After the four interruptions, the final “battle” against the Midianites now follows. Gideon returns to his group of 300 men after his secret mission and urges them to rise with him (v. 15). The resurrected Christ will subdue all enemies under His feet (Ps. 110:1), but He is not alone in this. He shares this position and task with a company: the ecclesia, which is His body (Eph. 1:22-23; 2:6).
Judges 7
16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies and put ram’s horns into the hands of all, and empty jars with torches inside the jars.
17 And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the edge of the camp, do as I do.” 18 When I blow the ram’s horn, I and all who are with me, and you and I all around the camp, will blow the trumpets. You shall say, “For the LORD and for Gideon!”
The Third Day
We have already seen that the number three is prominent in this story, a reference to the third day, the day of Christ’s resurrection. Here, not only are the 300 men mentioned, but they are also divided into three groups.
Ram’s Horns
Gideon equips his army with ram’s horns (Hebrew: shofar). Other translations render them as trumpets. A ram’s horn comes from a slaughtered ram. The animal is dead, yet it still produces a sound. It speaks of the word of the risen Christ.
Second Coming
The trumpet is associated with the Second Coming in many places. Trumpets and trumpet blasts are mentioned at various times during the period of Christ’s parousia (presence), such as: during the snatching awau of the ecclesia (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16), after the great tribulation during the gathering of the Jewish people from the nations (Matt. 24:31), and during the disasters and judgments that come upon the nations in the day of wrath, represented by seven trumpets (Revelation 8-11).
battle
Trumpets have traditionally been a call to battle (1 Cor. 14:8), but also to announce the coming of the king (1 Kings 1:39; 2 Kings 9:13). In Scripture, the blowing of trumpets is therefore associated with “the day of YAHWEH,” the period of the Messiah’s reign, which will begin with judgment (Joel 2:1; Zeph. 1:14-16). When the Lord comes, He will come to a hostile world (Ps. 110:2). The nations will rebel (Zech. 14:2), and this will be accompanied by disasters and judgments that will come upon the peoples.
As one man
Earlier, we saw that God said to Gideon, “I am with you; therefore you shall strike Midian as one man” (Judg. 6:16). This takes on a very special meaning in connection with this battle, because Gideon defeats the enemy with these 300 men, and they are counted “as one man.” They do the same as Gideon and act as one man with him.
Gideon and his gathering of men who drink like dogs are a beautiful type of Christ and the ecclesia, which is one body with Him (Col. 1:18).