HEBREW WORD STUDY – FOR GIDEON – LAGIDEON לגדעון Lamed Gimmel Daleth Ayin Vav Nun

Judges 7:15, 20: “As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. (2) The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword of the LORD and of Gideon!”

The story of Gideon is a very fascinating story. I would like to briefly retell this story after sharing an important line in this story. The attack against the Midianites commenced with a battle cry of “A sword of the Lord and of Gideon.” I am not sure why many translators use the preposition “of” in this battle cry. The preposition is a Lamed, not a Mem. Thus, it should read either: A sword for the Lord and for Gideon or a sword to the Lord and to Gideon. A battle cry is usually a declaration of who the warriors are fighting for. Here it is not one person but two, God and Gideon. The battle cry normally declares the god and/or nation they are fighting for.

That Targum, which is the Aramaic version of the Old Testament, renders this as “A sword for Jehovah by the hand of Gideon.” No matter which name they use the warriors want to use a name or names that will strike fear and terror into the enemy. Check Gideon’s resume, I would not think his name would strike much fear.

Scripture makes is very clear that Gideon was shaking in his boots all the way up to the point of the battle. Yet, when the angel of the Lord first met Gideon he was hiding out in a winepress threshing wheat – Judges 6:11. You don’t thresh wheat in a winepress. The threshing floor stood in the open, the winepress was usually below ground or in a low area, a nice place to hide which Scripture says Gideon was actually doing, hiding or fleeing. The word in Hebrew is lehanis from the root word nos which means to flee or disappear.

To be fair, the Midianites ruled the roost in Israel. Israel had no standing army, not a commander to lead an army and the Midianites where a heavily armed band of marauding mercenaries who would suddenly appear to strip the land of it its crops, raid the homes of the Hebrew people and kill everyone in that community and take what was worth keeping. It was a terrible time for Israel, they lived in constant fear of an enemy who could attack without warning much like our nation and the world today which is living in constant fear of attack from an unseen virus that could attack anyone without any warning.

I saw a short video on the internet of a group of health care workers in a hospital who were gathered together bowing before God, crying out to God, some were on their knees, some weeping and agonizing in prayer. That is a good picture of Israel at this time. Gideon, however, was not praying, he was attituding. When the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and announced he was a great and mighty warrior (verse 12) his response was: “Oh, yeah then why has God forsaken us, why are we being tormented by these Midianites, where are all the miracles, the promises of God?” Christians are asking that question today and God is answering, we need to listen more closely.

Now let’s keep track of the assurances. First, the angel of the Lord said God called him to deliver Israel and would be with Gideon and empower him (verse 14). Gideon’s response: “Right, me, the least in my father’s house and from the smallest tribe. (verse 15). A second time the Angel of the Lord reassures him (verse 16). Still that was not enough and he asks for a sign (verse 17). Gideon prepared an offering and the Angel of the Lord touched it with his staff and immediately it burst into flames. Gideon was impressed, so impressed he became fearful that he had just seen God Himself and might die. There was a belief that if you actually saw God you would die or you were dead, which is not too far from the truth. So, Gideon now had enough confidence to insult the pagan god and tear down the idol of the Midianites and offer a sacrifice to God on the spot where he tore down the idol. He fully expected to have his head loped off but instead, the Midianites let him go. A third miracle.

Now God commanded him to get an army together as this little act of defiance was a declaration of war and the Midianites came together, 110,000 strong to put an end to the nation of Israel. You would think Gideon would really be pumped and ready to gather an army after witnessing these miracles and meeting God Himself. No, he asked for another sign. He will lay some wool on the ground and if the dew dampens it but the ground remains dry he will know God is behind this. Sure enough, the next morning the ground was dry and the wool was filled with water. Miracle four. But still not enough for Gideon, he asks for another sign, makes the ground wet and the wool dry. Once again miracle five.

Gideon should really be ready now, surely he has the full backing of God. Yet when the time comes for battle, the night before the attack, listen to what God says to Gideon in verse 7:10: “If you are still afraid I want you to do something.” Gideon said without hesitation: “I will do it.” After five amazing miracles, assurances from God, Gideon still had his doubts and fears.

Here is the thing. The final assurance from God came in the form of a dream. The only problem was that this dream was given to a Midianite and for Gideon to hear the dream and its interpretation, he had to go where his greatest fear laid. He had to go into the Midianite camp itself. He did this and once he did he heard the dream and interpretation that gave him such assurance that he had a regular Pentecostal breakdown right there in the middle of the enemy camp.

Are you still fearful of the virus? That is ok because God has something really wonderful planned. God is an opportunist and He will use this virus to do something wonderful in your life and in this nation. Gideon was filled with fear and even after five miracles he still needed help to overcome his fears. But there is a reason that He delivered a nation, that God gave him a wonderful victory and restored his land, He was obedient. He prayed, he called out to God and ultimately let God take charge such that the world could see this deliverance was from God and God alone.

The Battle cry was the sword for the Lord and for Gideon. For the Lord to deliver His people and for Gideon to finally be able to put his complete trust in God.