Taking Two Prince of the Midianites - Judges 7:25

In the book of Judges we learned how, “Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan”, and in chapter seven and verse twenty-five of Judges, we learn how the people of Ephraim, “took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb” where we read,

And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

The verse reads, “And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb;” The writer began with the words, “and they took two princes” which means “and they, the people of Ephraim, seized and captured two rulers, leaders, chiefs, chieftains or governors” “of the Midianites” or “belonging to the Midianites or Midian whose name means ‘strife’ and was the son of Abraham by Keturah and progenitor of the tribe of Midianites or Arabians”, “Oreb” whose name means ‘raven’ and was one of the chieftains of the Midianite army defeated by Gideon”, “and Zeeb” whose name means ‘wolf’ and was “one of the two princes of Midian mentioned in the conquest; brought to bay in a winepress”. The writer shared ho the people of “Ephraim” captured two of the leaders belonging to the “Midianites” whose names were “Oreb and Zeeb”. 

The verse goes on to say, “ and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.” The writer continued with the words, “and they slew Oreb” which means “and they, the people of Ephraim, destroyed and killed Oreb whose name means “raven” “upon the rock Oreb” which means “on the cliff, boulder or flat surface stone named Oreb” “and Zeeb” whose name means “wolf” “they slew at the winepress of Zeeb” which means “they, the people of Ephraim, destroyed and killed at the vat for pressing grapes belonging to Zeeb whose name means ‘wolf’” “and pursued Midian” or “and followed after Midian whose name means ‘strife’”, “and brought the heads of Oreb” which means “and carried for the the physical heads belonging to Oreb whose name means ‘raven’” “and Zeeb” whose name means “wolf” “to Gideon on the other side Jordan” or “to Gideon whose name means ‘hewer’ upon the opposite edge, border or boundary belonging to the Jordan whose name means ‘descender’”. The writer shared how the people of “Ephraim” killed “Oreb” upon the flat stone named “Oreb” and “Zech” was killed by the wine vat belonging to “Zeeb”, and they followed after “Midian” and carried the physical heads of “Oreb and Zeeb” to “Gideon” on the opposite boundary of the “Jordan River”. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how “Ephraim” captured two of the rulers belonging to the “Midianites” named “Oreb and Zeeb”. They kill “Oreb” on the stone named after him, and they killed “Zeeb” by the wine vat called by his name. Afterward the men of “Ephraim” carried the physical heads of “Oreb and Zeeb” to “Gideon” who was located on the opposite boundary of the “Jordan River”. God was handing the “Midianite” people over to “Ephraim” of “Israel” because He loves His people, and through Him they would conquer their foes. God loves us as well and when we yield our lives to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead 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 give us the ability to do great exploits as we become “more than conquerors” in His Kingdom. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:37)

Next time we begin a new chapter and learn how, “the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why have you served us thus”, 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".