19 Gideon Fights the Midianites [Judges 6–7]
The Bible passage: [Judges 6–7]
The Story:
The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so God handed them over to Midian to be oppressed for seven years.
The Israelites hid in the mountains and caves. Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites attacked them and destroyed their crops. They left nothing for Israel to eat. Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord for relief.
When the Israelites cried out to God because of Midian, the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said to them, “The Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of slavery. I rescued you from Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. I told you: I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the people of Canaan. But you did not obey me.’”
The Angel of the Lord came and sat under an oak tree which belonged to a man named Joash. Gideon, the son of Joash, was threshing wheat in the winepress so the Midianites wouldn’t find him. Then the Angel of the Lord spoke to him and said, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.”
Gideon said to him, “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all the miracles that our ancestors told us about? The Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
The Lord turned to him and said, “I am sending you to deliver Israel from Midian.”
Gideon replied, “How can I deliver Israel? My family is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.”
“I will be with you,” the Lord said. “You will conquer the nation of Midian as if they were one man.”
Gideon said, “If you don’t mind, could you show me some kind of sign so I will know this is all real? Stay right here. I’ll bring my gift to you here.”
The angel said, “I will wait.”
Gideon went and prepared a young goat and some bread. He placed the meat in a basket and some broth in a pot. He brought them out to the Angel of the Lord.
The angel told Gideon, “Put the meat and the bread on this stone, and pour the broth on it.”
Gideon did that.
The Angel of the Lord extended the tip of his staff and touched the meat. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and bread.
The angel vanished from sight. It was then that Gideon realized that he had been speaking to the Angel of the Lord face to face. This frightened Gideon, but he heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Don’t be afraid; you won’t die.”
Gideon built an altar to the Lord and named the altar The Lord is Peace.
That very same night, the Lord said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and another bull seven years old. Tear down the altar that your father has built to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole that is beside it. Build an altar to the Lord your God. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering, using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down.”
Gideon followed the instructions given to him by the Lord. However, because he was afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city, he did it at night.
When the men of the city got up in the morning, they found Baal’s altar and the Asherah pole torn down, and the bull offered on the new altar that had been built. They wondered who had done this. After a thorough investigation, they said, “Gideon, the son of Joash, did this.”
They went to Joash and demanded that he hand over his son. “He must die, because he has destroyed Baal’s altar.”
Joash stood up to the men and said, “Do you have to defend Baal and save him? If Baal is a god, he can defend himself.”
Many nations gathered together to attack Israel.
God’s Spirit filled Gideon. He sent messengers throughout the nation of Israel, calling the men to gather for war.
Gideon prayed and told God, “You said you would use me to lead and deliver Israel. I am going to put some fleece on the threshing floor. When I go there in the morning, if dew is on the fleece, and the ground is dry, I will know that what you said is true.”
When he got up in the morning and went to look, there was enough dew on the fleece to fill a bowl. The ground around the fleece was dry.
Gideon again prayed, “Please don’t be angry with me, but I have one more request. Let me put the fleece out again, but this time let the ground be wet and the fleece be dry.
That night, God did what Gideon asked. The fleece was dry and the ground around it was wet with dew.
Gideon and the troops with him got up early and camped beside a spring. The camp of the army of Midian was north of them, in a valley.
The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand Midian over to them. Israel might think they have saved themselves and not realize that I ruled the day. Announce to your troops, ‘Anyone who is afraid of the battle may turn back and leave us.’” Twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained.
The Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water. I will test them for you there.”
Gideon brought the troops down to the water. God said, “Have the men take a drink from the spring. Separate the men who lap water with their tongue like a dog from the ones who lift the water to their mouths with their hands.”
There were three hundred men who lapped with their hands to their mouths. The Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with these three hundred men. Everyone else is to go home.”
Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops. Gideon told the men to take their provisions and their rams’ horns. The camp of Midian was below them in the valley.
That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up and go down to the enemy’s camp. I have handed it over to you. But if you are afraid to go alone, take your servant with you. Listen to what they say, and then you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So, Gideon went down with his servant to the outpost of the troops who were in the camp.
The Midianites, Amalekites, and all the people of the east had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts. There were so many of them that they couldn’t be counted. When Gideon arrived at the outskirts of the camp, there was a man telling his friend about a dream he had. He said, “Listen, I had a dream: a loaf of bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf of bread turned the tent upside down and it collapsed.”
His friend answered, “The loaf of bread is the sword of Gideon. God has handed us over to him.”
When Gideon heard the story of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship to God. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, “Get up! The Lord has handed the Midianite’s over to you.” He divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of the men a ram’s horn in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside it in the other hand.
“Watch me,” he said to them, “and do what I do. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. When I and everyone with me blow our rams’ horns, you are also to blow your rams’ horns all around the camp. Then we will all shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
Gideon and the hundred men who were with him went to the edge of the camp in the middle of the night. They blew their rams’ horns and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. All three companies blew their rams’ horns and shattered their pitchers. They held their torches in their left hands and their rams’ horns in their right hands, and they shouted, “For the Lord and for Gideon!”
The entire Midianite army began to run, yelling as they fled. When Gideon’s men blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the men in the Midianite army to turn on each other with their swords.
The Lessons:
- When Gideon placed an offering of meat and bread for the Angel of the Lord on a rock, God himself brought fire up from the rock and consumed the offering.
- We’re introduced to a couple of gods of the people of Canaan. As the people of Israel moved away from worshipping the one true God, they began worshipping the gods of the people who had been in the land; the people that they had not driven out.
- Baal is a Hebrew word meaning lord, master, owner, or husband. Where you see it in the Bible, it refers to the Canaanite god of fertility, rain, and thunderstorms; the main god of the Canaanite religion
- Asherah is a Canaanite fertility goddess. The mother of Baal. Worship places of Asherah were associated with wooden poles or trees.
- Gideon lacked the confidence in himself to lead Israel. The Holy Spirit filled Gideon, giving him the confidence to lead.
- Gideon was obedient to God in small things. This helped him eventually grow to be obedient in larger things.
- In the face of impossible odds, Gideon placed his full faith in God, not in himself.
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