Judges 7:16 provides three powerful strategies for victorious living –three typological lessons with symbolic representations and spiritual applications for the church. The first strategy is to Speak the Word (Blow the trumpet), symbolised by the Trumpet and Ram’s Horn. The second strategy is to Surrender the Self (Break the jar), symbolised by the empty pitchers – Jars of clay. The third strategy is to Saturate with the Word (Light the torch), symbolised by the blazing torches inside the pitchers.
Judges 7:2-7 describes how God filtered Gideon’s large army down to a mere 300 faithful men. In verse 9, God incredibly promises Gideon victory even before the battle starts. Israel’s enemies were as numerous as locusts. God patiently encouraged Gideon during his trial of faith. A conversation between two men in the enemy camp that Gideon overheard strengthened his faith and elicited worship. He proclaimed God’s promise of victory over the camp of Midian and divided his three hundred men into three companies, placing a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers and torches inside the pitchers.