Gideon

The story of Gideon is one of the most beloved stories in the Old Testament. The text is so transparent and honest that it helps support the fact of divine inspiration. The book of Judges documents a period of time where the fledgling nation of Israel is transitioning from their desert wandering experience to the time when they would begin to set up a kingdom in Jerusalem. It outlines a time when, because of their disobedience to God, they where reaping the consequences of their actions. But even during this tumultuous time of testing God was still watching over the nation, patiently waiting for them to return to fellowship with Him.

The nation of Israel began marrying foreign women from the other nations living around them. This new influence brought Baal, Ashtoreth, and idol worship to the high places. As the nation falls away from fellowship with God and embraces other gods, the Lord allows them to be oppressed by many other nations. The Midianites, Amalekites and Egyptians would encamp against them and destroy their produce of the earth. They destroyed their livestock too, making it very hard for the people of Israel to sustain life.  Day to day living was extremely agonizing and difficult for the average Israeli. They were in survival mode.

God forced them to hit rock bottom and cry out to Him for help. God heard their cry and chooses Gideon to lead the army to battle their enemy. The only problem is that in Gideon’s eyes, he is the least in his father’s house and his clan was the weakest in the entire nation of Israel. The first step in God’s plan of restoration for the Israelis was for them to repent. The Angel of the Lord commands Gideon to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and sacrifice to Him upon the burned remains. Gideon complies with the Angel’s command but, because he is afraid, he does it under the cover of darkness.

Let’s jump ahead to a New Testament verse,1 Cor. 1:27, where the apostle Paul records a great truth about God and how He accomplishes His will in the power of His might. “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” God always uses the weaker vessels here on earth to accomplish His will. When God wanted someone to tell the pharaoh of Egypt to let His people go, God chose Moses. Moses did not really want to talk to anyone let alone the pharaoh of Egypt. He even admits to us that he is slow of speech. Now we have another underdog, Gideon, chosen to lead the Israelites into battle, who by his own admission is the weakest in his family.

As God prepares Israel for His great victory over their enemies, he instructs Gideon to tell the 32,000 armed men that whoever is fearful and afraid should return home. As the dust from 22,000 men leaving the area begins to settle, God now asks the remaining 10,000 armed men to drink from the stream. All who drink directly from the stream are to return home leaving only those who used their hands to cup the water to remain to fight. At the end of the day, Gideon would have only 300 men to fight against their enemy who was described as numerous as locusts and, in a number, like the sands of the seashore.

So, as the story goes, the battle plan was that the 300 were to go under the cover of darkness with trumpets and torches concealed in clay pitchers. At the sound of Gideon’s trumpet they were all to blow their trumpets, saying ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon’ and then break their clay pitchers. The biblical text explains that, in the darkness of night, the enemy in the resulting confusion turned on each other causing them to defeat themselves. 

What’s really quite amazing is that it’s always in God’s power and might that we win the battles of life. You might win an occasional skirmish on your own but the biggest battles in life are always won by and through the power of an almighty God. Just as with Gideon, we must be willing to repent and tear down the altars we have constructed to the false idols in our own lives. Then as we begin to turn towards God He renews our fellowship and restores our relationship with Him. God is thrilled with us as we begin to make godly decisions that spill over and influence the others in our lives.