Judges 7:23 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the victory being carried through to the end.

Gideon’s soldiers had been sent away, and they may have begun to scatter. But when they heard that the enemy was running, they gathered again and chased the Midianites hard, though they had not had the courage to face them at first. The men of Israel from Naphtali and Asher mentioned here (Judges 7:23) were not fresh troops from those far-off tribes, but the same men who had joined Gideon earlier (Judges 6:35) and then been dismissed. Those who had once been fearful and unwilling to fight (Judges 7:3) now took courage when the danger had already turned. They were glad enough to share in the spoil, even though they had been slow to begin the battle.

Those who had wanted to fight but were sent home by God’s command did not respond with bitter anger, as others once did in another setting (2 Chronicles 25:10, 2 Chronicles 25:13). Instead, they waited for a chance to serve by helping finish the victory, even though they were not allowed the honor of starting the attack. That is a better spirit than complaining when God gives us a lower place.

The Ephraimites, summoned by Gideon, came together at once. They secured the crossings of the Jordan River, guarding the fords so the Midianites could not escape back to their own land. Their aim was to wipe out the enemy completely and keep Israel from suffering the same trouble again. Once the Midianites had begun to fall, it was easy to say, “Down with them” (Esther 6:13). The Ephraimites took control of the waters (Judges 7:24), meaning they posted themselves along the riverbank so that the fleeing enemy ran straight into those waiting to intercept them. It was, in effect, fear, then the pit, then the snare (Isaiah 24:17).

Two of Midian’s main commanders were captured and killed by the Ephraimites on this side of the Jordan, Oreb and Zeeb (Judges 7:25). Their names may fit their nature, since Oreb means “raven” and Zeeb means “wolf.” In their flight, one hid in a rock and the other near a winepress, much like Gideon had once hidden his grain by a winepress for fear of them (Judges 6:11). But the places they chose for safety became the places of their death, and their shame was kept alive in the names of those places. Their end stood as a lasting warning: there the princes of Midian fell.