Judges 7:22
And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abel-meholah, unto Tabbath. And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abel-meholah, unto Tabbath.
Gideon's three hundred surrounded the Midianite camp in three companies and broke in with trumpets and torches in a sudden night assault, when the Lord threw the enemy into panic and turned every man's sword against his fellow so they mistook and slew one another. The survivors fled toward the Jordan to Beth-shittah in Zererath and to the border of Abel-meholah unto Tabbath, while a vast host of trained and warlike men fled without a blow before the defenders of a small and hitherto feeble nation. The victory came not by numbers, human strength, wisdom, or elaborate methods, but by God's own action and power making a simple divinely appointed trumpet blast effectual through living faith and obedience to His special directions. God delivered in this way so Israel could claim nothing for its own power and the glory would belong to Him alone, showing that He uses humble instruments and unpromising means to accomplish great things and teaching dependence on Him rather than on human plans.
Midian's Defeat Described
Gideon's three hundred, divided into three companies, surrounded the hosts of Midian and fell upon them in a sudden assault at an early hour when the enemy was unsuspecting, blowing their trumpets and displaying their torches. The trumpet blast of that little band around the camp was simple and humanly unpromising in itself. At the sounding the Lord threw the Midianite army into panic and supernatural terror, setting every man's sword against his fellow throughout all the camp. In the confusion the soldiers mistook one another for enemies and killed one another.
What fled was a vast host of brave, warlike men, trained and equipped for battle, yet they fled without a blow being struck against them before the defenders of a small and hitherto feeble nation. The survivors fled toward the Jordan to Beth-shittah in Zererath and to the border of Abel-meholah unto Tabbath. Israelites who had been sent home joined in the pursuit of those who fled toward the Jordan.
This deliverance belongs to the repeated cycle in which God raised up a faithful and valiant man to put down idolatry and deliver Israel from its enemies while a remnant stayed true to Jehovah. That cycle ran through backsliding and chastisement, then confession and deliverance, and after the deliverer died the people returned to their idols. The same divine power that overthrew Pharaoh at the Red Sea and laid low the proud Assyrian in one night acted again in this overthrow of Midian and later to scatter the crusading armies that invaded Bohemia.
God Gives the Victory
The rout described here came about through God's own action and power, not through Israel's numbers, human strength, talent, wisdom, skill, or elaborate methods. When the three hundred blew, it was the Lord who set every man's sword against his fellow throughout the host and sent the survivors fleeing, so that a small band with the simple act of blowing trumpets overthrew Midian. The deliverance was ordered in this way so that Israel was left with no grounds for crediting human wisdom or power or for claiming that its own power had saved it.
Gideon's army prevailed because in living faith they followed God's special directions. Their victory through faith stands in contrast to Saul's fear when he faced the Philistines after God had forsaken him. The trumpet blast they sounded was simple and humanly unpromising, but because it was divinely appointed and entered upon with humility and faith, God made it effectual.
The work and its glory therefore belonged to Him alone, and people are to exalt God rather than seek glory and praise for themselves. The most complete human plans apart from God's power and wisdom fail, while the most unpromising methods succeed when God appoints them. Faithlessness and narrow views lead to narrow plans that accomplish very little, and the lesson is dependence on Him.
Success depends on God's help working with human effort, not on numbers, wisdom, or skill credited to man. Trust in God and obedience to His will were as essential to Gideon and Joshua in battle as they are to the Christian in spiritual warfare. The victory is an example of the Lord using humble instruments and simple means to accomplish great things through weak instrumentalities. He who stretched out His hand then still works with the efforts of His people, and stretches it out to wither the power of the oppressor.