(Judges 6, 7, 8)
OUR young readers will remember the story of the fleece and the dew with which we ended our last article. How gracious it was of God to grant Gideon’s request! For it ought to have been enough that God had promised to save Israel through him, instead of asking for a sign which should give him confidence. But we ourselves often fail in not trusting God’s word, if we read the Bible and are not quite sure that every promise or threat will surely come to pass. “And it was so”; for on the next day Gideon thrust the fleece together and wrung the dew out of the wool, “a bowl full of water,” and yet all around it was dry! Was not that wonderful?
And Gideon said to God, “Let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece: let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
In all this we can see the power of God, and also His love in strengthening the faith of His servant Gideon, who required many and many a lesson before he learned to trust God fully. As we notice and watch the ways and words of young children, we may often be reminded of more important things. Little Vena was going to school for the first time for a few morning hours. As her elder sister was putting on her hat and jacket, Vena said, “I suppose I shall be able to read when I come home to dinner!” Dear child! she had no idea of the hours, days, or weeks of patient instruction necessary, of the letters to master, the syllables to go through, and the first small words before she could make out longer words at a glance and be really “able to read.” So it is with deeper knowledge: “line upon line, precept upon precept,” so much is needful. And thus God taught Gideon.
The Spirit of the Lord had come upon Gideon after he had thrown down the altar of Baal, so that he was the more fit to work for the Lord, and fight His tattles: yet he and those with him had to learn that it was not by the power of Gideon, but by the power of God, that they should go against their enemies. God said that the army was too large and that it must be made smaller, lest they might be proud and think that their own arm had saved them; so all the timid ones were sent back to their homes, and even then the army was too large. God told Gideon to take the people down to the water, and there were three hundred men who lapped as a dog lappeth, putting the hand to the mouth while all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. Then said God, “By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go every man unto his place.” So God’s word settled the matter. He alone has the power and the right to do this at all times.
Then Gideon divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put a trumpet and a pitcher into the hands of every man, and there was a lighted lamp or torch inside each pitcher. Then, when they got to the outside of their enemies’ camp, each man followed the example of Gideon, blew their trumpets, broke the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands to blow with, and cried or shouted “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.” Thus were the enemies frightened, thus was the battle won, and all by the power of God, though He used Gideon as an instrument in His hands. Much more might be said or written on the subject, but this paper is already long enough.
It would be a good plan for every boy or girl who has read the story of Gideon in “THE SPRINGING WELL,” to open the Bible at the sixth of Judges, and read all that is found there about Gideon, until the end of the eighth chapter. And have you, dear children, no enemies to subdue? Have you nothing to conquer? Not, of course, with a sharp sword, but in another way. Is there no cross or sullen temper to keep down? Is there no bad or idle habit to overcome? Is there no wrong desire or jealous feeling put into your mind by Satan, the enemy of God, the great enemy of our souls? Then come to the Lord Jesus for pardon and peace, and look to God to help you, to teach you the lessons that you ought to learn, and to give you strength and power to follow the example of our Saviour and Deliverer.
Our Editor kindly offers to give three prizes for the three best answers to the following questions. Please mention your age at the bottom of your paper, and address it to “Gideon,” care of the Publisher of “The Springing Well,” 14, Paternoster Row, London, on or before July 31St.