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AGAPE LESSON 39
THE ARK OF DELIVERANCE
[A people prepared for the LORD]
Put together by Bongie Kuzwayo
Judges chapter 7:
Gideon = hewer – to destroy anything. The salutation by the Angel, “Man of valour” is appropriate.
Midianite = strife and contention.
Jerubbaal = let Baal contend – if he is a god, let him defend himself.
Amalekite = dweller in the valley.
[Luke 1v17] “He will also go before Him in the power and spirit of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the
fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord.”
The Lord prepares His (300) “Ark of deliverance”
[Judges7v4—6] But the Lord said to Gideon, “the people are still too many; bring them down to the
water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go
with you’ the same shall go with you; and of whoever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the
same shall not go.” (5) So, he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon,
“Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set aside by himself,
likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” (6) And the number of those who lapped,
putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men, but all the rest of the people got down on
their knees to drink water.
Water is a constant picture of the word of God. [Ephesians5v25—26] Husbands, love your wives, just
as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (26) that He might sanctify and cleanse her
with the washing of the water by the word, (27) that He might present her to Himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
The dividing factor is the speed at which we, the people, assimilate the word of God. This is the
factor that will qualify us to be prepared as part of God’s “Ark of deliverance, (the three hundred/the
One Loaf).”
[Judges7v7—8, 16, 20] Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped, I
will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man
to his place.” (8) So, the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent
away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent and retained those three hundred men. Now
the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. (16) Then he divided the three hundred men
into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and
torches inside the pitchers. (20) Then the three hundred blew their trumpets and broke the
pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for
blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.”
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These people going to war had no weapons to fight with. The above looks and sounds very foolish.
This picture reminds me of the instruction given to Jehoshaphat and all Judah and Jerusalem.
[2Chronicles20v15b—17] “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the
battle is not yours, but God’s. (16) Tomorrow, go down against them. They will surely come up by the
ascent of Aziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Zeruel. You will
not need to fight in this battle, position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who
is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow, go out against them, for
the Lord is with you.
Jehoshaphat and his people had no weapons of war with them, yet they were facing three nations
who were coming up against them; Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir. When God’s instruction sounds
foolish – don’t dare calculate and rationalise because God’s arithmetic is only compound interest.
[1Corinthians1v18—19, 25] For the massage of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but
to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. (19) For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise, and bring to nothing, the understanding of the prudent.” (25) – – – – the foolishness of God
is wiser than men.
However foolish God’s instruction may sound – ours is to respond promptly in complete obedience.
[Genesis22v3] So, Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his
young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and
went to the place of which God had told him.
Let us take a closer look at Gideon’s three hundred:
The Bible records that the Midianites and Amalekites, and all the people of the East, were lying in the
valley as numerous as the locusts, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the
seashore in multitude (Judges7v12). Gideon and his men were dismally outnumbered and did not
have weapons of war.
[Judges7v16—20] Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a
trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. (17) And he
said to them, “Look at me, and do like-wise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you
shall do as I do: (18) When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, and you also, blow the
trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’” (19) So,
Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning
of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the
pitchers that were is their hands. (20) Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the
pitchers—they held the pitchers in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for
blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” (21) And every man stood in his
place all around the camp, and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.
• Pitchers (earthen vessels) is a metaphor for believers who carry within themselves the Seed of Christ.
[2Corinthians4v7] But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may
be of God and not of us.
• Torches (the Light) is a metaphor for Christ, who is the Light of life. [John8v12] Then Jesus spoke to
them again saying, “I am the Light of the world, he who follows Me, shall not walk in darkness, but
have the Light of Life.”
• Watch – a symbol of wakefulness, alertness, to be on guard. [Jeremiah51v12] Set up the standard on
the walls of Babylon; make the guard strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes. For the
Lord has both devised and done what He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. [1Corintians16v13]
Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. [1Pet1v13] Therefore, gird up the loins of your
mind, be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ.
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• Trumpet – a symbol of judgement. [Joshua6v5, 16] “It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast
with a ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a
great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight
before him.” (16) And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpet, that Joshua
said to the people: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. The trumpet is also a symbol of
gathering: [2Samuel 18v16] And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after
Israel: for Joab held back the people. The trumpet is also a symbol of the coming of Christ:
[1corinthians15v51—52] Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed— (52) in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
• Look at me, and do likewise/You shall do as I do: [1Corinthians11v1] Imitate me, just as I also imitate
Christ.
The numbers three and three hundred, carry a lot of significance when it comes to God delivering His
people from the enemy. I said the that “Gideon’s three hundred,” is the ark of deliverance. We see a
similar picture in Noah’s ark; the length of which was three hundred cubits, and its height was three
stories of ten cubits high each. Noah’s ark was a vessel of deliverance that saved eight people from
the flood; that is, righteous Noah and his family. The ark was thirty by fifty by three hundred
(Genesis6v13—16). The number three hundred in the Bible speaks of complete deliverance/of victory
in conflict. And when it is used in the Bible, you often find number three used with it.
[1Kings10v17] He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into
each shield. The king put them in the House of the forest of Lebanon.
• Shields are implements of war. [Ephesians6v16] above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you
will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
• Gold speaks of that which is of God, divine
• Hammered gold speaks of that which has been processed under a hammer. [1Peter1v6—7] In this you
greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, (7)
that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is
tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
AGAPE LESSON 39