As many Christians may know, Gideon is a major character in the book of Judges. He was the youngest son of Joash who lived in Ophrah, just west of the Jordan River. Gideon was chosen by God to rescue Israel from the Midianites. Even though Israel stopped worshipping God after he died, he is a hero of Israel because he helped focus Israel’s eyes on God when he was alive and he had strong faith in God. God gave Israel to the Midianites because they were not focusing their eyes on Him. They were under the Midianites’ rule for seven years before they were rescued by Gideon.
The Israelites built shelters and homes in mountains because their fear of the Midianites was great. They would bombard their crops and invade their fields in large numbers. Barely getting by, the people of Israel were deathly afraid of what the Midinaites would do next. An angel of God was sent down to go and tell Gideon how he could help Israel. The angel told Gideon that the Lord was with him, but Gideon didn’t take that very well. He asked the angel why then hasn’t God been with Israel when the Midianites took over them.
And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not send you? “. And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house”. God assured him that he would be with him in the time of battle. To make sure Gideon was sure of doing his task, God asked him to send him a gift that would tell Him he is serious about the task. Gideon brought back a meal of goat, unraised bread, and broth to the angel of God. Then the angel of God had Gideon separate the meal on a rock.
Gideon watched as the angel pointed a staff at the rock and the meal caught fire. The angel vanished and later that night God asked Gideon to take down his father’s altar with his seven year old bull. Gideon did just that and he was then nicknamed Jerubbaal. The people of the town wanted to kill him, but Gideon’s father stopped them. Gideon later was clothed by God and sounded a trumpet for the Abiezrites to follow him. After seeing all the people, Gideon wasn’t confident about the battle. Gideon asked God that night for it to rain but only get the fleece he sat out wet.
It happened so that the ground around the fleece was dry, but the fleece was wet. After this little test of his, Gideon was sure that he was supposed to deliver Israel from the Midianites. When Gideon brought all of his warriors to fight, God told him that there were too many. Trusting God, Gideon let some of people go home. God still thought there were too many, so Gideon let more people go. After many tests, Gideon went from having over 32,000 to 300 men. Still, Gideon has faith in God that they will defeat the Midianites. When it was dark that night, the men and Gideon lined up around the camp, each with a trumpet and a jar.
After Gideon blew his trumpet and smashed his jar, the other 300 did the same. Awaking the unsuspecting Midianites, they all ran away and fled for their lives. When the people of Israel saw that Gideon was the one that rescued tem, they considered him a hero. Gideon was able to lead Israel’s eyes back on God. Even though I am not a hero, I can apply this to my life. I know that I can trust God at all times. Gideon trusted God with his life when he went out into battle. He was able to say yes to anything God wanted him to do because he trusts God. I love this story because it teaches me that God is with you no matter what.
If you are going into battle, He will stand right there next to you. He is a sovereign God that doesn’t back down no matter how great the odds are against you. The key verses I picked to summarize Gideon’s life quotes, “Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. ” I chose this group of verses to be the summary of Gideon’s life because he was known for the golden fleece.
He had faith in God, but he wanted to make sure it was real. Obviously, God responded and Gideon went on with what he was asked of him. He was able to defeat the Midianites and after that he was a hero. As a result, the focus of Israel’s eyes were back on God. Gideon was a true hero. He was able to accomplish the big task of directing the Israelites back to God. The only way he did that was because of his close relationship with God. Gideon trusted God with his life and the lives of others in the battle. Since he saved the Israelites from the Midianites with his strong faith, Gideon has been a hero of the faith.
