth is an Israelite town whose name means tents. It denies food to the men fighting its battles.
- Exposed. Holding back at such a moment is not neutrality; it places a professed people of God on the enemy's side.
- Answered. Gideon meets Ephraim's complaint with grace and Succoth's betrayal with judgment. The response fits the fault.
And the chief men of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in thy hand, that we should give bread to thine army?
Gideon crosses the Jordan with three hundred exhausted men. He is still chasing the Midianite kings, and he asks a town of his own countrymen for bread. The leaders of Succoth sneer at him instead. Why would God's own people mock a man fighting their battle?
Gideon was asking his own nation for food while he fought for their freedom.
Gideon and his 300 men came to Succoth, a city of Israel, and asked for bread for the army (v. 5). They had every right to it, for they were fighting Israel's battles. But the leaders of the city refused with scorn. They said, in effect, that if the men had already defeated Zebah and Zalmunna they might have reason to expect food from Succoth (v. 6).
To refuse bread was to pick a side, and Succoth did not pick Gideon's.
So here, among the people of God, was a whole city that carried the name of Israel and yet refused all shared responsibility with those who were bearing witness for the LORD. They said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?" They had confidence in the enemy, and they would not compromise themselves by taking Israel's side. Many today carry the name of Christ and still want the friendship and the backing of the world. Afraid of compromising themselves, they make common cause with our enemies. They make the road harder for believers and keep them from being overcomers.
Commentators read the scene from two angles. Some take Succoth as a picture of the world, which "is neither able nor willing to supply refreshment to the man of faith" (J. N. Darby). Others stress that these men were Israelites, which makes the guilt worse.
No one can be neutral at a time when the lines between Christ and the world are drawn. To be neutral is to be on the side of the enemy. "Whoever is not with me is against me," says the Lord. So these men were as much God's enemies as Midian was — even more so, because they claimed to be the people of God.
The two towns Gideon approached carried meanings that made their answers absurd.
They were Israelites, and they were to share in the victory. What a shameful answer the men of Succoth and Penuel give, and what a contradiction to their names! Midian stands for the world and its power. Succoth means "tents", a pilgrim word, and men who lived in tents should be completely willing to help overthrow the power of the world. And Penuel means "the face of God." Men who look on the face of God should be ready to give all the help they can to capture the kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna.
Succoth demanded visible results before it would lift a finger. Unbelief still talks that way.
To the leaders of Succoth and Penuel it seemed foolish to fight such enemies with three hundred men. So we look like fools too when we speak of a glory that is certain. We must make up our minds to this. The world has no resources to give us for the conflict we are in. "You say you are kings and priests to God, and that you are to have glory," is the taunt of unbelief, "but you cannot show us anything for it. When we see you in the glory, we will believe."
Gideon's men were "faint, yet pursuing" (v. 4; ESV: "exhausted yet pursuing"), and they kept going without the bread.
What three little words could describe the Christian better than these? Not "faint and sitting down," not "faint and giving up," but "faint, yet pursuing." We have to do with Him who "gives power to the faint" (Isaiah 40:29). "To him who has no might he increases strength." This is a blessed use to make of our faintness and weariness: it draws on the full supply of grace and strength in Christ.
Gideon had just answered the complaining men of Ephraim gently. Succoth gets the opposite.
With the men of Ephraim, who scold him for not calling them to the battle, he takes the lower place — the place of grace. That is the true, wise and godly position to take towards people who want to be noticed. But he acts very differently towards the men of Succoth and Penuel, who refused bread to the "faint yet pursuing". They get no mercy. Refusing food to the 300 while they fought the enemy set them against the cause of God.
Even so, the reckoning waited. Gideon did not turn aside to settle the score: "Zebah and Zalmunna must not be allowed to escape; the judgment of the rebellious cities will be executed later" (H. L. Rossier).
- Faint — Gideon's men were exhausted, and their own people owed them bread.
- Refused — Succoth would not back a man who had not yet won. They trusted the enemy, not God.
- Exposed — one town was named "tents", the other "the face of God". Both denied their names. Staying neutral that day meant siding with Midian.
- Supplied — the three hundred went on anyway. God gives power to the faint, and the world's bread was never their real supply.
- Answered — Gideon met Ephraim's complaint with grace and Succoth's contempt with judgment. He finished the battle first.