Three Hundred Trumpets Blown and Swords - Judges 7:22

In the book of Judges we learned how Gideon, “divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall you do. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow you the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled”, and in chapter seven and verse twenty-two of Judges, we learn how “the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow” where we read,

And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

The verse reads, “And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, …” The writer began with the words, “and the three hundred” which means “and the three hundred men who accompanied Gideon” “blew the trumpets” or “sounded, thrust and blasted the curved horns or cornets”, “and the LORD” which means “and Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God” “set every man’s sword against his fellow” or “put, placed, appointed and directed each, the whole and all of the Midianite army’s, sharpened implements of war in opposition to his, the Midianite’s army’s, companions and fellow-citizen and neighbor”. The writer shared how Gideon’s “three hundred men” blasted their curved horns or cornets, and Jehovah caused the “Midianite” army to use their sharpened instruments of war upon each other. 

The verse continues, “ … even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.” The writer added the words, “even throughout all the host” which means “and the whole, total and totality of the Midianite army”: “and the host fled” or “and the men in the army departed, escaped and disappeared” “to Bethshittah” which means “toward Bethshittah whose name means ‘house of the acacia tree’”, “in Zererath” or “within Zererath whose name means ‘oppression’ and was a town or territory in Manasseh and the home of Jeroboam”, “and to the border of Abelmeholah” which means “and toward the edge, circuit and boundary pertaining to Abelmeholah whose name means ‘meadow of dancing’ and was a city of Issachar and the birthplace of Elisha”, “unto Tabbath” or “to Tabbath whose name means ‘celebrated’ and was a site near which Gideon's pursuit of the Midianites stopped”. The writer shared how the entire army of the Midianites began to fight one another and departed the camp toward “Bethshittah in Zererath” and toward the boundary belonging to “Abelmeholah” and to “Tabbath”. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how the “Midianite” army was so startled by the acts of “Gideon” and the “three hundred men” that they began to fight with one another and ran away. They went to “Betheshittah, Abelmholah and to Tabbath” which shows how they left their army encampment and hurriedly departed to places far away. God was at work because He caused them to fight with one another. God was to deliver the people of Israel, and He did so through “Gabriel and the three hundred men” in an unconventional manner. This same God desires to have a personal relationship with all of us through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our personal “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 to empower us to live according to that truth so His enemies flee from us when He engages them in unconventional ways. (See John 3:16; Acts 16:13; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 15:25)

Next time we learn how, “the men of Israel gathered themselves together”, 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".