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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | A certain way to drink-why? | Judg 7:5 | Novelist | 195624 | ||
What was meaningful about the manner in which they drank ? | ||||||
2 | A certain way to drink-why? | Judg 7:5 | Brian.g | 195697 | ||
Novelist In this passage, there were 32,000 soldiers total. 22,000 who were afraid, were told to leave in Judges 7:3 This reduced the number to 10,000, of those the 9,700 who drank by lapping the water were dismissed as being careless, not ready or on their guard against the enemy. They were to complacent. The remaining 300 soldiers who drank by kneeling were always being on guard for the enemy - ready to resist attack - and ready to fight. They were the chosen soldiers. They were the best soldiers. Jesus is more interested in the quality of his disciples, not the quantity. Jesus wants as disciples those who are always ready and on guard against evil. Brian |
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3 | A certain way to drink-why? | Judg 7:5 | DocTrinsograce | 195708 | ||
Please... chapter and verse... for "to complacent" (sic) ...or... "best soldiers" Are you sure they just weren't the best horn tooters? :-) |
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4 | A certain way to drink-why? | Judg 7:5 | Brian.g | 195735 | ||
Doc I'm sorry if I confused the discussion with the use of the term 'complacent'. I went to my old (and sometimes dusty) Merriam-Webster dictionary. First, I double checked the spelling and it is correct for the word I was intending to use. Then, I double-checked to make sure I used the correct word to convey the meaning of my thought. The folks at Merriam reconfirmed that my use of the word 'complacent' does actually represent the meaning of the thought I was trying to convey: Complacent: 'unruffled or blasé satisfaction about the security of one's position or by careless acceptance of events around one' So, those 9,700 soldiers who drank 'like dogs' were 'complacent'. While, the 300 who drank by 'putting their hand to their mouth' were ever-vigilant. Also, you did ask me chapter and verse, so... Let's compare the characteristics of all three groups of soldiers to the 1 Peter 5:8 'Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour.' Now, let's compare the quantity of soldiers to Mt 17:20 I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you' With an army the size of a mustard seed - just 300 (from 20,000) vigilant and dedicated soldiers, together with God, nothing was impossible. Or, you can take one Jesus, as opposed to thousands of Pharisees and scribes, and change the world. Last, yes, you are correct in that they may just have been the best dang horn-tooters around. They may have been the national champions of the bugle-segment of the local 'drum and bugle corp'. However, I think all of us would really have to insist that you provide chapter and verse to support that theory. Brian |
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5 | A certain way to drink-why? | Judg 7:5 | DocTrinsograce | 195740 | ||
Dear Brian, The analogy of faith is an important rule for sound Biblical interpretation (please see post #156918). However, it has no value if we take passages out of context (see post #158836). You see, when we sacrifice context, we sacrifice the truth. Unfortunately, the passages you referenced directly (1 Peter 5:8; Matthew 17:20) and those you referenced indirectly (Matthew 19:26; John 16:33) do not address the events in the narrative of Judges 7 in particular. Nor do they have anything to say with regard to ancient Israelite soldiery in general. Whereas you asserted that the unchosen warriors were "complacent," we find no reference to their complacency -- nor their readiness -- in Judges 7. Indeed, we don't even have explicit statements telling us they participated in combat at all -- although we might speculate that they did so at a later time in the company of the rest of Israel (Judges 7:23). For instructional purposes, I jested about the soldiers' "horn tooting" ability. Nevertheless, we are told that that is the function they performed. Therefore, in response to your request for chapter and verse -- and notice that it IS fully in context -- we see the chosen men blowing horns in Judges 7:19-20. They struck not a single blow, simply standing there (verse 21). Consequently, though a jest, my proposal carries the greater weight! The narrative in Judges 7 isn't about how alert, courageous, or capable the soldiers were. It really isn't even about the soldiers at all! The hero of the story is our sovereign Lord God. Indeed, He wanted Israel to avoid the very error you would have us make; i.e., placing responsibility for the victory with Israel instead of the Lord Himself. God said to Gideon, "The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, 'Mine own hand hath saved me.'" (Judges 7:2b KJV) So let us take care not to do the "vaunting" for them! :-) Although we might find ourselves at odds with teachers who are unschooled in sound hermeneutics, with practice, we can perform good, solid exegesis (2 Timothy 2:15). Thus we can stand firmly on the solid rock of the Word of God, eschewing the shifting sand of competing interpretation (Ephesians 4:11-16). In Him, Doc |
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