And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy (strength of)  might, and thou shalt save Israel  from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And the Lord said unto him, Surely, I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite (defeat)  the Midianites as one man – Judges 6:14, 16?

The Midianites are numbered among those people in Canaan who viewed the Israelites as a threat to their hold on the land. During the period of the Israelite confederacy the Midianites invaded Palestine, where they oppressed the Israelites for seven years. The Midianites were descended from Midian, one of the several children born to Abraham and Keturah, who had been sent away to the east so that Isaac might be Abraham’s uncontested heir.

Gideon was the youngest son of Joash, from the Abiezrite line of Manasseh. His home was in Ophrah, a city of uncertain location. Gideon was called to be a judge during the seven years that Israel came under the dominion of Midian as divine punishment for their evil deeds (And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years – Judges 6:1). Together with the Amalekites and the people of the East, the Midianites would attack Israel and destroy their crops and flock as far as Gaza, leaving them with nothing. Out of  fear the Israelites made their homes in dens, caves, and strongholds in the mountains and begged the Lord for deliverance (And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord – Judges 6:6). 

God sent a prophet to rebuke them for their apostasy, but at the same time also sent an angel to commission Gideon to deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites. When the Lord first called Gideon to battle, Gideon was apprehensive, he considered himself the least in his father’s house. Gideon’s wasn’t sure if this commission was from the Lord, so he asked for a sign. He asked the Lord to stay until he returned with his gift. Gideon returned with a kid, unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour and broth. The angel of  the Lord instructed him to take the meat, an unleavened cakes and lay them on a rock, and pour out the broth. As the angel of the Lord put forth his staff and touch the meat and the unleavened cakes, fire came from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes. Once this happened, Gideon perceived that this was the angel of the Lord because fire often is a sign of the divine presence.

God used Gideon and three hundred men to fight against thousands of the Midianites and Amalekites. God was looking for a willing vessel to be a spiritual leader to free His people from the hand of the adversary. When God commissions his people, all they have to do is follow the instructions of the Lord, the fight has been fixed, the battle is already won from the cross, all we have to do is fight the good fight of faith.

As Christians, many of us are the spiritual leaders in our homes, places of employment, schools, and neighborhoods. We have been commissioned from God to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves, those who can’t come into His presence because of sin. We fight for them by interceding for them daily through prayer. Sometimes, the Lord will have us to fast for someone’s deliverance or healing.  We  fight for ourselves and others through prayer, fasting, and using the word of God against the adversary.

Christians are considered as soldiers (No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier – 2nd Timothy 2:4).  Now, lets look at unbelievers, backsliders, agnostics,  and atheist as civilians, they can’t fight a spiritual war because they don’t have the equipment. We have been chosen to fight for them until Christ be formed in them. We’re to fight for our sisters and brothers in Christ who have been wounded, who needs back up. In the natural, when a soldier and his squadron are under attack, and it looks as though they’re about to lose the battle they call for back-up. This is what we suppose to do as Christians rather than fighting against each other.

As Christians, it’s our duty to try to gain as many souls from the snare of the adversary . It doesn’t matter what sin they are committing or how long they have been in it. It’s our duty to go before God on their behalf until they have been set free. We’re not commission to be having different conventions, banquets, musicals, and anniversaries. We should be gathering together as the Apostles and other disciples of Jesus Christ were doing to win the lost. Many have lost their focus, and people are dying daily and people are building memorials with signs of RIP, they can’t be resting in peace when they have rejected the gift of salvation.

Soldiers study the strategy of the enemy, they are aware when the adversary is manifesting through individuals behavior, and character. They look to the manual which is the word of God to get the right scripture to fight the adversary, they call on other soldiers to join the fight for freedom, and when we get in position of the commission, the Lord is there to help us win the victory to build the kingdom of God. Our tenacity should be to pray until we see the captive set free!