Gideon’s Story (Part 1)

Judges 6-8

The Ten Signposts of the Bible
CAMDE—400—CALY
Creation. Abraham. Moses. DAVID. Elijah. 400. Christ. Apostles. Letters. Yet-to Come.

The book of Judges describes how God’s people repeatedly fall into a cycle of sin. They rebel against God, face oppression from their enemies, cry out to him in despair, and God listens and rescues them. For a while, they live in peace, but then they fall back into rebellion, and the cycle begins again.

Crazy! Well… maybe not. You and I have gone through the same vicious cycle a few times, haven’t we? 

The leaders that God raises up to deliver Israel are called judges. The stories of twelve judges are told in the book of Judges. We will learn about two additional judges in the first part of 1 Samuel. I will provide a summary of all the judges in the Weekend Recharge.

Today, let’s begin the story of Gideon, Israel’s fifth judge.

Under Deborah's leadership, the only woman to serve as a judge over Israel, the people enjoyed peace for forty years. Then “the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years” (Judg. 6:1).

The Midianites and Amalekites joined forces to invade the land, devour the crops, and steal the livestock. Israel “was brought very low” because of these attacks, went into hiding, and cried out to the Lord for help (Judg. 6:6). God sent a prophet to remind them that their suffering was caused by their sin (Judg. 6:8-10). Sometimes, we need to be reminded that disobedience has consequences. Now, God was ready to send a deliverer. 

Gideon’s Call
The angel of the LORD (the pre-incarnate Christ) went to see Gideon while the young man was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of the LORD said, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor” (Judg. 6:12). At this point, Gideon does not know the LORD is speaking to him. His reply was a complaint.

Judges 6:13
Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.

Interesting, isn’t it? Israel has rebelled and is living in sin, but God gets the blame. Does anyone relate to that?

When God tells Gideon that he is the one chosen to save Israel, Gideon responds much like Moses did. He essentially says, “Wait a second. I can’t go. My tribe is the weakest in all of Israel, and I am the least in my family. I am the smallest of the small, the weakest of the weak, the least of the least. Choose someone else!” (my paraphrase). But God assures Gideon there’s no mistake. He is the man, and the LORD promises to be with him. 

Gideon is an interesting character study. He sought a lot of reassurance; he needed more than just God’s word—he wanted a sign (Judg. 6:17). So, God told him to prepare an offering, and “the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight” (Judg. 6:21). When God assured Gideon that he would not die from their “face to face” encounter, he built an altar and called it Yahweh Shalom, “The LORD is Peace” (Judg. 6:24). 

Gideon’s First Assignment: His Father’s Altar
God was going to use Gideon in a significant way, but he needed to build Gideon’s confidence. The first assignment was close to home. Gideon was instructed to tear down his father’s altar of Baal, cut down the Asherah pole beside it, and offer a burnt offering using the wood from the Asherah pole. He obeyed, “but because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night” (Judg. 6:25-27).

Gideon had reason to fear the men of the town. They intended to put him to death for tearing down the altar. But God used Gideon’s father to protect him. 

Gideon’s Second Assignment: The Midianites and Amalekites
The Midianites and the Amalekites gathered once more to ravage the land of Israel. But this time, “the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon,” and he summoned four tribes to join him in fighting the enemy (Judg. 6:33-35). 

Gideon asked God for another sign to confirm the victory. He laid a thick wool cloth on the threshing floor and told God, “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” (Judg. 6:37). The next morning, the fleece was wet, but the ground was dry. 

That should have been enough of a guarantee, but not for Gideon. He said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew” (Judg. 6:39). That night, God made it happen so that the wool was dry, “and on all the ground there was dew” (Judg. 6:40).

God graciously meets us in our doubts and questions. Encouraged by the two fleece signs, Gideon gathered 32,000 soldiers and prepared to fight the Midianites and Amalekites. However, God knew that 32,000 soldiers would be too many to fully demonstrate his power against an army that, earlier in Judges 6, was described as “like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted” (Judg. 6:5).

I might have recruited even more soldiers! Yet, God had an unexpected plan that we’ll look at tomorrow. It turns out, all you need is God on your side. More on God’s work in Gideon tomorrow. 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read and reflect on Judges 6-8. Where do you feel inadequate or unqualified for what God may be calling you to do?

Talking to God: Ask God to meet you in your doubts and questions. 

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