ESOCS Devotional 24 March 2025 – Trust God For Victory
MEMORY VERSE: “Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.” Judges 7:7 NKJV
TEXT: JUDGES 7:1-18
Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
2 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. 7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.” 8 So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
9 It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, 11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.
13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”
14 Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”
15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.” 16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ”
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Today’s passage tells how God reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 to only 300 men in order to defeat a massive army of 135,000 Midianite troops. God tested both Gideon’s faith and the faith of his soldiers. He showed that He is in control, and no army can stand in His way. He also showed that the glory belongs to Him alone. This account is important today because He reveals through this story lessons on prevailing in spiritual warfare: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12 NKJV).
From God’s command to Gideon to reduce the size of his army, He reveals that success in spiritual warfare requires that you trust Him and have faith in Him alone to win the battle.
The message for believers today is that you should never rely upon your own strength to defeat your spiritual enemy. Instead, like Joshua and Gideon, God wants you to put your faith and trust in Him alone: “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God” (Ps. 20:7). Do you trust in God alone to deliver you from the enemy? Or, are you relying upon your own skills and abilities?
God encouraged Gideon through this account to bolster his faith. When you walk in faith and obedience, God promises to instil fear into your enemy and cause them to flee from you. Like Gideon, God knows when your faith is weak. When you let His Spirit lead you, He will encourage you.
Gideon was like the barley loaf. He was rejected by most of the people and was poor in spirit. Yet, with God’s power, he knocked over the mighty Midianites. Like Gideon, God will lift you up when you humble yourself in faith to Him: “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (Jam. 4:10); “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble” (Lk. 1:52). Have you humbled yourself before God?
Are you ready to receive the victory? Resist pride, remove fear and lethargy, and submit to God who loves you through Jesus Christ. Understand that in Jesus you occupy a unique position, which qualifies you for the victory!!
CHALLENGES
- When God tests you, will He find you trusting in your strength or in His strength?
PRAYER POINT
- Oh Lord, refine me like gold so I will be bold to say my body is your sanctuary, in Jesus name. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Judges 6:27–40; Romans 7:1–11; 7:12– 25
ESOCS Devotional 24 March 2025
