All the men who had been careless were placed in one group, and the three hundred who had proved themselves to be alert were placed in another. The nine thousand and seven hundred were sent away, and Gid'e-on was ordered to attack the vast armies of Mid'ian with the three hundred warriors who remained. Outnumbered nearly five hundred to one, any victory which they might gain would surely be given by the LORD.
Then the LORD ordered a strategy even more strange than the method which had been used to reduce Gid'e-on's army from thirty-two thousand to a mere three hundred. Gid'e-on was told to divide his men into three separate columns, and to approach the enemy from three different directions, thus giving the impression of an attack by three armies. The time set for the attack was in the middle watch of the night. Ancient Is'ra-el divided the night into three watches: from sunset to ten, from ten to two in the morning, and from two until sunrise. It was probably about midnight when Is'ra-el surrounded the camps of the Mid'ian-ites.
Each of Gid'e-on's three hundred men was given a trumpet, an earthen pitcher, and a lamp which was to be hidden in each pitcher. The small band of Is'ra-el-ites then marched upon the camps of their sleeping enemies from three different directions, At a signal from Gid'e-on the pitchers were broken, the lamps were held aloft in blazing flames, and the trumpets were sounded in loud, shrill blasts. Each man carried out these actions in perfect unison, and then the entire three hundred cried out together, "The sword of the LORD and of Gid'e-on!"
In the deep silence of the midnight hour these three hundred trumpets pierced the air with their shrill blasts, resounding throughout the camps of the enemy like the battle-calls of vast armies. In the dense darkness which shrouded the plain the three hundred lamps flashed like lightning darts from Heaven. The thousands of Mid'ian-ites, Ish'ma-el-ites, and Am'a-lek-ites thought that they were being attacked by huge armies. Fear and confusion seized the multitudes of heathen warriors, and terror swept the plain on which they were gathered like a mighty whirlwind from the surrounding mountains. In the mad scramble for safety they became suspicious of one another, and slew thousands of their own men.
Was there ever a battle like this, or such a notable victory? Between one hundred and thirty-five thousand and one hundred and fifty thousand of the cruel invaders were routed by three hundred unarmed Is'ra-el-ites. The battle-field was strewn with thousands of the enemy who were slain in confusion by their own men. Wives and children, cattle and camels, tents and baggage-in fact, everything which the invaders possessed-was left behind to become spoils of war for the victors! Not a single man was lost of Gid'e-on's three hundred. There was really no battle, for the men of Is'ra-el simply stood still and watched the salvation by the LORD. It was a miraculous route of the enemy, complete and overwhelming.
