EXPLORE THE TEXT
Believers should pray for God to do what only He can do.
19 Gideon and the hundred men who were with him
went to the outpost of the camp
at the beginning of the middle watch after the sentries had been stationed.
They blew their rams’ horns and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.
20 The three companies blew their rams’ horns and shattered their pitchers.
They held their torches in their left hands and their rams’ horns to blow in their right hands,
and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
21 Each Israelite took his position around the camp,
and the entire Midianite army began to run,
and they cried out as they fled.
22 When Gideon’s men blew their three hundred rams’ horns,
the Lord caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords.
They fled to Acacia House in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.23 Then the men of Israel were called from
Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.
Review God’s “battle plan” for Israel and its results:
[Gideon] divided his men into three groups of one hundred in each company.
He equipped each man with a rams’ horn in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside of it in the other hand.
They had dispersed themselves all around the camp. .First, they blew their horns.
Second, they smashed their jars.
Third, they held up their lit torches that had been concealed in the jars.
In a normal nighttime military maneuver,
only someone at the front of a company would have been carrying a lit torch.
Gideon’s three hundred men appeared to be three hundred companies surrounding the Midianites.
Finally, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” . .There was so much chaos that the Lord caused
all of the Midianites to begin attacking each other. (PSG, pp. 97-98)
Discuss how these events and actions would bring God glory.
Consider how they can allow God to move and do things His way in their lives.
Review these points from Apply the Text on page 99 of the Personal Study Guide:
Lead the group to discuss their main takeaways from each point. Encourage them to read and reflect on the first question set on page 99 of the PSG. Urge them to list two or three ways they can glorify God in the margin of their PSG.
Guide the group to discuss the second question set on page 99 of the PSG. Allow volunteers to share what makes trusting God so hard sometimes. Remind them that God often works in ways we don’t expect, so we need to trust Him.
Enlist a volunteer to read Joshua 7:2 aloud. Point out that this is the memory verse for this session. Challenge them to continue using Pack Item 9 (Handout: Praying Scripture in Joshua, Judges, Ruth) to pray through this verse during the week. Close the session in prayer, thanking God that His ways of working are always the best ways. Pray that the group would be aware of God’s work for His glory
around them.
Reinforce the session by sending a text or email to the group. Include the text for Judges 7:2 and ask: Where have you seen God at work this week? Encourage the group to “reply all” with their responses as a way to encourage one another. Explain that the next session will focus on the final leader mentioned in the book of Judges: Samson. Suggest they read Judges 13-16 to prepare for the session.
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. (See Psalm 47:8; Job 42:2.)
Respond emotionally to a passage from Scripture.
Gideon had his doubts when God said He would deliver Israel through him. He also may have wondered why God so drastically reduced his army. Prayerfully consider times when you had questions about what God was doing. How do you tend to respond when God doesn’t make sense in your life? What can you do to trust Him more fully?