The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.” – Judges 7:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 4, 2012): Judges 7

The English language is funny – partially because we use it so poorly. I have a friend who teaches High School and he used to be amused by the grammar that was used in his class. He said that almost every class someone would come up to him with a request that would be phrased this way – “Mr. Miller, can I like go to the bathroom.” Now beyond the obvious “can – may” mistake in the grammar of the request, there was a second mistake that he enjoyed playing with – and that was the use of the word “like.” So he would ask. Do you have to go to the bathroom or is it just similar to having to go to the bathroom. And if it is just similar, how similar is it. Is it really close to being like having to go the bathroom or is it something totally different from going to the bathroom that makes you want to leave the class. And, just so that I can make an informed judgment, what is this thing precisely that you are going to do that is like going to the bathroom. And at this point the student would usually respond with the one word phrase – whatever.

The problem is that grammatical rules exist so that we can clearly get our message across. Often when this blog really confuses my readers it is because I have violated some grammatical rules and the meaning to my phrases has become unclear. I once had a paper that I had written for a graduate level course that I was taking at the time returned with this note attached to it - Garry, you have a habit of confusing your tenses (meaning that I was breaking grammatical rules) but, amazingly enough, in spite of the mistakes I was able to clearly understand your points. – My professor was right, it was amazing with the grammatical mistakes that even I found in the paper after he returned it to me that anyone could have understood my points.

War has a grammar of its own. Part of that grammar is a readiness at all times to do battle, because you never know where the enemy is hiding. That means that when you are getting ready to do battle – and you need a drink of water – the proper method of drinking is to go down on one knee cupping your hands and bringing the water up to your mouth - that way your eyes and ears can still be focused on your surroundings and alert for a possible sneak attack of your enemy. When you lap like a dog putting your face into the water, your senses are no longer aware of their surroundings – and the soldier is vulnerable to a surprise attack.

God sticks Gideon with grammatically incorrect soldiers to go to battle with. God tends to do that. His purpose is that, in every situation, we would realize that it is his presence and not our prowess that wins the battles. As Gideon brings his soldiers to him and readies them for battle, you can almost hear the instructions from God ring out loud and clear – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Judges 8