I Wouldn't Normally Spy on the Midianites

By Mary Vee
Judges 7

Purah's Thoughts

If you saw me writing this story, you'd understand why my hand shook--no it trembled.  I had never spied on anyone before, much less an army so vast it covered every inch of the valley. Who'd expect a servant to be an army spy?

My master, Gideon, woke me in the middle of the night and told me to follow him.  Once we walked away from our camp he whispered, "The Lord spoke to me a few moments ago. He told me to lead our army into battle."

I stopped and looked in his eyes. "I know, my Lord.  You told us about the fleece, and how the Lord instructed you to make the army smaller from thousands of soldiers to only three hundred."  

He pushed his hand through his hair. "Purah, I don't want to make a mistake. I want to obey the Lord, but--I--in truth, I'm afraid. There's thousands of Midianite soldiers camped in that valley, and only three hundred of us.  What if I made a mistake?"

I shook my head. "I don't have an answer. What would you like me to do?"


Gideon took a deep breath and smiled. "The Lord also told me to take you with me to spy on the Midianite camp.  He said we'd hear words that would bring strength and encouragement."

The Lord chose me to find secret information?  

Me, a simple servant? 

My feet sprang forward, my heart raced, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face! 

I took a deep breath and tried to be serious and stealth, but I hungered for the adventure, the thrill of sneaking into the enemy camp, the danger in hearing words from the enemy's tents, and delivering the news back to our camp.


Gideon turned back to me. "Purah, keep up."


"Yes, my Lord." We wormed our way from shadow to shadow silent as a lion. Years of sneaking around Midianites to find food taught us to move about undetected.


Gideon stopped behind a large bush banked against a Midianite tent.  He signaled me to join him.  We sat on the ground and waited for the Midianites to tell us their secrets.


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This story will continue next Wednesday.


1. Who is Purah?
2. Why did Gideon wake Purah?
3. Why was Gideon afraid?
4. How did God show His love in this story?
5. What did the Lord tell Gideon and Purah to do?
6. God could have told Gideon to pick a strong, trained soldier. Why did He tell Gideon to take Purah?
7. What do you think will happen next?