| “ | the sword of the Lord and of Gideon! | „ |
| ~ Judges 7:20 |
Gideon, also known as Jerubbaal or Jerubbesheth, is a prominent figure in the Bible, where he serves as a major protagonist in the Book of Judges.
He is a young Israelite born, at least what he would believe to be, as the "weakest of his family" to his father Joash, where he would grow up as a humble weed farmer up high in the mountains of Israel. This was at the time being attacked by the armies from Midian and their allies of the east as allowed by God as punishment for them once again disobeying him.
Fortunately for Gideon, he would find himself changing his life forever when, through an angel sent by God, he learns that God has chosen him to be the newest Judge of Israel after his predecessor Deborah. Despite being afraid at first, he would be the one to deliver the message to Israel that it was time to head back to God before facing the Midianites.
Once all the tribes of Israel has gone back to accepting God as the only one they will serve, Gideon then had them all joined up to prepare a great army to drive the Midianites out of Israel... after he had to first reduce it's numbers to a very small degree because God wants to show his people he doesn't need numbers to give them victory. Even though his men were greatly reduced, Gideon kept his faith in God strong and through this, he won a decisive victory over the invading army that impressed the rest of the people so much so, that they wanted him and the rest of his descendants to be the first royal line of Israel, which is something he declines with much pride.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Gideon was born the youngest son of Joash, a young man from the tribe of Manasseh, who he was seen as the weakest in his family, but he still has strong faith in God. It was also at this time when the Midianite army and their allies had begun raiding their lands which was done so by God in retalion for them once again going into the belief of Idolatry, leading them all to live high up in the mountains.
Fortunately, like many before him, Gideon was still faithful to God and did not let this type of danger get to him, this was something God greatly accepted and would soon put this to the test by selecting him to be the one to once again do something great for Israel.
A call to arms[]
Gideon receiving a message from God.
On one particularly eventful day for him, while he was working on his family's barely healthy farm on top of the mountains, Gideon found a stranger who was sitting down in the shade of a terebinth tree, and when he asks who he is, he reveals himself to be an Angel of the Lord sent by God himself.
While both greatly honored and surprised by this arrival, Gideon asks the angel why would someone like an angel would even come to a "weakling" like himself. To which the angel replies that God has answered the people's cries for forgiveness and decided to liberate them from the Midianites, and he chooses him to be the next Judge of Israel and be the one to do it.
However, a still very-afraid Gideon at first didn't feel ready to lead the entire nation against the invading enemy but because this was a very-real angel, he requested proof of God's will and a sign from the angel to see if he is indeed the one God wants. So the angel replies to Gideon by setting an offering he made and caused fire to shoot up out of the rock it was placed on, disappearing as well, which is enough to make Gideon believe and build an altar to him.
Destroying an Idol & becoming a Judge[]
Gideon smashing a false God's altar.
The following night after making the altar, Gideon then received his next instructions as a new judge by being ordered to destroy the idol his people were currently worshipping and rebuild it as one to God. Of course since everyone was to awake, Gideon along with 10 of his servants, waited until nightfall to head to the place where the Baal statue was and teared it down and offered a sacrifice to God.
However the following morning, when those who still worshipped the idol found it destroyed and somehow discovered he was responsible for it, they stormed to his house to punish him for this. Luckily his father was able to save him from being punished when he pointed out if Baal really was a real God, he would do it himself, which is enough for them all to reconsider the God they believe in, though he would also be given the nickname "Jerubaal" for this act.
Nevertheless, with all the people once again being ready to go back to worshipping God, Gideon was officially made the newest judge of Israel and with the midianite army still raiding, he felt ready to try & take them down. Now officially being made the leader, Gideon sent a number of messages to all the tribes of Israel to come meet him at the other side of valley to join him in his fight to take their nation back.
One last miracle before going to war[]
Gideon with a Fleece.
However, a few days before preparing to fight the invaders, Gideon wanted one last sign to see if he will be with him when he fights them. Said sign involves a fleece he placed outside and asks to lord to keep it wet with a dry ground and will see if it stays that way tomorrow, which he does the following morning. involving a fleece, performed on consecutive nights and the exact opposite of each other. First Gideon woke up to his fleece covered in wet, but the surrounding ground dry; then the next morning, his fleece was dry but the surrounding ground covered all wet.
This however isn't enough to ease Gideon's fears of fighting and once again asks God to do an exact opposite of the fleece test: the fleece being dry and the surrounding ground being all wet tomorrow, to which the Lord does and Gideon unfortunately finds out the next morning. These final two miracles are the absolute last signs for Gideon that he is very-much indeed the one God has chosen to lead Israel, and he prepares for the fight ahead.
Building his & God's army[]
Continuing his role as God's new messenger, Gideon assembles as many people offering to fight by his side and they do what they can to hold of the continuous raids of the Midianites as they secretly unite to drive them all away from there lands, making all the weapons and armor needed to fight them. Before long, Gideon had assembled a great army composed of 32,000 men and camped at Hared stream, just on the other side of Jezreel valley where the Midianite army is camping, even though they still have them outnumbered, Gideon was completely confident that God will be with them for war.
Unfortunately for him, when he showed God the army he had gathered, he was met with anything but a great idea when the Lord said that he had too many men, this left Gideon aghast as you can never have enough soldiers for a fight, but he learned that the reason for this is because if they do march into battle with this number, the people will brag about how they themselves saved the land instead of God, and will continue sinning. So to ensure that it will be a legitimate victory handed by God, per his instructions (and as an act of mercy), Gideon allowed anyone who was genuinely afraid of battling the Midianite army can choose to return home, when hearing this offer 22,000 of those frightened men left the camp peacefully and with no questions asked, with only 10,000 of the bravest still choosing to fight to take their land with God.
Gideon preparing his army.
Even though all the cowards have officially left the camp, this unfortunately still didn't appease God who still said to Gideon he had too many soldiers, so to choose who will be in the army and who will be dismissed, Gideon, once again per God's commands, brought all the 10,000 men down to the stream where they will choose who will fight via the strangest way in-existence: the way they drink it. In order to choose who will be in the army and who will be sent back home, Gideon was instructed by God to keep only the ones who drank water by licking it like dogs... which is exactly what only 300 soldiers out of the remaining men did, which then made a once-again nervous Gideon to send 9,700 soldiers back home, but the mere thought of that scale made Gideon really nervous about fighting the Midianites now.
Sending the Midianites running[]
During the night, while sleeping, Gideon was then given one final message to show that God will give them victory, and he decides to show him through the enemy lines themselves, by ordering him alongside one of his servants named Purah to sneak into the Midianite camp. Hiding behind nearest tent outside of the camps outskirts, Gideon and Purah overheard two of the Midianite soldiers talking about a very-strange dream one of them had: He was on guard duty when he witnessed a very small barley loaf rolling down and destroying a tent, to which the other one interpreted as Gideon defeating them.
Hearing this, a happy Gideon praises God and sneaks back into his camp to prepare his army for battle, although rather than just simply rushing into the Midianite camp just like the barley loaf did, Gideon was ordered by God to go for a stand-in approach to stop them. Per the lord's guidance, the young judge gave each of his men a shofar and a clay jar with a lit-up torch hidden inside it, he then divided his army into three companies and ordered them to go to 3 different sides of the camp and wait for him until he takes action and for them to copy what he's doing.
Gideon & his army, with God's help, scaring away the enemy army.
With everything set and done, Gideon and his 300 men marched on the enemy camp just as their guard shifts began changing and all the others were sleeping, and once everyone was in place and it was completely quiet, Gideon blue on his shofar and smashed his jar hard on the ground & loudly exclaimed "the sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" with every other man doing the same. The amount of sudden noise soon woke every Midianite up and with so many lights and noise everywhere, God caused the entire army to panic so much that they began fighting each other under the assumption they were fighting attacking Israelites.
This racket soon began leading many Midianites to die at the hands of their colleagues and the ones who were able to get away from such chaos managed to escape the outskirts, but Gideon made sure they wouldn't come back with reinforcements and had all nearest Israelite tribes to kill them before they could escape. The following morning, this left Gideon feeling very proud with himself and was more than ready to take on the next challenge the Lord is going to give him, because he knows he will always be by his side.
Hunt for the 2 kings & denying a crown[]
After sending a panicked Midianite army away, Gideon and his army began their search for the Midianites who had escaped the chaos, the most prime targets being the two kings of Midian Zebah and Zalmunna, where they had succeeded on capturing & killing every last one of them except the 2 kings. Eventually they all grew tired of all the hunting and killing so they went to take a break at the town of Sukkot where he asked if he could have some food for him and his soldiers.
However the officers, completely ungrateful for all the current deeds he's done, coldheartedly denied them food and mocked them by saying they haven't accomplished anything simply because he didn't catch the 2 kings, something the other town of Peniel did regardless. Enraged by this, Gideon angrily proclaimed to both towns that once he and his army have finally caught the kings, he will be free to kill them all, and after sometime he succeeded in capturing them and punished them all, and with the king's capture the reign of the Midianites over them was officially over.
With the Midianite empire officially done terrorizing them, the people happily praised God for his mercy and began worshipping him as their sole God once again, and Gideon became seen as a great Hero throughout the land who was loved and supported by everyone he knows. So much so that one day, the people happily allowed Gideon (if he wanted to) to rule over them as their first king and to found a dynasty, but being the humble servant he is Gideon refused, assuring ing them that only God was their only ruler, something they accepted, went on to make an ephod out of the gold won in battle, where he lived as a successful judge for 40 years & passed away peacefully.
Quotes[]
| “ | 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. | „ |
| ~ Judges 6:36-37 |
| “ | I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you. | „ |
| ~ judges 8:23 |
Trivia[]
- Gideon's name in Hebrew means "one who cuts down", which greatly reflects on how he first started out as just a farmer.
- Likewise his nickname he got after smashing the Altar of Baal, Jerubbaal, means "let Baal defend against him".
External Links[]
[]
| |
|
Folklore, Religions, and Myths Abrahamic Theology Greek mythology Roman mythology Norse mythology Finnish mythology Cryptids Urban Legends Possessed Objects See Also | |