Pitching at Harod - Judges 7:1

In the book of Judges we learned how Gideon, “said unto God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not your anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray you, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.”, and in chapter seven and verse one of Judges, we learn how, “Gideon, and all the people that were with him … pitched beside the well of Harod", where we read,

Then 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.

The verse reads, “Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod:” The writer began with the words, “then Jerubbaal” which means “at that time Jerubbaal whose name means ‘let Baal contend’ and was the name given to Gideon by his father when he destroyed the altar of Baal”, “who is Gideon” or “which indeed is Gideon whose name means ‘hewer”, “and all the people that were with him” which means “and each, the whole and everyone of the human beings who accompanied him, Gideon”, “rose up early” or “made an early start”, “and pitched beside the well of Harod” which means “and encamped and set up their tents alongside the fountain of trembling belonging to Harod whose name means spring of Herod and was a camping place of Gideon and Israel near the hill of Moreh”. The writer shared how “Jerubbaal” who was “Gideon” along with all those who accompanied him got up early in the morning and set up their war camp alongside the fountain of trembling that belonged to “Harod”. 

The verse goes on to say, “so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.” The writer continued with the words, “so that the host” which means “which set the encampment of the armed host or army” “of the Midianites” or “belonging to Midianites or Midian whose name means ‘strife’ and was the son of Abraham by Keturah and progenitor of the tribe of Midianites or Arabians” “were on the north side of them” which means “existed to the northern direction pertaining to them, Gideon and those who accompanied him”, “by the hill of Moreh” or” beside the little rising above the plain belonging to Moreh whose name means ‘teacher’ and was the oak tree at Shechem where Abram stepped when he first entered Canaan, close to the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim”, “in the valley” which means “within the vale, lowland and open country”. The writer shared shared how the army belonging to the “Midianies” was located on the northern side of “Gideon” and those with him, and this location was beside the little rising above the plain belonging to “Moreh” within the vale or open country. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how “Gideon” and his men were encamped in such a manner that the “Midianites” were camped just to the north of them near the rising above the plain known as “Moreh” within the open country. God was positioning His people, Gideon and his men, to carry out and fulfill His plans for the “Midianites”. Although “Gideon and his men” were being employed by Jehovah God for this task, God would give them the victory. In the same manner He desires to have every person align with His way of salvation by submitting to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of everyone and was raised from the dead after three days. When we yield to 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 equip us to carry out His plans for us wherever they may be. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:37)

Next time we learn how, “the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with you are 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".