It never ceases to amaze me how the Bible always has God's answer to life's most perplexing scenarios! Not "an" answer, but "THE" answer. No matter the degree of difficulty, God's promises cannot lie.
This was proven to me yet again as I was reading Psalm 83. Verses 1-5 say, "Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee..."
Our generation can easily relate to the magnitude of evil described in these verses. The days are dark, and growing darker. God's enemies make a tumult; they that hate Him have lifted up the head; they have even gone so far as to become "confederate against Thee", or as the Hebrew literally reads, "cut a covenant against thee". They indeed are set against God, His Spiritual Israel (Heb 12:22; Gal 4:26; 6:15; etc.), and His purposes!
So what is God's solution to such a sad worldly state? What will the Lord Jesus do to save His people and vindicate His great name? His answer lies just three verses down in verse 9..
Psalm 83:9 "Do unto them as unto the Midianites..."
Who are Midianites, and what does their obscure story have to do with us?
The story is found in Judges 7:1-7: "Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites 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. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it 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 go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place."
So what will Jesus do in our modern day application?
1. He will have an army! This will not be a mere natural force, but a spiritual one. Notice that Gideon's army wasn't a large one. It was actually dwindled down based upon the people's fear, and their individual response to "the river" (symbolic of the Holy Spirit: Ps 46:4; 65:9; Jn 7:37-39). This army will indeed be few, but Jesus doesn't need Peninah's many yet nameless children when He has a Samuel. One dedicated and sincere believer will accomplish more than a thousand apathetic ones.
2. What will this army do? Judges 7 presents us with more insight: "And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers... So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled" (verses 16, 19-21).
These verses present to us much symbolic language. It would do us well to discern the deeper meaning (Prov 25:2). The Bible tells us elsewhere that we have "treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Cor 4:7). These pitchers (vessels) are symbolic of the souls of men: the carnal nature within us all that hides and quenches the torch, the true Spirit and life (Rom 7). This is partly why God's enemies seem so confident... They only see us with mere earthen vessels. They cannot YET discern the torch (spirit) within burning ever brighter, day by day.
But ONE DAY, in this army, God will fully shine forth in splendor! The vessels will be broken, and that holy seed within us will come to a glorious and bright-shining fruition (2 Cor 3:18; Gal 4:19). It will be said:
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising" (Isa 60:1-3).
You see, in my humble opinion, the world doesn't need anymore of our fleshy ventures and Christian schemes. It doesn't want a powerless Gospel! All the earth has ever needed is a genuine demonstration of the glory of God. THIS DEMONSTRATION WILL OCCUR IN A PEOPLE WHOSE FLAWED EARTHEN VESSELS HAVE BEEN HUMBLED AND SHATTERED! Such a glorious move of God will shut the mouths of all that oppress. The nations will be saved in droves! They are waiting for such a demonstration, eager to find the true purpose of their existance. They are standing on tiptoes, longing for God to REALLY show up: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be REVEALED IN US. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God" (Rom 8:18-19).
Psalm 68:1 "Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them that also hate Him flee before Him." Will you allow the Holy Ghost to arise in you in fullness? David said, "My soul is continually in MY HAND" (Ps 119:109).
What a wonderful effect of devoted and unadulterated love for Jesus!
Come, Lord Jesus, and be it unto them "as unto the Midianites"!
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