Gideon

When the angel of the Lord found Gideon, he was threshing wheat in a winepress—hiding from the Midianite raiders who had oppressed Israel for seven years. The Midianites would swarm like locusts at harvest time, destroying crops and livestock, leaving Israel impoverished. Gideon was the least in his family, and his clan was the weakest in Manasseh. Yet the angel greeted him: 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.'

Gideon's response revealed his doubt and discouragement. If the Lord was with them, why had all these terrible things happened? Where were the miracles their fathers told them about? The Lord looked directly at Gideon and commissioned him: 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?' Gideon protested his inadequacy, but God promised to be with him.

Before Gideon could fight external enemies, he had to deal with idolatry at home. God commanded him to tear down his father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole. Gideon obeyed, though he did it at night because he feared his family and townsmen. When the town demanded his death, Gideon's father defended him, arguing that if Baal was truly a god, he could defend himself. From that day, Gideon was called Jerub-Baal—'let Baal contend with him.'

When the Midianites gathered for attack, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet to rally the troops. Yet Gideon still doubted, asking God for signs with a fleece—first wet fleece and dry ground, then dry fleece and wet ground. God patiently accommodated Gideon's weakness, giving him the requested signs.

Gideon assembled an army of 32,000 men, but God said there were too many—Israel might boast that they saved themselves. God reduced the army to 300 men through two tests, ensuring that victory would clearly be God's work, not human military might. God gave Gideon further encouragement by letting him overhear a Midianite dream and its interpretation, which predicted Gideon's victory.

Gideon divided his 300 men into three companies, each with trumpets and jars concealing torches. At midnight, they surrounded the Midianite camp. At Gideon's signal, they broke the jars, blew trumpets, and shouted 'A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!' In the confusion, the Midianites turned on each other and fled. God gave Israel complete victory through this unconventional strategy.

After this great deliverance, the people wanted to make Gideon king, but he wisely refused, declaring that the Lord would rule over them. Yet Gideon made a tragic mistake: he created an ephod from the gold taken as plunder, which became a snare to him and his family as Israel began to worship it. Gideon judged Israel for forty years of peace, but after his death, Israel quickly returned to idolatry. His story shows both the power of trusting God and the danger of compromise.