Part 1

GIDEON BANDS

FOR WORK WITHIN THE RACE AND FOR WORK WITHOUT THE RACE

A Message to the Colored People of the United States

A DISCOURSE DELIVERED IN THE FIFTEENTH STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY, MARCH THE 2ND, 1913, BY THE PASTOR, REV. FRANCIS J. GRIMKE, D. D.

“BETTER NOT LIVE AT ALL THAN NOT BE NOBLE.”

“UNLESS ABOVE HIMSELF HE CAN ERECT HIMSELF, HOW POOR A THING IS MAN!”

“FOR FREEDOM’S BATTLE ONCE BEGUN, BEQUEATH’D BY BLEEDING SIRE TO SON, THOUGH BAFFLED OFT IS EVER WON.”

“EVERY BONDMAN IN HIS OWN HAND BEARS THE POWER TO CANCEL HIS CAPTIVITY.”

R. L. PENDLETON 609 F ST. N. W., WASHINGTON, D. C. TELEPHONE MAIN 1148

GIDEON BANDS FOR WORK WITHIN THE RACE AND FOR WORK WITHOUT IT.

And Jehovah said unto 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. Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Giliad. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. And Jehovah said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for thee there; and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I shall say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought them down to the water: and Jehovah said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hands to their mouth, was 300; but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And Jehovah said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand; and let all the people go every man to his place.--JUDGES 7:1-7.

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Several years ago this passage formed a part of the annual programme of the Young Peoples’ Society of Christian Endeavor, and was discussed under the heading, “Wanted: Men for Gideon’s Band.” And this is the subject that I desire to consider this morning. There are several lines of thought suggested by the topic. No one can read the narrative out of which it grows without being profoundly impressed.

I. In ringing terms there is the proclamation of a want. Wanted! is the note that rings out clear and distinct. There is a demand, a pressing need, a crying necessity. Wanted! Wanted! Wanted! We have all heard that cry before. It is not a new one. It is one with which we are all familiar. Along the street we often see the sign in the windows of stores or on the outside, “Boy wanted.” “Man wanted.” Every paper we take up, every magazine we read is full of advertisements of one kind or another, all of which are expressions of a want of some kind. They are put in and paid for by people who have goods that they want to sell, houses that they want to rent, property that they want to dispose of, money that they want to put out at interest, or, they want to find employment of some kind.

II. Another thought that grows naturally out of the topic is, Wanted by whom? The context leaves us in no doubt as to the answer. Wanted by the Lord God of hosts, by Jehovah. The great power that is working here is God:--he it is who is directing everything; he it is with whom Gideon is in communication and who is planning the whole campaign that is to be projected. It is Jehovah who is expressing the need, and who is making the appeal. While primarily the reference is to God, in another sense, the need expressed here was felt by the whole Jewish community--the state, the church, the family, society at large. These were all in need, and in great and pressing need. No one can read the narrative without feeling the burden of this need pressing upon him.

III. Another thought that springs naturally into our minds as we think of the subject is, What is it that is wanted? And the answer is Men for Gideon’s Band. Men are what is wanted; men to be welded together in one compact body for a definite and specific purpose. This band, which God is seeking to organize here, is called Gideon’s Band. Who was Gideon? He was the son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh. He lived in the midst of distressing circumstances. His people were greatly oppressed. There were powerful enemies that harassed them; that made life miserable for them. The writer of this book of Judges gives us this insight into their sad condition: “And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. And because of Midian the children of Israel made them dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them; and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till they came unto Gaza, and left no substance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it. And Israel was brought very low.”

What is said here of Gideon reveals the same sad condition of things. “And the angel of Jehovah came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my Lord, if Jehovah is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous work which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? but now Jehovah hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”

What a wail of distress runs through the whole of this narrative. In order to preserve a little wheat, enough to keep soul and body together, it had to be hid away: and when the time came for threshing it out, it had to be done in secret, in obscure, out-of-the-way places, as we find Gideon doing here. They certainly were in a most pitiable condition. It is well for us to remember, in this connection, that the evils from which these people were suffering were due to their own misconduct. They had no one to blame but themselves. Their condition might have been very different if they had behaved themselves. And this fact is clearly brought out in the narrative: God is very careful to bring to their attention the secret of their misfortunes:--

“And it came to pass when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah because of Midian, that Jehovah sent a prophet unto the children of Israel: and he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and gave you their land; and I said unto you, I am Jehovah your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But ye have not harkened unto my voice.” When evils come upon us, it is well to ask ourselves the question, How far are we responsible for them? How far are they due to our own misconduct, or the misconduct of those who have gone before us? It isn’t safe to assume that we are not to blame, that our skirts are clear. In nine case out of ten the opposite will be found to be true, as we find it here, in regard to these Israelites.

Gideon’s Band was a body of men gotten together, in view of the distressing circumstances here set forth for the purpose of fighting the enemy, of shaking off the yoke of the oppressor. Let us study these men for a moment. There were three hundred of them in all. So far as the record goes not one of their names has been preserved to us, save that of the leader only. The names are all omitted, but the qualities that characterized them are preserved. We are not told who they were, but we are told what kind of men they were: and it is to this point particularly that I desire to direct attention just here. A careful study of what is written here in regard to these men will reveal the following facts about them:

(1). They were fully conscious of the evils from which they were suffering, and earnestly desired to be rid of them. It matters not how these evils originated, the point to which I am directing attention here is, that these men recognized them as evil. They were not satisfied with conditions as they were. They wanted a change. They were tired of the oppression of the Midianites. They realized that they were being oppressed, and that it was not good for them to continue in the condition in which they were. And it is only where such a mental attitude exists that there can be any successful warfare against oppressive conditions. Unless the evil to be remedied is felt, and keenly felt, it is not likely that there will be any effort put forth to remedy it, or any prospect of securing the cooperation of those who are suffering in an effort to do so.

(2). They were men of courage, of splendid daring. They came in response to a call from Gideon. Gideon had thrown down the altar of Baal which his father had erected; and because his father refused to turn him over to be put to death by the Midianites, the adherents of Baal, a large force was collected to enforce the decree of death against him. It was under such circumstances that Gideon issued his call. We are told, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezar was gathered together after him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they were also gathered together after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.”

As the result of this call some thirty-two thousand men came to his relief. Twenty-two thousand of these, however, came simply because they felt that they must come, but their hearts were not in it. They recognized the fact that there was danger in the step they were taking, that they might lose their lives in the conflict which was sure to ensue between them and the enemy. As soon therefore as the opportunity presented itself they went back to their homes. Of the ten thousand who remained however, who, with the full consciousness of what the outcome might be, kept their places, the three hundred of whom we are speaking were a part. The men who went back, who availed themselves of the permission granted by the proclamation “Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return from Mount Gilead,” would have been glad to have the oppressors’ yoke broken, to have been relieved of the evils from which they were suffering; but they were not willing to risk anything, to expose themselves to any danger. They were timid; they were afraid of making things worse; of bringing upon themselves still greater evils. Not so however with these men. They were willing to endure hardship; to encounter danger; to lay down their lives, if necessary. The enemies were all about them, and about them in vast numbers. The record is, “And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude.” But there is no fear discoverable in these three hundred men.

(3). They were men of faith. They believed in God. They were willing to trust God; to rest upon his promises. They knew perfectly well that, in and of themselves, they were no match for those who were opposed to them and with whom they were to measure arms; but they knew that Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob--the God who had brought their forefathers out of Egypt and who had sustained them for forty years in the wilderness, was more than a match for them; and that it was under his direction that they were to fight. It was this element of faith in God that enabled them on that night, when the assault was made, to go forth as they did a bare handful and to take their places as indicated to them by Gideon. That their hope of victory was not in their own strength is clear from the manner in which they were armed. There was not a deadly weapon among them. There was not a single weapon of warfare, either offensive or defensive, among them. They were armed with what? The record is: “And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put into the hands of all of them trumpets and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers.” This was a strange way to equip men to do battle with powerful and deadly enemies; and yet this was the way they were armed. The smallness of their number, as well as the manner in which they were equipped for battle, show, in a very striking manner, their faith in an arm that was mightier than theirs. If it had not been that God was back of them, and that they were conscious of that fact, they never would have budged a step. Gideon might have issued his order, but it would have met with no response. He would have called, and called in vain for help. Faith in Jehovah--in the Lord God Almighty--becomes important as an element of character: (1) Because of the subjective effect upon the individual exercising it. It is a real source of strength to him. And (2) because God can help, and does help those who put their trust in him. “All things are possible to them that believe,” we are told in the inspired record. And Jesus said to his disciples: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” In saying that these were men of faith means a great deal therefore. It is a great thing to be linked with God; to be consciously in league with the Almighty.

(4). These men were reliable. They could be depended upon. What they were directed to do; what they undertook to do, they did faithfully. The order which they received from their leader was: “Behold when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that as I do so shall ye do. When I blow the trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, For Jehovah and for Gideon.” This was the order which they received; and here is the record as to how they carried it out: “So Gideon and the three hundred men that were with him, came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and brake in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets”--that is what they were directed to do; and brake in pieces the pitchers--that is what they were directed to do; and held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right hand--that is what they were directed to do; and cried the sword of the Lord and of Gideon--that is what they were directed to do. What they were directed to do, they did. Not a man failed. The record is, “And there stood every man in his place round about the camp.” They did not skulk away; they were at the post of duty to which they had been assigned. Each one answered the call of duty; each one proved faithful.

(5). There is still another thing about these men that should be noted. It comes out in connection with the manner in which they drank water. The record is, “And Jehovah said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there; and it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water: and Jehovah said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.” The three hundred men, of whom we are speaking, lapped the water and because of that fact were selected by Jehovah for the special work which he had in view. It is not quite clear, perhaps, exactly what the quality is which this is intended to indicate. The fact that they did not get down upon their knees to drink might indicate that they were younger, more vigorous, more active than the rest; or it might indicate that they were more alert, more vigilant, more watchful. They were surrounded by enemies, and were liable at any time to be assailed. Their not getting down upon their knees would seem to indicate that they realized the danger to which they were exposed, and kept themselves in an attitude that would enable them instantly to defend themselves, to meet the enemy. The test to which they were subjected, if we take this view of the matter, shows that they were men of force, that they were active, wide awake. They fully appreciated the circumstances in which they were placed and the necessity on their part of being active, wide awake, on the alert.

Such was the character of the men of whom we are speaking. They were men of conviction--they felt, and felt keenly the evils from which they were suffering, and their minds were fully made up to endure them no longer, if by any effort of theirs they could escape them. They were men of genuine courage--they were not afraid to meet the enemy. They were men of faith--faith in God. They were men who were thoroughly reliable--who could be depended upon, to whom any duty could be assigned in the confident assurance that it would be faithfully attended to. And they were men who were active, vigorous--men of physical and mental stamina.

The getting together of such a company as this was a great achievement. It wasn’t easily done. Thirty-two thousand men had to be sifted before they could be found; but they were found. When the time comes God is always able to find the men he wants to use. When the great Civil War broke out in this country, it was a singular fact, that there were three such men as Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan ready to lead the Union forces on to victory. And the same was true when the war between Russia and Japan occurred: God had already in waiting a Togo to send to the bottom of the sea of Japan the combined fleet of the enemy; and on the land an Ozama and a Kuroki to overwhelm in a succession of unprecedented victories the army of the enemy. And here God found three hundred men to do the work which he wanted done, and placed at their head a man who was worthy to lead them.

GIDEON’S BAND was organized for the purpose of fighting the Midianites--the enemies that were oppressing the Jews at that time. It is not of the Jews, however, that I desire to speak at this time, but of ourselves as a race. We too have enemies--present, ever-active, and powerful. These enemies may be divided into two general classes--those that are affecting injuriously our moral and economic condition, and those that are affecting injuriously our civil and political status.

(1). Those that are affecting injuriously our moral and economic condition. Under this head are to be classed the evil tendencies within our own hearts, and, which are not different from the evil tendencies in other races; for, after all, human nature is everywhere the same. The same radical tendencies are discoverable in all men. Human nature is not different in the black man from what we find it in the white man, or in the men of any other race. Everywhere, in the human heart are evil tendencies that lead inevitably downward, that gravitate towards lower levels. We, as a race, have these tendencies just as other races. Under this head may be classed also such organized forces of evil as strong drink, the saloon, the whole liquor business; impurity, all gambling institutions, the dance hall, the many agencies that encourage idleness, and frivolity. Everywhere among us these forces are at work. And just as the Jews, in the time of Gideon, suffered from the inroads of the Midianites, so are we suffering from the ravages of these foes. What inroads the saloon is making among us. How we are being ruined by it morally! How our physical strength is being depleted by it! How we are being impoverished by it! Think of what impurity is doing! How it is dragging down hundreds and thousands of our young men--down, down into that deepest hell of moral degradation; for there is nothing that sinks a man so low in the scale of being as impurity, as a lustful, lascivious life. Think of what the dance hall and the spirit of frivolity which it encourages, are doing to demoralize our young people. These and many other forces are at work among us, and are steadily, persistently, day and night, operating to destroy us, soul and body. The evil tendencies within us, and the evil influences without us are conspiring to destroy us--to destroy us physically, morally, economically. It is well for us as a race to know what these evil influences are and how we are being affected by them.