Tag: Joshua 2

Judges 6-7 Part 2: God turned Weakness into Strength

Have you experienced an event or time when what you considered your weaknesses turned out to be a key strength? Even after numerous direct confirmations provided by God, Gideon was hesitant to take the lead to fight against the Midianites. However, his deliberate, careful personality played a key role in the later part of war against the Midianites.

Gideon: The History Maker at Night

Many of the important events that transformed Gideon took place at night. 

First, he took ten men to demolish the altar of Baal at night.  Although his did this at night because because he feared other poeple who served Baal, he still obeyed the LORD (Judges 6:27). Second, God soaked and dried fleece at Gideon’s request over the night (Judges 6:36-40). Gideon was in a desperate need of God’s confirmation before going against the Midianites, and God responded to his request by showing the soaked and dried fleece over the night. Third, when Gideon led 300 men to cause a great confusion by the sound of trumpets and breaking of jars to the Midianite camps, it happened at night (Judges 7:16-21). This night was the harbinger of Gideon’s colossal victory over 135,000 Midianites. 

God’s Delicate Walk with Gideon

From chapter 6 and 7, we see how God walked very delicately to build up Gideon’s trust in Him. Gideon was a very careful man who was in absolute need of certainty. However, God fully made the most of Gideon’s character and customized God’s lead over Gideon based on his character. In fact, Gideon’s deliberate, careful personality turned out to be his strength later in the battle. Let’s go over how the LORD God led Gideon in his pace to confirm numerous times that the LORD would give him victory over the Midianites.  

  • The LORD sent his angel to Gideon to tell him that the LORD was with him (Judges 6:12, 14, and 16) 
  • God confirmed that He would deliver Israel through Gideon by providing clear signs of fully soaking fleece and fully drying fleece (6:36-30) 
  • The LORD confirmed that he would give the Midianites into Gideon’s hands with 300 men (Judges 7:7)
  • The LORD gave courage to Gideon that He would give the Midiniates into Gideon’s hands and told him to go down to their camp with his servant Purah (Judges 7:9) 
  • The LORD allowed Gideon to hear the dream by a Midianite soldier that Gideon would turn the Midian camp upside down (Judges 7:13-14)  

After these confirmations, Gideon in his own volition, finally, responded in worshipping God (Judges 7:15). It took at least five strong confirmation by the LORD for Gideon to soak in God’s promise of delivering the Midianites into Gideon’s hands. This whole process showed the patience of God and God’s willingness to work through Gideon’s weaknesses and hesitation. 

Similarities between War with the Midianites and War with Jericho

There are some similarities between the conquest of Jericho by Joshua and the war with the Midinites by Gideon. The first element is the source of final courage from the enemy side. When Joshua sent two spies to Jericho, it was confirmed that the entire Canaanites were in fear of the Israelites as Rahab said. The extra morale boost came from the word of Rahab, an inhabitant of Jericho. Similarly, Gideon’s final courage was mustered when he personally heard the dream interpretation by the Midianites solider that Gideon would turn the Midianites camp upside down. The LORD used unexpected sources to confirm His deliverance and injected extra doses of courage to the Israelites leaders: Joshua and Gideon. 

The second similarities between the two are the use of sound wave to defeat the enemies. Joshua’s Israel used the shouting to collapse the wall of Jericho. Gideon used the crashing sound of empty jars and sound of trumpet to instill confusion to the enemies into killing themselves. 

What’s notable is how Gideon come up with this idea of confusing enemies by the sound of trumpet and breaking empty jars. God never gave this specific instruction, yet Gideon used this tactic. Was Gideon reminded of what Joshua did in his battle with Jericho? We do not know for sure, but it remains a possibility. 

Swiftness of the Overall Process

Note the timeline of this entire process. The assembling of the armies took place in the morning, and the reduction of the army down to 1/100th of its original size probably happened over the next few hours. At that same night, Gideon and 300 men confused the enemy into harming each other and they started to flee. Gideon and 300 men started to pursue them.

Most of the important actions, events and turning points all took place within 24 hours. When God decided to deliver His people, His action was certainly very swift.

Why did God chose Gideon?

God was the ultimate source for Gideon’s victory. However, we can still learn a few important lessons from Gideon’s actions, especially what he did after the Midianites started to flee from the initial “sound” attack that caused confusion.

He seemed to be a man of meticulous planning, in which his military prowess shined. When the Midianites started to flee, he quickly assembled people from Naphthali, Asher, and Manasseh, probably knowing that 300 men would not be enough to finish them off (Judges 7:23). In addition, he quickly sent a message to the men of Ephraim to position themselves in strategic locations near the Jordan River to cut off the escape route of the Midianites (Judges 7:24). 

Gideon’s quick summoning of the rest of Israel prompted a question. When did he plan to assemble the rest of the Israelite tribes to attak the fleeing Midianites? Did Gideon come up with this plan after Midianites started to flee? Based on the character that Gideon displayed from chapter 6, I think Gideon formulated multiple scenarios and contingencies between day and night time (from verse Judges 7:8 and 7:9), after finalizing 300 men and before the same night when the LORD started to speak to him again. In this time gap, from afternoon to night, Gideon may have devised many scenarios in which God will deliver the Midianites, and possibly during this time, Gideon planned to assemble other Israelites tribes to finish the enemy off. 

Conclusion

God walked with Gideon according to Gideon’s pace and trust level. God made the best of Gideon’s character of meticulousness, which seemed to shine at the later part of the war with the Midianites. Let’s find comfort in God who makes the best of our character and personality in accomplishing His great works.

Joshua 2: God the pursuer and Rahab the responder

Summary

Joshua sent two spies to scout out the land of Canaan. Rahab found them and hid them from the pursuers. Amazingly, Rahab knew that Jericho was given to the Israelites and confessed the God of Israelites as the true God. To the two spies, Rahab asked them to spare her household from the destruction. They made a vow and agreed to have a concrete, clear sign to be separated from destruction – a scarlet rope. The spies went back to Joshua and reported that the heart of the Canaan had melted for they were in the fear of the Israelites.

The purpose of the two spies 

What was the purpose of sending out the spies? Back in Numbers 13-14, about 40 years prior to Joshua chapter 2, when Moses was leading the Israelites, twelve spies were chosen and sent to scout out the land of Canaan. This expedition turned out to be a disaster as ten out of the twelve spies reported and displayed a pessimistic view of the opportunity, leading the whole congregation into fear, to the point of disobeying and sinning against the LORD. As a result, 40 days of wilderness journey ballooned into a 40-year wilderness life.

Perhaps, because of the failed expedition 40 years ago with the twelve spies, Joshua sent out just two spies secretly this time. OK. This may explain why Joshua sent them secretly. Notice the stark difference in the faith displayed by these two spies in (verse 14) as they trusted fully that the LORD had already given the land to the Israelites. These two spies chosen by Joshua, placed their full trust in the promise of the LORD. 

But why was sending out the spies necessary? Was it absolutely necessary? If it was evident that the LORD had given the land, then the Israelites could have just invaded the land. I think the expedition of the two spies served different purposes for different people: For the LORD, for Rahab, for Joshua, and the Israelites. For each, bullets below provide the overall purpose for each player.

  • For Joshua: Joshua might have been a very deliberate, careful person. He was in charge of the Israelites and especially assuming leadership after Moses was likely to be an extraordinary burden. For that reason, Joshua wanted to be assured that the LORD had given the land by assessing the condition of the people in Jericho.
  • For Rahab by the LORD: The LORD is a pursuer of His people. Probably the most strategically personal role of the spies was to find (or to be found by) Rahab so that Rahab can be spared from the destruction. Just from a strategic viewpoint, this expedition may not have been that necessary. However, we can see that the LORD wanted to ensure that His people are saved. The LORD probably inspired Joshua to send two spies to search for God’s people and ensure that they would not perish.
  • For the Israelites: Knowing the melted heart of Jericho and other Canaan people would have been a tremendous boost to the morale of the Israelites.

Chosen one vs. Responding one

Then, why was only Rahab (and her family) saved? Would this be considered unfair? 

I believe an equal opportunity to turn back was given to all people in Jericho. Based on Rahab’s confession, the rest of Jericho people heard the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites, which had taken place 40 years ago, and the crossing of the Jordan River, which took place just a few days prior (Josh 2:8). The same input was given to people in Jericho universally. All of them heard the same news about what the LORD and the Israelites had done. However, only Rahab and her family responded to seek the true God of Heaven. 

Many were called. Although their hearts melted, they did not turn back. People of Canaan were given an opportunity to turn back from their evil ways and seek the true LORD. However, only Rahab responded. 

A clear communication between Rahab and Spies

For Rahab, her encounter with the two spies was a life-or-death situation. The two spies also took their responsibility very carefully. For this reason, two spies ensured that the sign and communication with Rahab remained crystal clear. The two spies told her to tie the cord of scarlet in the window and made a strong warning to her that no one would go out of the doors of her house. Rahab agreed. In this expedition, I see that two spies made this sign very clear to absolutely remove any sign of ambiguity to ensure Rahab and her family would be spared from destruction. 

Conclusion

The LORD seeks. David made this confession in Psalm 23: the LORD will follow me all the days of my life – a better translation is “the LORD will pursue me….” The LORD personally reached out to Rahab and moved Joshua to send spies to find Rahab so that she and her household would be saved from this judgment. 

The LORD sought you. He sent Jesus Christ to save you. 
Let this chapter be a comfort and peace to you all.