Having broken down Baal"s altar, Gideon is now led to encounter Midian"s hosts. "Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and Abi-ezer was gathered after him.
And he sent messengers throughout all Mana.s.seh, who also was gathered after him; and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them."
In short there was a thorough awakening. The tide of spiritual energy rose majestically, and bore hundreds and thousands upon its bosom. The work which had begun in Gideon"s heart was extending itself far and wide, throughout the length and breadth of the land. The Spirit of the Lord was displaying His mighty energy, and mult.i.tudes were stirred up to gather round the standard which the hand of faith had unfurled.
But just at this point, it would seem that Gideon"s faith needed fresh confirmation. It may be his spirit was overawed when he saw the mighty host of the uncirc.u.mcised mustering before him; and then, for a moment, his courage failed, and his heart craved a fresh sign from the Lord. "And Gideon said unto G.o.d, If Thou wilt save Israel by my hand, _as Thou hast said_"--alas! the poor heart can place its unbelieving "if" right in front of the word of G.o.d who cannot lie--"behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and if it be dry upon all the earth beside, _then shall I know_ that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, _as Thou hast said_."
How marvelous! And yet we need not marvel if we know aught of our own hearts. Anything for the poor human heart but the naked word of the living G.o.d. A sign, a token, something that the eye can see. The word of G.o.d is not enough for unbelieving nature.
But oh! the matchless grace of G.o.d! His unupbraiding love! His tender considerateness! He graciously meets the weakness of His poor servant, for "It was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, _a bowl full of water_." What condescending grace! Instead of severely rebuking Gideon"s unbelieving "if," He graciously confirms his wavering faith by superabounding evidence.
And yet all this sufficed not. Gideon seeks still further confirmation. "And he said unto G.o.d, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. Let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And G.o.d did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew upon all the ground." Such is the abounding grace and patience of the G.o.d with whom we have to do. Forever adored be His holy Name! Who would not trust Him, and love Him, and serve Him?
PART VI.
We shall now ask the reader to open his Bible at the seventh chapter of the book of Judges. Here Gideon"s companions are brought before us; and their history, as well as that of their leader, is full of interest and profit for us. They had to be trained and tested as well as he. Let us ponder the narrative.
"Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me."
The clear and soul-stirring blast of Gideon"s trumpet had drawn around him a very large and imposing company; but this company had to be tested. It is one thing to be moved by the zeal and energy of some earnest servant of Christ, and it is quite another thing to possess those moral qualities which alone can fit a man to be an earnest servant himself. There is a vast difference between following in the wake of some devoted man of G.o.d, and walking with G.o.d ourselves--being propped up and led on by the faith and energy of another, and leaning upon G.o.d in the power of individual faith for ourselves.
This is a serious consideration for all of us. There is always great danger of our being mere imitators of other people"s faith; of copying their example without their spiritual power; of adopting their peculiar line of things without their personal communion. All this must be carefully guarded against. We specially warn the young Christian reader against it. Let us be simple, and humble, and real.
We may be very _small_, our sphere very narrow, our path very retired; but it does not matter in the least, provided we are precisely what grace has made us, and occupying the sphere in which our blessed Master has set us, and treading the path which He has opened before us. It is by no means absolutely necessary that we should be great, or prominent, or showy, or noisy in the world; but it is absolutely necessary that we should be real and humble, obedient and dependent.
Thus our G.o.d can use us, without fear of our vaunting ourselves; and then, too, we are safe, peaceful, and happy. There is nothing more delightful to the true Christian, the genuine servant of Christ, than to find himself in that quiet, humble, shady path where _self_ is lost sight of, and the precious light of G.o.d"s countenance enjoyed--where the thoughts of men are of small account, and the sweet approval of Christ is everything to the soul.
Flesh cannot be trusted. It will turn the very service of Christ into an occasion of self-exaltation. It will use the very name of Him who made Himself nothing in order to make itself something. It will build up its own reputation by seeming to further the cause of Him who made Himself of none. Such is flesh! Such are we in ourselves! Silly, self-exalting creatures, ever ready to vaunt ourselves, while professing to be nothing in ourselves, and to deserve nothing but the flames of an everlasting h.e.l.l.
Need we marvel at the testing and proving of Gideon"s companions? All must be tested and proved. The service of Christ is a very solemn and a very holy thing; and all who take part therein must be self-judged, self-distrusting, and self-emptied; and not only so, but they must lean, with unshaken confidence, upon the living G.o.d. These are the grand qualities that go to make up the character of the true servant of Christ, and they are strikingly ill.u.s.trated on the page of inspiration which now lies open before us.
Let us proceed with the narrative.
"The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands.... Now, therefore, go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand."
Here the first grand test is applied to Gideon"s host--a test designed to bring out the measure of the heart"s simple confidence in Jehovah.
A coward heart will not do for the day of battle; a doubting spirit will not stand in conflict. The same principle is set forth in Deuteronomy xx. 8: "And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren"s heart faint as well as his heart."
Faint-heartedness is terribly contagious. It spreads rapidly. It withers the arm that should bear the shield, and paralyses the hand that should wield the sword. The only cure for this malady is simple confidence in G.o.d, a firm grasp of His faithfulness, a child-like trust in His word, true personal acquaintance with Himself. We must know G.o.d for ourselves, in such a way that His word is everything to us, and that we can walk alone with Him, and stand alone with Him in the darkest hour.
Reader, is it thus with thee? Hast thou this blessed confidence in G.o.d--this solid hold of His word? Hast thou, deep down in thy heart, such an experimental knowledge of G.o.d and His Christ as shall sustain thee even though thou hadst not the support or sympathy of another believer under the sun? Art thou prepared to walk alone in the world?
These are weighty questions, and we feel the need of pressing them upon the Church of G.o.d at the present moment. There is a wide diffusion of the precious truth of G.o.d, and numbers are getting hold of it. Like the blast of Gideon"s trumpet, so the clear testimony which has widely gone forth of late years has attracted many; and while we quite feel that there is real ground for thankfulness in this, we also feel that there is ground for very serious reflection indeed. Truth is a most precious thing, if it be truthfully found and truthfully held: but let us remember that in exact proportion to the preciousness of the truth of G.o.d so is the moral danger of trafficking therein without a self-judged heart and an exercised conscience. What we really need is faith--unfeigned, earnest, simple faith, which connects the soul, in living power, with G.o.d, and enables us to overcome all the difficulties and discouragements of the way. Of this faith there can be no imitation. We must either possess it in reality or not at all. A sham faith will speedily come to the ground. The man who attempts to walk by faith, if he have it not, must speedily totter and fall. We cannot face the hosts of Midian unless we have full confidence in the living G.o.d. "Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return." Thus it must ever be. None can go to battle save those who are braced up by a faith that grasps the unseen realities of eternity, and endures as seeing Him who is invisible. May this faith be ours, in larger measure, beloved reader.
It is full of instruction for the heart to notice the effect of the first test upon the host of Gideon. It thinned his ranks amazingly.
"There returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand." This was a serious reduction. But it is far better to have ten thousand that can trust G.o.d than ten thousand times ten thousand who cannot. Of what use are numbers, if they be not energized by a living faith? None whatever. It is comparatively easy to flock around a standard raised by a vigorous hand; but it is a totally different thing to stand, in personal energy, in the actual battle. Nought but genuine faith can do this; and hence when the searching question is put, "Who can trust G.o.d?" the showy ranks of profession are speedily thinned.
But there was yet another test for Gideon"s companions. "And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place" (vii. 4-7).
Here then we have another great moral quality which must characterize those who will act for G.o.d and His people, in an evil day. They must not only have confidence in G.o.d, but they must also be prepared to surrender self. This is a universal law in the service of Christ. If we want to swim in G.o.d"s current, we must sink self; and we can only sink self in proportion as we trust Christ. It is not, need we say, a question of salvation; it is a question of service. It is not a question of being a child of G.o.d, but of being a proper servant of Christ. The thirty-one thousand seven hundred that were dismissed from Gideon"s army, were just as much Israelites as the three hundred that remained; but they were not fitted for the moment of conflict: they were not the right men for the crisis. And why? Was it that they were not circ.u.mcised? Nay. What then? They could not trust G.o.d and surrender self. They were full of fear when they ought to have been full of faith. They made refreshment and comfort their object instead of conflict.
Here, reader, lay the true secret of their moral unfitness. G.o.d cannot trust those who do not trust Him and sink self. This is pre-eminently solemn and practical. We live in a day of easy profession and self-indulgence. Knowledge can, now-a-days, be picked up at very small cost. Sc.r.a.ps of truth can be gathered, second hand, in all directions.
Truth which cost some of G.o.d"s dear servants years of deep soul-ploughing and heart-searching exercise, is now in free circulation and can be intellectually seized and flippantly professed, by many who know not what soul-ploughing or heart-exercise means.
But let us never forget--yea, let us constantly remember--that the life of faith is a reality; service is a reality; testimony for Christ, a reality. And further let us bear in mind that if we want to stand for Christ in an evil day--if we would be men for the crisis, genuine servants, true witnesses--then verily we must learn the true meaning of those two qualities, namely, confidence in G.o.d, and self-surrender.
PART VII.
There is something peculiarly striking in the fact that out of the many thousands of Israel, in the days of Gideon, there were only three hundred men who were really fit for conflict with the Midianites; only this small band fit for the occasion. This truly is a suggestive and admonitory fact. There were hundreds of thousands of true Israelites--truly circ.u.mcised sons of Abraham--members of the congregation of the Lord, who were by no means up to the mark, when it was a question of war to the knife with Midian--a question of genuine confidence in G.o.d and self-surrender. We are safe in saying that the men who were morally fitted for the grand crisis in the day of battle were not one in a thousand. How solemn! Not one in a thousand who could trust G.o.d and deny self.
Christian reader, is not this something worthy of deep and serious thought? Does it not, very naturally, suggest the inquiry as to whether it is otherwise at this moment? Is it not painfully evident that we live in a day in the which little is known of the blessed secret of confidence in G.o.d, and still less of the exercise of self-surrender? In point of fact, these things can never be rightly separated. If we attempt to divorce self-surrender from confidence in G.o.d, it will land us in the deep and dark delusions of monasticism, asceticism, or ritualism. It will issue in nature trying to subdue nature. This, we need hardly say, is the direct opposite of Christianity. This latter starts with the glorious fact that the _old self_ has been condemned and set aside by the cross of Christ, and therefore it can be practically surrendered, every day, by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is the meaning of those fine words in Colossians iii., "Ye _are_ dead, and your life is hid with Christ in G.o.d." He does not say, "Ye _ought to be_ dead." No; but "ye _are_ dead." What then? "Mortify your members which are on the earth." So also in the profound and precious teaching in Romans vi., "How shall we that _are_ dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized unto His death?" What then? "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto G.o.d through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Here then lies the secret of all true self-surrender. If this be not understood and practically entered into, it will simply be _self_ in one form trying to subdue _self_ in another. This is a fatal delusion.
It is a snare of the devil into which earnest souls are in imminent danger of falling, who sigh after holiness of life, but do not know the power of accomplished redemption, and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost--are not built upon the solid foundation of Christianity.
We specially warn the reader against this insidious error. It distinctly savors of monasticism or asceticism. It clothes itself in the garb of pietism and sanctimoniousness, and is peculiarly attractive to a certain cla.s.s of ardent spirits who long for victory over the l.u.s.ts, pa.s.sions, and tendencies of nature; but, not knowing how to attain it, are turning their back upon Christ and His cross, and betaking themselves to the resources of a spurious religion.
It is against this most mischievous and delusive system that the apostle warns us, in Colossians ii., "Let no man," he says, "beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of G.o.d. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances"--such as, "touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using--after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh" (Colossians ii. 18-23).
We deem it needful to say thus much lest any of our readers should at all mistake us on the subject of self-surrender. We desire it to be distinctly understood that the only possible ground of self-surrender is the knowledge of accomplished redemption, and our union with Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost. This is the essential basis of all Christian conduct. In short, a known salvation is the basis; the Holy Ghost indwelling, the power; and the word of G.o.d, the directory of all true self-surrender.
But what did Gideon and his companions know of these things? Nothing, as Christians now know them. But they had confidence in G.o.d, and further, they did not make their own refreshment or comfort their object, but simply took it up by the way as a means to an end. Herein they teach a fine lesson even to those whose privilege it is to walk in the full light of New Testament Christianity. If they, in the dim twilight in which they lived, could trust G.o.d, and surrender self for the moment, even in measure, then what shall we say for ourselves who, with all our light and privileges, are so ready to doubt G.o.d and seek our own things?
Is it not painfully evident that, in this our day of light and privilege, there is but little moral preparedness for the path of service and conflict which we are called to tread? Alas! alas! we cannot deny it. There is a deplorable lack of genuine trust in the living G.o.d, and of the true spirit of self-surrender. Here, we may rest a.s.sured, is the deep secret of the whole matter. G.o.d is not practically known and habitually trusted; self is exalted and indulged. Hence our unfitness for the warfare, our failure in the day of battle. It is one thing to be saved, and quite another thing to be a soldier; and we cannot shake off the painful conviction that, in this day of widely extended profession, the proportion of workmen and warriors would not be found a whit greater than it was in the days of Gideon and his companions. The fact is, we want men of faith, men whose hearts are fixed and their eyes single; men so absorbed with Christ and His cause that they have no time for aught beside. We greatly fear that, if the double test which was applied to Israel in the days of Gideon, were to be applied now to those who stand on the very highest platform of profession, the practical result would not differ very materially.
We shall only touch on two more leading points, and then leave our readers to meditate closely upon the whole subject for themselves.
The close of Judges vii. shews us Gideon and his companions completely victorious. "The cake of barley bread," and "the broken pitchers,"
proved a match for all the power of the Midianites, although they "lay along in the valley like gra.s.shoppers for mult.i.tude, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea-side for mult.i.tude." G.o.d was with those represented by the cake of barley bread and broken pitchers, as He will ever be with those who are prepared to take the low place; prepared to be nothing, but to make Him their all in all; prepared to trust Him and to sink self. This, let it never be forgotten, is the great root principle in all service and in all conflict. Without it, we can never succeed; with it, we can never fail. It matters not what the difficulties, or what the numbers and power of our enemies, all must give way before the presence of the living G.o.d; and that presence will ever accompany those who trust Him and sink self.
Nor is this all. Not only is firm trust in G.o.d and self-surrender the secret of victory over external enemies; it is also the secret of overcoming, disarming, and melting down proud and jealous brethren, though these latter are often far more difficult to deal with than open enemies. Thus no sooner had Gideon reached the point of victory over the uncirc.u.mcised, than he was called to encounter the petty and contemptible jealousy of his brethren, "And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not when thou wentest to fight the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply" (chapter viii. 1).
All this was most uncalled for and unworthy. Had they not heard the sound of the trumpet calling Israel to the battle field? Had they not heard that the standard was unfurled? Why had they not rushed to the battle at the first? It was an easy matter to come in at the close and reap the spoil, and then find fault with the one who had been G.o.d"s real instrument on the occasion.
However, we shall not dwell upon the unlovely conduct of the men of Ephraim; but turn, for a moment, to the exquisite way in which Gideon was enabled to meet them. "And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you?... G.o.d hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that."
Here, Christian reader, is the true way to vanquish jealous and envious brethren. The cake of barley bread and the broken pitcher can vanquish jealous Ephraimites as well as hostile Midianites. A self-hiding spirit is the grand secret of victory over envy and jealousy, in all their odious forms. It is difficult, if not impossible, to quarrel with a man who is down in the dust, in true self-abas.e.m.e.nt. "What have I done now in comparison of you?" This is the language of one who had learnt something of the real meaning of self-surrender; and we may safely a.s.sert that such language must ever disarm the envy and jealousy of the self-occupied and self-sufficient.
May we know more of the truth of this!
We must now look at the closing scene of Gideon"s remarkable history--a scene full of admonition for every servant of Christ. From it we learn that it is easier to gain a victory than to make a good use of it; easier to reach a position than to occupy it aright. We shall quote the pa.s.sage. "Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son"s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you."
So far, this was very fine. It was in full keeping with the self-surrender of Gideon"s previous course. Every true servant of Christ will ever seek to connect souls with his Master, and not with himself. Gideon would not indeed displace Jehovah as the ruler of Israel. But, alas! his great victory fills his mind, and he will make a perpetual glory of it by an ephod (a priestly garment) of gold; and this, simply because his self-surrender was not complete. There has been but One whose self-surrender was, and that One must, in all things, have the pre-eminence. "And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.... And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house" (chapter viii.
22-27).
Such is man, even the best of men, when left to himself. Here we see the very man who had led his brethren on to victory over Midian, now leading them into dark and abominable idolatry. The earrings of the Ishmaelites did what their swords could not do; and the love-tokens of the men of Israel proved far more dangerous than the sharp chidings of the men of Ephraim. The latter drew out a lovely spirit of self-emptiness: the former proved a snare to Gideon and to the whole house of Israel.