Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-12-08
GIDEON'S ARMY.
LESSON x, FOURTH QUARTER, IN
TERNATIoNAL SERIES, DEC. 9.


NIT Verses 2. 3-Gelden Text. zech. ~.
6-Commentary by Rev. ID. NJ. Stearns.
CONDENSED from Lesson Helper Quarterly, by
permission OF II. s. Hoffman, Philadelphia.
Publisher.
The summary OF the history Of Israel un-
der the judges for $50 years, as given in our
last lesson, was that they forsook the Lord
and served idols, then their enemies OPP
pressed them, then they cried unto the Lord
1 in their distress and He raised up judges who
delivered them, the Lord being with the
4 judge; after the judges death they sinned
/ again, were again oppressed, cried, were
! again delivered, and thus they lived, SHINING
and repenting. The book of Judges opens up
/ 70 us this history and tells US who the oppres-
sors were and who the deliverers were whom
| God raised up; the manner and duration OF
I the various expressions, and the manner OF
/ the deliverance, with the number OF years
they rested Up 20 tho present lesson tho
oppressors were the kings Of Mesopotamia,
Moab, and Canaan for periods OF eight, eigh
| teen and twenty years; the deliverers were
| Athmiel, Ehud and Shamgar. Deborah and
| Barak, and the years of rest were forty
eighty and forty years respectively. After
the rule OF Deborah and Barak the
next oppressors were the Midianites, who
| for seven years had cruelty oppressed Israel
when God called Gideon to DO their deliverer.
| The record Of bis call and the appearance Of
tho Lord to him Is found in the previous
chapter, where we learn that the secret OF
his success as q saviour and judge OF his peo-
| pie was in these words of the Lord to him:
! go in this thy might, have not sent thee;
surely win be with theen wi, 14-16), which
Is Just the secret Of the life Of every true be-
| Tl-f.. 1~..f IL
overthrow his fathers altar to Baal and
built an altar unto the Lord and offered sac
rifice; the spirit of the Lord came upon
him, he blew trumpet, sent out messengers
and gathered an army Of 81, 900 men. To
days lesson tells US of the sitting Of that
army down TO 500 men, with whom God
wrought Israel's deliverance
| /. "Jerubbaal, who is Gideon" Gideon
signi1ed "feller or bruiser,n and is type
| Of the Lord Jesus, the great deliverer and
4 Judge who came to destroy the works OF
| the devil and who will bruise Satan under
our feet shortly He was the youngest of q
poor family in the tribe of Manasseh wi, 49,,
| but the spirit Of the Lord qualified him for
! the work to which he was called and made
him successful leader of men. God chooses
| the foolish and the weak TO confound the
wise and mighty that no flesh may glory in
| Ills presence u COr. ], SO-ol.)
Jerubbaal signifies "a contender with
Baal." and Gideon was so called by his father
| after he had overthrow the altar of Baal
| wi, 81, 32); IL any one will be filed with the
spirit and used of God they must first be
willing to overthrow all the idols of pride
and self and let the Lord alone possess and
control them. Baal signifies "lord," and all
| the other lords must be set aside that Jesus
may reign supreme.
q "Thc Lord said unto Gideon Did your
heart ever say: "Oh, il could only hear the
/ Lord speak to me / would be strong and of
| good courage" Well, be sure of this, that
| just as truly as the Lord spoke to Gideon, He
is speaking to you today in His word; and
until you are sure of this the Bible will never
DO very precious book to you. 1.-THE people
are too many. /. lest Israel yaunt
themselves against Me- A small company
surely, when compared with the great host
of Midian and yet God says they are too
| many. Numbers arc not to God what they
arc to us, and until we can see the unseen
! Almighty One rather than the seen multitude
who are only flesh we shall not be valiant for
| God.
8. "WhoSoever is fearful ard afraid, let
him return" This was in accordance with
| the law, and the reason was lest they should
1
| tDeut Xxx, 50 A fearful or discouraged per-
son is not one whom the Lord can use; there
| fore He so often exhorts His people to ssBe
strong and courageous.' tDeut. XXI, @, z, %;
Josh. i, O, o, Is; X, -; xiii, g.; Ps xvii, IA;
XXI, "a, and many othersl There is one
text which, IL seems to me, ought to cure all
discouraged workers for Christ. and it is
this: "He shall not fail nor be discouraged
| till He have set judgment in the earthn
4. Tho people arc yet too many; bring
| them down unto the water, and / will try
| them for thee there" If 32,C00 was COM
| paratively small army with which to con.
tend with INDIAN, what shall we think of
| only 10000; and what must Gideon have
| thought when the Lord said to him, 1.-THE
| people are yet too inanyr The process of
| weakening down our apparent strength for
| service is not an uncommon one; but the
| Lord knows what He is doing, and He must
havc well tried material; faith says, Even
| SO, Father, and yields and obeys, although
it seems more and more like counting utter
| failure Gideon might have said, lord, il
you send me with less than 10000 | cannot
| go, for it would be sheer Madness but he
evidently had no such thoughts; no was not
managing this business and he had perfect
| confidence in the Lord.
1 O-t DN TIC uuktGTcu IflCu I0ab laD-
| ped will | save YOU" Tho 10000 were
brought down to the water to drink: ., zoo
knelt down to drink, whiIe the other 800
| lifted the wa CIR to their mouths with their
hands. and that simple test decided who
should so. What a little thing, and what
was tncrc in it; why should not soldier
kneel down and take good drink, and what
virtue was there III tapping it like doga 1t
was simply matter Of self indulgence or
| qualification in a very innocent and harmless
| thing, but it was at a very critical time. The
three hundred seemed TO feel tho Importance
OF the work before them so much, and their
| hearts were so set on the conquest OF their
enemies and the Ndeliverance of their people
that they had no time nor inclination to
/ think OF their own personal ease or comfort
/ or gratlficatlons theirs was a whole hearted
service for their God and their country. and
| this test was Gods way of selecting them In
| the matter OF the fearful ones 1t is easy 70 see