Gideon

HEADLINES is inspired by stories in the Bible that are often overlooked or forgotten, but they still carry incredible weight, worthy of a headline in a newspaper.

We can't think of a better example of this than Gideon. You'll find Gideon in the book of Judges, chapters 6-7 (if you're asking where the book of Judges is, it's the 7th book in the Bible, right after Joshua, but before Ruth...). Gideon was alive at a time when Israel was being oppressed by the nearby nation of Midian. He actually was trying to hide wheat from the Midianites when an angel of the Lord appeared and called Gideon to save Israel from Midian. Gideon makes excuses - too young, not important enough, etc... But God met Gideon where he was (even though he was hiding food from the enemy) and revealed his calling (Judges 6:11-22).

- God will meet you where you are at!

God then instructed Gideon to remove the altar and idol to another god (Baal) within his city, and Gideon did so. The next morning, the entire city hunted Gideon down, but his father Joash convinced them that if Baal is powerful enough, he should rise against Gideon, which didn't happen, and Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with powers (Judges 6:25-34).

- In order to DEFEAT the enemy in PUBLIC, you have to DESTROY your PRIVATE idols!

- Whenever you address idolatry, keep in mind, the enemy is going to come at you (vs. 33).

Gideon blew the ram’s horn as a call to arms for Israel, and he then asked the Lord to confirm that Gideon was going to be use to rescue Israel by laying out a fleece TWICE. Both times the Lord proved that He was going to use Gideon. 32,000 men showed up, and God said there were too many men and that Gideon should send home those who were scared. 22,000 men leave, and 10,000 were left. God insisted there were still too many, so they took a water break. God told Gideon to separate the men by how they drink water, and eventually God took Gideon's army down to 300 men! (Judges 6:34-7:8). Why did God do this? Because He wants the credit…

- God can do more with a little than we can do with a lot.

Finally, God told Gideon to go check out the enemy camp and gave him a plan. Gideon gathered the 300 men, divided them into 3 groups of 100 each, positioned them all around the valley, and gave each soldier a clay pot, a torch, and a trumpet. On his signal, they broke the pot, lit the torch, and blew the trumpet. It caused mass chaos and havoc in the enemy’s camp. They end up fighting each other… (Judges 7:9-25).

- God took 32,000 men down to 300 men to defeat an army of 135,000.

The story of Gideon is an incredible testament that God will walk with you every step of the way, even when it seems impossible.