Judges 8:4-9
And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.”
And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.”
Zeba and Zalmunna, two Midian kings, part of an empire that had reigned over the land for seven years, have just fled in battle. The Midianites were vast in number, and it was only by the hand of God that Gideon and his three hundred man army had defeated them in battle. Succoth and Penuel had no reason to trust in Gideon and his men. What if they failed in their attempt to overthrow the kings? Surely there would be punishment for all who aided them. What these cities did not know is that the victory had already been won; only the battle was left to finish.
Is this not a picture of our world? We have an enemy. He is fierce and unrelenting. He has grown his empire throughout the ages. The Bible is clear that those who are not followers of Christ are followers of the enemy. If we merely look at numbers and power, there is no reason to trust that Christians should ever be able to overthrow the empire of Satan; however, the battle has already been won, through Christ on the cross. We may not hear people say the words, "I will not follow Jesus, because Satan is much too powerful," but in our lives, we reveal who is our lord. We give our pledge to the enemy by living in apathy, or even by living in direct opposition to God. Many fear standing up to this super power, because they are not certain that he can be overthrown, but what they do not realize is that after Christ has returned, and the war is won, it will be too late. Those who side with the enemy will receive judgement. It is hard to be the rebel group in a world that follows the empire of the prince of the power of the air, but take heart dear Christian, God has already won the victory. We will one day spend eternity in peace with Him, if we do not lose heart.
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