It does not sit well! Ehud, in his battle against the Moabites, aroused his troops with The Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand
(Judges 3:28). Later, Deborah similarly said to Barak, Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand
(Judges 4:14). In fact, even Gideon himself had earlier called his troops in similar fashion: Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand
(Judges 7:15). “So why the sudden urge for Gideon to personalize this assault on the Midianites (Judges 7:18), especially when Yahweh’s expressly stated goal was to not share the glory of victory with humans (Judges 7:2)? It looks as if Gideon was doing exactly that—seeking to share the honors with Yahweh for the anticipated triumph.”1 Or is he thinking of what the interpreter of the dream said about that cake that tumbled into the Midianite camp, that this is no other than the sword of Gideon
? It can be somewhat challenging to decide at this point. Gideon probably should have just left it at, For the Lord!
But whatever uncertainty we may have at this point will soon be cleared up.
18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’”