Judges 7:12-14

Judges 7:12-14

[12] And the Midianites  and the Amalekites  and all the children  of the east  lay  along in the valley  like grasshoppers  for multitude;  and their camels  were without number,  as the sand  by the sea  side  for multitude.  [13] And when Gideon  was come,  behold, there was a man  that told  a dream  unto his fellow,  and said,  Behold, I dreamed  a dream,  and, lo, a cake  of barley  bread  tumbled  into the host  of Midian,  and came  unto a tent,  and smote  it that it fell,  and overturned  it, that the tent  lay along.  [14] And his fellow  answered  and said,  This is nothing else save the sword  of Gideon  the son  of Joash,  a man  of Israel:  for into his hand  hath God  delivered  Midian,  and all the host. 

What does Judges 7:12-14 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Gideon and his servant heard two enemy soldiers conversing on the outskirts of the Midianite camp. One soldier was relating a dream he had had to his friend. The writer probably included the reference to the apparently innumerable Midianite enemy ( Judges 7:12) to emphasize the greatness of the victory God gave His people.
"Dreams were considered of great importance in ancient times, especially if the dreamer was a man of rank or authority, for the gods were conceived to make known their will or desires by this means. Every dream was believed to be capable of interpretation, though this was, of course, the point where difficulties arose." [1]
Yahweh obviously sent this dream. The Midianite soldier derived his interpretation of his friend"s dream from the symbolism in the dream. Barley bread was the food of the poor and would have been the staple of the Israelites under the conditions they had to endure during Midian"s oppression. The tent was the home of all the Midianite, Amalekite, and Arabian Bedouins. The soldiers had obviously heard of Gideon and his plans to engage them in battle. They therefore concluded that the unlikely destruction of the tent by a mere loaf of barley bread signified Gideon"s destruction of their forces.
"What Gideon sought to gain by the sign of the fleece was brought to nil. So he had to go back to the choice to believe God"s promise simply because God had spoken.... The irony is stunning: hearing the promise directly from the Lord did not convince Gideon, but hearing it from the Midianite soldier did." [2]