Judges 7:1–8

Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.

But the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. Then the LORD said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.” So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

The Hebrew idioms for how people drink water are confusing here. God wants only the few men who dip water with their cupped hands and then drink the water out of their hands. He doesn’t want those who kneel down to drink directly from the source. The text mentions a dog lapping because the way people drink out of cupped hands looks like a dog lapping (though a dog has no hands and would have to drink directly from the source—not unlike the rejected group).

Curiously, this test has nothing to do with courage or fighting ability (unlike the initial winnowing of sending anyone who’s fearful home). That’s kind of the point. If God had gotten the army down to just the best of the best soldiers, victory might still seem possible. Instead, God rejects 97% of the remaining army based on a meaningless trait. Now, with only 300 soldiers, they’re hopelessly outnumbered.

They were hopelessly outnumbered when they had 32,000.

As we will see later there’s a good reason to get the army down to only 300. God’s plan is brilliant, but it breaks every known rule of military strategy. That’s the lesson.

Our perspective is limited. We can’t see what God is up to. Because of that, God’s plans often don’t make sense—or even seem totally nuts.

This will turn into a great example showing us how we only “see through a glass darkly.”

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.