You'll recall from yesterday's passage that it wasn't until after the Midianites fled their camp that Gideon sent messengers to the fighting men of Ephraim to seize control of the Jordan River as far as Beth Barah. Gideon wanted to cut off that avenue of escape. The men of Ephraim did as he asked and were able to capture and execute two Midianite army generals, Oreb and Zeeb, whose heads they brought to Gideon. But the fighting men of Ephraim complain that Gideon should have called them to arms when he called up the Abiezrites (his own clan among the Manassites), then the men of West Manasseh in general, then the men of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. These were the men Gideon summoned in Chapter 6 to go out and fight against the Midianites.
He did not call up anyone from the tribe of Gideon, though they were as close to his territory of West Manasseh than any of those he did call---closer, in fact, than Naphtali or Asher. In addition, there was a closer family connection between Manasseh and Ephraim than between Manasseh and the other tribes, for Manasseh and Ephraim were the two sons of Jacob's son Joseph. Why did Gideon not call the men of Ephraim to join the fight in the very beginning? I believe Gideon called those whom the Lord instructed him to call. If we take a look back at Judges 6 we'll find that Gideon makes the call to arms while he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit, for lack of a better way of phrasing it, and he called the men the Holy Spirit directed him to call: "Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet him." (Judges 6:34-35)
The Lord doesn't place the same calling on every person's life. The Lord doesn't give everyone the same talents and abilities. This doesn't mean He values one person's life more than another. It doesn't mean He's slighted somebody because He called a different person to do a particular thing. But the men of Ephraim feel slighted and they confront Gideon in a spirit of wounded pride. "Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, 'Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?' And they challenged him vigorously." (Judges 8:1)
Gideon answers the men wisely, in a manner intended to pacify their anger. He reminds them that their help was invaluable after the Midianites fled their camp and he points out that without Ephraimite help the two great Midianite generals would still be on the loose. "But he answered them, 'What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands? What was I able to do compared to you?' At this, their resentment against him subsided." (Judges 8:2)
The glory of capturing the two generals and cutting off their heads goes to the tribe of Ephraim, not to the tribe of Manasseh. No doubt the Ephraimites killed many other Midianite soldiers than just these two but these were the most important two. Gideon says something like, "Neither I nor my men were the ones who cut off the heads of the two leaders of the Midianite army. That was you! I didn't even have to fight the men in the Midianite camp. When my soldiers and I took them by surprise in the night, they either fled or began fighting each other. But you guys---you're the real heroes of the day! Who am I, the youngest of my father's sons, compared to you? What is my clan of Abiezer, the smallest clan of Manasseh, compared to the great tribe of Ephraim? You did the fiercest fighting of anyone in this battle. We could not have been victorious without you."
In my background study I found several commentators offering opinions as to why the men of Ephraim were so upset. Some scholars think it has to do with Jacob's prophecy in which he said the descendants of Ephraim would be greater than the descendants of Manasseh even though Manasseh was Joseph's eldest son. Others think the Ephraimites would not have allowed Gideon to dismiss any of them after they had been summoned to war. You'll recall how Gideon began with 32,000 men and the Lord pared his army down to 300 men. If Gideon had called the men of Ephraim to arms, he'd have begun with far more men and still would have had to dismiss all but 300, for 300 is all the Lord wanted him to have. But I think we don't have to look too deeply for an explanation. The main principle at work here is probably just plain old human pride. It's part of our carnal natures to seek recognition. We enjoy fame and glory. When Gideon didn't call up the men of Ephraim in the beginning, they felt he was cheating them of some of the glory. They may also have felt cheated of plunder since Gideon and his 300 men who took the Midianite camp would have taken the belongings of the Midianites as the spoils of war. But anytime you put together a group of people to accomplish anything, conflicts are going to crop up. There will be those who feel slighted because somebody else was assigned a task that seems more glorious than the one they were assigned.
This kind of thing happens in the church all the time, not just in our day but even in the days of the early Christian church. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul had to devote a considerable amount of time to discussing the importance of unity in the church. He had to stress the fact that though the church is made up of many members, it is but one body. Every member of that body is valuable but every member won't be assigned the same calling. Every member won't possess the same gifts and talents. Paul compared the church to the human body and pointed out that every part of the body can't be a foot or a hand; it takes all the different parts of the body working together to make a whole, completely functional human being capable of performing whatever tasks are needed. You can read his discourse on this subject in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. Paul said that we aren't to envy the talents of our fellow church members because we are all important for the health and strength of the body. For example, I'd love to be a talented singer because I love to sing. But I wasn't given that gift. I can carry a tune but that's about all that can be said of my voice. Nobody is going to be asking me to sing a solo in church anytime soon but that doesn't mean I have the right to be envious of those who are gifted singers and it doesn't mean I have the right to feel slighted by God because He didn't give me the gift of a beautiful singing voice. God gave me other things to do and, if I want to honor Him by living in obedience to Him, my duty is to concentrate on doing the things He's called me to do.
When the Lord told Gideon who to call up for the initial strike against the Midianites, He didn't tell him to call the soldiers of Ephraim. But that doesn't mean the soldiers of Ephraim weren't important. The Lord had work for them to do after the attack on the Midianite camp. There was no need for these men to feel envious of Gideon and his men just because they were assigned a different task at a later date. In this same way, you and I don't need to be looking around us feeling bitter and jealous because somebody else has a different talent or assignment than we have. The Lord has work for us all to do and He has chosen the talents that are best suited for each individual. If we want what's best for the church---for the body---as a whole, we each must do what we've been assigned to the best of our ability. In that way all the parts are working together to make one strong, whole, effective body.
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