spread, probably exaggerate, the "mighty valor" of Gideon, and the valor of his followers - while the

diminished numbers of Gideon would, of course, not be known, as they had retired by circuitous routes.

Moreover, the Midianites must also have been aware that this was to Israel a religious war; nor can they

have been ignorant of the might of Jehovah. The fears which all this inspired appear in the interpretation of

the dream. But the dream itself was the result of the same feelings. Barley-bread was deemed the poorest

food; yet a loaf of this despised provision of slaves rolls itself into Midian's camp, strikes the tent of the

leader, turns it upside down, and it falls! Here is a dream-picture of Israel and its victory - all quite natural,

yet marvelously dreamed and told just at that particular time. And still, often do dreams, excited by natural

causes, link themselves, in God's appointment, to thoughts that come supernaturally.. We have throughout

this history marked how often what seemed to happen quite naturally, was used by God miraculously, and

how the supernatural linked itself to what, more or less, had its counterpart in the ordinary course of nature.

It had been so in the history of Moses and of Israel; it was so when Joshua defeated the allied kings before

Gibeon, and when Barak encountered the invincible chariots of Sisera. In each case it was the Lord, Who

gave miraculous victory through terrific tempest. So also it had been in an hour, when thoughts of Israel's

past and present must have burned deepest into the heart of Gideon, that the Angel stood before him, even

as it was by means most natural that God separated from the rest the three hundred who had not bent the

knee to Baal, and who alone were to go to the holy war. Thoughts like these do not detract from, they only

make the supernatural the more marvelous. Yet they seem also to bring it nearer to us, till we feel ourselves

likewise within its circle, and can realize that even our "daily bread" comes to us straight from heaven!

Gideon and Phurah have returned to the waiting host. In whispered words he has told what they had

witnessed. And now the three hundred are divided into three companies. It is not the naked sword they

grasp, for in that night not Israel, but Jehovah is to fight. In one hand each man holds a trumpet, in the

other, concealed in a pitcher, a burning torch. Each is to do exactly as the leader. Silently they creep round

to three different parts of Midian's camp. The guard has just been relieved, and the new watchers have

settled quietly by the watch-fire. Suddenly a single trumpet is heard, then three hundred - here, there,

everywhere the sound of war is raised. The night is peopled with terrors. Now with loud crash three hundred

pitchers are broken; three hundred torches flash through the darkness; three hundred voices shout: "The

sword for Jehovah and for Gideon!" Then is the enemy all around the camp! No one can say in what

numbers. Again and again rings the trumpet-sound; wave the torches. The camp is roused. Men, women,

children, camels rush terror-stricken through the dark night. No one knows but that the enemy is in the very

midst of them, and that the neighbor whom he meets is an Israelite, for all around still sounds the war-

trumpet, flash the torches, and rises the war-cry. Each man's sword is turned against his neighbor.

Multitudes are killed or trampled down, and their cries and groans increase the terror of that wild night. A

hopeless panic ensues, and ere morning-light, the site of the camp and the road of the fugitives towards

Jordan are strewed with the slain.269