Telling His Dream - Judges 7:13

In the book of Judges we learned how the Jehovah God told Gideon, “Arise, get you down unto the host; for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you fear to go down, go you with Phurah your servant down to the host. And you shall hear what they say; and afterward shall your hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that [were] in the host.  And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels [were] without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude”, and in chapter seven and verse thirteen of Judges, we learn how, ““there was a man that told his dream to a fellow” where we read,

And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.

The verse reads, “And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said ,…” The writer began with the words, “and when Gideon was come” which means “and at the time and moment 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” arrived”, “behold, there was a man that told a dream” or “lo, look and consider, there existed a male human being who recounted and rehearsed a vision of thoughts, images and sensations” “unto his fellow, and said” which means “to his, the man’s, companion, fellow-citizen and other person and uttered declared and proclaimed”  the following words.. The writer shared at the time that “Gideon” arrived he discovered a “man” who relayed a vision he had to his companion, and he told them the following words. 

The verse goes on to say, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian,” The writer continued with the words, “behold, I dreamed a dream” which means “lo, look and consider, I, the man from the army of the Midianites, had a vision”, “and, lo, a cake of barley bread” or “and behold and consider, a round or flattened loaf made with rough barley” “tumbled into the host of Midian” which means “overturned and overflowed the army encampment belonging to Midian whose name means ‘strife’ and was the son of Abraham by Keturah and progenitor of the tribe of Midianites or Arabians”. The writer shared how “Gideon” heard the man from the “Midianite” army share how he had a vision of a loaf of barley bread that turned over and over toward the army of the Midianites. 

Finally the verse reads, “and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.” The writer concluded this verse with the words, “and came unto a tent” which means “and attained and lighted upon a temporary or transient dwelling place”, “and smote it that it fell” or “and struck, hit, beat and scourged it, the temporary dwelling place, so that the tent was cast down and lay prostrate”, “and overturned it” which means “and upturned it, the temporary dwelling place”, “that the tent lay along” or “so the temporary and transient dwelling place was cast down and prostrate”. The writer ended this verse by sharing how the barley bread loaf struck the temporary dwelling place so hard that it lay prostrate and turned upside down. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we see how the man from the Midianite army had a premonition concerning the people of Israel attacking them. His vision saw the Israelites coming as a loaf of barley bread which struck their encampment and upended it. God was on the move, and even the members of the Midianite army were seeing visions concerning His overtaking of them. God loves the people of Israel, and He was working out a plan through “Gideon” to free them from the Midianite oppression. God loves us too, and when He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and to be raised from the dead after three days, He made the way through faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord” to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and given His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and assure us that our oppressors will be aware when He rises up against them. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:37)

Next time we learn how, “his fellow answered and said, this is nothing save the sword of Gideon”, 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".