Bring People to the Water - Judges 7:5

In the book of Judges we learned how, “the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand has saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for you there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto you, This shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whomsoever I say unto you, This shall not go with you, the same shall not go”, and in chapter seven and verse five of Judges, we learn how Gideon, “brought down the people unto the water” where we read,

So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shall you set by himself; likewise every one that bows down upon his knees to drink.

The verse reads, “So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shall you set by himself;” The writer began with the words, “so he brought down the people” which means “therefore, then and on this account he, Gideon, carried and lead the men in a descending manner” “unto the water” or “to the flowing water”: “and the LORD” which means “and Jehovah who is the existing One and is the proper name for the One True God” “said unto Gideon” or “uttered, declared and proclaimed to Gideon whose name means ‘hewer’ and was the youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, fifth judge of Israel who led the Israelites against the Midianites”, “every one that laps of the water with his tongue” which means “each, the whole and all who licks up the water by the use of the wedge shaped piece in the mouth used for tasting, speaking and licking”, “as a dog laps” or “similar and in likeness to the way a dog licks up”, “him shall you set by himself” which means “him, that person, will you put, place and establish his own self”. The writer shared how “Gideon” lead the ten thousand men to the flowing water, and Jehovah God directed him to put every man to the side who licks or “laps up” the water with their “tongue” similar to the way a dog licks or “laps up” water. 

The verse goes on to say, “likewise every one that bows down upon his knees to drink.” The writer continued with the words, “likewise every one” which means “in a similar manner each, the whole and all” “that bows down upon his knees to drink” or “who kneels, sinks to their knees and crouches to the knees to imbibe”. The writer shared how Jehovah God told “Gideon” that all the men who kneel or crouch down to drink are to be set by themselves as well. 

When we consider the words in this verse, we see how there were two ways God was testing and proving the men who were to enter into battle with “Gideon”. First were those who licked up the flowing water with their “tongues”, and the second were those who crouched down to drink. God knew the crew of men who would deliver Israel alongside “Gideon”, and the traits of bravery and readiness were to be used by Him. God loves people, and He wants us to be prepared for eternity. When we submit to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the grave after three days, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and help us to be bold, brave and prepared for whatever He has in mind in His Kingdom. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:37)

Next time we learn how, “the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".