Gideon Passing Jordan - Judges 8:4

In the book of Judges we learned how Gideon told the people of Ephraim, “God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that”, and in chapter eight and verse four of Judges, we learn how, “Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over”, where we read,

And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, 

he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.

The verse reads, “And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, …” The writer began with the words, “and 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 “came to Jordan” or “arrived at the Jordan whose name means ‘descender’ and was the river of Palestine running from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the Dead Sea a distance of approximately 200 miles (320 km)”, “and passed over” which means “and crossed the Jordan River”. The writer shared how “Gideon” arrived at the “Jordan River” and crossed over it. 

The verse goes on to say, “… he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.” The writer continued with the words, “he, and the three hundred men” which means “he, Gideon, and the three hundred male human beings” “that were with him” which means “who accompanied and were alongside and beside him, Gideon”, “faint” or “exhausted, weary, languid and thirsty”, “yet pursuing them” which means “still running after and following after them, the Midianites”. The writer shared how “Gideon” and the “three hundred” males who accompanied him were tired and weary, however, they continued to run after the “Midianites”. 

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn how tenacious “Gideon and his three hundred men” were in chasing after the “Midianites”. When they reached the “Jordan River”, they crossed over it and continued their pursuit of the army of “Midian” even though they were tired and weary. God gave them this task, and they were determined to complete it. God knows we get “tired and weary”, but we still have work to do in His Kingdom when we receive His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and rose from the dead after three days as our “Savior and Lord”. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (See Matthew 11:28), and when we simply come to Him in faith, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and give us the ability to serve in His Kingdom even when we grow tired and weary from doing so. (See John 3:16; Acts 1:8)

Next time we learn how Gideon, “said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread”, 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".