The L'Anse sentinel., 1907-04-06


morning. At the appointed time
tevery man was in his place ready to
move, and after quick march the
army came to place selected BY
Gideon upon the Mount Gilead. From
the commanding position the forces
Of the Midianites and the Amala-
kites and those confederated with
them could be seen stretched out In
long irregular lines In the valley
and upon the opposite hillsides Of
Moreh. What multitudes there werei
In comparison their army was but .
mere handful! For the first time
since his men had como together Gid
con detected the shadow of fear re,
fiected In their faces.
| "Oh, pshaw," calculated one Of Gid.
cons captains to whom he mentioned
the matter, that feeling will disap-
pear when we begin our assault upon
the enemy"
This remark served to reassure Gid
con, and he soon forgot his fears In
the active preparations which were
being made for the coming conflict.
At last everything in the little army
was brought into order, and Gideon
retired to his tent for q little rest.
His repose was suddenly broken by
a voice saying unto him:
"The people that are with thee are
too many for me to give the INDIAN.
ties into their hands, lest Israel vaunt
themselves against me saying, Mine
own hand hath saved me. Now.
therefore go to, proclaim in the ears
Of the people saying: 'Whosoever is
fearful and afraid, let him return and
depart early from Mount Gilead.'"
4 Startled and amazed, Gideon stood
rooted to the spot, after the voice had
ceased. Surely, his army was small
enough now. What could he hope for
II part were sent home?
"But God hath spoken" at last he
exclaimed. "He who hath promised
victory will give 1t in his own way"
And In this spirit of faith and sub
mission he went forth into the camp
and caused 1t to be proclaimed
throughout the ranks of the Ysraelites
that whosoever was fearful or afraid
should depart for home And all dur.
ing that night and until the early
morning there was a constant stream
Of men leaving the camp, glad to es-
cape the certain defeat. as they
thought, at the hands Of the vast
hosts of the enemy, until $4,000 had
disappeared down the slopes of Mount
Gilead, and left Gideon and his little
army Of 10000 standing there looking
with questioning glances into each
others faces.
But our God who hath promised us
the victory doth not depend upon
numbers" shouted Gideon to his cap
tains standing near him, and they
in turn took up the shout so that the
words echoed and reechoed all over
the camp, and the sound thereof was
waited out upon the clear morning air
} to the very camp of the enemy.
And while Gideon stood looking
} upon the scene and the words were
still sounding in his ears, the voice
! Of the Lord came to him again, say.
ing:
"The people are yet too many;
bring them down to the water, and
will try them for thee there; and
1t shall be that of whom I say unto
thee: This shall go with thee,' the
, same shall go with thee; and OF
.. whomsoever I say unto thee, This
, shall not so with thee the same shall
, not CO."
Again came the questioning in Gid
cons heart; again the doubt as to
. wisdom Of further reducing his army
! and then, as before, came the thought:
. "But God hath spoken. He know
eth how he will do this thing"
And again in obedience to the com
, mand of the Lord, Gideon ordered the
. advance Of his army down to the
, stream. a.
Gideon reached the brink Of the
. river in advance of his men, and
turned to receive them, wondering
. the while what the Lords purpose
.. was concerning them. And the wort
) of the Lord came to him again, say
ing:
. Everyone that lappeth of the wa
. ter with his tongue as dog lappeth
. him shalt thou set by himself; like
. wise every one that boweth dow
; upon his knees to drink"
8 Instantly Gideon saw the purpos,
Il Of God. He would discover who wa
, SO intent upon the Lords business a
to keep his eye upon the enemy whil
he hastily refreshed himself with tn,
: cool water And instead Of being dis
+ mayed when he saw the little band O
300 men, his faith laid hold Of Coz
u with new power, and he knew tina
{ victory was to be his.
Q The night is dark, such night a
v brings oftentimes the forbodings O
e danger to the wicked, and to tn,
n righteous the confident tone Of as
q surance that God rules in the dark
i ness as he does in the light. Th
q vast army of the Midianites are pass
g ing the hours In troubled dreams
It while Gideon and his faithful littl
o band is surrounding the camp.
., Suddenly upon the quietness OF tn
y midnight there sounds the trumpe
|