An army of thirty-two thousand men prepared to fight an enemy too great to be compared to anything but biblical standards, namely, locusts and the sands of the sea. And this was before God had begun his work of reducing the numbers. "Therefore," God told his commander, "There are too many people." The cutting of the numbers had begun, and the result was three hundred and thirty men to face an army God described as unnumberable.
A People Oppressed
The Children of Israel had had their share of trouble. A nation of enemies had been plaguing Israel for seven years at a time of harvest, stealing and wasting what little the Jews possessed. Israel had been brought low, its people in caves and dens of the rocks, and the land flowing with milk and honey had been laid waste. They cried out to God, and he sent his angel to Gideon, a man in lowly circumstances, working in the winepress with only his family's grain to save.
And what did the angel say to him? The angel said to Gideon, "The Lord is with you, mighty man of valor." Gideon replied, "But the Lord has not delivered us, or has he brought us back to be at his mercy? Are we not at his mercy? What will he gain by Israel at our hands? For my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the least of my father's house." The angel of the Lord said to him, "Therefore, I will deliver you, and you shall bring down the Midianites as if they were a wall."
The angel finds Gideon not on a battlefield but hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat in secret to keep it from the Midianites — and greets this fearful, overlooked man as a mighty warrior.
Signs, Please
And Gideon was not the sort of man to step up to the plate on faith. Before he would do a single thing for Israel, Gideon sought a sign from the Lord. Twice, in fact, the Lord told him to make a fleece of wool and lay it among the stalks of the harvest. The first time, God told him to make the fleece retain only the moisture of the night while leaving the rest of the stalks dry, and the second time, to do the opposite. The sign was given, and when morning came, the fleece was so wet Gideon could wring water from it into a vessel, and the ground was dry. Gideon asked for another sign, this time saying, "Now, therefore, let me alone, that I may take a little handful of dew from the fleece, that I may prove it. Let me alone until I take a handful from the fleece." And again, God gave him a sign, and Israel had a commander.
Too Many Warriors
When Gideon gathered his army for the battle, thirty-two thousand men volunteered to follow him and bring Israel back to its former glory. The problem was that this number was simply too great. God told Gideon to "send [them] away, and let them return to their homes, for Israel and the house of Abiezer are too many for you."
Twenty-two thousand men returned to their homes in disgrace, leaving ten thousand behind for the battle. But ten thousand was too many, according to God, who told Gideon to bring them to the water and have them drink. Most knelt and drank, but some got on their knees, scooping up water and drinking it at the same time. God told Gideon to put aside those who had gotten on their knees, leaving three hundred men who drank the traditional way. This was not enough to win the war, but it was enough to bring Israel back to life.
From 32,000 volunteers, 22,000 went home after admitting their fear. From the remaining 10,000, God chose only those 300 who scooped water to their mouths while staying alert on their feet.
Three Hundred Against an Army Too Great to Number
The Lord told Gideon to divide his three hundred men into three companies and to have each man take a trumpet, a clay jar full of burning coals, and a torch. At nightfall, Gideon and his men surrounded the camp, and at his signal, the companies blew their trumpets, broke the jars to reveal the flames, and shouted a battle cry. The noise and light probably woke the whole camp, for they signaled to the Assyrians that they were being attacked by a huge force. Because of the surprise attack and the confusion of night, the Assyrians fought among themselves and were routed.
Three companies of one hundred men each surrounded the vast enemy camp at night. At Gideon's signal they blew their trumpets, shattered the clay jars to reveal blazing torches, and shouted. The Midianites panicked and turned on each other.
Tear Down Your Family's Idol First
And God gave Gideon a task even before he gave him the sign to go to war, a sign that tested Gideon himself and his own family. The Jews had been worshipping false gods, and Gideon was to tear down his father's altar to Baal and bring down the sacred tree associated with the goddess Asherah. And Gideon did it, but not without fear. He did it at night to avoid his father and the rest of the city, who were probably quite abusive when they found the idol destroyed. When the Israelites in the city wanted to execute Gideon for his disobedience, his father said, "Who is Baal that he should contended with him? Therefore his name is Jerubbaal."
Gideon and the False Gods
After the battle, Gideon called out to the Israelites to pursue the Assyrians and kill their kings. The Israelites pursued the Assyrians to the Jordan River, crossing it on foot to finish off their enemies and end their seven-year reign of terror over Israel. Israel saw fit to reward Gideon for his service, saying, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson, for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian."
"Rule over us," Gideon said. "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. The Lord shall rule over you." The Lord was Israel's king, and he always would be. And the author of Judges adds that Gideon made an ephod of the gold jewelry he found on the enemy and placed it in his city, perhaps to serve as a false idol. The people of Israel grew accustomed to it, and it became a snare to Gideon and his entire family.
How Does God Deliver Israel If He Takes Away Their Warriors?
The one thing that sets this story apart from any other in the Bible is the fact that God reduces the size of Israel's army, telling Gideon that too many warriors will cause the Israelites to boast rather than to praise him. The numbers were cut until there were three hundred men left, a fraction of the original thirty-two thousand. The reason was simple. God wanted the people to know whose power had brought the Assyrians to their knees, and no army of Israel's size could accomplish what three hundred men could.
In Other Words, It Was Purely God's Work. The work of Gideon was only one part of it, but the Lord made it clear that the victory was solely his doing. It was not the soldiers' might that caused the enemy to flee, but the power of the Lord, revealed in a miracle that only he could perform.
Who Is God's Chosen Man?
Gideon was one of the most unlikely men to carry the title of "deliverer" in all of Israel's history. He was the least likely member of the least likely tribe to lead Israel in battle, and even when he did, he asked for signs to assure himself that God would accompany him in the fight. He was not a warrior by nature, but he was a man blessed by God, a man who learned to have faith that God would deliver Israel. "The Lord will fight for you," he told the three hundred men who followed him, "[and] you shall hold your peace."
And this, perhaps, is the message that makes the story of Gideon so endearing and inspiring to readers of the Bible. Gideon's story is one of bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, and it is one of the few stories in the Bible that gives encouragement to the oppressed and assures them that God will side with them whenever they seek his help.
