To the Ends of Strength

Despite the initial slaughter of the Midianites and the best efforts of the Ephraimites to cut off their retreat, Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian, manage to get across the Jordan with fifteen thousand men. But Gideon and his faithful three hundred pursue them, for, after all, God had promised to deliver Midian into his hand with this little band (Judg. 7:7). They come to the Jordan “exhausted but still in pursuit,” willingly pushing themselves to the limits of their strength to secure as total a victory as possible. “[Gideon] is not content to chase them out of the country, but he will chase them out of the world (Job 18:18),” Matthew Henry writes.

The Midianites follow the Jabbok River toward the east, into the heartland of the tribe of Gad. The Gadites, who keep large herds of livestock (Num. 32:1), probably have been severely oppressed and impoverished by the Midianites, since theirs is the first region the invaders would enter on their yearly march across Israel. Therefore, we might expect them to be eager to vex the Midianites by helping Gideon. But they are not willing even to supply bread for his men. At the city of Succoth, where he first asks for provisions, the leaders answer him by saying, “ ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?’ ” The leaders of Penuel, the next city up the valley, say the same. Clearly they fear Midianite reprisals should Gideon fail in his pursuit. But if Gideon is a man of wavering faith, what shall we say about these Gadites? They have seen a massive army of Midianites decimated and put to flight by an act of God. They have seen two princes of the Midianites captured and beheaded. It is not difficult to see that God is at work to deliver Israel from its oppression. And yet, they do not see it. Their fear of men—the possible reprisals of the Midianites if they help Gideon—prevents them from seeing the work of God before their eyes.

Unfortunately, their fear puts them between a rock and a hard place, for Gideon promises that he will bring reprisals on them when God delivers the Midianite kings into his hands. His faith, at last, is not wavering. And it proves well-founded, for he and his band, attacking the Midianites at a moment when they feel secure, manage to capture the two kings and rout the entire army.