Year 4, Day 268: Judges 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Power

• Power: This is the natural outcome when we truly get our authority from the king.  When our authority is from God, we are equipped with His power to accomplish His will.  We act on His behalf in a world that He desperately loves.

Judges 7 grants us a natural lens through which we can view power.  Judges 7 is all about the rout of the Midianites at the hands of the Hebrew people.  It is also about Gideon learning to rely upon the power of God and not his own strength.  It is about learning to trust in God as king.

Look at what happens here.  God tells Gideon that he will deliver the Hebrew people.  32,000 soldiers march out, but 22,000 leave because they are afraid of what the battle might bring.  From the 10,000 that are not afraid, 300 are selected by God while the rest are sent home.  Gideon watches his military force be taken from 32,000 to 300 in a very short span of time.  I can only imagine how this fledgling leader felt.

But look at where God goes with this.  God is essentially asking Gideon to rely upon Him as king.  God tells Gideon to rely upon His power.  God even sends Gideon a dream to bolster his confidence! 

How does Gideon respond?  He worships God!  Gideon turns the corner in his spiritual relationship with God and truly believes.  He truly embraces the mantle of leadership.  He understands that the power that comes from having God as king is far more significant than the power that comes from ourselves.  He marches out in confidence with his greatly reduced force and finds absolute victory.  What an amazing story!

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