Juízes 7

Juízes 7

Clarke on laps - The original word yalok is precisely the sound which a dog makes when he is drinking. God put Gideon’s surviving 10,000 men through a second test by asking them all to take a drink down at the river. We never know when God is testing us in some ordinary experience of life. One of Warren Wiersbe's favorite quotes is from a man named Marsden who said "“Make every occasion a great occasion, for you can never tell when somebody may be taking your measure for a larger place.” Paul Apple writes "You never know when the Lord is testing you – need to be alert; sober minded; in one sense, all of life is a test Rich Cathers: This was taken out of Duke University's Staff newsletter. At Duke University, there were four sophomores taking Organic Chemistry. They did so well on all the quizzes, midterms and labs, etc., that each had an “A” so far for the semester. These four friends were so confident that the weekend before finals, they decided to go up to University of Virginia and party with some friends up there. They had a great time. However, after all the partying, they slept all day Sunday and didn’t make it back to Duke until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they decided to find their professor after the final and explain to him why they missed it. They explained that they had gone to UVA for the weekend with the plan to come to study, but, unfortunately, they had a flat tire on the way back, didn’t have a spare, and couldn’t get help for a long time. As a result, they missed the final. The Professor thought it over and then agreed they could make up the final the following day. The guys were elated and relieved. They studied that night and went in the next day at the time the professor had told them. He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem, worth 5 points. It was something simple about free radical formation. “Cool,” they thought at the same time, each one in his separate room, “this is going to be easy.” Each finished the problem and then turned the page. On the second page was written: (For 95 points): Which tire? Judges 7:6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. TRIMMING THE TROOPS FROM 22,000 TO 300 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water: What significance was there in the two different ways the men drank from the river? Since the Scriptures don’t tell us, we would be wise not to read into the text some weighty spiritual lesson that God never put there. Most expositors say the men who bowed down to drink were making themselves vulnerable to the enemy, while the 300 who lapped water from their hands stayed alert. This is not an unreasonable consideration. After all, the enemy was four miles away (See the cut out of map above) (Jdg 7:1) waiting to see what the Jews would do. Another source writes that the 300 men drank as they did so they could keep their eyes on Gideon, but the text doesn’t say that either. Warren Wiersbe's assumption is that God chose this method of sifting the army because it was simple, unassuming (no soldier knew he was being tested), and easy to apply. We shouldn’t think that all 10,000 drank at one time, because that would have stretched the army out along the water for a couple of miles. Since the men undoubtedly came to the water by groups, Gideon was able to watch them and identify the 300. It wasn’t until after the event that the men discovered they had been tested. Alexander