RATHER less than one per cent is a small proportion, comparatively speaking; but, as a matter of fact, only three hundred men remained with Gideon on only eve of the battle, although thirty-two thousand mustered at his first call to arms. Of this number of volunteers twenty-two thousand viewed the host of the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east spread along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and promptly accepted the permission to depart to their homes with feelings of profound gratitude.
Ten thousand remained; but ninety-seven out of every hundred of these, when put to Jehovah’s test, thought more of an effective means of satisfying their own thirst than of the necessity of guarding against being taken unawares by the enemy. These were also dismissed, for self-denial and vigilance were, above all things, essential to Jehovah’s men-of-war at such a crisis.
The little band now numbered no more than three hundred, — a mere handful; but then they were faithful men, men who had counted the cost of the undertaking to themselves, men who knew the overwhelming power of the enemy, men who watched ninety-nine out of every hundred of their brethren strike their tents and go home to their wives and families, leaving the battle to take care of itself. Such men could be depended upon to obey the word of Jehovah through their leader under any circumstances. They knew why they had answered to the blast of Gideon’s trumpet. They could be relied on to stand exactly where they were told, and to do exactly what they were told, though it were in the darkness of the night and upon the confines of the enemy’s camp. And implicit obedience was specially requisite to carry out the peculiar mode of attack that Jehovah designed them to make upon the host of the invaders.
The remarkable stratagem by which the huge host as routed is well known. Every man was furnished with a trumpet and a torch and an empty pitcher. In the darkness of the night, at the word of their leader, they were to surround the vast encampment of their foes. At the beginning of the middle watch this was done. The three hundred men stood “every man in his place round about the camp,” waiting for the signal from Gideon.
It was a time for contemplation as each man eagerly listened for the sound of the trumpet. When men engaged in perilous enterprises find themselves alone in intervals of inaction they often become a prey to misgivings and doubts. We say not that these brave men entertained such thoughts; but they certainly had more reason for doing so than many who have taken advantage of such moments of solitude to flee from their posts. It was true that dangers were thick about them; but Jehovah had called them there; and we may well suppose that they encouraged their hearts with His promise to their fathers that He would fight for them, and that one of them should chase a thousand of their enemies (Lev. 26:88And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. (Leviticus 26:8); Josh. 23:1010One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. (Joshua 23:10)).
Suddenly the brooding stillness of the midnight was riven by the blast of Gideon’s trumpet and by the ringing battlecry of the Hebrews. In response, from every quarter of the camp, three hundred trumpet-calls rang out upon the quivering air; and three hundred torches flamed forth upon the darkness. The sleeping host leaped to its feet. In every direction were trumpets and lights. Fear took hold upon them; and “all the host ran and cried and fled.”
The equipment of these Hebrew heroes may serve as an illustration of spiritual truths which we do well to have before us in these days. We refer especially to the trumpet and the torch with which each man was provided as the weapons for this particular warfare.
The saints of God are today confronted with devastating hosts of evil men and evil manners. It has been so since the church began, then less but now more. Still the path of faith has always been one of stern and uncompromising resistance against such invading forces. And the mode of resistance is not in a carnal fashion, but by a faithful witness in word and deed to the revealed will of God as contained in the scripture.
Now let us take the trumpet as a figure (we do not say a type) of the testimony of the lip, and the torch as a figure of the testimony of the life. And both these kinds of witness are necessary to fight the “good fight” of faith.
There is of course a witness to give for Christ always and everywhere. Confession of Jesus as Lord with the mouth is an indispensable mark of true faith (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9))., But there is also testimony under special circumstances. We now speak of blowing the trumpet in the very ears of the foe who seeks to rob you of your wheat and your wine and your oil—the fatness of the land that God has given you.
Do you ask what this means in New Testament language? Let us take but one example from many. The Lord enjoins us to remember Him in His death by eating bread and drinking wine (Luke 22:19, 2019And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:19‑20)), laying it upon our love to do it as often as possible till He come again (1 Cor. 11:25, 2625After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. (1 Corinthians 11:25‑26)). But it is found that by arrangements of purely human origin, this either cannot be done at all, or only at stated times with considerable intervals. Do you not see here the tents of the Amalekites? Is not this a device of the enemy to keep you out of your own vineyard? Is it not an attempt to rob you of a season of holy worship and joy, the fruit of obedience to the word “received of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:2323For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: (1 Corinthians 11:23))?
Perhaps you admit the truth of this. You see that the Lord says, Remember Me; but man says, No, you shall do so only as often as I please to arrange it. Are you going to be one of those who just look at the armies of these brigands encamped in the valley of Christendom, whose very presence means that you cannot enjoy the spiritual freedom and blessing in Christ which is your inalienable heritage, and then slink home to their firesides Tike beaten curs? Or, are you prepared to “stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong? “Will you take the trumpet, face the foe, let the craven-hearted turncoats go, and brave the dangers, the darkness, the isolation, ready to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ?
It will not be difficult to discover that there are many, many other ways in which the enemy is seeking to plunder from us what God has given us richly to enjoy. In every case bring the exact truth of God to bear upon the artifice, and testify against it. Let feebleness be no excuse. After all what are trumpet-blasts? Only small volumes of air forced through narrow orifices, causing sound. Nevertheless by God’s help they blew down the walls of Jericho, and blew the host of Midian over Jordan. Perhaps you have only an old battered ram’s horn. Never mind; blow in faith; the glory to God will be the greater. If you but believe, you have a title to speak (2 Cor. 4:1313We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; (2 Corinthians 4:13)).
But along with the trumpet went the torch, which was concealed in an empty pitcher, forming a kind of dark lantern until the critical moment came. Then there was a crash of falling potsherds; and the torch, now held aloft, shed its light far and near athwart the darkness.
We must not forget the torch, my brethren, nor the broken pitchers either. We sometimes get both hands to the trumpet, and think of nothing else except of blowing a loud blast. The truth is that the potsherds suggest a truth weighty but not welcome. As the pitchers were to be smashed ere the torch was displayed, so must death work in us before the life of Jesus can be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Cor. 4:1111For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:11)).
Christ is the light. He must be seen in us, and to this end the wretched life of self must be shattered. All that we were as men in the flesh was concluded judicially at the cross (Rom. 6). Oh, that the power of this truth might practically smash to atoms the vanity and pride and self-will of our old Adam, so that the new life—the life of Christ—might be displayed by us.
Is not this, beloved saints, oftentimes, the point of our failure? We work well at the trumpets; there are volumes of sound, much to be heard, but, alas! nothing to be seen. There are no torches; because they are hidden in the earthen vessels. We want therefore more of the practical destruction of the flesh. Then the beautiful God-pleasing life of Jesus would be reflected out upon the darkness and evil and sin of this world. Then the heartless selfishness of unsaved men and carnal believers would be met by a testimony of meekness and gentleness, of humility of mind and self-denial—a testimony always acknowledged by God and man, because it is peculiarly of Christ. For only one absolutely unselfish man has ever been seen in the world’s history by either God or man—the man Christ Jesus.
Much more might be said; but no more now than to repeat that if we speak for Christ let us live “Christ.” If we stand for the truth against the encroachments of the foe, let us be content to have all self-aggrandizement shattered to pieces. What matters if I am counted but a worthless and despicable potsherd in the eyes of the world and the worldly church, so long as Christ is the more clearly displayed in me on account of such a fracture!