It is maintained by several learned expositors that this sign was requested not for his own sake but for the sake of the people who were with him. We cannot concur in this view. There is no intimation that the fleece was publicly exhibited; and had Gideon desired a sign for the encouragement of the multitudes around him, he would probably have chosen some more public and striking prodigy. Besides, the request of a token for his own confirmation* at this critical moment was precisely in accordance with his conduct when the Lord first met with him under the oak, when he implored Him, "Show me a sign, I pray Thee, that Thou talkest with me," and ventured to indicate the particular sign which would satisfy his faith.

In another view, however, this sign of the fleece is for all the faithful. Among the early Christians, Jerome, Augustine, and Ambrose beheld in it a mystical picture of the Incarnation-the Divine Word descending into the Virgin's womb, as the dew silently filled the fleece. Others, in the double sign beheld a twofold picture of the Jewish race: first, before the time of our Lord, when Israel alone was refreshed with the dew of God's presence and truth, while the Gentile nations around were suffering the drought of a deep and awful ignorance; and secondly, after the Lord had appeared and been rejected, when the Jewish fleece lost its moisture and became dry, while

* Ps. lxxxvi. 17.

the dews of the gospel were fertilizing the Gentile nations around. Modern commentators have pointed out from it how God could distinguish between Israel, small as a fleece of wool, and Midian, vast as the threshing-floor on which it lay; and how He was able to bestow the dew of His grace, either on Gideon in particular, like the moistened fleece, or upon all his countrymen assembled, like the dew refreshing the earth all around. The poet of Methodism sees in the fleece "unwatered still and dry," while on every side the fruitful moisture was descending-a touching image of the soul of the penitent, all mournful and forlorn, while believers around are rejoicing in their Saviour.

W

SECTION VI.

THE DAY OF MIDIAN.

E come now to view the events of the day of Midian-one of the most memorable days in the history of the chosen people, and an emblem of a yet greater day of the Lord afterwards to appear.* Thirty-two thousand men of Israel had flocked to Gideon's standard; and his first movement on this eventful day was to advance his army to a position "beside the well," or spring, "of Harod," which was probably lower down the declivity and nearer to the enemy. Scarcely had this movement been effected, when he received from the Jehovah-angel, a new and most startling intimation. His army, miserably equipped and poorly fed, was far outnumbered by that of the enemy. He might have deemed, not unreasonably, their number to be too few. But "the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many."

This intimation was not given without a reason being assigned. The majority of the men who had come together were not in a prepared state to receive a victory over the Midianites. They would not know

* Isa. ix. 4.

how to appreciate it; that evil tendency of universal man, to glorify self, and to rob God of His praise, existed in full force in them; and they were unworthy of the honours of a victory which was to be achieved through faith. Besides, many of them were cowards at heart, and their presence was a source of weakness rather than strength; yet these very men were the likeliest, in the event of a victory, to return home glorifying their own prowess, and forgetting the God who had interposed for them. Therefore "the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me."

The trumpet therefore sounds again, but no longer to swell the concourse of gathering thousands. Proclamation is made, "Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him depart early from Mount Gilead"-a name, apparently, of the district in which they were encamped, and which must not be confounded with the Gilead on the other side Jordan. This proclamation was in exact conformity with the law of Moses; which required that at the approach of a battle, the officers should "speak unto the people, what man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return to his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart."* The enactment was framed in wisdom; for cowardice is infectious, as the history of

* Deut. xx. 2, 8.

panics in the armies of ancient and modern times abundantly proves. Scipio the Roman being about to invade Carthage, was informed that among his forces there were some Sicilian horsemen who were terrified at what lay before them. He ordered them into his presence and demanded of them to speak the truth. Three hundred of them confessed that their hearts palpitated with terror. "Then," said the general, "you are dismissed; go where you please, but you shall not be permitted to go with me to Carthage."

No less than twenty-two thousand availed themselves of Gideon's proclamation. In behalf of these deserters it has been pleaded that "If the best appointed armies in Europe had the same address from their generals, bond fide, as these Israelites had, at least an equal proportion would return home."* It is more to the purpose to remark with the same writer, that "a state of slavery debases the mind." It is likely that many of these homeward-bound poltroons had been the foremost in boasting; for the courage which blusters most noisily at a distance evaporates most quickly when danger is at hand. What must have been the feelings of their commander as he watched his shrinking legions, two-thirds of whom might have been seen, on the morning of the day of Midian, rushing along every avenue of retreat, far more eager to escape than ever they had been to

* Adam Clarke, "Comm. on Jud." vii. 3.