* LESSON
* SCRIPTURES CONCERNING GIDEON
* HANDOUT
Bible Memory Verse:
“…The Lord is with you…” Judges 6:12
“…Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:36
What happens when we disobey God? God had told the Israelites that if they obeyed Him, they would be blessed and good things would happen to them. If they disobeyed Him, they would be cursed and bad things would happen to them.
They did evil in the eyes of the Lord so He gave them over to the power of the Midianites for seven years. Because the power of the Midianites was so oppressive the Israelites lived in mountain clefts and caves. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops the Midianites and other eastern people would destroy them. They came with their livestock and tents, like swarms of insects. The Midianites so hurt the Israelites that they called out to the Lord for help.
The Lord sent them a prophet (a prophet speaks the words of the Lord) who said to them, “I am the Lord your God. I have delivered you from your enemies in the past, but you have worshiped other gods.”
But God delivered the Israelites because of the obedience of one man–Gideon.
Gideon, an Israelite, was threshing wheat, hiding it from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
“But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about…now the Lord has abandoned us into the hand of Midian.”
The Lord said to him, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My family is the weakest family in Israel and I am the least important in my family.”
The Lord said, “I will be with you and you will strike down the Midianites as if they were one man.”
Gideon said, “Please give me a sign that it is really You talking to me.”
The angel of the Lord said to Gideon, “Take the meat and the…bread, place them on this rock…”
With the tip of the staff that was in His hand the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread. Fire flared from the rock, burning up the meat and bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.
When Gideon realized it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Ah Sovereign Lord, I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”
The Lord said to himz; “Peace! Don’t be afraid. You are not going to die…Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it (foreign gods) and build a proper kind of altar to the Lord…”
So Gideon took ten of his servants and did what the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night.
In the morning when the men of the town saw the altar to the foreign gods destroyed and an altar built to God they asked each other, “Who did this?”
They carefully investigated and were told, “Gideon, the son of Joash did it.”
The men of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die because he has destroyed the Baal’s altar (our god).”
But Joash replied to the hostile crowd, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause…If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.”
So the men of the town said, “Let Baal contend (fight) with him because he broke down Baal’s altar.” Demons are behind idols to foreign gods, but since none of them has any power against God, nothing happened to Gideon. Because of this, Gideon gained the trust of the people.
The Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern people joined forces and camped in Israel. The Spirit of Lord came upon Gideon and he called all the Israelites together.
He said to God, "I will put a wool fleece (a fleece is a piece of lambs skin with the wool still on it) on the threshing floor (ground). If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. The next day he squeezed a bowlful of water our of the fleece, but the ground was dry.
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew.” That night The fleece was dry and the ground was wet.
Gideon and his men were camped near their enemies. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to deliver you from Midian. In order that Israel may not boast against Me that her own strength has saved her, announce to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave…” So twenty-two thousand left and ten thousand remained.
But the Lord said to Gideon, “You still have too many men. Take your men down to the river… (to drink)”
Gideon took his men down to the river. The Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands…”
The Midianite camp lay before them in a valley. During the night the Lord said to Gideon, “If you are afraid to attack, go down with your servant, Purah, and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.”
So Gideon and his servant went down to the enemy camp. There were so many people that even their camels could no more be counted than the sand of the seashore.
Gideon arrived just as a man was telling his friend a dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon… the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”
When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” Dividing the three hundred men into three companies he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
“Watch me, “ he told them, “Do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, break your jars and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.”
Gideon and the three hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp. The three companies blew their trumpets and broke the jars, grasping the torches. They shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.”
While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. The Lord caused the Midianites throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The ones that were still alive fled and were captured by the Israelites.
Midian was defeated and during Gideon’s lifetime there was peace for forty years.
God had saved Israel by the obedience of one man. God saw that Gideon could be a mighty warrior. Even though Gideon was afraid, he obeyed God. God waited patiently for him to believe and gave him several signs to encourage him. We can all be mighty warriors for God if we will believe Him.
QUESTIONS:
1. What did the Lord ask Gideon to do to the altar to a foreign god?
2. What did Gideon ask the Lord to have be wet while the ground was wet and later have be dry when the ground was wet?
3. Why did the Lord not want many men to fight with Gideon?
4. How many men were finally chosen to defeat the Midianites?
5. Why did the Lord want Gideon to hear the dream and its interpretation of the man in the enemy camp?
6. What happened to the Midianites?
7. What is one thing you can know about God from the story of Gideon?
* SCRIPTURES CONCERNING GIDEON:
Judges 6-8
“…I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.” Hebrews 11:32-42
GIDEON
Bible Memory Verse:
“…Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:36
Words to choose from: WARRIOR, GOD, DREAM, THREE, SEVEN, BREAD, ALTAR, BELIEVE, LORD, FLEECE
1. Because the Israelites disobeyed God they suffered from the power of the Midianites for __ __ __ __ __ years.
2. God knew what Gideon could become so He called Gideon a mighty __ __ __ __ __ __ __ even though Gideon was afraid.
3. God asked Gideon to destroy the __ __ __ __ __of a foreign god.
4. Gideon asked God to make a __ __ __ __ __ __ of wool wet when the ground was dry and later dry when the ground was wet.
5. __ __ __ __ __ hundred men went to fight with Gideon.
6. With the help of __ __ __, Gideon did not need many men to help him win.
7. In order to encourage Gideon God let him hear the __ __ __ __ __ of a Midianite man.
8. In the dream a loaf of barley __ __ __ __ __ rolled into the Midianite camp.
9. The men surrounded the Midianite camp and blew their trumpets and broke their jars so light shone and shouted For the __ __ __ __ and for Gideon.”
10. If we __ __ __ __ __ __ God we can all be mighty warriors for Him.