What happensPermalink
God reduces Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300. Gideon sneaks into the Midianite camp and overhears soldiers who had dreamed about him. The 300 men cause chaos in the camp during the night with shouting and trumpets, and the Midianites awake and fight each other, then flee.
Why it mattersPermalink
God reduces Gideon’s army to demonstrate that the victory is God’s, not Gideon’s (Gideon had called on four tribes to help him, because he still doubted). The Israelites don’t even use swords: just trumpets, torches, empty jars, and voices.
Key versePermalink
When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.