The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1902-11-20
rHB SUNDAY SCHOOL.
lesson In the In.ernationai Series
for November -, 1002-Gideon
and the Three Hundred.
THE LESSON TEXT.

Gudges 7;l-S)
]. Then Jerubbaal, who Is Gi6eon, and az
the people that were with him, rose up
early. and pitched beside the well of HGrod:
so that the host of the Midianites were on
the north side of them, by the hih Of Moreh,
n the valley.
.. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The
people that are with thee are too many for
me TO give the Midlanites into their hanGs,
lest Israel vaunt the emselves against Me.
saying, Mine own hand hath saved me-
g. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the
ears OF the people, saying. Whosoever il
fearful and afraid, let him return and de-
part early from mount Gilead, And there
returned of the people twenty and two
thousand; and there remained ten thou
sand
4. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The
people are yet too many; bring them down
unto the water, and | will try them for
thee there; ana 1t shall. be, that OF whom
say unto thee, This shall go with thee,
the same shall so with thee: and of whom
soever | say unto thee. This shall not so
with thee, the same shall not go.
0. So he brought down the people unto
the water; ard, the Lord said unto Gideon,
Every one that lappeth of the water with
his tongue, as dog lappeth. him shalt
thou set by himself; likewise every one that
boweth Gown upon his knees to drink.
D. And the number of them that Tapped,
putting their hand to their mouth, were
;hree hundred men, but all the rest of the
people bowed down upon their knees to
drink water.
I, And the Lord said unto Gideon. By the
three hundred men that tapped will save
you, and deliver the Midianites into thine
hand; and let all the other people go every
man unto his. place
5. So the people took victuals in their
hard, and their trumpets; and he sent all
the rest OF Israel every man unto his tert,
and retained those three hundred men: and
the host of MiGlaE was beneath him In the
valley.
GOLDEN TEXT.-It is better to trust
In the Lord than to pat confidence in
mnn.-Ps. 11S;S.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION
G!geoh can ',....................J uCSes :.
GiGeons Vlctory............ Judges Z.
biCtoH reward. ....................Judges :,
TIME-B. C. 1856 and l249
PLACE-Ophrah Valley of Jezreel anG
Canaan.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
God used Gideon, as He had used the
other judges, to teach lesson to Is
rael. That lesson was that in God
was the nations help. 1t was diff
cult for the people to learn this truth,
just as it is for nations nowadays to
grasp it, Whenever the people were
faithful to Jehovah, He protected
them from their enemies; when they
forsook Him they became subject to
oppressors.
The period of the Judges has been
called Israel's Iron age" and of
course we read the stories of its bloody
deeds with horror, and yet even here
we find gradual moral development.
The historian makes the accounts of
the early days of His people teach
powerful religious lesson-the same
lesson over and over again. The chill
dren of Israel do that which is evil
in the sight of Jehovah" He delivers
them into the hands of their enemies:
He hears their cries-for He loves
them, and raises up for them these
deliverers, during whose lives they
have peace. The events of chanters 3-5
are selected from period Of perhaps
$50 years.
Chapter VI gives us picture of the
way in which the rich farming country
of the valley of Jezreel was continual
ly raided in harvest time by the
Bedouin Arabs from beyond the Jor-
dan. They descended upon the fields in
hordes with their camels; the inhab-
itants fed before them, and they did
not leave till the country had been
stripped of everything that could be
carried away. Famine could be the
only result. The situation was des-
perate. At such a time as this the
angel (messenger) of Jehovah appears
to Gideon, and commissions him to rid
the land Of the Midianite invaders. He
is assured of Jehovah's help and bless
ing, without which he could hope to
do nothing, and the assurance is con-
firmed by miracle (V. 2D. In verses
25-32 Gideon forsakes Baal worship
and destroys the family altar to the
local Baal. There is rising OF the
surrounding tribes at his call (33-35),
and he is assured of victory by the
miracle of the fleece (3e4O.)
Gideon's army now numbered 32,-
900 men. But Jehovah wished to do
something more important than rid
the land of the Midianites that day.
He wanted to teach the people that
their security lay not in themselves
and their might, but in faithfulness to
Him. Deliverance by 300 men would
certainly be attributed to God, while
IL the victory had been won by $4,000
it would have seemed like purely hui
man occurrence, and Gods main OBJ
iect would not have been accom-
plished.
"Jerubbaal:" Another name for
Gideon. "Whosoever is fearful" God
was going to do the work, but He
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