Judg 8:4-17 | KingComments | STEP | The 300 men who have hardly taken the time to drink water ( ) understand that the time to rest has not yet come. The dedication to the cause of the LORD continues to inspire them. They experience what is written: “He gives strength to the weary, and to [him who] lacks might He increases power” ( ). Often the enemy still achieves a partial victory because we stop the battle prematurely because of fatigue. Of course, our powers are limited, but it is important that we have an eye for the ultimate goal of a particular battle. We must not rest until that goal has been achieved. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul lists all that he has gone through in his service for the Lord ( ). He says of someone else: “Because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life” ( ). These are people who “did not love their life even when faced with death” ( ). People with such an attitude continue, despite their fatigue. Unfortunately, they are scarce.

‏ Judges 8:4-17

Weary Yet Pursuing

The 300 men who have hardly taken the time to drink water (Jdg 7:6-7) understand that the time to rest has not yet come. The dedication to the cause of the LORD continues to inspire them. They experience what is written: “He gives strength to the weary, and to [him who] lacks might He increases power” (Isa 40:29). Often the enemy still achieves a partial victory because we stop the battle prematurely because of fatigue. Of course, our powers are limited, but it is important that we have an eye for the ultimate goal of a particular battle. We must not rest until that goal has been achieved.

In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul lists all that he has gone through in his service for the Lord (2Cor 11:16-33). He says of someone else: “Because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life” (Phil 2:30). These are people who “did not love their life even when faced with death” (Rev 12:11). People with such an attitude continue, despite their fatigue. Unfortunately, they are scarce.

Refusal to Cooperate

After the dispute with Ephraim had been settled by Gideon’s meek conduct, he is faced with a new dispute. The dispute with Ephraim was about the share in the battle. The dispute that is now arising concerns those who do not want to participate in the fight. It is not even about active participation, but only about supporting those who are active in the deliverance of the people. Gideon is entitled to their sympathy and support.

The inhabitants of Succoth, which lies on the territory of the tribe of Gad, calculate that 300 tired men will never be able to win over 15,000 experienced fighters. These will of course regroup after Israel’s first surprise attack. Gideon must first prove that he can really capture the kings of the enemy. In that half-hearted, hesitant and finally rejecting attitude they stand. They first want to see the results.

What they overlook, is the only thing that matters: Is the LORD with the 300 weary men or not? They characterize the people who first have to see and only then believe. They first want a tangible result and only then intend to share. It is about the things one sees. This is the spirit of the world and unbelief. Here is a whole city refusing any fellowship with the fighters for God. Such a thing can have a very discouraging effect on anyone who wants to work for the Lord. These people still think too much of the power of the enemy and obstruct all kinds of things for those who devote themselves to the cause of God.

Paul has also had the experience that all leave him, but he reacts differently from Gideon. He says: “May it not be counted against them” (2Tim 4:16). This does not mean that Gideon is reacting wrongly. Having bread and not giving it, while it is necessary because of the progress of the testimony, asks for retribution. Those who take a stand against the work of God will not escape their just punishment, even if it is not yet time for it, because the battle demands all the attention.

Penuel adopts the same attitude as Succoth and will therefore share in the same fate. Penuel means ‘face of God’. This city recalls Jacob’s wrestling with God that took place there some 500 years earlier – in Genesis 32 this place is called Peniel, with the same meaning (Gen 32:22-32). There Jacob was touched at the socket of his thigh, making him constantly aware that his weakness gives God opportunity to show His strength. The inhabitants have forgotten that lesson. Just like Succoth, they look at what is in front of them and calculate with human factors. The punishments announced by Gideon come to our attention in Jdg 8:16-17.

The Remainder Is Beaten

The main goal Gideon wants to achieve by chasing the remainder of the Midianites is to capture and eliminate both kings. Without the authority and strategy of these kings, the army of the Midianites is rudderless. These kings did not get involved in the battle themselves, but were in the background. From this position they passed on their orders to the warriors. These kings represent evil powers in the heavenly places, which also operate in the background and pass on their orders to the visible world and exert their influence on it. The leaders we met in Judges 7 (Jdg 7:25) represent persons by whom the evil powers exercise their authority.

In the meaning of the names of these kings their character is clearly expressed. Zebah means ‘a religious sacrifice’ or ‘a victim to sacrifice’. Zalmunna means ‘a forbidden shadow’ or ‘a spiritual shadow of death’. That there are two kings says something of the diversity of evil within the sphere of authority of satan who is called “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2). Zebah does not represent a sacrifice to God, but the massacre that satan without mercy wants to inflict upon God’s people. Zalmunna characterizes the atmosphere in which this takes place.

If we want to be free or unbound, we must not allow these enemies to influence our life. Strife – this is as we have seen the meaning of the name Midian – is an enemy that is also today making countless victims among God’s people. The terrain and the atmosphere in which strife takes place is the shadow of death. Strife does not brings life, but sows death and destruction. It is not for nothing that these two kings are located in the city of Karkor, which means ‘city of destruction’. Isn’t that an appropriate name?

There is another aspect to this victory that is important to point out. The victory over Midian is a foreshadowing of the final victory Israel will achieve over its enemies in the future (Psa 83:4-12; Isa 9:3-4).

The Repayment

Before he deals with the captured kings, Gideon will first fulfill his vows to Succoth and Penuel. These two cities have not only taken a neutral stance in the battle, but they have also refused to unite with the warriors for God and have withheld the necessary support. This means that in a practical sense they have chosen the side of the enemy. Whoever withhold from God’s people the means by which they would receive strength for battle, while those means are available, is playing into the hands of the enemy. The latter then has to deal with a weakened opponent.

Gideon’s indignation is therefore justified. In order to be able to express it in a good way, he uses a young man from Succoth whom he has captured. He lets him write down the names of the people he considers responsible for the attitude of the city. When he arrives at the city, he reminds them of their attitude and scornful remarks, pointing to the captured kings. They must have been ashamed. Now they must bow to the announced discipline.

Gideon chastises them because they behaved kindly toward the enemy at a time when the servants of God are tired and yet continued the pursuit. Thorns and thistles will make their sharp stimuli feel and remind them for a long time how half-hearted they behaved in the day of decision. It is a sensitive lesson. The thorns and thistles as means of discipline represent the distress, disappointments and sufferings necessary to repent those who have been half-hearted in their confession of the Lord Jesus and to make them realize that they have gone astray in connection with the cause of God.

In Penuel, the city with the tower that probably gives the city an important appearance, he demolishes the tower and kills the men. As with Succoth, the judgment is carried out here to those who could have participated in the battle against the enemy by at least encouraging the men of Gideon in their pursuit. Their arrangement is the result of purely human calculation. Such thoughts are strongholds raised up against the knowledge of God and that must be broken down.

The tower of Penuel seems to represent human thought and judgment, of having trust in themselves. There should be no room for this (2Cor 10:4-5). The first tower mentioned in the Bible is mentioned in Genesis 11. Why this tower is being built, is told: “Let us make for ourselves a name” (Gen 11:4). The tower serves to glorify man. Whoever owns and honors such a tower will always keep his distance from the battle in which faith is involved. But he who contends for the faith (Jude 1:3), breaks down that tower.