Gideon – Judges 6-7

The Story in a Nutshell

Throughout the lifetime of Joshua the Israelites served the Lord, then Joshua died at the age of 110.  After Joshua’s generation died the next generation did not remember the mighty things the Lord had done for them and did not follow God.  Instead they did evil and worshiped the images of Baal.  This made the Lord angry, so he handed the Israelites over to their enemies.  Over time the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help, then the Lord raised up judges to rescue the Israelites.  There were times when the Israelites returned to God and there were times when the people rebelled and did not listen to the judges.  Under judge Deborah there was 40 years of peace, but then the Israelites again did what was evil and God handed them over to the Midianites.  The Midianites were very cruel to the Israelites.  Again the people cried out to the Lord and the Lord gave them Gideon.  The Lord told Gideon that he was sending him to rescue the Israelites from the Midianites.  Gideon didn’t know how he would be able to do this and tested God several times before he realized he was part of God’s rescue plan.  God then sends Gideon and his army of some 32,000 men to battle the Midianites.  But before the battle begins, God tell Gideon he has too many men.  Through a process of elimination, Gideon’s army is reduced to 300 men.  How are 300 men going to defeat all the Midianites?  Gideon divides his army into three divisions of 100 men each.  Each man was given a ram’s horn and a torch in a clay pot.  Suddenly, after midnight, all three units sounded their ram’s horns and broke the clay pots.  The Midianites panicked at the thought of a great invasion and began fighting among themselves.  The Midianites were routed and two generals killed.  And it all happened because Gideon followed God’s plan.

Review Questions

What did God do when the Israelites continued to disobey God?

When the people cried out to god for help, who did god give them?

How many soldiers were in Gideon’s army at the beginning?

How many soldiers actually went into battle?

Why did god reduce the army to only 300 soldiers?

How were the Midianites defeated?

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