The Lord's Coming Part 10

_C. H. M._

GIDEON AND HIS COMPANIONS

Judges vi.-viii.

PART I.

In studying the history of the nation of Israel, we notice two distinct eras, namely, the era of _unity_, and the era of _individuality_--the period in which the twelve tribes acted as one man, and the period in the which one man was called to act for the twelve tribes. We may take the Book of Joshua as ill.u.s.trating the former; and the Book of Judges as a sample of the latter. The most cursory reader cannot fail to discern the difference between these two books. The one is characterized by external power and glory; the other, by weakness and failure. Power is stamped on the former, ruin on the latter. In that, Jehovah gives the land to Israel; in this, Israel fails to take the land from Jehovah.

Now, all this is expressed in the two words which may be regarded as the motto of the two books, namely, "Gilgal" and "Bochim." In the book of Joshua we find the congregation always starting from Gilgal to prosecute the war, and returning thither to celebrate their victory.

Gilgal was their centre, because there they were circ.u.mcised; and there the reproach of Egypt was rolled away. See Josh. v. 9, 10.

But no sooner have we opened the book of Judges than the eye rests upon the sad record, "The angel of the Lord came up _from Gilgal to Bochim_, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars, but ye have not obeyed my voice; why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their G.o.ds shall be a snare unto you. And it came to pa.s.s, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochim, that is, weepers; and they sacrificed there unto the Lord" (Judges ii. 1-5).

Here, then, we have, very remarkably, the contrast between the two books of Joshua and Judges--the book of unity and the book of individuality--the book of external power and glory, and the book of internal weakness, failure, and ruin. Alas! alas! the glory speedily departed. Israel's national greatness soon faded away. "The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.... And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim.... And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them; and they were greatly distressed."

This, truly, is a gloomy and humiliating record. Joshua's sword was sheathed. Those bright days in the which he had led Israel's compact host to splendid victories over the kings of Canaan, were pa.s.sed and gone. The moral influence of Joshua and of the elders that survived him had pa.s.sed away, and the whole nation had rushed, with terrible avidity, into the gross moral evils and abominable idolatries of those nations whom they ought to have driven out from before them. In a word, the ruin was complete, so far as Israel was concerned. Like Adam, in the garden; and Noah, in the restored earth; so Israel, in the land of Canaan, utterly failed. Adam ate the forbidden fruit; Noah got drunk; and Israel bowed before the altars of Baal.

Thus much as to man. But, thank G.o.d, there is another side of the picture. There is what we may call a bright and beauteous "_Nevertheless_;" for G.o.d will be G.o.d, no matter what man may prove himself to be. This is an unspeakable relief and consolation to the heart. G.o.d abideth faithful. Here is faith's stronghold, come what may. G.o.d is always to be counted upon, spite of all man's failure and shortcoming. His goodness and faithfulness form the resource and the refuge of the soul amid the darkest scenes of human history.

This soul-sustaining truth shines out with remarkable l.u.s.tre in the very pa.s.sage from which we have just given such a depressing quotation. "Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them." But mark the following words, so ill.u.s.trative of the individuality of the book of Judges: "And when the Lord raised them up judges, then _the Lord was with the judge_, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies _all the days of the judge_: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them"

(Judges ii. 16, 18).

In these last quoted words, we have the great root principle of the book of Judges--the divine secret of the ministry of the Baraks, the Gideons, the Jephthahs, and the Samsons, the record of whose ministry occupies so large a portion of this most interesting section of inspiration. Israel had failed--sadly, shamefully, inexcusably failed.

They had forfeited all claims to the protection of Jehovah's shield.

They were justly given over into the ruthless hands of the kings of Canaan. As to all this there could be no possible question.

"Nevertheless" Jehovah's heart could feel for His poor, oppressed, and groaning Israel. True, they had proved themselves naughty and unworthy, yet His ear was ever ready to catch their very earliest groan; yea, we are even told, in chapter x., that "His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel."

What touching words! What tenderness! What deep compa.s.sion! How such a statement lets us into the profound depths of the heart of G.o.d! The misery of His people moved the loving heart of Jehovah. The very faintest and earliest symptoms of brokenness and contrition, on the part of Israel, met with a ready and gracious response, on the part of Israel's G.o.d. It mattered not how far they had wandered, how deeply they had sunk, or how grievously they had sinned; G.o.d was ever ready to welcome the feeblest breathings of a broken heart. The springs of divine mercy and compa.s.sion are absolutely inexhaustible. The ocean of His love is boundless and unfathomable; and hence, the very moment His people take the place of confession, He enters the place of forgiveness. He delights to pardon, according to the largeness of His heart, and according to the glory of His own Name. He finds His peculiar joy in blotting out transgressions, in healing, restoring, and blessing, in a manner worthy of Himself. This glorious truth shines in the history of Israel; it shines in the history of the Church; and it shines in the history of every individual believer.

But we turn to our immediate subject, namely, "Gideon and his companions," as presented in that portion of the book of Judges given at the head of this paper. May the eternal Spirit unfold and apply its precious contents to our souls!

Chapter vi. opens with a very sad and depressing record--a record only too characteristic of Israel's entire history: "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strongholds." What a humiliating picture! What a contrast to the conquering host that had crossed the Jordan and walked across the ruins of Jericho! How sad, how humbling, to think of Israel crouching and hiding in the dens and caves of the mountains, through the terror of the uncirc.u.mcised Midianites!

It is well for us to consider this picture, and receive its salutary lesson. Israel's power and glory consisted simply in having the presence of G.o.d with them. Without that, they were as water spilt upon the ground, or the autumn leaf before the blast. But the divine presence could not be enjoyed in connection with allowed evil; and therefore, when Israel forgot their Lord, and wandered away from Him into the forbidden paths of idolatry, He had to recall them to their senses by stretching out His governmental rod, and causing them to feel the crushing power of one or another of the nations around.

Now all this has a voice and a lesson for us. So long as G.o.d's people walk with Him in holy obedience, they have nothing to fear. They are perfectly safe from the snares and a.s.saults of all their spiritual foes. Nought can, by any means, harm them while they abide in the shelter of G.o.d's own presence. But, clearly, that presence demands and secures holiness. Unjudged evil cannot dwell there. To live in sin and talk of security--to attempt to connect the presence of G.o.d with sanctioned evil--is wickedness of the deepest dye. No, it must not be!

"G.o.d is greatly to be feared in the a.s.sembly of the saints; and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about Him." "Thy testimonies are very sure; holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, forever." If G.o.d's people forget these wholesome truths, He knows how to recall them to their remembrance by the rod of discipline; and, blessed forever be His name, He loves them too well to spare that rod, however reluctant He may be to use it. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, G.o.d dealeth with you as with sons: for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastis.e.m.e.nt, whereof all are partakers, then are ye b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. _Wherefore lift_ _up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees_" (Hebrews xii. 6-12).

These are encouraging words for the people of G.o.d, at all times. The discipline may be--no doubt is--painful; but when we know a Father's hand is in it, and when we realize what His object is, we can pa.s.s through the trial with exercised hearts, and thus reap the peaceable fruits of righteousness. On the other hand, if we meet the discipline with an impatient spirit, a rebellious will, an unsubdued mind, we only render it necessary for the pressure to be continued and augmented, for our loving Father will never let us alone. He will have us in holy subjection to Himself, cost what it may. He graciously takes our part against ourselves, subdues the proud risings of our will, and crushes all that in us which hinders our growth in holiness, grace, and divine knowledge.

Oh! what infinite grace shines in the fact that our G.o.d occupies Himself with our very failure and follies, our waywardness and wilfulness, our sins and shortcomings, in order to deliver us from them! He knows all about us. He understands and takes into account all our surroundings and all our inward tendencies, and He deals with us in infinite wisdom and perfect patience, keeping ever before Him that one gracious object, to make us partakers of His holiness, and--wondrous thought!--to bring out in us the expression of His own nature and character. Surely, then, in the presence of such abounding grace and mercy, we may well "lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees."

PART II.

There is one truth which shines out with uncommon l.u.s.tre in the book of Judges, and that is, that G.o.d is ever to be counted upon, even amid the darkest scenes of human history; and, moreover, faith can always count upon G.o.d; G.o.d never fails a trusting heart--no, never. He never has failed, never will, never can fail the individual soul that confides in Him, that takes hold of His precious word, in the artless simplicity of a faith that trusts Him in the face of man's deepest failure and shortcoming.

This is most consolatory and encouraging, at all times, and under all circ.u.mstances. True it is--alas! how true! man fails in everthing.

Trace him where you will; mark him in whatever sphere of action or responsibility he occupies, and it is the same sad tale, over and over again, of unfaithfulness, failure, and ruin. Let man be set up in business, as often as he may, with the largest capital and the fairest prospects, and he is sure to become a bankrupt. It has ever been so, from the days of Eden down to the present moment. We may a.s.sert, without fear of contradiction, that there has not been one solitary exception to the dismal rule, in the history of Adam's fallen race. We must never forget this. True faith never forgets it. It would be the blindest folly to attempt to ignore the fact that _ruin_ is stamped, in characters deep and broad, upon the entire of man's story, from first to last.

But, in the face of all this, G.o.d abideth faithful. He cannot deny Himself. Here is the resource and the resting-place of faith. It recognizes and owns the ruin; but it counts on G.o.d. Faith is not blind to human failure; but it fixes its gaze on divine faithfulness. It confesses the ruin of man; but it counts on the resources of G.o.d.

Now, all this comes strikingly out in the interesting and instructive story of Gideon. He, truly, was made to realize, in his own person and experience, the fact of Israel's fallen condition. The contrast between Joshua and Gideon is as striking as can be, so far as regards the question of their condition and circ.u.mstances. Joshua could place his foot on the necks of the kings of Canaan. Gideon had to thrash his wheat in a corner to hide it from the Midianites. The day of Joshua was marked by splendid victories; the day of Gideon was a day of small things. But the day of small things for man is the day of great things for G.o.d. So Gideon found it. True, it was not permitted him to witness the sun and moon arrested in their course, or the cities of the uncirc.u.mcised levelled with the ground. His was a day of barley cakes and broken pitchers, not of astounding miracles and brilliant achievements. But G.o.d was with him; and this was enough. "There came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, _thou mighty man of valor_" (Judges vi. 11, 12).

What words were these to fall upon the ear of Gideon, cowering in the winepress, through fear of the enemy! They were words from heaven to lift his soul above the trials, and sorrows, and humiliations of earth--words of divine power and virtue to infuse vigor into his depressed and sorrowing heart. "Thou mighty man of valor!" How hard was it for Gideon to take such wondrous accents in! How difficult to apply them to himself! Where was the might or where was the valor?

Most surely not in himself or in his surroundings. Where then? In the living G.o.d; precisely where Joshua found his might and his valor.

Indeed there is a striking similarity in the terms in which both these eminent servants of G.o.d were addressed. The similarity of the terms is quite as marked as is the contrast in their circ.u.mstances. Here are the terms to Joshua: "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage: be not thou afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy G.o.d is with thee whithersoever thou goest." And the terms to Gideon are: "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor."

Precious words! Soul-stirring, heart-strengthening accents! And yet Gideon was slow to make them his own--slow to grasp them, in the lovely appropriating power of faith, which so delights the heart of G.o.d, and glorifies His name. How often is it thus with us! How constantly we fail to rise to the height of G.o.d's gracious thoughts and purposes towards us! We are p.r.o.ne to _reason_ about ourselves and our surroundings, instead of believing G.o.d, and resting, in sweet tranquillity, in His perfect love and faithfulness.

Thus it was with that dear man of G.o.d on whose history we are dwelling. The divine statement was clear, full, absolute, and unconditional: "The Lord _is_ with thee." There was no ground, in these words, for any question or doubt, whatsoever; and yet mark Gideon's reply: "And Gideon said unto Him, O my Lord, _if_ the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites" (verse 13).

Here, as is evident, Gideon reasons from his surroundings. Hence the "_if_"--that little monosyllable of unbelief. It is a familiar remark amongst us, "If you want to be miserable, look within; if you want to be distracted, look around; if you want to be peaceful and happy, look up--'look off unto Jesus.'" This is most true. So surely as we become occupied with self, or with men and things, the circ.u.mstances which surround us, we must be unhinged and unhappy. Our only strength, our only comfort, our only light, is to keep the eye of faith fixed on Jesus, and the heart firmly centred in Him. Most certainly Gideon's surroundings were of the gloomiest character. His "sensible horizon"

was overhung with dark and heavy clouds. But there was one bright and blessed ray which shone in upon his depressed spirit--a ray emanating from the very heart of G.o.d, and conveyed in that one brief but comprehensive sentence, "The Lord is with thee." There was no "if" in this--no doubt, no reserve, no condition. It was distinct and unqualified, and needed only one thing to make it a spring of joy, strength, and victory in Gideon's soul, and that was to mix it with faith. But then "if" is not faith. True faith never answers G.o.d with ifs, for the simplest of all reasons, that it looks only at G.o.d, and there are no ifs with Him. Faith reasons from G.o.d downwards; not from man upwards. Faith has only one difficulty, and that difficulty is embodied in the question, "How shall He _not?_" It never says, "How shall He?" This is the language of sheer unbelief.

But, it may be asked by some, was there not some foundation for Gideon's "if" and "why?" Certainly not in G.o.d or in His word, whatever there had been in Israel and their actings. No doubt, if Gideon had only cast his eye back over the pages of his national history, he might have discovered ample reason for the sad and humiliating condition in which he found himself. Those blotted pages would have furnished an abundant answer to his question, "Why then is all this befallen us?" But had Israel's actings dimmed the l.u.s.tre of Jehovah's mighty "miracles?" Not in the vision of faith, most surely. G.o.d had done great and glorious things for His people; and the record of those doings lay ever under the eye of faith, in all its soul-sustaining virtue. No doubt Israel had failed--shamefully failed; and the record of that failure lay also under the eye of faith, and furnished a solemn answer to Gideon's inquiry, "Why is all this befallen us?"

Faith recognizes G.o.d's government as well as His grace, and moreover it bows, in solemn awe, before each stroke of His governmental rod.

It is well to keep all this in mind. We are apt to forget it. G.o.d has, at times, to stretch forth his hand and lift the rod of authority. He cannot own what is contrary to His Name and His nature. Now, Gideon needed to remember this. Israel had sinned, and this was the reason why they were under the rod, of which the power of the Midianites was the expression in Gideon's day.

Gideon, we repeat, was called to enter practically into the meaning of all this; and not only so, but to taste the reality of identification with his people in all their pressure and affliction. This latter, as we know, was the portion and experience of every true servant of G.o.d in Israel. All had to pa.s.s through those deep exercises of soul consequent upon their a.s.sociation with the people of G.o.d. It mattered not whether it were a judge, a prophet, a priest, or a king; all had to partic.i.p.ate in the sorrows and trials of the nation of Israel; nor could any true heart--any genuine lover of G.o.d or His people--desire exemption from such deep and holy exercises. This was pre-eminently true of the only perfect Servant that ever stood upon this earth. He, though personally exempt from all the consequences of Israel's sin and failure--though pure and spotless, divinely holy in nature and in life--did nevertheless, in perfect grace, voluntarily identify Himself with the people in all their sorrow and humiliation. "In all their affliction He was afflicted." Thus it was with our blessed Lord Jesus Christ; and all who, in any degree, partook of His Spirit, had, according to their measure, to taste of the same cup, though none could ever come up to Him in this or in aught else.

But when we come to compare closely the angel's words to Gideon, with his reply, we notice a point of deep interest, and one which ill.u.s.trates the individual character of the book of Judges. The angel says, "The Lord is with _thee_." Gideon replies, "If the Lord be with _us_." This is very interesting and instructive; moreover it is in full keeping with a pa.s.sage already referred to, in chap, iii.: "And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was _with the judge_." It does not say, "with the people," but adds, with touching grace, "and _delivered them_ out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them" (ver. 18).

There is peculiar sweetness and beauty in this. If Jehovah had to hide His face from His people, and give them over, for the time, into the hand of the uncirc.u.mcised, yet His loving heart was ever turned towards them, and ever ready to mark and recognize the faintest traces of a repentant spirit. "Who is a G.o.d like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and pa.s.seth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compa.s.sion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old" (Micah. vii. 18-20).

PART III.

Nothing can be more encouraging to the heart than the mode in which the Lord deals with the soul of Gideon--the way in which He prepares him for the course of action to which He was calling him. Gideon, like ourselves, was full of "ifs" and "whys,"--those little words so big with unbelief. The poor human heart is ever slow to take in the magnificence of divine grace; our feeble vision is dazzled by the brilliancy of divine revelation. It is only artless faith which can cause the soul to feel perfectly at home in the presence of the richest unfoldings of the goodness and loving-kindness of G.o.d. Faith never says "if" or "why?" It believes what G.o.d says, because He says it. It rests, in sweet tranquility, upon every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of G.o.d. Unbelief looks at circ.u.mstances and reasons from them: faith looks at G.o.d, and reasons from Him. Hence the vast difference in their conclusions. Gideon, judging from his surroundings, concluded that Jehovah had forsaken His people. A simple faith would have led him to the very opposite conclusion; it would have enabled him to see and know and remember that Jehovah would ever be true to His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, however He might, in His governmental dealings, have to hide His face from their rebellious and sinful offspring. Faith always counts on G.o.d; and G.o.d, blessed be His name, ever honors faith. He first produces it in us, and then owns it.

But not only does G.o.d graciously honor faith; He rebukes our fears. He rises above our unbelief, and hushes all our silly reasonings. Thus, in His dealings with His chosen servant Gideon, it would seem as though He heard not the "if" or the "why?" He goes on to unfold His own thoughts, to display His own resources, and to fill the soul of His servant with a confidence and a courage which were to lift him above all the depressing influences with which he was surrounded.

"And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel out of the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?" Here we have the true secret of strength: "The Lord looked upon him." There was divine power in this look, if Gideon could only have taken it in. But, alas! he was still full of questions. "And he said unto Him, O my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Mana.s.seh, and I am the least in my father's house."

Thus, unbelief turns the eye in upon self, or out upon our surroundings. It leads us to compare our visible resources with the work to which G.o.d is calling us. Jehovah had said, "Go in this thy might." What was the "might?" In what did it consist? Was it great wealth, lofty position, or great physical power? Nothing of the kind.

"Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel." This was absolute and unqualified. It left no room for Gideon's "wherewith?" It made it very plain that the might with which he was to deliver Israel was not in himself or in his father's house, but in the G.o.d of Israel. It mattered little whether his family was rich or poor; whether he was little or great. It was G.o.d who was about to use him? What was wealth or greatness to Him? He could use a barley cake or a broken pitcher. Indeed we may observe this special feature in the varied instruments taken up in the book of Judges, namely, that "no flesh shall glory in G.o.d's presence." How does human glory fade away before the humiliating fact that Israel's hosts were called forth to battle under the leadership of a woman!

What a stain on human pride in the fact of deliverance coming through the agency of a "left-handed man"!

But, on the other hand, we find that just in proportion as man's glory fades away, the divine glory shines out. The humbler the instrument, the more we see the power of G.o.d. What difference does it make to the Almighty G.o.d whether His instrument be left-handed or right-handed--a man or a woman--a dwarf or a giant? The instrument is nothing: G.o.d is all in all. True, He deigns to use instruments; but all the power is His, and His shall be the eternal and universal praise. Gideon had to learn this; and so had Moses; and so have we all. It is an invaluable lesson. We are all so p.r.o.ne to think of _our_ competency for any work or service which may lie before us, when we ought to remember that of all His works that are done upon the earth, G.o.d is the doer of them.