In the land of Israel, the people had once again turned away from the Lord, and as a consequence, the Midianites oppressed them severely. The Midianites, along with the Amalekites and other eastern peoples, would swarm the land like locusts, devouring crops and livestock, leaving the Israelites in desperate poverty. The people cried out to the Lord for deliverance, and He heard their plea.
In the town of Ophrah, there lived a man named Gideon, the son of Joash, from the tribe of Manasseh. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites when the angel of the Lord appeared to him. The angel said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Gideon, startled and unsure, replied, “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our ancestors told us about? Has He abandoned us to the Midianites?”
The Lord turned to Gideon and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” Gideon, still hesitant, asked for a sign to confirm that it was truly the Lord speaking to him. He prepared an offering of a young goat and unleavened bread, which he brought to the angel. The angel touched the offering with the tip of his staff, and fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and bread. At that moment, Gideon realized he had been speaking to the Lord Himself, and he was filled with awe and fear.
The Lord reassured Gideon, saying, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You will not die.” That night, Gideon built an altar to the Lord and called it “The Lord Is Peace.” But the Lord had more instructions for Gideon. He commanded him to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Gideon obeyed, though he did it at night out of fear of his family and the townspeople. When the people discovered what had happened, they demanded Gideon’s death, but his father, Joash, defended him, saying, “If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.”
The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew the trumpet, summoning the men of Israel to follow him. Soon, an army of 32,000 men gathered to fight against the Midianites. But the Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, saying, ‘My own strength has saved me.'” So the Lord instructed Gideon to send home anyone who was afraid. Gideon announced this to the army, and 22,000 men left, leaving only 10,000.
But the Lord said, “There are still too many men.” He told Gideon to take the men down to the water and watch how they drank. Those who knelt down to drink with their mouths to the water were to be sent home, while those who lapped the water with their hands to their mouths were to stay. Only 300 men lapped the water, and the Lord said, “With these 300 men, I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.”
That night, the Lord spoke to Gideon again, saying, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” Gideon obeyed and crept down to the enemy camp with Purah. There, he overheard a Midianite soldier telling his comrade about a dream he had: a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp and struck a tent, causing it to collapse. The comrade interpreted the dream, saying, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”
Gideon was filled with courage. He returned to his camp and divided the 300 men into three companies. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar with a torch inside. He instructed them, “Watch me. Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp, blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!'”
In the middle of the night, Gideon and his men approached the Midianite camp. At his signal, they blew their trumpets, smashed their jars, and held up their torches. The sudden noise and light terrified the Midianites, who began to cry out and flee in confusion. The Lord caused the enemy soldiers to turn on each other with their swords, and the camp was thrown into chaos. Gideon’s men pursued the fleeing Midianites, calling for reinforcements from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh. They captured the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb, and brought their heads to Gideon.
The victory was complete, and the Israelites praised the Lord for delivering them from their oppressors. Gideon, though hesitant and fearful at first, had trusted in the Lord’s promises and obeyed His commands. Through Gideon’s faith and the Lord’s power, Israel was saved, and peace was restored to the land. The story of Gideon serves as a reminder that God often works through the weak and the unlikely to accomplish His purposes, so that all glory may be given to Him alone.
