The Bible: It's All About Jesus

Gideon

Gideon - Faith in Jesus

Judges Chapter Six

For God to show Israel what she had become, He lets the Midianites oppress Israel for seven years. The crops and herds were destroyed and the people hid in fear when the pilligers came into the land. To demonstrate His compassion and ability to save, God selected the least recognized man in the country to lead the people. God gives him the charge to destroy the armies that had kept Israel in poverty for those long years.

Gideon's story shows how God grows faith from the size of a mustard seed into a grand trust-relationship that overcomes all of the oppressive circumstanes that we encounter in this life on earth. It begins with Gideon questioning God about His supposed compassion. He basically said: "Where have You been, the only things I know about You are through handed legends --miracles that occurred years ago. What have You done lately? You haven't showed us that You really care!"

Chapter Seven

Through his daily life, God showed Gideon that He could be trusted. There was one sign after another. He spoke to an angel, put a sheep skin on the floor and God made it wet (and the dry), was given visions, heard about the enemy's defeat through one of their own, and watched as his force -which started at thirty-two thousand was winnowed down to just three hundred men. He was going to lead a small group of men to route out an army that was four hundred times their size.

Gideon is so much like our faith in Christ --we each being an Israel of sorts. We begin with so small of a faith --just diligently seeking God. And little by little, God let's us see how dependable He is. As we see His power and desire to care for us, we need les and less of our own strength to live this life.

Chapter Eight

With the war behind them, Israel once again became complacent. She wanted Gideon and his offspring for their leaders. But all his life Gideon struggled to keep God at the center of their worship.

Gideon had even made a memorial out of the earrings of the destroyed enemy. It weighed over forty pounds; that represents a huge army that was struck down. He had only three hundred unknown men (not proven warriors with superior strength) so that war was obviously won by God. Yet the people focused on what Gideon had done. The stories they told their children were of Gideon's leadership rather than on God's faithfulness.

That's us! We want to proclaim how great a pastor or evangelist is. What a wonderful sermon that the preacher gave. The magnificant works the missionaries do. The number of people that attend a church. Yet those faithful servants should not telling us about themselves, but about the God that redeems, and gives life through His Son.

Judges Chapter Six - Gideon - Trusting God

We need to see our sickness so we can call the doctor

The time of Judges was after the reign of Joshua (Moses' successor) and before kings led the country (beginning with Saul). The book of Judges describes periods of prosperity when Israel followed God and periods of poverty when she abandoned Him.

The story of Gideon takes up after Israel had been been living in peace for forty years. With prosperity, there was no reason to depend on God so the people turned to man-made gods. They worshiped Baal with sacrificial altars and set up Asherah poles. However, God did not abandon them. To get her to see where her heart was, God gave her into the hands of the Midianites. And for seven years they were oppressed by an invading hordes ravaged the country destroying the crops and herds.

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help. (Judges 6:1-6)

By creating circumstances that the people could not control, God finally got the peoples' attention and they cried out to Him for help. That is so typical of us. We have to be really miserable to realize that we are powerless to get ourselves out ot the situations we get into. We say "It's just one drink, just one bite, just one snort, just one look, just one..." And shortly after that we're trapped, unable to get free of the problems that we create for ourselves. Then there comes the plea, "Oh God, please help me!"

When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian, he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to me." (Judges 6:7-10)

God sent an angle to Gideon with a message of hope. The end of oppression was in sight. God was going to use him --Gideon-- to save Israel from the Midianites.

The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian." The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" (Judges 6:11-14)

Gideon's weakness and God's strength

How could God pick me, he asked. Gideon was the least-of-the-least; his family was insignificant in the tribe and Gideon himself was insignificant in his family. But then, God doesn't use the powerful and logical things of this world to accomplish His ends. His ways are so much greater than our ways.

"But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." (Judges 6:15)

Gideon asked the angel to stay a while --just to make sure that this was really from God. He left to prepare an offering consisting of a young goat and unleavened bread.

The LORD [that is the Lord speaking through the angel] answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together." Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD [again, He is speaking through the angel] said, "I will wait until you return." Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. (Judges 6:16-19)

Gideon returned with the offering. He placed it on a rock and the angel touched it with his staff causing the whole offering to go up in smoke. At once he knew that it was no dream. This was the first step of faith. Gideon wanted to be sure that what he heard from God was not just some selfish desire or misplaced trust.

The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" But the LORD [God Himself] said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die." So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (Judges 6:20-24)

Although, the angel referred to him as a mighty warrior, Gideon needed to believe it to be true with all of his heart. To increase Gideon's trust --in God, not himself-- God gave him the task of destroying some idols that his father had set up. We all need the same confidence that God is who He says He is. That's what life is about --growing in a trust relationship with the One who is trustworthy.

That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering." So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime. In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it." The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it." (Judges 6:25-30)

When the whole town was against his young warrior, Gideon's father gave a brash defense stating that if Baal was really a great god then he should be powerful enough to take care of such a small thing as someone who torn down an altar.

God is worthy of our trust

God was at work in Gideon's heart, growing his faith. He was showing him that there was no room in his life for the dead idols of an empty religion that he learned from his father. Gideon was finding out about the living God who was interested in him and his people.

But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar. (Judges 6:31-32)

Meanwhile, those nasty Midianites and their friends were gathered together flaunting their power. It's reminiscent of the Philistines when David faced Goliath.

Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them. (Judges 6:33-35)

Gideon was still short on confidence that God was with him in this huge undertaking. He asked for a sign that he was not alone. He placed a sheepskin on the threshing room floor and asked God for it be wet and the floor be dry in the morning. That came to pass so he asked God for the reverse to also take place --a dry sheepskin on a wet floor. When that also came to pass Gideon saw that God was worthy of his trust.

That's so much like us Christians. We say we trusted God when someone asks how we got through one of life's difficult times, but all through that time we were asking Him for signs. "Why is this happening?" "Show me what to do, God." We're no different.

Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. (Judges 6:36-40)

Judges Chapter Seven - The Battle

Less Gideon and more God

Gideon was to take on the enemy. He had his troops and they were ready for battle. One small thing though. Gideon knew that God was with him, but his confidence was still in what he could see. He had thirty-two thousand men in his army. God patiently explained that for the success of this battle to be attributed to Himself, there had to be less men. It's like what John the Baptist said. "I must decrease so that He may increase."

God had Gideon call for others to join him and thousands of Israelites came. They though it was to take part in the battle, but the real reason was for them to see just how great the force was against them.

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. (Judges 7:1-3)

After sending twenty-two thousand back home, there still remained ten thousand. God knew that those who would hear about this battle later would believe in what is seen (Gideon's great army) rather than in what was unseen (God who was going to defeat the enemy). More troops were sent home to ensure that their story would be a witness about the miraculous power of God.

The focus of this part of the story is traditionally --and mistakenly-- on the men and how they drank the water, lapping it with their tongues from their hands versus kneeling to it. Some say that the ones who stood lapping were remained more aware of their surroundings so that would make better soldiers. But the purpose here is not to be on the abilities of men but on their dependence on God. He was removing their strength by reducing the number of troops. Remember Gideon is the least-of-the-least in his tribe. So these men were more likely to have been the least able warriors such that all of the glory would go to God!

But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go." So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place." So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. (Judges 7:4-8)

Still more confidence. That's what Gideon needed. The passage that comes to mind here is from Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. During that night the LORD said to Gideon, "Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 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." So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. (Judges 7:8-12)

The unquestionable sign that God was in control

Can you imagine overhearing a conversation that went something like this? A man said to his friend "I had a really strange dream last night. There was a loaf of bread that came rolling down a hill and it hit our tent and knocked it over." The friend responded, "Wow, that could only have one possible meaning. Gideon is going to destroy us all." Where would that come from, if not from God? They would not have known about Gideon; he was that obscure, least-known person, from the weakest clan, from a people who have been dominated for seven years!

Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed." His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands." When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands." Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. (Judges 7:13-16)

The plan was to take some trumpets, torches and jars to attack the countless enemy. Although it's not said, the torches were probably hidden under the jars --much like under a lamp shade.

"Watch me," he told them. "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.'" Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. (Judges 7:17-21)

When the trumpets were blown, the jars broken, and the lights exposed, God caused the enemy soldiers to turn on one another. It wasn't the loud sounds or sudden lights that caused confusion in the camp. It was all God! The Israelites could claim no part in this victory. More than a hundred thousand Midianites and their friends were killed.

When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah." So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they took the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan. (Judges 7:22-25)

Judges Chapter Eight - The People's Response

We want credit for what God has done

The other Israelites were angry at Gideon because they weren't included -and didn't get credit for- such a successful undertaking. His reply we elegant, letting them know that they received the official praise. Isn't that just like the religious part of us, wanting to show off what we have done for God?

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, "Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they criticized him sharply. But he answered them, "What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?" At this, their resentment against him subsided. (Judges 8:1-3)

For Gideon to rid the land of the Midianites, he also had to destroy all those who gave aid to them.

Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. He said to the men of Succoth, "Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." But the officials of Succoth said, "Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?" Then Gideon replied, "Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers." From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Succoth had. So he said to the men of Peniel, "When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower." (Judges 8:4-9)

This little band of 300 men led by the least recognized man of Israel overturned an army four hundred times their size. That's what happens when God is at work; He does the impossible.

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and fell upon the unsuspecting army. Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army. (Judges 8:10-12)

The execution of those accomplices was a public expression of not tolerating the traitors of his country.

Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. He caught a young man of Succoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Succoth, the elders of the town. Then Gideon came and said to the men of Succoth, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, 'Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?'" He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town. (Judges 8:13-17)

By executing the kings, Gideon showed that he was committed to his charge of destroying all that God had told him to do.

Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?" "Men like you," they answered, "each one with the bearing of a prince." Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you." Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, "Kill them!" But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid. Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, do it yourself. 'As is the man, so is his strength.' " So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels' necks. (Judges 8:18-21)

People naturally trust what they can see and control

Here we go again. Man always wants someone or something that can be seen. He wants gods (those people or things) to be down on his own level. That way he can think that he has control on his life.

The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." (Judges 8:22-23)

So Gideon made a memorial to remind all of Israel of what God had done to remove the oppression. It was a forty-plus pound item of gold to show the magnitude of His accomplishment and it was displayed where all could come to see it.

All of Gideon's life he reminded the people of what God had done. But the people kept saying to each other, "Have you seen the ephod that Gideon made after he killed the Midianites? That Gideon, he was a mighty warrior and deserves our praise." Israel gave praise to Gideon instead of God.

And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. (Judges 8:24-27)

When Gideon was leading there was peace. But thhere is a warning here. Read on in Judges chapter ten and you will find that his son from the concubine nearly wiped out his entire family and he also took Israel back into troubles.

Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years. Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (Judges 8:28-32)

And the cycle begins again. It's another example of how our faith -our salvation- cannot be passed from one generation to another. Each of us must go through the trials of life to find a need for God and the salvation that He offers through His Son Jesus Christ.

No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them. (Judges 8:33-35)