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The record of both Gideon's call and his service is most challenging. It contains the demonstration of some of the most vital principles. These principles are of the greatest importance for those who would serve the Lord today.

The principle which is of the greatest importance is: The Lord must always be given the highest priority. Therefore, His Word must receive the closest and most diligent attention.

The initiative was taken by the Lord. That is always the case. The Lord reached out to Gideon. Gideon did not reach out to the Lord, he was convinced that the Lord had abandoned Israel.

The break through came as Gideon responded to the Lord's challenging and inspiring initiative. It was in his response to the Lord that we see him giving the Lord the opportunity to reveal more and more of His plan.

At first, Gideon's response was uncertain and reluctant. He knew so well his own serious limitations. So graciously the Lord led him to the higher level of full surrender to the Lord and His will.

The more Gideon responded to the Lord's initiative of grace, the more the door opened to a closer, deeper fuller personal relationship, with the Lord!

That is always the way the Lord works. It is always His initiative of grace. Always His pursuit of love as He seeks to draw His people into the fullness of the glory of His will.

Too often, we are not listening. Or, reluctant to believe that He could be reaching out to us.

So many want to retain control. Thus they limit the opportunity of the Lord to exercise His initiative of grace.

He seeks to enable us to see what His will for us is. The place in His service which He plans for us to fill. The area of responsibility and privilege which, in His perfect purpose, He calls us to accept.

We see the Lord continuing to follow through in His plan and purpose for Gideon. We see the clear evidence of His patient love and deliberate purpose in the passage which is before us.

The reality of the very significant identification is quite evident in:

"And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand."

Earlier the Lord had given His servant His Word of unqualified assurance. "And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianities into thine hand" (Verse 7).

The Lord added the command, "Let all the other people go every man unto his place."

Gideon had immediately obeyed. He had sent all of the other men home! The only ones whom he retained with him were the three hundred who had been set apart

What a moment that was. What a challenge! He had acted in total and willing obedience to the Lord. An act of faith which left him with three hundred men facing the combined forces of the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east.

Three hundred to oppose an army numbering over one hundred and twenty thousand!

As Gideon stood there with his men, the Lord spoke to him. It was the Lord who approached His servant. He left Gideon in no doubt of the fact: The Lord was still with him!

The effect of the Lord's approach was to encourage and inspire His servant. To confirm His approval of his humble and complete obedience to His Word.

That is just like the Lord! He always gives recognition and honor to those who honor Him! He responds in love and grace as He continues to inspire and encourage them.

The aim in view is unmistakably clear. He ever seeks to strengthen the bonds of love which bind our hearts to Him.

The Lord knew Gideon perfectly. He knew his thoughts. He was well aware of the inevitable, and very human, apprehension which Gideon would feel. So, in patient love He confirms His commitment

"I am still with you! Still leading! Still moving toward My stated goals and objectives! You can move ahead with confidence in My all-sufficient power!"

That is the way the Lord works - with us! So graciously. So patiently. So powerfully! "I am still with you. To work in you! With you! Through you! You can count on that fact!"

"Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand."

The time has come for you to act! You are now ready to move out into the field of battle. Your army is exactly all that I require it to be! So, now, Get up and go out against the camp of the enemy!

There is a time for preparation. There is also the time when that preparation is over and the one thing left is: the battle!

They are many Christians who appear to have adopted the role of: "perpetual preparers"! All of their time, energy and effort is expended on making unending preparations.

Yet they never actually get around to entering into the real battle. They never go and fight with the enemy. They are too busy: preparing! Parading! Training! Talking about tactics. Discussing other battles, and what the combatants may have done right, or wrong.

In the service of the Lord, the time to enter the battle must come. The time when the Lord says, Get up! Go out! Confront the enemy! Set the captives free!

Many choose to not hear His call to battle. They would rather stay in the safety and security of their barracks than enter the heat of true spiritual conflict.

Gideon was listening to the Lord. No one could rightly question his complete sincerity.

Gideon heard the command of the Lord. He was resolved to obey the Word of the Lord. The Lord knew His servant's heart. Read his inmost thoughts.

With His command to Gideon, the Lord added this Word of assurance: "I have delivered it into thine hand!" "I assure you that I will give you the victory!"

That assurance is given to the one who is committed to obey. Gideon had faithfully met all of the requirements of the Lord. He had fully obeyed the Word of the Lord each time the Lord had spoken to him.

It is to such faithful obedience that the Lord says, "Surely I will be with you! I will give you the victory!"

This is the Lord who seeks to involve us in His service. This is the way He delights to work, even with us! Even though He knows that we are still struggling with apprehension and uncertainty.

The Consideration: which the Lord showed with respect to Gideon's humanness!

"But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host."

If at this moment you know within your heart that you are afraid to attack that huge force! If in your mind you are battling with perplexing, troubling thoughts. If you are conscious of apprehension and uncertainty.

The Lord knew everything about Gideon. He knew everything going on in His servant's heart and mind. The Lord was fully aware that His servant was "human"!

There is no suggestion whatsoever that Gideon had raised any objection. He did not question either the wisdom or the rightness of the Lord's command. He had not sought to either delay or avoid obedience to the Word of the Lord.

Yet, he was fighting a very real battle within himself! He knew it. God knew it!

The Lord fully recognized the reality of the situation. He knew that, faced with these awesome circumstances, Gideon was staggering under this load which had been placed on his shoulders.

God recognized that fact. He did not condemn Gideon in any way. Rather, in patient love, He was committed to continue to lead His servant. To bring him step by step through the inner struggle to total victory!

It is so vital for us to see the significance of these developments. That we be able to grasp all that this means for us. The implications for us in the service which the Lord requires of us.

The Lord commanded His servant. He expected and required full obedience. Yet, at the same time, He spoke to His servant in patient love. In grace in which He fully understood His servant.

The effect: everything which was required by the command of the Lord, His patient tender love and grace worked to make this fully possible!

What an inspiration that fact is for us today! God has not changed!

Yes, He does expect, require, full obedience to His Word of command. At the same time, He still speaks that Word of patient tender love to inspire us. He will still so graciously work with us to enable us to fully obey.

Thus, He does everything necessary to enable us to enter the battle and claim the victory! He does it all!

That was the measure of the infinite loving patience of the Lord as He worked with Gideon. Was! Is - as He works with us today!

The Lord in His love and wisdom had His perfect plan already in place. He is always prepared. Always!

Repeatedly Gideon is confronted by the most unexpected instructions from the Lord. True, the Lord was moving to inspire and encourage His servant. But, instructing him to go into the camp of the enemy was so unexpected.

From the mere human point of view, that would be the last place to send His servant.

There are those times when we feel uncertain and apprehensive. When our peace and assurance is disturbed by anxiety. We believe that in such circumstances we know where to go to find support and encouragement.

We would turn to the company of those who are friendly and sympathetic. The last place we would go would be into the camp of those who were openly antagonistic.

The Lord does know best! Gideon walked with the Lord. He carefully listened to the Word of the Lord. He had already learned so well that vital lesson: let God be God!

Let God always have His way. Let Him choose the place. It does not matter in the slightest what mere men suggest. The best human wisdom does not count compared to the clear leading of the Lord.

That essential fact has not changed. It is still our relationship with the Lord that is the key. Thus it does not matter where the Lord leads. It does not matter into which path or place His Word directs us.

There is only one thing that matters: It is the Lord! That fact settles the question. It is more than enough for all those who really love Him. It fully satisfies those who trust Him.

Once He has spoken, the next step is to obey. To faithfully follow wherever He leads.

But, what if - ? That question does not arise to the one who really knows: It is the Lord! Not when we really do understand our relationship with the Lord.

In our relationship with the Lord our actual responsibilities are really quite simple. First, we have the responsibility to humbly listen to His Word whenever He speaks to us and whatever He says to us.

Second, we have the responsibility of joyfully obeying Him in every detail of His Word.

Someone may ask, What about the consequences of such acts of faithful obedience?

The consequences of our obedience are not our responsibility. That is the area of the Lord's responsibility! The Lord fully accepts and faithfully discharges all of His responsibilities! We can always trust Him to do so.

Leave the consequences of your faithful obedience to Him. He will not fail. All that we have to do, that is: ALL we have to do, is to hear Him and obey Him.

Far too often Christian totally miss out on the inspiration and the encouragement which the Lord wants to give to them. It appears to be more important for them to work out their own solutions. They are much too busy to listen to His Word.

Or, having heard the Word of the Lord, there are those who express all their objections. See all the problems. Asking innumerable questions. Grieving Him by unbelief and reluctance to trust Him and refusal to simply obey His Word.

The end result is inevitable. We miss out completely on all that the Lord is attempting to reveal to us. Turning aside, so that He can neither inspire nor encourage us.

"And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shalt thine 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."

This is yet another startling development in this remarkable series of astonishing events.

When you get to the camp you will listen to what the enemy is saying! It would have been so human for Gideon to say, I must have heard that wrong!

If we had been in Gideon's place we would have been strongly tempted to argue. Those instructions sound so bizarre. So irrational.

Gideon did not argue. He knew that to argue was to express unbelief, which dishonored the Lord. Even as it would deny him the help he so greatly needed.

Gideon continued to thankfully acknowledge the reality: God is God! God is on the throne. He reigns! He is still in complete control.

God can use anything He chooses to use. Anyone whenever and however He chooses to use them.

Even: the enemy?! Those who were determined to destroy the people of God?!

Those are such extreme measures. They are so extraordinary.

Surely God could use one of the Israelites. But not the enemy.

It is sad but true, there are those times when the people of God leave God with no choice. They are not available to Him. They force Him to pass them by.

Thus He turns elsewhere. Using the most extraordinary measures to accomplish His purposes.

This is a humbling challenge to Christians today. There are times when we should be fully available to the Lord. But we are not. We are too preoccupied with doing our own thing. We have our own agenda. So His call goes unheeded.

We are not in the relationship of true submission and surrender to Him. Therefore He cannot use us. He must pass us by. How tragic that is. Yet it is true far too often.

The Lord followed that command with the Word of assurance. After hearing the comments of the enemy, you will have the assurance you need.

God guaranteed that. He did so in the place of His choosing. In the way of His appointing.

The Lord still comes to His people with this same wonderful assurance. The same unfailing guarantee. It is all so very simple. So easy to follow.

God is saying, Do this My way, and all the need will be met!

These are very significant issues. So vitally important. Yet, so very simple. But so often we talk and act as though they are so very complicated and difficult.

Too difficult! Too demanding! Too complicated! Too . . . something! And we do not obey Him!

Listen to His Word. Believe His Word. Trust His Word. Obey His Word. And you will never be disappointed. Never!

The Lord chooses the place. The Lord confirms the purpose.

"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."

Gideon did exactly what the Lord commanded him to do. He walked right into the camp of the enemy. This was not an act of foolish bravado. It was a sincere act of humble obedience and genuine faith.

Verse twelve so graphically describes the scene that spread out before him. As he walked into the camp he saw the tents stretching out in every direction as far as the eye could see. Cluttering the ground like an all-engulfing swarm of locusts. A plague which consumed everything else.

Then there were the camels. They were everywhere. As well as the other animals. And all of the military hardware.

What an incredible experience that was for Gideon. To have to walk right into that camp. Just the two of them. Gideon and his servant,

What an overwhelming impact that must have had. It would make him feel so very small. So utterly insignificant. So totally vulnerable. So indescribably weak.

How could he avoid the feeling that he was being swallowed by this immense monster which had encroached on his land? Would he ever see the light of day again?

It is inevitable that there will be experiences similar to that for the true servant of the Lord. When it will appear as though the enemy has spread everywhere. His evil influence seems to occupy every place.

With that the sense of being totally overwhelmed. Swallowed up by the spreading influence of darkness. We are so weak. So vulnerable. So ineffective,

In that moment there is a vital truth which we must remember. Yes, the darkness and the danger are real. The oppressiveness and the ever growing sense of foreboding are actually felt. But, they are only a part of the picture.

They are certainly not the most important part of the true picture. In that is the key!

Gideon saw it all. But he also saw beyond it all. He saw by faith that which was the most important dimension of that picture!

There was one thing which made the difference. As Gideon walked into the camp of the enemy, Gideon was still walking with the Lord!

God wanted him to see it all. To see the vast extent of that huge camp. To see all of the tents. The equipment and armaments. The animals. All of it.

God wanted Gideon to feel it all. All of the awesome oppressive impact of the enemy camp.

Then in the midst of that experience to assure His servant: "Even here, I am with you! Each step you take I take it with you! Not for even a single moment will I leave you to walk alone!"

Think of it! Rejoice in that glorious reality! That vast camp. With all of its oppressive impact! It all fades into total insignificance. As if it does not really exist! It certainly does not matter!

Gideon walks with the Lord. He walks in personal fellowship with the Almighty God!

It is this reality which is the one and only vital circumstance of our lives. We walk with the Lord!

We always have the unfailing all-sufficient presence of our Living Triumphant Lord! He is with us all the time!

As we walk with Him, by faith holding onto His hand, He never lets us go!

Thus all of the oppressive negatives are seen in this glorious perspective. It is the perspective of His victory!

What an assurance! He guarantees that assurance. It is the Lord! He does make the total difference. We can continually draw confidence from that truth.

"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 Lord's timing was perfect. His timing is always perfect. He never misjudges any aspect of any situation which may confront any of His servants.

At exactly the right time Gideon arrived at just the right place: the place of the Lord's choosing.

There he heard one of the Midianites talking to a fellow soldier. He was discussing a dream which he had.

He described seeing "a cake of barley bread" which had come rolling into the camp of the Midianites. As it rolled into the camp, that cake of barley bread struck one of the tents.

The resulting effect was so unexpected. The tent was flattened!

What a strange dream. It sounded so completely improbable. That a small loaf of bread rolling along the ground could flatten a tent! It all sounds so very ridiculous. Not worthy of anyone's attention.

How true that response is to the way we so often react. We are so quick to dismiss anything which, to our intellect, appears foolish.

But, Gideon did not react in that way to all that he had heard. He remember the vital reality: he was still walking in fellowship with the Lord!

He knew that he stood in that particular place in obedience to the Word of the Lord. That, in fact, he was in the place which the Lord had appointed at the very time the Lord had appointed!

Therefore, he had no question. The Lord was in all that he was experiencing. Including: listening to that description of the soldier's dream.

True personal spiritual discipline demands that we always keep these spiritual principles in mind. We are called to constantly walk with the Lord. In doing so, we are to give diligent attention to His Word. In love faithfully obeying Him in every detail.

In that relationship we are assured that He is continually in control. Therefore, there is nothing that is haphazard. Nothing which we can dismiss as foolish, and, therefore, irrelevant.

"All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8: 28). "ALL things!"

Gideon had been taught by the Lord to order his life according to that vital spiritual principle.

Gideon stood there within the Midianite camp. He had listened to the description of the strange dream. He may well have been wondering what it all meant.

"And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host."

This was a most astonishing development. Gideon stood there within the camp of the Midianites. It was there that he heard this totally unexpected explanation.

How could that pagan Midianite possibly make that connection between the loaf of barley bread and the sword of Gideon? How could he come up with the explanation which included the Lord giving victory to Gideon?

How? Because the Lord was exercising sovereign control in every area of these events. He was assuring His servant Gideon, My sovereign power and authority are at work, even here! This reveals to you what I can do!

Gideon had thought that he was totally unknown and completely insignificant. The Lord revealed that his name was known, even in the camp of the Midianites. Known, and feared.

What a thrilling inspiration! Even today! Especially for all those who humbly walk with the Lord.

Yes! The Lord is God! He is always in total sovereign control. He does have full authority and power to over-rule: everywhere! Even within the camp of the enemy! Even when the circumstances appear to be so totally unfavorable and hopeless. He is GOD!

"The sword of Gideon." Notice what follows: "Into his hand God has delivered Midian, and all the host!"

"HAS!" That speaks of accomplished reality! God HAS already done this!.

That is the word of assurance which the Lord was giving to His servant. Victory is absolutely sure! He was inspiring Gideon to appropriate by faith that guaranteed assurance. Claim the accomplished reality!

"The entire camp" was included. It was: total victory! The enemy: completely beaten! The power and oppression of the enemy: utterly broken.

Think of the impact that had to make. Gideon had walked into that vast camp, his only human companion was his servant. He had seen the enemy like a vast swarm of locusts spreading in every direction. The tents! The equipment and armaments! The camels! He could see nothing else - yet!

The Lord was saying to him, Look at it all! Take into account all of these vast military resources.

Now, I guarantee to you complete victory! Right here! Even as you stand within the enemy camp! It is right here that I give to you the assurance that you will be more than conqueror!

You have no reason to fear them! The battle has already been won! Claim the victory in faith!

Gideon may have felt within himself that he was totally insignificant. That his attempts would prove to be so very futile. But for one thing.

He stood there with: God! God stood there with Gideon! God is: GOD!

"If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8: 31). Who indeed?!

Notice, it was the enemy who was forced to admit that the Lord had given the victory to Gideon! For us today, that is still true.

The enemy knows that God has already given us the victory! The enemy is forced to confess that fact.

"Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ" (2 Corinthians 2: 14).

Gideon knew that! Do we? Do we accept that assured fact? Do we really live by that truth? By that spiritual and eternal principle?

God constantly seeks to inspire us to believe His assurance. To live by his Word. To do so for His glory. To be the kind of people His can use.

"And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped!"

His response of worship was so spontaneous. So very sincere. There was no other response that would make any sense.

Gideon was a man who was learning to humbly walk with God. The Lord was enabling him to understand more fully what it meant to share in that daily fellowship.

Every new experience, as well as each new level of comprehension, inspired him to glory in the Lord. To praise the Lord for His faithful leading. For His infinite wisdom and amazing grace.

Worship, praise, adoring wonder, thanksgiving! All were becoming a part of his daily walk with the Lord.

That is the way the Lord wants it to be with each one of us. The more that we prove to be willing to let God be God in our lives. Ready to really embrace His Lordship in all areas. The result will be ever increasing reason to worship, praise and give thanks.

In that attitude of worship Gideon moved to rally his men. With great enthusiasm and excitement he called together the three hundred who had been set apart by the Lord.

"Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian."

"The LORD hath delivered!" That is the same note of accomplished reality we noticed in the Word of the Lord!

Here Gideon boldly and confidently claims the Lord's promise! He is fully convinced!

How these truths inspire us to live in daily praise and thanksgiving. We can live every day knowing that we actually do have that same exciting confidence!

We can serve the Lord effectively and victoriously knowing that He delights to daily provide that exciting difference! We can! The Lord Himself constantly assures us the He is committed to make it a daily reality!

With total confidence Gideon moved to complete his preparations for the coming battle. He prepared for: Victory! He could do so because he was confident in the Lord. Confident in the Word of the Lord

Remember where this started? "Go - But - if you are afraid!"

The Lord reached out in patient love to His servant. Just as He continues to reach out in patient love to us.

The Lord led Gideon. Gideon willingly permitted the Lord to lead him step by step.

Remember this fact: The Lord really does understand each one of us. He does know us better than we could ever know ourselves.

We can be totally open and honest with Him about our doubts and fears. Our uncertainties and apprehensions.

He will lead us through to that point where He will effectively deal with every personal concern.

As He does so, how we will be inspired to worship and praise Him. To express our deepest thanksgiving.

Therefore: rejoice as you prepare for: the battle; and: the victory!