Before Gideon attacks the enemy’s army, he must first enter the camp secretly at night. There he will hear things that will strengthen him. What he hears is recorded in the following verses.
Judges 7
13 When Gideon came, behold, a man told a dream to his neighbor and said, “Look, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a loaf of parched barley bread rolled in the camp of Midian, and it came near the tent, and it struck him down, and he fell, and he overturned it, and the tent fell.”
14 His neighbor answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel.” God gave Midian and the whole camp into his hand.
15 When Gideon heard the story and the interpretation, he worshipped. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise! For the LORD has delivered the Midianite camp into your hands.”
Dream
When Gideon entered the Midianite camp, he heard a man telling a dream to his neighbor. The other man’s reaction indicates that the dream had meaning. However, the interpretation the man gave his companion, while an interpretation, was also cryptic. We might compare it to the riddle Samson posed to his thirty companions at his wedding. The riddle was: Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. But the answer was also a riddle: What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? (Judg. 14:14, 18).
This dream is no different. A man dreams about a loaf of barley bread that rolled into the Midianite camp, knocking down and overturning a tent. But even the interpretation, “This is nothing but Gideon’s sword,” needs further explanation. It remains a mysterie.
Barley
A loaf of barley bread commemorates the day of the sheaf of the firstfruits, one of the “festivals of the LORD.” On this day, a sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest was waved before God by the priest (Leviticus 23:10-11), thus becoming a living sacrifice. It is a depiction of the resurrection of Christ, which took place precisely on this day!
Five barley loaves
In John 6, we see that Jesus, when rejected in Jerusalem, turns to the sea, a representation of the nations (Revelation 17:15). There He ascends a mountain and sits with His disciples, feeding 5,000 men with five barley loaves (and two small fish).
It is a depiction of our time, when Christ is seated at God’s right hand and we are seated there with Him (Col. 3:1; Eph. 2:6). He nourishes us with life and abundance. We partake of Him, “the bread of life” (John 6:35, 48), before Israel has it. The twelve baskets that remain speak of the restoration of Israel after the present interval.
The (s)word
The tent destroyed by the barley bread represents “the Midianites and the whole camp” (John 1:14). The interpretation given of the dream states that the barley bread is “nothing other than Gideon’s sword.” The barley bread speaks of Christ, the Firstfruits and the incarnate Word of God (John 1:14). The sword also represents the word of God (Heb. 4:12; Eph. 6:17).
Gideon’s secret stay in the Midianite camp illustrates the present time, when Christ is hidden among the nations. There, His victory is spoken of!