Having been assured, Gideon sets up camp almost directly south of the Midianites (7:1). But before battle commences, the Lord has further instructions regarding the number of Gideon’s troops (7:2–8). Concerned that in the aftermath of the impending victory, Israel will boast of its own strength rather than the Lord’s deliverance, the Lord wants the number of troops reduced so that it will be clear to all that the credit for the victory is entirely his. So the Lord tells Gideon to let all who fear to return home, and the number of troops goes from thirty-two thousand to ten thousand. But this is still too many in the Lord’s estimate. So a second round of elimination takes place by a stream in which 9,700 who knelt to drink are sent back, leaving only three hundred, who lapped water like a …