Story of Gideon and His Army (Judges 6:1-7, 25)

The Story of Gideon and his Army (Judges 6:-17, 25)

Paul MacDonald RN MA Dipl

The story starts out by proclaiming that Yahweh was angry with the Israelites for falling into sin (again) and worshipping false gods and idols. Because of this, Yahweh left them in the hands of the destructive Midianites for seven years.

Finally fed up, the Israelites called out to God for help. God would send aid through a man named Gideon.

Gideon Contracted to do God's Work

Gideon was just a small, young boy who was threshing wheat. An angel appears before Gideon saying, "Yahweh is with you, mighty warrior." The angel then proceeds to tell Gideon that he will deliver the Israelites from the Midianites, to which point Gideon says the he is just "a small, young boy" (consider Jeremiah).

Gideon Asks for a Sign

Gideon then asks the angel for a sign to prove that he is really speaking with God, leaves, and returns with an offering of food. The angel then spontaneously combusts the food. Gideon the realizes it is truly an angel of the Lord.

Gideon Must Destroy His Father's Idols

The same night Yahweh tells Gideon to destroy one of his fathers altars to an idol, Baal, and replace it with an altar to God and sacrifice a bull on it. Gideon does so and at night so that he is not caught. The townspeople find out Gideon did this and demand his execution. Gideon's father, Joash, however, exclaimed that if Baal were truly a God, then he would be able to defend himself (Consider Elijah and False Prophets on Mount Carmel).

Gideon Raises an Army

Gideon then calls to arms to fight against the Midianites several other peoples and they join him. Then Gideon asks for another sign that God is with them and asking God to make fleece the only wet thing on the ground the next morning, and then the only dry thing on the ground on the morning after that. God does both of these. and Gideon knows God is with them.

Gideon to Cut Size of the Army

In the morning, Yahweh tells Gideon he must cut down the size of his army because otherwise the Israelites won't contribute their win to God, but rather to themselves.

Gideon achieves this by asking that any person who is afraid to leave, and twenty-two thousand of the ten thousand people leave because of this.

However, God said this is still too many people, so he tells Gideon to go down to a river and see how the men drink. God then instructed Gideon to only keep people who drank like a dog. Gideon complied, which brought his army size down (Consider Elijahs Sacrifice at Mt Carmel).

God With Gideon

That night God instructs Gideon to go down to the valley to the Midianite valley to see what the Midianites were dreaming of. This was meant to relax and assure Gideon that God was on his side. In the valley, Gideon overhears a conversation between two Midianites in which one Midianite says he had a dream where a loaf of bread tumbling down the hill the Midianites' tent. The other Midianite interprets this as the sword of Gideon laying wrath upon the Midianites. After hearing this, Gideon decides to go back up the valley and start invading.

Gideon's Army Split Up Into 3 Groups

Gideon tells his people to split up into three groups. Gideon then gives everyone trumpets and jars with torches in them. After marching to the Midianite camp, everyone blew their trumpets end broke the jars. They then stood there repeating, "A sword for Yahweh and Gideon." All the Midianites fled in terror from this sight. Gideon then sent messengers to other Israelites about the Midianites, so the other Midianites captured the Midianites and killed their leaders.

Paul MacDonald RN MA Dipl ©