One of the most courageous and powerful biblical characters was Gideon who liberated the people of Israel, this man shows that if we believe in God we can overcome any obstacle, and this article will detail the events that occurred in this battle against the Midianites.
Who was Gideon?
According to Bible Gideon he is a judge of the tribe of Israel, a brave warrior and faithful to God, and for this reason the question arises Who was Gideon?, this man belonged to a very humble family and was the youngest of his brothers.
His family was part of the tribe of Manasseh, which was plagued by the Midianites, who always stole the wheat crops and cattle from the people of Israel.
God allowed this suffering because after the death of Moses, the Israelites had become very disobedient and worshiped the pagan gods of other peoples who lived with them.
This young man and his family, upon losing their prosperous lands, decided to take refuge in caves and caverns, in order not to be easy prey for their enemies.
The father had cattle and other animals, as well as wheat fields, so his youngest son named Gideon helped him with the little wheat that was left from each harvest, product of the looting of the Midianites, in this way the young man worked it hidden in a fig tree and not as their ancestors did in the open field.
Gideon He was a humble man of heart, in whom gratitude to God for all the simple things in life and love for others lived, that is why God chose him to lead his army and liberate the Israelite people.
In the following video you can learn the story of Gideon and his faith in God:
God sends a message to Gideon
An angel sent by God asks Gideon to lead the war against the Midianites since that was his will, to which Gideon replies that he is nobody in the tribe of Israel, he is the youngest of his father's sons and not he had strengths to face and lead an army against the enemies that had plagued them for seven years.
Then the angel replied that it was God's mandate, to which Gideon replied that he needed proof to know if God would indeed be with him and help him defeat his enemies, since his fear and doubts were great.
If you want to understand the life of men faithful to God, we invite you to read the following article: Job's story.
Gideon's doubts put God to the test
This simple and humble man who liked to clean the wheat to help his father was quite unbelieving and had no confidence in what God was asking him to do, which is why he decided to put God to the test and asked him for a fleece of wool dawn wet, while the land around it must be completely dry and God fulfilled it.
The second test he asked for was the opposite, that the fleece would wake up completely dry and the land around it would be damp because of the morning dew. God also granted this to show Gideon that what he demanded of him was true.
God's requests to Gideon
Gideon looked for an offering for God and placed some goat meat and unleavened bread on a small improvised altar, to which it burned and the man was happy that his offering had been accepted.
Among the requests that God asked of this noble warrior was that he destroy the statues of the false gods that most of the Israelites worshiped and that in that place he build an altar to offer him a sacrifice, which consisted of taking the ox of 7 years that it was owned by his father, to which he obeyed.
That same night he took a few servants from his father's house and Gideon he destroyed the idols of Baal and Asherah and with these remains of wood and stone, he built the altar for God and made his offering.
The men of the town, seeing what Gideon had done, decided to execute him and his father prevented it by calling the men to reflection, since if the violated gods did not punish his son, it was a sign that they were not as strong as they thought.
As a result of this rebellious action, Gideon caused admiration among the people of Israel and they appointed him as leader to go to battle against the Midianites, whom God had condemned.
Learn how God chose his army
Through the study Biblical Gideon represents the military force of the people of Israel that was made up of 32.000 men who followed Gideon, however, God was not pleased with them, since he doubted that the triumph would be attributed to his greatness and the Israelites would not give him the true importance to the feat of their new leader who was the instrument of God.
Then God sent his angel to tell Gideon to let go that night all the soldiers who were afraid in their hearts to go to battle, so that the next morning there were only 10.000 soldiers left, because the rest had left.
The angel returned and told his leader that there were still many, so God ordered him to take them to a lake to drink and to identify and separate those who drank water by licking it like dogs and lying on the ground from those who lapped up. They knelt down and took the water with their hands.
In the end, only 300 men remained for the fight, which greatly worried Gideon and sowed fear and doubt in his heart, but before attacking the Midianite camp God asked him to infiltrate the camp in the company of his servant and expiate the enemy soldiers.
A revelation for an incredible battle
Two soldiers were talking about a dream and one told the other that he had dreamed of a loaf of barley coming down the hillside and inevitably destroying the Midianite camp, to which Gideon interpreted this as a good omen for the Israelite army. who would soon attack.
The decisive moment arrived and Gideon went to fight with his 300 men against the enemies who had caused so much damage to his people. In one hand they carried a trumpet and in the other a burning torch and the battle cry was "By the sword of God and of God." Gideon”, which caused fear and confusion in the enemy troops.
A part of the army fled and others faced the small army of 300 men. The kings of Midian fled but were caught and their heads cut off, to be brought before Gideon, who recognized God's divine power in the face of magnificent military victory. They had finally freed themselves from their oppressors and would be free again.
the obedience of Gideon despite the fear he felt when going to war was what kept him standing and in this way he was able to please God, who trusted him and allowed him to be an instrument of divine justice on earth against the enemies of Israel .
Israel a disobedient and faithless people
The people of Israel lacked much faith and perseverance in their religion, so whenever they changed leaders so did their faith and they began to worship pagan gods. This practice was common, since they lived with other peoples who worshiped a number of false gods and they only adopted the one they liked the most.
This generated anger in God who decided to punish them by allowing other peoples to invade them and plague them, since their disobedience was persistent. Not all men were sinners, but when God sent a punishment and then lifted it as in Gideon's account, believers and those who did not worship him were included.
We have reached the end of the article and we hope that it has been to your liking, so that you can learn a little more about the history of Gideon the brave warrior who liberated the people of Israel from the Midianites with only 300 soldiers for obeying God.
If you want to know more about biblical characters faithful to God, we invite you to read the following article: David and Goliat.
