Gideons Victory Story - Bible

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So for seven years the Lord gave them into the hands of the Midianites. The power of Midian was so strong that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves. They hid in the mountains, 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. They came up with their livestock and tents. They were as thick as locusts. They and their camels could not be counted. They entered the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah. It belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress. He was hiding it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.'

Pardon me, my lord,' Gideon replied, 'but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about? They said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us. He has given 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?'

Pardon me, my lord,' Gideon asked, 'but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh. I am the least in my family.'

The Lord answered, 'I will be with you. You will strike down all the Midianites together.'

Gideon replied, 'If I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not leave this place until I come back. I will bring my offering and set it before you.'

The Lord said, 'I will wait until you return.'

Gideon went inside and prepared a young goat. He made bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

The angel of God said to him, 'Take the meat and the unleavened bread. Place them on this rock. Pour out the broth.' And Gideon did so. Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock. It consumed 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, 'Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!'

But the Lord said to him, 'Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.'

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there. He called it The Lord Is Peace.

That same night the Lord said to him, 'Take the second bull from your father's herd. It is seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal. Cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on top of this height. Use the wood of the Asherah pole 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 townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

In the morning when the people of the town got up, they saw that Baal's altar had been torn down. They saw that the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down. They also saw that the second bull had been 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 people of the town said to Joash, 'Bring out your son. He must die. He has broken down Baal's altar. He has cut down the Asherah pole beside it.'

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 because Gideon broke down Baal's altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal that day. Jerub-Baal means 'let Baal contend with him.'

All the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern peoples joined forces. They crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. The Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon. He blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. They also came up to meet him.

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.' That is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day. He squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew. He wrung out 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. Let the ground be covered with dew.' That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry. All the ground was covered with dew.

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. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands. Israel would boast against me, saying, 'My own strength has saved me.' Now announce to the army, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'' So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

But the Lord said to Gideon, 'There are still too many men. Take them down to the water. I will thin them out for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go. 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 of them 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. I will give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.'

So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents. But he kept the three hundred. They took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. 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. I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. Listen to what they are saying. Then 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. They were as thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. 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 bowed down and worshiped. 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. He put torches inside the jars. '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. It was 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.

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. They pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim. They said, '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. They seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. They also captured the two Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb. They killed 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.

Gideon did not have a large army. He only had three hundred men. But God gave him victory over the huge Midianite army. Gideon learned that God does not need many people to win a battle. God just needs people who will trust and obey him. When we feel weak and small, God can use us to do great things. His power is made perfect in our weakness.

The Gideons Victory story teaches trust and obedience. It shows that God’s power works even through few and weak. This story highlights courage and divine help.