They stood every man in his place round about the camp— Not one of the three hundred men stirred a foot from his place, but stood still without striking a blow, as if they had been only torch-bearers to give light to the army to see their way to the camp, and to do execution. The work was the Lord's; the stratagem had been in vain without his concurrence. He can make the meanest and most unlikely instruments subservient to the welfare of his people, and productive of the desolation of their enemies.
REFLECTIONS.—We have here an account,
1. Of the manner in which Gideon made the attack upon the Midianites. His little army is divided into three companies, each of an hundred men, armed not with sword or bow, but with a trumpet in one hand, and lamps concealed in pitchers, in the other. A little past midnight they advanced, just as the watch was set, to give the speedier alarm; and the order is, to follow Gideon's example: when lo! in an instant, the trumpets are blown, the pitchers broken, the lights blazing on every side, and they shout aloud, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon! Note; (1.) By the trumpet of the everlasting gospel, and the light held forth from the earthen vessels of faithful ministers, the powers of Satan's kingdom are shaken. (2.) Though the work be of men, the excellency of power is of God; if Gideon has the honour to wield the sword, it is God who tempers its edge, and directs its point. (3.) If these pitchers, trumpets, and shoutings, thus dismayed the hosts of Midian, how much greater terrors will overwhelm the sleeping sinner, when startled with the midnight cry, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, he shall, astonished, behold the sword of justice drawn, and stand unable to escape amidst the flames of dissolving elements, before the dread tribunal of an offended God.
2. The Midianites awake affrighted, apprehending, no doubt, the army of Israel in their camp, and seized with panic fears, they cry out, and run they know not whither; but in their haste to fly, counting every one they meet a foe, each man's sword is set against his fellow, and Gideon and his army have only to stand still, and see the great salvation of God; the few who escape, hurry on to a place of safety, as if the sword of Gideon was at their heels. Note; (1.) The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth. (2.) In violent frights the exercise of reason is, for a time, suspended, and men act in direct opposition to their own preservation. (3.) God often sets his people's enemies at variance, and punishes them by their own hands. (4.) Though now there is hope to escape from the sword of the Lord, if we fly to Jesus, our true city of refuge; yet if the present moment be lost, in the next it may be too late.