Let the Fearful and Afraid Return - Judges 7:3

In the book of Judges we learned how, “Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. And 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”, and in chapter seven and verse three of Judges, we learn how Gideon was to tell the people who gathered to him, “Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead”, where we read,

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.

The verse reads, “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.” The writer began with the words, “now therefore go to” which means “at this time wherefore, then and on this account proceed and carry forth”, “proclaim in the ears of the people” or “utter and declare within the physical ears used for hearing belonging to the human beings”, “saying” which means “uttering, declaring and proclaiming”, “whosoever is fearful and afraid” or “whatever person who exists as full of fear and trembling”, “let him return and depart early” which means “allow and permit that person to turn and go back, leave and exit at an early time” “from mount Gilead” or “separate and apart from the rising above the plain known as Gilead whose name means ‘rocky region’ and was a mountainous region bounded on the west by the Jordan, on the north by Bashan, on the east by the Arabian plateau, and on the south by Moab and Ammon; sometimes called Mount Gilead or the land of Gilead or just Gilead and was divided into the north and south Gilead”. The writer shared how Jehovah God instructed “Gideon” to declared within the hearing ears of the people who were gathered to him that if they were filled with fear and trembling, they should turn back in a quick fashion and depart from the rising above the plain known as “Gilead”.

The verse goes on to say, “And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.” The writer continued with the words, “and there returned of the people” which means “and there turned back pertaining to the men who were gathered to Gideon” “twenty and two thousand” or “twenty two thousand men”; “and there remained ten thousand” which means “and ten thousand men stayed with Gideon”. The writer shared how twenty two thousand of Gideon’s men of war turned back to “Gilead” and only ten thousand stayed with him,

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we discover how Jehovah God handled the problem of too many people assembled with “Gideon”. He instructed “Gideon” to tell all the men who were with him, if they were filled with fear and trembling, they should go back to “mount Gilead”. Twenty two thousand men accepted “Gideon’s” offer and went back which left only ten thousand men to go to battle. We shall see how that number was also too numerous for God, but for now let us consider that God was indeed in control of this entire event. When we realize God loves the people of Israel and us, we will begin to see that He operates in such a manner that He will be the One who saves and no one else. Only God sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and Only God raised Him from the dead after three days.When we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and give us the ability to function in His Kingdom in such a way that He receives all the glory for the great things He has done. (See Matthew 6:33)

Next time we learn how “the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many”, 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".