Gideon's Jealous Brothers

By Mary Vee
Judges 8

Gideon's Thoughts

The battle ended. 


We'd conquered the Midianites but some of their soldiers had fled beyond our reach.


While we rested by the Jordan river my brothers from the tribe of Ephraim took over the conquest with fresh energy. They overpowered the enemy who stole all the watering places and took prisoner Oreb and Zeeb, two Midianite princes. Without their help, the Midianites could have regrouped and come back to attack.

After their victory, my brothers from Ephraim returned to the Jordan river. Instead of smiles and proud shoulders pressed back, they frowned, some sighed like they had been hurt--not their bodies, but their heart. Something made them sad.

I ran to my brothers to greet them. Their leader stepped forward. He didn't greet me with a hug, in fact, he stayed a few steps away. That's when I knew he and the others from Ephraim had been hurt--by me. What did I do?


I waited for him to speak. His eyes moved side to side and he lowered his head. He didn't need or want to be asked to speak. He needed my patience. 


I didn't look at anyone else, only him. I didn't sit or say a word to my brother, I'd only hoped he'd noticed I would wait for him to speak his heart.


A long moment later he took a deep breath and showed me his angry eyes. "Why didn't you call us to help when you went to fight the Midianites? We would have come." He shook his head and took a deep breath. He pinched his lips together, probably to hold back hurting words.


I wanted to hug him, but he wasn't ready. He would have pushed me away. I stayed where I'd stood and gently spoke, "Who am I, dear brother in comparison to you? What I have done is nothing."


He raised his head and studied my face. His shoulders and fist relaxed. I took a step closer and set my hand on his shoulder. "Don't you see what God did?  He delivered the Midianite princes into your hands. Not mine. What was I able to do compared to you? God chose you to seal the victory."


All my brothers from Ephraim stepped closer, their eyes wide. "Us? God chose us?"


I smiled and laughed. "Yes, my brothers. God gave the final victory to you."


The leader came close and hugged me. We, brothers from Naphtali, Asher, Manasseh and Ephraim celebrated our freedom the rest of the night, praising God and thanking him for our family.


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1. Who was angry?
2. Why were they angry?
3. What did Gideon do?
4. What had God done for the brothers from Ephraim?
5. How do you think God included this story in the Bible?

Gideon's Battle

By Mary Vee
Judges 7

Gideon's Thoughts

Each man had his trumpet, clay pot, and torch.  We were ready to march.

Not far away stood a rim of cliffs in the shape of a half circle. I sent one unit of soldiers to the right, and another to the left.


I signaled my unit of 100 men to follow me. We moved toward the central position on the cliff overlooking the Midianites. When I nodded, my men spread out into a line along the edge. 


The moon had faded behind clouds darkening the sky.  In the valley below, thousands of Midianite tents held their soldiers.  From the lack of sound, I knew they were asleep except a few guards. 


The Lord promised me we'd no longer be their slaves. That night we would be free.


My blood tingled. My muscles twinged, ready to get started. I couldn't see the other units in the dark and wanted to give them enough time to get into position. Seemed like a good time to talk with the Lord.


"Lord, I have done all you said. In a few moments the three hundred men you chose will follow my lead. The trumpets will sound and the torches revealed. Bless us with your victory."


Then the middle watched sounded their change down in the Midianite camp.  


I raised my trumpet with my right hand and signaled my men to blow. The sound blasted out to the valley. I broke my clay pot. The light from my torch sprang from its hiding place. Our one hundred torches lit the sky around us. 


Instantly the units to my left and right blew their trumpet and broke their clay pots. Light flared on both sides.  My men and I shouted "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!." The other units echoed the same. We all continued to shout, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" again and again.


Then we watched the Lord work.


Men ran out of their tents with their swords like bees in a hive swarming about, confused. With all the noise, their leader couldn't give instructions. Their soldiers ran into each other with their swords raised wounding and killing each other.


I signaled my men to blow their trumpets again. The other units copied right away. 


The Midianites shouted at each other. Some started to run from the camp, others followed. They looked like a flock of scared chickens clucking and squawking to get away from a wolf.


I turned to my unit. "Men, the Lord has given us the victory. See, the Midianites are afraid of us. Go get your brothers. Run to Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh and tell them what has happened. Say, "Come down against the Midianites and take every watering place from them."


Israelite soldiers came from all of the northern mountains and villages. Together we fought the Midianites with the Lord's power and won our freedom.  


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1.  What did each man have.
2.  What did Gideon's men do?
3.  There were only ______ soldiers with Gideon. 
4.  Why were the Midianite's afraid?
5.  Who actually fought this battle?
6.  After the Midianites ran away, what did Gideon have his men do?
7.  What did the Israelite soldiers win?

I Was A Chosen Soldier in Gideon's Army

By Mary Vee
Judges 7

An Israelite Soldier's Thoughts

Gideon yelled for us to wake up.  It was the middle of the night! 

I'd finally fallen asleep and walked into the best dream ever. Well, such was the life of a soldier.

I grabbed my weapons and hurried with the other 299 men to meet with Gideon. How did I know we had 300 all together you ask? Gideon was no ordinary leader. Here's what happened:

Thirty two thousand men answered the call to fight this battle. One night during training, Gideon surprised us all. He called a meeting then announced: "Anyone who is afraid may go home. No question will be asked."


We lost 22,000 men that night. How would we win a battle with only 1000 men?


The next day Gideon took us to the river and watched each man drink. He sent those who lapped water like a dog home! 700 soldiers! I'm glad I scooped water into my hand then brought it to my mouth to drink. Only 300 men became the chosen soldiers.

Gideon didn't think of these ideas on his own. The Lord gave him these instructions. To think, I had passed the Lord's tests to be a soldier in Gideon's army.


All the men assembled around Gideon with their weapons as fast as a lightening bolt.  Our leader folded his arms and glanced at our weapons. "Leave you weapons here. The Lord has instructed us to use a different battle strategy." 

We immediately dropped our weapons and stood ready to obey.

Gideon nodded. "Good." He walked through our group sorting us into units of 100 men. Each unit had a commander assigned. Gideon chose me as commander of my unit. I promised to faithfully follow his instructions, no matter how odd they seemed.

He pointed to a pile of trumpets, empty pitchers, and torches. "Give your men one of each."  I immediately went to the piles, gathered our supplies, and gave each of my men one trumpet, one empty pitcher, and one torch. We stood before Gideon ready to hear the next instruction.


Gideon pressed his shoulders back. "Watch me and do what I do. When I come to the edge of the camp I and those in my unit will blow the trumpets then you blow your trumpets from your positions. I will then shout 'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.', you do the same."


I understood his plan right away.  Usually a whole unit of men would have only one trumpet blow and one torch lit.  Three hundred trumpets and torches would look like a mighty army to the Midianites. Since we would stand on the cliffs and hills surrounding their army, they would think thousands of soldiers stood behind our men.  The dark sky would help confuse our enemy.


This was a great battle plan.

I had heard about the Jericho battle when the Lord caused the city walls to fall. The Lord told the soldiers to walk around the city for seven days. After they obeyed, the city walls fell giving the Israelites an easy victory. All we have to do is obey. The Lord will take care of giving us the victory.  Oooooo I can't wait to see what happens.


Come back next week, I'll tell you what the Lord did during this battle.


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1. What did the soldiers do when Gideon told them not to use their weapons.
2. Gideon divided the men into what groups?
3. What did Gideon give each man?
4. What did Gideon tell the men to do first? Second?
5. Who's battle plan was this?
6. What important action did the soldiers do? (hint did they question Gideon's orders?)
7. God will sometimes ask us to do unusual things. Why should we obey like today's soldiers obeyed?

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?

Midian Locusts

By Mary Vee
Judges 6

Gideon's Thoughts

For seven long years I'd helped my father plant seed and take care of a new flock. Yup a new flock.

Each year, right before harvest, Midianites traipsed into our land like a swarm of locusts, attacked our people then destroyed our crops and animals. I'm tired. Tired of working for nothing. 

We moved out of our home into a nearby cave for protection. Others lived in dens or built homes using rock from the side of the mountain. Can you imagine leaving your home, your nice comfy bedroom, and your neighborhood to live in a musty cold cave?  

With little food available I'd been hungry for seven years. Well, something had to be done. I sneaked to the fields and gathered wheat before the Midianites came, hid the bundles out of sight, and used our winepress to thresh the wheat. Pretty smart, eh?  

One day as I threshed the wheat, I saw a man sitting under our terebinth tree. I had no idea who he was or when he sat there. He didn't look like a Midianite.  I set my wheat down and walked to him.


He smiled and said, "The Lord is with you, Gideon. You are a mighty man of valor!"


How did he know my name. And why did he call me a mighty man of valor? What makes him think the Lord is with us.  I haven't seen any proof of that.  

I cleared my throat and said, "If the Lord is with us, why do the Midianites attack every year and steal our food? Where are the miracles? My father says the Lord rescued our people from Egypt." I shook my head. "Now--well--I think the Lord has left us. We're slaves and prisoners of the Midianites."


He watched me sputter out angry words. His eyes were soft, like he cared what I thought. He nodded. "You have great strength, Gideon. I have chosen you to save Israel from the hand of the Midianites."


Me? Save Israel?  I picked up a piece of chaff and pulled it apart.  "My Lord, how can I save Israel? My family's from the weakest clan in Manasseh. Not only that, but I'm the least important person in my father's house." I threw the piece of chaff on the ground.


He said, "Gideon, don't be afraid. I'll be with you and you will defeat the Midianites."


Maybe this man was a prophet. Why else would he talk like that? Then I realized, if he was a prophet, I'd better bring him a gift. "Would you show me a sign to let me know for sure it is You who talks to me? Wait right here. I'll bring you an offering."


He nodded. "I'll wait until you come back."


I prepared meat and placed it in a basket, took the broth still in the pot, and some unleavened bread and brought it to the man.  He said, "Lay the meat and bread on this rock, and pour out the broth."


I did as he said then stepped back. He held out his staff until the end touched the meat and bread. A flame of fire popped up from the rock and burned both the meat and bread. Poof!


The fire disappeared as quickly as it came. I turned to where the man sat under the tree and saw he'd disappeared too! 

Oh no! He had to be the Angel of the Lord. I actually spoke with the Lord face to face! I'm gonna die for sure. No one spoke to the Lord and lived. 


I grabbed at my clothes and paced before the tree like a wild man. But then a calm voice spoke, "Gideon, peace be with you. Don't be afraid, you won't die."


I heaved a big sigh. "Really?"

I grabbed all the rocks nearby and built an altar to the Lord and called it The Lord is Peace.  That night, I thought about the Angel of the Lord's words and wondered how our people could defeat the large Midianite army.


I'll tell you more next time.


Gideon


The photo is of a winepress courtesy of Visual Bible Images

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1. What was Gideon unhappy about?
2. Where did he live? and why?
3. How long had he lived there?
4. Who invaded their land each year?
5. Who visited Gideon, and why?
6. What did Gideon ask to bring the visitor? 
7. Why did he want to do that?
8. God asks us to do things for Him everyday? What did He ask you to do today?