102 GIDEON AND THE JUDGES
As in other Old Testament stories,
the divine promise is followed by a
sign: the angel touches with the tip
of his staff some meat and bread
that Gideon has prepared for Him
and fire rises from the ground to
consume the offerings. Terrified,
Gideon realizes that he has been
face to face with his true God.Tackling idolatry
God’s first command to Gideon
is to tear down an altar to the
Canaanite god Baal that stands
on Gideon’s father’s land. He is
to build a new altar to God in its
place and then sacrifice one of
his father’s bulls as a burnt offering.
Gideon fulfills this command by
night, provoking a furious but
ultimately futile backlash from his
townspeople the following day.
A more serious challenge comes
when a huge army of Midianites
and their allies marches across the
Jordan and into the Valley of
Jezreel. The spirit of God comes
upon Gideon, who blows a horn to
summon an army from among thetribes of Israel. As the troops begin
to rally, Gideon is nervous and
seeks reassurance from God.
He takes a woollen fleece and
places it on a threshing floor. The
next morning, if there is dew only
on the fleece and not on the ground
around it, he will know that God
does indeed intend to save Israel
by his hand. As dawn rises the
next morning, Gideon wrings abowlful of water out of the fleece;
the ground all around is dry. Still
not content, Gideon reverses the
test, and when, the following
morning, dew is on the ground and
not on the fleece, he knows that
God is truly with him.Preparing for battle
Gideon now heads an army of
32,000 men. But this is too many
for God, who is determined that
Israel should know that He, God, is
the one who saves them, not their
own military strength. God tells
Gideon to ask anyone trembling
with fear to quit now. Many men
do—22,000 of them—but the
fighting force is still too large in
God’s eyes. He tells Gideon to cut
the forces further.
Gideon takes his army to the
waterside. God has told him to note
the men who go down on their
knees to drink water, and those
who stay standing and lap the
water up to their mouths with theirRole of the judges
The 12 judges were sent by
God to deliver his chosen people
from oppression. Unlike leaders
such as Moses, the judges
were intended to provide only
temporary leadership, and
scholars believe that some of
these judges ruled in different
regions simultaneously.
Before Israel had kings, the
judges were sent by God to act
as both prophets and warriors—
combining the spirits of both
Moses and Joshua. The judges
were skilled military leaders:Deborah and her general Barak,
for example, led two Israelite
tribes to a grand military victory
in the late 13th century bce.
The Book of Judges
emphasizes a connection
between military and spiritual
matters. Without a judge, the
Israelites often forgot God’s
commands and slipped into
sin. He consequently made
their enemies strong to punish
them. When Israel was led
by a judge, however, the
people were brought back
into God’s service, and able
to defeat their oppressors.The Israelites use loud trumpets to
shock the men in the Midianite camps
in this engraving. Alarmed by the
noise, and the Israelites’ faith in their
God, the Midianites are forced to flee.US_100-103_Gideon.indd 102 21/09/17 11:30 am
THE HISTORICAL BOOKS 103
hands. In the event, most go down
on their knees; only a small number
use their hands. These few will
constitute Gideon’s army—a mere
300 men against a much larger
Midianite force. The battle lines
are now set. The Midianites are
encamped in a valley near Moreh
in central Israel. Gideon and his
guerrillalike band are stationed
on the hillside above.
On the eve of battle, God gives
Gideon one last reassurance.
During the night, he tells Gideon
and his servant to creep down to
the Midianite camp and listen to
what they hear. Gideon obeys.
He hears a Midianite recounting
a dream in which a barley cake
came rolling down the hill from
the Israelite camp and upset a
Midianite tent. Another Midianite
replies that this must be a sign of
the sword of the Israelite leader
Gideon and that God has put their
fate in Gideon’s hands.
Seeing the low morale of the
Midianites, Gideon returns to his
men with renewed boldness. “The
Lord has given the Midianite camp
into your hands” (7:15) he cries,
and the men prepare for battle.
His tactics are psychological. Hedivides his men into three groups
of a hundred, issuing each of them
with a horn or trumpet, an empty
jar, and a torch. They are to creep
down on the Midianites from three
sides, and when Gideon gives
the word, they are to blow their
trumpets and smash their jars to
reveal the blazing torches. At the
same time, they will shout: “A sword
for the Lord and for Gideon!” (7:20)
The plan works to perfection.
The Midianites are caught by
surprise and stampede in their
panic, turning their swords against
each other. The mighty Midianite
army flees in confusion and disarray.The cycle continues
Behind this story lie two key
biblical themes: God’s justice and
God’s mercy. According to divine
justice, disobedience brings
punishment. However, divine
mercy also ensures that the cry
of human suffering reaches God,who intervenes on the part of the
supplicant. The benevolent Lord
continues to protect His chosen
people despite their misdeeds.
God’s deliverance temporarily
restores peace and the grateful
Israelites ask Gideon to become
their king. Although he declines,
he still accepts a lion’s share of the
gold taken from the Midianites, and
uses some of this to make an ephod
(thought to be a vestment for
covering an idol). Judges records
how “Israel prostituted themselves
by worshipping it there” (8:27), and
idolatrous actions begin yet again.
Despite this lapse, the peace
lasts 40 years, until Gideon’s death.
It is broken when his son
Abimelech does what his father
refused to do, by proclaiming
himself king. Other judge-deliverers
are raised up, but when the people
turn against the king, Israel spirals
into violence, as Abimelech turns
his army against them. ■The Cycle
of Sin
in JudgesIsrael serves
the Lord.Israel is
delivered.Israel cries out
to the Lord.Israel falls
into sin and
idolatry.Israel is
enslaved.God raises up
a judge.The anger of the Lord
burned against Israel ...
But when they cried out
to [Him], He raised up
for them a deliverer ...
who saved them.
Judges 3:8–9US_100-103_Gideon.indd 103 21/09/17 4:12 pm