The Dream

The Dream

Judges 7:9 – Later that same night, the LORD directed Gideon, “Get up and go down to the Midianite encampment, because I’ve given it into your control. 10 – But if you’re afraid to go down there, you may take your servant Purah with you to their encampment,

verse 11 – where you will hear what they’re talking about. That way, you’ll be encouraged to attack the encampment.” So he and his servant Purah went down to the perimeter outposts of the encamped army. 12 – The Midianites, the Amalekites, and certain groups from the east lay encamped in the valley, as thick as locusts. The number of their camels couldn’t be calculated – they seemed as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

Verse 13 – Gideon arrived just as soldier was talking to a friend about a dream. “Look!: he was saying. “I had a dream that went like this: A loaf of barley bread rolled into the Midianite encampment, came to a tent, and collided with it. The loaf of bread fell down, turned upside down, and the tent collapsed!” 14 – Then his friend replied, “Can this be anything else than the sword of Joash’s son Gideon, that man from Israel? God must have given Midian and the entire encampment into his control!”

verse 15 – when Gideon heard the tale of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down in worship and then returned to the Israeli encampment.

Gideon was terrified! He was afraid to go anywhere near the Midianite encampment. The Midianites brought so many resources it would almost seem as though it was overkill. In reality – they would never have enough. There was an awareness among the Midianites about God – remember they knew the stories about what God had done for Israel in times past. Why, then, fight this war? Israel was dealing with the cancer of idolatry. They kept betraying God – they were inconsistent.

It seems as though the devil is constantly gambling that he can stamp out God’s people if he could just get them to turn away from God – then he can take over. God didn’t even need Gideon and his 300. But Gideon and all Israel needed to see that God could take care of them…even when it appeared like the odds were overwhelmingly against them.

Look around you today! Does it seem as though the devil has the upper hand? Our families are weighed down with so much stress. The burdens of insurance, bills, debt, health, relationships and so much more – they all threaten to take over our lives. We vainly try to escape with temporary entertainments that may seem harmless on the surface but are robbing us of confidence that we can place in God.

Like Gideon, God wants us to put our false gods away, tear them down and then he wants us observe that even the unbelieving are preparing his arrival. UFOs and interest in aliens are at an all time high. Countless resources are being spent in putting together space forces, tracking meteors and just looking up to the heavens where the next threat is believed to be coming from.

The devil is banking on God’s people being distracted enough to not call on Him so that he can stamp them out by sheer force of numbers. But God has been calling the weakest of the weak, pouring out His spirit among them encouraging them that He has already won. Where do you stand in this great conflict? Will you stand the Midianite majority or stand with God’s 300?

Gideon was still scared and was most likely thankful to have had the option to bring Purah with him to the encampment. The dream of the barley loaf collapsing the tent and the interpretation was the final sign Gideon needed to go through with God’s plan. What will it take for us to go all in on God’s plan? How weak must we become before we will listen to God calling us?

Our modern technology has not made mankind stronger. As the Midianites would learn – God still wins in the end – there is no comparison. Let the stories of Jesus in the Bible encourage each of us to trust in God at all times: in our times of weakness and especially during the times when we think we are strong.