The Meaning of Quirks

Synopsis     Judges 7:2-8     6/17/2018

God paired down the army that Gideon had assembled. He did not want the men of Israel to wrongly conclude that the coming victory was due to their own power, but instead He wanted them to understand it was the power of God working through them.

So God had Gideon send away anyone who was fearful. He then performed a test by having Gideon lead the men to water. He then observed how they drank. The men were separated into two groups: those who drank like dogs, and those who didn’t. Through this, three-hundred were chosen to remain for the assault on Midian. There were three-hundred chosen from over thirty-two thousand men who initially showed up.

Lapping Like Dogs

There are lots of theories about the distinction between those men who lapped liked dogs and those who didn’t. Perhaps a caution on not reading too much into the story. For example, it’s specifically not clear from the story  that anyone was more or less righteous because of the way they drank water. It’s also not clear that someone who drinks water in a certain way is more likely to be a better warrior than someone who drinks water another way.

So what’s going on?

It’s tempting to think that the story can be read in a way that gives insight into a universal principle of human nature. I sometimes want to believe that a single point of reference like “water drinking” can give some deep insight into the soul of another person. It’s like I want to believe that “drinks water from a river like a dog” is one of the top three ways for a leader to know that his soldiers will follow him. But knowing another person doesn’t really work like that.

In fact, for this example, it could be a statistically valid fact that only 1 in 100 human beings happen to drink water from a river by lapping like a dog. So, God may have chosen this test simply as a convenient way to reduce the number of men – which was his stated purpose in conducting the test in the first place. It didn’t necessarily make the men who remained more suitable for the fight.

So the behavioral quirkiness of drinking water from a river like a dog might not signal anything more than a somewhat arbitrary personal mark (like a birthmark) that happens to be common in 1 in 100 people.

The Meaning of Quirks

For most human purposes, a well-established reputation is far more important than some arbitrary personal mark.

Hence that old expression, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

“So, by their fruits you will know them” Matt 7:20