Who Was Gideon in The Bible?

Israel was being greatly stressed by the Midianites. They destroyed their crops and stole their animals. For seven years these people continued to do this and this time was very difficult for Israel. Gideon was a judge of Israel. In the beginning, Gideon was a simple man and used to hide wheat to protect it from the Midianites. Gideon was a very weak man, but still God chose him for great work. This shows that no human being is big or small. All are equal in God’s eyes. He can take the work of religion from whomever he wants. An example is Gideon, he was a simple and weak man, but God still gave him the position of judge and chose him to serve the people. Gideon saved the Jews from the Midianites.

Verse

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you? “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” (Judges 6:11-16)

Test of Gideon

God chose Gideon to fight and save the Jews from the Midianite. Which Gideon did not believe and he asked God for his assurance and dropped a piece of wool on the ground. Gideon asked God to show me a sign of your power so that I can believe that you are with me. And you have chosen me for this task. He said that I have put a piece of wool on the ground, wet it and dried the rest of the ground so that I can get a hint. God showed him a sign of His power and made the wool wet and the ground dry, which convinced Gideon that God had chosen a weak person like me for this great work. Then later, Gideon felt less in his faith. He again asked God to do this now, let the wool dry and let the earth wet, I want more strength in my faith. So God accepted his prayer and did the same. He let the wool dry and made the ground wet. This convinced Gideon that God had chosen him for this great work.

Verse

“Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.” (Judges 6:36-40)

Victory of Gideon

At God’s command, Gideon prepared to fight the Midianites. There were about 32000 soldiers in his army. God said this number is too much, reduce it. Then Gideon chose 300 soldiers. Soldiers who knelt while drinking water was expelled from the war and those who used their hands while drinking water were made part of the army. Then with God’s help, Gideon won the battle. This proves that with the help of God even a small number of soldiers can dominate the enemies. Gideon won the war by strategy rather than by tactics. He divided the soldiers into three groups and took up positions around the enemy’s tents, and when Gideon signaled, they all broke the pots and extinguished the torches that were burning. Because of this confusion spread among the Midianites. They began to kill their own people with their own swords because it was night time and darkness had fallen due to the torches being turned off. They did not understand which are our people and which are the enemy’s. They kept killing themselves so they won the War without fighting.

• Reference: (Judges 7:1-8)
• Reference: (Judges 7:16-22)

Popularity of Gideon

God chose Gideon for the war and he fulfilled this responsibility. When the war was won and Gideon became famous among the people, the people thought of making him king and Gideon refused to accept this position. He has done it because according to him, the king is only one and he is God. He does not want to be a king because God chose him for war and he has fulfilled it. After Gideon’s victory, there was peace in Israel for 40 years. Peace prevailed and there was no war.

Verse

“The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” (Judges 8:22-23)

Gideon’s Legacy

If we talk about Gideon’s life, he had many wives out of which he had 70 sons. Gideon is known with great honor and respect. When Gideon died, the Israelites returned to idolatry. Gideon’s rule was based on peace and order, but after that lawlessness again took hold.

Verse

“Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.” (Judges 8:28-35)

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Gideon’s story has a lesson for us. From his story, we know that if we fight with fewer weapons with full trust in God, we will win because faith is a great thing and whoever has more faith in his heart, God helps him. The second lesson is that no matter how weak and helpless a person is, if his heart is full of God’s faith then God can do a great job from him. In the sight of God, everyone is equal, whether they are rich, poor, powerful or weak. There is no competition.