Tusite ‘Okatopa 26, 2021
Ko e Heletā ‘a Sihova mo Kitione!
“A sword for the Lord
and for Gideon!”
Fakamaau 7 (Judges 7)
(v. 20) Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
(v. 20) ‘Io, ko e tolu‘i vāhenga na‘a nau ifi
talupite, mo ha‘aki ‘a e ngaahi sioki, pea na‘a nau puke ‘a e ngaahi tūhulu ‘i
honau nima to‘ohema, mo e talupite ‘i honau to‘omata‘u ke ifi; pea nau kalanga,
Ko e Heletā ‘a Sihova mo Kitione!
G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible
This is the story of perhaps one of the most remarkable conflicts in the whole history of the people. As we have seen, it was a time when they had been cruelly oppressed as the result of disobedience. It was of the utmost importance that their deliverance should be evidently by divine action. Nothing would have been more disastrous at that time than for them to have imagined that they were able to extricate themselves from the circumstances in the midst of which they were suffering.
Therefore, by divine direction, the first work Gideon was called on to do was to sift the army. In response to his call to arms, thirty-two thousand had responded. The result shows that they lacked the very attitudes necessary for success in war. The first test imposed was a proclamation that all who were faint-hearted and afraid should return. They were given their opportunity to act voluntarily on this principle. The result was that twenty-two thousand went back.
And still the number was too great because the quality of the men making
up the ten thousand lacked something of vital importance. A simple test was
imposed which revealed these things. Men who bent down to get a drink of water
were not sufficiently alive to the danger. An ambush might surprise them. Men
who stooped and caught the water in their hands and lapped it were watchers as
well as fighters. In other words, men who took no unnecessary time over
necessary things were the men who were needed. This sifting resulted in the
return of nine thousand seven hundred. Thus the army of Gideon was reduced to a
handful of three hundred.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon :: Morning and Evening
Gideon ordered his men to do two things: covering up a torch in an
earthen pitcher, he bade them, at an appointed signal, break the pitcher and
let the light shine, and then sound with the trumpet, crying, "The sword
of the Lord, and of Gideon! the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!" This is
precisely what all Christians must do. First, you must shine; break the pitcher
which conceals your light; throw aside the bushel which has been hiding your
candle, and shine. Let your light shine before men; let your good works be
such, that when men look upon you, they shall know that you have been with
Jesus. Then there must be the sound, the blowing of the trumpet. There must be
active exertions for the ingathering of sinners by proclaiming Christ
crucified. Take the gospel to them; carry it to their door; put it in their
way; do not suffer them to escape it; blow the trumpet right against their
ears. Remember that the true war-cry of the Church is Gideon's watchword,
"The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!" God must do it, it is His own
work. But we are not to be idle; instrumentality is to be used-"The sword
of the Lord, and of Gideon!" If we only cry, "The sword of the
Lord!" we shall be guilty of an idle presumption; and if we shout,
"The sword of Gideon!" alone, we shall manifest idolatrous reliance
on an arm of flesh: we must blend the two in practical harmony, "The sword
of the Lord, and of Gideon!" We can do nothing of ourselves, but we can do
everything by the help of our God; let us, therefore, in His name determine to
go out personally and serve with our flaming torch of holy example, and with
our trumpet tones of earnest declaration and testimony, and God shall be with
us, and Midian shall be put to confusion, and the Lord of hosts shall reign for
ever and ever.
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