Latest / truthunedited / The Complete Story of Gideon - He Defeated the Midianite Army with Only 300 Soldiers _ Bible Stories

Transcript

The Complete Story of Gideon - He Defeated the Midianite Army with Only 300 Soldiers _ Bible Stories · truthunedited

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It was a time of great distress in Israel. For
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: seven long years, God's chosen people lived under the cruel
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: oppression of the Midianites. In Judges six one to six,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the Bible reveals the severity of the situation. The Israelites
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Because the power of midian was so oppressive, the Israelites
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves, and strongholds.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amlakites and
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: other Eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: and did not spare a living thing for israel neither sheep,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: nor cattle, nor donkeys. They came up with their live
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: stock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: impossible to count them are their camels. They invaded the
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: land to ravage it. Midians so so impoverished the Israelites
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: that they cried out to the Lord for help. Amid
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: this desolate scene, we meet a young man named Gideon
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Son of Joash from the tribe of Manasse. Judge's six
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: eleven twelve introduces this unlikely hero. The Angel of the
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophra
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: that belonged to joe Ash, the Abiezrite, where his son
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: it from the Midianites. When the Angel of the Lord
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: appeared to Gideon, he said, the Lord is with you,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: mighty warrior. This scene is deeply significant. Gideon was threshing
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: wheat in a wine press, a place typically used for
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: pressing grapes, not on a threshing floor, which was the
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: proper place for such work. His unusual choice reflected the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: fear that gripped his life as he sought to hide
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: from the Midianites. Yet it was in this moment of
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: apparent weakness that God chose to meet him. In Judges
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: six thirteen to sixteen, we witness a dialogue that would
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: forever change Gideon's destiny. Pardon me, my lord, Gideon replied,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: But if the Lord is with us, why has all
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: our ancestors told us about when they said, did not
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: hand of Midian. The Lord turned to him and said,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: go in the strength you have and save Israel out
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you? Pardon me,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: my Lord? Gideon replied, but how can I save Israel?
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: My clan is the weakest in Manassa, and I am
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: the least in my family. The Lord answered, I will
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: leaving none alive. Gideon's response revealed his deep insecurity and skepticism.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: How could some one from an insignificant family in Manassa
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: be the deliverer of Israel? Yet God was not looking
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: for someone qualified, but for someone willing to confirm his calling.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Gideon asked for a sign, as recorded in Judges six
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: seventeen twenty four. Gideon replied, if now I have found
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: is really you talking to me. Please do not go
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: away until I come back and bring my offering and
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: set it before you. And the Lord said, I will
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: wait until you return. What followed was an extraordinary demonstration
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: of divine power. Gideon prepared a young goat and unleavened bread,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: placing them on a rock. The Angel of the Lord
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: touched the offering with his staff, and fire flared from
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: the rock, consuming everything. This miraculous sign marked the beginning
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: of Gideon's transformation from a fearful man to a mighty
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: warrior of God. Judges six twenty four records so Gideon
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: built an altar to the Lord there and called it
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: the Lord is Peace. To this day it stands in
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Ophrah of the Abiez Rites. Thus began the journey of
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: the man God chose to deliver his people, a common
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: man full of doubts and fears, who would become one
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: of the greatest judges Israel had ever known. The Lord
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: not only saw beyond Gideon's apparent limitations, but used his
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: weakness to display divine power in an even more extraordinary way.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: On that very night, after Gideon had built the altar
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: to the Lord and received his calling, God presented him
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: with his first challenge. The setting of this story reveals
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: much about the spiritual condition of Israel at that time.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: In Judges two eleven thirteen, we find the historical contexts
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: that led to the proliferation of Bal's altars. Then the
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: and served the Bales. And they forsook the Lord, God
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: of the their fathers, who had brought them out of
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: the land of Egypt. And they followed other gods from
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: among the gods of the people who were all around them,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Lord to anger. They forsook the Lord and served Bail
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: and the astorreths. In Judges six twenty five twenty six,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: the Lord gave Gideon a specific and bold command that
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: would directly challenge this established idolatry. Now it came to
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: pass the same night that the Lord said to him,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: take your father's young bull, the second bull, of seven
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: years old, and tear down the altar of Bail that
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: your father has, and cut down the wooden image that
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: is beside it. And build an altar to the Lord,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: your God, on top of this rock in the proper arrangement.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: And take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: with the wood of the image, which you shall cut down.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: The significance of this command was profound. The altar of
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Bail was not merely a religious structure. It was a
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: center of pagan worship that had corrupted Israel. In Judges
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: two twenty twenty two, God had already warned of the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: consequences of this idolatry. Then the anger of the Lord
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: was hot against Israel, and he said, because this nation
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: has transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: has not heeded my voice, I also will no longer
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: left when he died, so that through them I may
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: test Israel whether they will keep the ways of the
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Lord to walk in them as their fathers kept them
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: or not. The specific instruction to use the second bull
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: of seven years old also carried a special meaning. In
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: numbers nineteen point two, we see how sacrificial animals were
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: chosen with purpose. This is the ordinance of the law
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: which the Lord has commanded, saying, speak to the children
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: in which there is no defect, and on which a
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: yoke has never come. The chosen bull lightly held significant value,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: possibly being used in Bale's own rituals. In Judges six
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: twenty seven we see Gideon's initial response. So Gideon took
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: ten men from among his servants and did as the
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Lord had said to him. But because he feared his
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: father's household and the men of the city too much
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: to do it by day, he did it by night.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: This nocturnal action reveals the ongoing transformation within Gideon. Proverbs
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: twenty nine twenty five offers a fitting reflection. The fear
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Lord shall be safe. The community's reaction was immediate and violent,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: as recorded in Judges six twenty eight to thirty. And
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: when the men of the city arose early in the morning,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: there was the altar of Bail torn down, and the
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: the second bull was being offered on the altar which
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: had been built. So they he said to one another,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: who has done this thing? And when they had inquired
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: and asked, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: done this thing. Then the men of the city said
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: to Joash, bring out your son, that he may die,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: because he has torn down the altar of Bail, and
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: because he has cut down the wooden image that was
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: beside it. This violent reaction was not uncommon. In First
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: Kings eighteen forty we see how bail worship was deeply
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: entrenched in the culture. And Elijah said to them, seize
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: the prophets of bail, do not let one of them escape.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: the brookishon and executed them there. Idolatry was a matter
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: of life and death. The crucial moment came with Joash's
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: surprising defense recorded in Judges six thirty one thirty two.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: But Joash said to all who stood against him, would
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: you plead for Bal? Would you save him? Let the
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: one who would plead for him be put to death
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: by mourning. If he is a god, let him plead
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: for himself, because his altar has been torn down. Therefore,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: on that day he called him Jerubal, saying, let Baal
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Joash's wisdom reflected a truth found in Isaiah forty six
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: six to seven. They lavish gold out of the bag
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: and weigh silver on the scales. They hire a goldsmith,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: and he makes it a god. They prostrate themselves. Yes,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: they worship. They bear it on the shoulder, They carry
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: it and set it in its place, and it stands
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: from its place. It shall not move. Though one cries
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: out to it, yet it cannot answer nor save him
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: out of his trouble. Gideon's new name, Jerubal, became a
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: living testimony against idolatry. In Second Kings ten twenty eight,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: we see how this battle against Baal would continue in
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Israel's history. Thus, Jihu destroyed Baal from Israel. Gideon's act
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: was one of the first steps in this long struggle
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: for Israel's spiritual purity. In Judges six thirty three to
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: thirty five, the narrative progresses. Then all the Midianites and Amalekites,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: the people of the East, gathered together, and they crossed
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. But the
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. Then he blew
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: the trumpet, and the abbey's rites gathered behind him, and
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: he sent messengers throughout all Manassa, who also gathered behind him.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun and Naftali, and
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: they came up to meet them, as we see in
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Second Chronicles twenty fourteen. Then the Spirit of the Lord
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: came upon Jahaziel in the midst of the assembly. This
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: manifestation of the Spirit marked Gideon's transition from an altar
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: destroyer to a military leader. The man who had acted
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: in darkness was now ready to lead in the light
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: of day. With the altar of Bow destroyed and the
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: threat of the Midianites looming, the situation demanded immediate action.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Judges six thirty three sets the stage. Now, all the Midianites, Amalekites,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: and other Eastern people's joined forces and crossed over the
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Jordan and camped in the valley of Jezreel. God's response
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: to this mobilization was swift, as recorded in Judges six
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: thirty four thirty five. Then the spirit of the Lord
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: abbeir's rights to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasse,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naftali,
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: so that they too went up to meet them. Even
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: with the spirit of the Lord upon him and an
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: army gathering, Gideon needed additional confirmation. In Judges six thirty
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: six thirty seven. We see his first request to the law.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Gideon said to God, if you will save Israel by
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: my hand as you have promised, look, I will place
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: then I will know that you will save Israel by
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: my hand as you said. Gideon's request was specific and measurable.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: The threshing floor, a flat, open area used for processing wheat,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: was ideal for this test. The wool fleece would be
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: left out over night, exposed to dew like everything else
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: in its surroundings. The outcome of this first test is
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: described in Judges six thirty eight, and that is what happened.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Gideon rose early the next day. He squeezed the fleece
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: and wrung out the dew a bowlful of water. The
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: result was exactly as Gideon had requested. The fleece was
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: drenched while the surrounding ground remained dry. It was a
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: clear and undeniable sign. Yet, aware of the enormity of
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: the task ahead, Gideon humbly asked for further confirmation. In
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Judges six thirty nine, he made his second request, with
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: great deference. Then Gideon said to God, do not be
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: angry with me. Let me make just one more request.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: with dew. This second request was even more extraordinary than
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: the first, Naturally, wool absorbs moisture more readily than the
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: ground around it. Yet now Gideon asked for the opposite,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: that the fleece remained dry while the surrounding ground became
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: wet with dew. God's response is recorded in Judges six forty.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: That night God did so, only the fleece was dry,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: all the ground was covered with dew. Through these two signs,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: God demonstrated his power in distinct ways, first by concentrating
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: jew solely on the fleet, and then by excluding the
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: fleece from the moisture that covered the rest of the ground.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: This was a clear display of the Lord's absolute control
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: over the forces of nature, underscoring that he could act
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: however and whenever he willed. In Judges seven to one
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: we see the immediate outcome of this confirmation. Early in
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: the morning, Jerubal, that is, Gideon and all his men
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: was north of them, in the valley near the Hill
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: of Moray. The confidence Gideon gained through the signs with
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: the Fleece would prove crucial for what lay ahead. The
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: army he had assembled was substantial, around thirty two thousand men,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: as the narrative later reveals. However, God had different plans
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: to ensure the victory would be unmistakably attributed to Him
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: rather than Israel's military strength. The two tests with the
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Fleece mark a pivotal moment in Gideon's transformation. The man
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: who initially in a wine press to thresh wheat, who
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: tore down Bial's altar under cover of darkness, was now
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: ready to lead an army openly. The signs were not
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: just confirmations of God's presence, but also a way to
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: bolster Gideon's faith for the even greater challenges to come.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: This sequence of events reveals how patiently God worked with Gideon,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: understanding his doubts and fears and responding to his requests
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: for assurance. The Lord did not rebuke him for seeking
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: additional signs, but graciously provided the confirmations he needed. It
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: was essential for Gideon to be fully convinced of divine support,
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: as the commands he would receive next required extraordinary faith.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: The story of the Fleece is not merely about miracles
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: or supernatural signs. It is about a patient God working
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: with a developing leader, preparing him for a mission that
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: seemed impossible by human standards. With each step and each confirmation,
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Gideon was being prepared to rely more on God's power
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: and less on his own strength or ability. With the
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: camp established near the Spring of Harod, God began unveiling
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: his astonishing plan. In Judges seven to two, the Lord
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: introduces a principle that would completely upend traditional military strategy.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: The Lord said to Gideon, you have too many men.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: boast against me, saying my own strength has saved me.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: The size of the original army is revealed in Judges
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: seven point three, where we find the first instruction for
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: reduction now announced to the army. Anyone who trembles with
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead. So twenty
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. This initial
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: reduction was rooted in a principal establis in the law
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: of Moses, as seen in Deuteronomy twenty eight. Then the
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: officers shall add, is anyone afraid or fainthearted, let him
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: go home, so that his fellow soldiers will not become
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: disheartened too. This first test revealed that more than two
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: thirds of the army were mentally unprepared for battle. Yet
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: even with this dramatic reduction, the Lord was not satisfied
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: with the numbers. In Judges seven four, the second phase
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: of the reduction is introduced. But the Lord said to Gideon,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: there are still too many men. Take them down to
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: the water, and I will thin them out for you there.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: If I say this, one shall go with you, he
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: shall go. But if I say this one shall not
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: go with you, he shall not go. The water test
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: is described in detail in Judges seven five six. So
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Gideon took the men down to the water. There the
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: Lord told him separate those who lapped the water with
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: their tongues as a dog laps, from those who kneel
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: down to drink. Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: knees to drink. The outcome of this second selection is
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: recorded in Judges seven, Tiers seven to eight. The Lord
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: said to Gideon, with the three hundred men that lapped,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Let all the others go home. So Gideon sent the
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: rest of the Israelites home, but kept the three hundred,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: This reduction was drastic, from thirty two thousand to just
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: three hundred men, a decrease of over ninety nine percent
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: of the original force. The reduction served several purposes, first
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: to ensure that Israel could not claim victory by its
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: own strength, second and to demonstrate that the victory would
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: come solely from God's power, and third to select the
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: most vigilant and prepared soldiers for the task. The selection
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: criteria based on how the men drank water held significant meaning.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Those who knelt to drink were more vulnerable to a
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: surprise attack, while those who lapped water from their hands
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: kept their heads up, remaining alert to their surroundings. This
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: test revealed not just courage, but also prudence and readiness.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: For combat. In Judges seven nine eleven, God continues to
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: strengthen Gideon's confidence. During the night, the Lord said to Gideon,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: get up, go down against the camp, because I am
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: going to give it into your hands. If you are
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant, Purer,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: be encouraged to attack the camp. So he and Purer,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: his servant, went down to the outposts of the camp.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: This invitation to spark on the enemy camp illustrates how
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: God understood Gideon's heart and his need for further reassurance.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: The Lord not only reduced the army to a humanly
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: impossible number, but also provided another confirmation of the victory
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: to come. The reduction of Gideon's army is one of
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: the Bible's most dramatic examples of how God often works
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: in ways that defy human logic. By conventional military standards,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: reducing an already outnumbered force would be disastrous. However, this
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: was exactly the situation God wanted, a scenario where the
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: victory could only be attributed to his divine intervention. The
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: three hundred men who remained were not chosen for their
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: exceptional physical strength or advanced combat skills, but for their
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: attentiveness and readiness, demonstrated in a simple test of how
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: they drank water. This shows that God, God often values
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: qualities different from those humans consider important. With just three
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: hundred chosen men, God led Gideon to witness a further
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: confirmation of victory first hand. In Judges seven twelve. The
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: magnitude of the challenge they faced is described. Now. The
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: Midianites and the Amalekites, and all the children of the
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: East lay along the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: their camels were without number, as the sand by the
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: sea side, for multitude. In Judges seven thirteen and fourteen
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: we read the account of Gideon's night time reconnaissance. When
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Gideon came behold, there was a man telling a dream
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: to his fellow, And he said, behold, I dreamed a dream,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: camp of Midian, and came to a tent and struck
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: it so that it fell, and overturned it so that
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: the tent lay flat. And his fellow answered, this is
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joesh,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian and all
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: the camp into his hand. The interpretation of this dream
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: is especially significant when considering the humility of the barley loaf,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: a simple and common food, overturning an entire tent. In
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: Judges seven point fifteen we see Gideon's immediate response to
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: this revelation. And it was so when Gideon heard the
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: and returned to the camp of Israel and said, arise,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: your hands. The battle strategy that followed was as unconventional
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: as the selection of the warriors. In Judges seven sixteen
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: we see the initial preparations. And he divided the three
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: in every man's hand, with pitchers and torches inside the pitchers.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: The specific instructions are detailed in Judges seven seventeen to eighteen.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: And he said to them, look at me and do likewise. Behold,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: when I come to the outside of the camp, it
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: shall be that as I do, so shall you do.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: When I blow the trumpet. I and all that are
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: with me. Then you also blow your trumpets on every
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: side of the camp and shout the sword of the
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Lord and of Gideon. The plan was extraordinary in its simplicity.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Each man would carry a trumpet in one hand and
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: a pitcher with a torch inside in the other. In
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: Judges seven nineteen to twenty the execution of this unique
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: strategy is described. So Gideon and the hundred men who
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: were with him came to the edge of the camp
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: just set the watch, and they blew the trumpets and
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: broke the pitchers that were in their hands. And the
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: three companies blew their trumpet and broke their pitchers, and
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: in their right hands to blow with and they cried
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. The coordination
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: of this attack was crucial. In Judges seven twenty one
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: we see the positioning of the warriors, and they stood
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: every man in his place around the camp, and all
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: the host ran and cried and fled. The effect of
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: this strategy on the Midian night camp is described in
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Judges seven twenty two, and when the three hundred blew
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: their trumpets. The Lord set every man's sword against his
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: fellow even throughout all the camp, and the host fled
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: to Beth Shitter in Zarrea and to the border of
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Abel Mahola by Tabith. The sudden noise of the three
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: hundred trumpets, the sound of breaking pitchers, the sudden blaze
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: of torches piercing the darkness, and the unified battle cry
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: created utter chaos within the enemy camp. The result was
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: that the Midi in their confusion and panic, turned on
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: one another. The mobilization of reinforcements is described in Judges
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: seven twenty three, and the men of Israel gathered together
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: from Naftali Asher and all Manasseh and pursued the Midianites
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: to ensure that the Midianites could not escape. Gideon took
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: additional measures a scene in Judges seven twenty four to
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: twenty five, and Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: country of Ephraim, saying, come down against the Midianites and
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: seize the waters as far as Beth Barrah and also
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were called out,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: and they took the waters as far as Beth Barah
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: and the Jordan, and they captured two princes of Midian
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Oreb and Zibe. And they killed Oreb at the Rock
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: of Oreb and Zib at the wine Press of Zeb.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Then they pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Oreb and Zeb to Gideon across the Jordan. This strategy
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: of war demonstrated several key principles. First, strength does not
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: lie in numbers, but in obedience to divine plans. Second,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: the chosen weapons pitchers, torches, and trumpets were ordinary items
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: transformed into tools of warfare by divine strategy. Third, the
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: perfect timing and coordination of the three hundred men highlighted
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: how unity and discipline of vital even for seemingly simple plans.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: The victory was so decisive that it led not only
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: to the Midianite army's flight, but also to the capture
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: and execution of their princes. The locations where Oreb and
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Zib were killed, the Rock of Oreb and the wine
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Press of Zeb, became permanent memorials of this extraordinary triumph.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: With the death of the princes Oreb and Zeb, an
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: intriguing dialogue began with the men of Ephraim in judges eight,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: we find their complaint. Now. The Affrayemites asked Gideon, why
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: us when you went to fight midian And they challenged
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: him vigorously. Gideon's response demonstrates his diplomatic wisdom, as seen
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: in Judges eight two three. But he answered them, what
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiza?
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: God gave Oreb and Zeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: What was I able to do compared to you? At
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: this their resentment against him subsided. The pursuit of the
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: Midianites was still intense. In Judges eight four we see
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: the condition of Gideon's three hundred men. Gideon and his
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: three hundred men, exhausted, yet keeping up the pursuit, came
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: to the Jordan and crossed it. When he reached Suckoth,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Gideon sought support, as recorded in Judging eight five. He
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: said to the men of Sukoth, give my troops some bread.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: They are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zeber
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: and Zalmuna, the kings of Midian The response from the
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: leaders of Succoth was defiant, as seen in Judges eight six.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: But the officials of Sakkoth said, do you already have
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: the hands of Zeba and Zalmuna in your possession, Why
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: should we give bread to your troops. Gideon replied with
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: a promise of retribution in Judges eight seven. Then Gideon replied,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: just for that, when the Lord has given Zeba and
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Zalmuna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: desert thorns and briars. A similar situation occurred in Peniel,
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: as reported in Judges eight eight to nine. From there
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: he went up to Peniel and made the same request
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: of them, But they answered as the men of Succoth had. So,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: he said to the men of Peniel, when I return
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: in Triumph, I will tear down this tower. The narrative
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: then reveals the size of the remaining Midiannite army in
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: Judges eight ten. Now Ziba and Zalmuna were in Kharkor
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: with a force of about fifteen thousand men. All that
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: were left of the armies of the Eastern peoples one
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen Gideon's final strategy
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: is described in Judges eight eleven to twelve. Gideon went
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: up by the route of the nomads east of Noba
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: and Jogbaha and attacked the unsuspecting army Ziba and Zalmuna.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: The two kings of Midian fled, but he pursued them
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: and captured them, routing their entire army. After the victory,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: Gideon fulfilled his promise to Succoth a scene in Judges
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: eight thirteen sixteen. Gideon, son of Joash, then returned from
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the battle by the pass of Herez. He caught a
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: young man of Sukoth and questioned him, and the young
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: man wrote down for him the names of the seventy
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: seven officials of s Succketh, the elders of the town.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Then Gideon came and said, here are Zebra and Zalmuna,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: about whom you taunted me by saying, do you already
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: have the hands of Zebra and Zalmuna in your possession?
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: Why should we give bread to your exhausted men. He
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: took the elders of the town and taught the men
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: of Succeth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: And briars. The punishment for Peniel was also carried out,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: as recorded in Judges eight seventeen. He also pulled down
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: The final confrontation with Zebra and Zalmuna reveals a personal
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: dimension to the battle. In Judges eight eighteen nineteen, we read,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: then he asked Zebra and Zalmuna, what kind of men
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: did you kill at Tabor? Men like you, they answered,
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: each one with the bearing of a prince. Gideon replied,
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: as surely as the Lord lives. If you had spared
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: their lives, I would not kill you. The execution of
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: the kings is described in Judges eight twenty twenty one.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Turning to Jeha, his oldest son, he said, kill them,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: But Jetha did not draw his sword because he was
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: only a boy and was afraid. Zeba and Zalmuna said,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: come do it yourself. As is the man, so is
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: his strength. So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: took the ornaments off their camel's necks. This episode marks
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: the definitive end of Midian Night oppression over Israel. A
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: victory so complete that it is mentioned in Psalm eighty
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: three eleven. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeb, all
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: their princes like Zebra and Zalmuna. Gideon's great victory was
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: not merely military, but served as a lasting testament to
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: God's power to deliver his people through unlikely means. After
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: the great victory over the Midianites, the Israelites made a
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: surprising proposal to Gideon. In Judges eight twenty two, we
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: read then the men of Israel said to Gideon, rule
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: over us, you and your son and your grandson also,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: Gideon's response reveals his understanding of the true role of
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: leadership in Israel. Judges Ate twenty three records, but Gideon
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: said to them, I will not rule over you, and
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: my son will not rule over you. The Lord will
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: rule over you. However, Gideon made a request to the people,
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: as documented in Judges eight twenty four to twenty six.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: And Gideon said to them, let me make a request
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: of you. Every one of you give me the earrings
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: from his spoil. For they had golden earrings because they
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: were Ishmaelites, and they answered, we will willingly give them.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: the earrings of his spoil. And the weight of the
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: golden ear rings that he requested was one seven hundred
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: and besides the collars that were around the necks of
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: their camels. With this gold, Gideon made a decision that
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: would have lasting consequences, as recorded in Judges eight twenty seven.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: in his city in Ophrah, and all Israel hoarde after
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: to his family. Despite this mistake, the impact of the
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: victory over the Midianites was significant, as recorded in Judges
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: eight twenty eight. So Midian was subdued before the people
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: of Israel, and they raised their heads no more, and
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Gideon's personal life is described in Judges eight twenty nine
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: to thirty one. Jerubal, the son of Joash, went and
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: lived in his own house. Now Gideon had seventy sons
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: his own offspring, for he had many wives, and his concubine,
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: who was in Shechem, also bore him a son, and
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: he called his name a Bimelech. The end of Gideon's
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: life is recorded in Judges eight thirty two, and Gideon,
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: the son of Josh died in a good old age
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: and was buried in the tomb of Joash, his father
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: at Ophra of the abirz Rites. The consequences of Gideon's
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: death are described in Judges eight thirty three thirty five.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: again and hoared after the bales and made bile Beareth
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: their god. And the people of Israel did not remember
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: the Lord, their God, who had delivered them from the
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: hand of all their enemies on every side, and they
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerrebal,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: that is, Gideon, in return for all the good that
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: he had done to Israel. Gideon's legacy continued through his son,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: a Bimelech, but in a tragic manner. Judges nine one
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: six unfolds this story. Now, Abimelech, the son of Jerubal,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: went to Shechem to his mother's relatives, and said to
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, say,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: in the ears of all the leaders of Shehem, which
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: is better for you, that all seventy of the sons
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: of Jurabal rule over you, or that one rule over you.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem,
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: and their hearts inclined to follow a Bimelech, for they
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: said he is our brother. And they gave him seventy
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: pieces of silver out of the house of Balberith, with
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows who followed him.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: killed his brothers, the sons of Jerebal, seventy men on
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerobal, was left,
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: for he hid himself. This family tragedy demonstrates how even
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: great leaders can leave complex legacies. The ephod Gideon maid
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: became an object of idolatry. His many wives led to
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: family conflicts, and his son Abimelech brought destruction upon his
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: own family. Nevertheless, Gideon's positive impact on Israel's history cannot
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: be denied. In Hebrews eleven thirty two to thirty four,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: he is remembered among the heroes of faith. And what
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: more shall I say, for time would fail me to
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, of David and Samuel,
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: and the prophets who, through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched, the power
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: armies to flight. The story of Gideon is one of
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: the most inspiring accounts in the Bible, showcasing how God
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: can transform a fearful man into a powerful leader. From
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: the wine press where he hid, to the battlefield where
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: he led three hundred men to an impossible victory. Gideon
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: teaches us that God does not call the equipped, but
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: equips the called. If this extraordinary story has touched your heart,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: don't keep it to yourself. Share this video with someone
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: who needs a reminder that God can achieve the impossible
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: through ordinary people. Click the share button and help others
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: discover this incredible story. Subscribe to our channel for more
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: biblical content like this. Activate the notification bell to stay
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: updated on our upcoming videos, where we will continue exploring
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: the fascinating stories of God's Word. Leave a comment which
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: part of Gideon's story touched your heart the most, Share
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: your reflection with us. See you in the next video,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: and remember, just like Gideon, you too can be used
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: by God in ways you never imagined.