Judges 7: Gideon’s valiant three hundred men.

Gideon and all his men camped by the well of Harod, which can mean “eager”, and also “trembling.” The Lord told Gideon that his army was too large, which could lead Israel to boast that they won by their own efforts (rather than the Lord’s power). Gideon was instructed to send away anyone who was afraid; 22,000 went home, leaving 10,000.

Even still, the Lord said the army was too large, so Gideon tested the men by taking them down to the water to drink. The Lord directed Gideon to call out those who lapped water from out of their hands rather than kneeling down to drink with their mouths. Three hundred men were chosen by this method of selection.

The Lord then commanded Gideon to go down to the Midianite camp, and if he was afraid, to take his servant, Phurah. There, Gideon overheard one of the soldiers telling his companion that he’d had a dream, in which a loaf of bread came tumbling into the camp and struck one of the tents so that it collapsed. The other soldier said that this meant the Lord would give victory to Gideon.

Gideon gave each of his men a trumpet, and a pitcher containing a lit torch. They surrounded the Midianite camp, and at the command of Gideon, they blew their trumpets, broke their pitchers to show the torches, and shouted, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” This caused panic in the camp, and every Midianite drew his sword against another, and many fled. Then Gideon ordered the capture and killing of the two Midianite princes, whose heads were brought to him.

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We must give glory to the Lord for successes that we seem to earn, as He alone does what is good. The Lord told Gideon to reduce the size of his army, to avoid the dangers of growing too proud. Since we live our lives as if we do everything ourselves, this is a constant threat. The fact that about two-thirds of Gideon’s army were afraid and went home shows the reality of our nature (see Swedenborg’s work, True Christian Religion 442).

Lapping water from the hand reflects our need to see and examine what we take into our minds. Water stands for truth, but it can also stand for false ideas. If we drink directly from the water, we accept indiscriminately and examine nothing. Cupping and holding the water in our hands means that we can see how to apply this truth through our attitudes and actions (see Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 6047[2]).

Gideon’s army of only three hundred men was all it took to defeat the Midianites. The number ‘three’ stands for something which is complete or full in itself. Some spiritual examples include mind, body and soul, as well as celestial, spiritual and natural (see Swedenborg’s Apocalypse Explained 435[3] and 532[2]).

The dream Gideon overheard stands for the power of good (the bread) to break down the apparent power of what is evil and false (the tent) (Arcana Caelestia 4247[3]). The name of Gideon’s servant, Phurah, means “fruitfulness”, or “a winepress”, which is where Gideon was first called by the angel of the Lord.

The trumpet and the torch both stand for the power of truth to overcome evil and false ideas, the trumpet by its penetrating sound, and the torch by its illuminating light. There is no mention of swords for the army of Israel.

Finally, the oppression by the Midianites represents knowing what is true, but living a life governed by our own desires. This leads us increasingly further away from obeying the Lord. Of course, this must be addressed. The Midianites destroyed each other in their panic, meaning what is disorderly and against the Lord holds no validity, and eventually destroys itself (Arcana Caelestia 9320).

4911. 'And Judah acknowledged them' means that because these were theirs they affirmed that they were. This is clear from the meaning of 'acknowledging' as affirming, in this case because he acknowledged from the pledges that the child she was carrying was his own. Described here is that nation's predisposition, which is such that although it rejects any internal truth of the Church as a falsity, that nation nevertheless accepts and affirms such truth on receiving an intimation that this does belong to it. People who are governed, as this nation is, by loves that are filthy - that is, by avarice and by self-love accompanying this - are unable to raise their minds to a level where truth is seen from a viewpoint other than themselves. Therefore when a truth is attributed to them they affirm it. For example, if they are told that the Word is inwardly Divine and contains the arcana of heaven and also the kind of arcana that only angels comprehend, they affirm this truth because they regard the Word to be their own since it came to them, exists with them, and in the letter has to do with them. But if the actual arcana - spiritual truths - are disclosed to them they reject them.

[2] If they are told that every one of the ritual observances of their Church are inwardly holy, they affirm this truth because they regard those observances to be their own. But if they are told that such holiness dwells within, yet is separate from those observances, they refuse to accept this. If they are told that the Jewish Church was celestial and the Israelitish Church spiritual, and if they are given an explanation of what the celestial is, and what the spiritual is, they affirm that also. But if they were told that these two Churches are called celestial and spiritual from the fact that all the particular aspects of them were representative of celestial and spiritual things, and that representatives have regard to the reality represented, not to the one who represents it, they refuse to accept it. If they are told that Moses' rod had power from Jehovah, and so had Divine power within it, they affirm this and call it the truth. But if they are told that this power did not lie in the rod, only in the Divine command, they refuse to accept it and call it a falsity.

[3] If they are told that the bronze serpent lifted up by Moses healed those who were bitten by the serpents and that this object was for that reason miraculous, they affirm it. But if they are told that no healing or miraculous power lay within it but these came from the Lord whom that object represented, they refuse to accept this and call it a falsity. (Compare what has been narrated and stated about that serpent in Numbers 21:7-9; 2 Kings 18:4; John 3:14-15.) They react in the same way to everything else they are told. These are the kinds of things that are meant by 'Judah acknowledged them' and which on the part of the nation meant by him were joined to that internal aspect of the Church represented by 'Tamar'. Also, such being the nature of those things, Judah did not go in to her as a near kinsman going in to a dead husband's wife but as a fornicator going in to a prostitute.