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Men of the Old Testament: Gideon – Judges 7  1969 the New York Jets and the Baltimore Colts met to play in Super Bowl III. The Colts entered the game having been proclaimed by media of the time as the “Greatest team in pro football history.” They had lost only one game that season and were considered such a lock to win the game that they were favored by a massive 19 points. The Jets entered the game supremely confident behind their brash quarterback Joe Namath who, in response to a Colts fan the week before the game, had guaranteed a victory over the might Colts. No one else, except maybe their mother, shared the Jets confidence before kickoff. The experts, however, could have been more wrong about Super Bowl III. Instead of the Colts winning by 19 points, the Jets won by 9. Nothing that the Colts attempted to do that day worked, and everything that the Jets tried found success. The vaunted Colts offense would commit four turnovers and would not even score a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter. The victory was so complete and so shocking that nfl.com has proclaimed it the greatest upset in NFL history. The Jets victory in Super Bowl III was a fantastic tale of the underdog winning, but imagine how shocking it would be if they had beaten the Colts only using three players. We would not say that that was an upset, we would call that a fairly tale. Well that is exactly the uphill battle that the army under Gideon was facing in Judges 7. Gideon’s rag-tag army of Israelites was already outnumbered by the Midianites 4-1, and then God decided that the Israelites had too many men. Yes you read that right, too many men. At a time when most generals would have been running for the hills because of the scarcity of their own army, God ordered Gideon to reduce his forces. Gideon responded by allowed all those who were afraid to leave and 22,000 left leaving him now with only 10,000 soldiers and a 13-1 disadvantage. God then commanded Gideon to reduce forces again until only 300 men were left to attack a force of 135,000. Even with such a miniscule force the Israelite victory, much like that of the Jets, was never really in doubt. God’s power was the real story of the day. The massive odds that were against Gideon and his army were really quite insignificant when compared to the awesome might of the God that Gideon obeyed. Questions for Discussion/Reflection 1. What long odds are you facing today? 2. Have there been any times in your Christian life when God performed a miracle or something unexpected? 3. What lessons do you feel can be learned from the life of Gideon? Further Study on Gideon Bible Dictionary Entries on Gideon Map Showing the Places of Judges 7 Staff Writer: Aaron Sharp |
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