Biblical Profile: Gideon

Gideon

Gideon, an Israelite judge, was the son of Joash, from the tribe of Manasseh. Gideon described his clan as the least powerful in Manasseh and himself as the least important in the clan. His story tells how God can take a weak person and use them for great purposes.

At the time, Israel was being oppressed by Midian and had cried out to God for relief (Judg 6:6). In response, God sent a prophet to chastise them for neglecting him and worshiping other gods. He also sent his angel to call Gideon to rescue Israel.

Gideon’s first appearance is not promising. He was threshing wheat in the bottom of a winepress because he did not want the Midianites to know what he was doing. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon in the winepress, Gideon questioned why God had not rescued his people as at the Exodus. God said that Gideon was chosen to be Israel’s deliverer, and that God himself would be with him. Gideon was slow to believe, and he requested a sign. He brought an offering, and when the angel touched the sacrifice, fire came from the rock beneath it.

This sign gave Gideon enough faith to act locally. God told him to knock down his father’s altar to Baal, cut down the Asherah pole, and build an altar to the Lord instead. Gideon did what God had commanded, becoming a warrior for God against false gods.

Then the Spirit of God came on Gideon, and he raised an army to fight the Midianites and their allies. Gideon was still cautious, and he asked God to give him another sign to confirm his calling. He put out a fleece on two separate nights and asked God to reveal his power by having the dew settle on the fleece and/or the ground in miraculous ways. God did so and Gideon was now prepared to follow God’s plan.

Gideon had great success as an army recruiter as 32,000 men responded to his call. Yet God directed him to pare down the numbers to 300 men. Gideon led these 300 men against an overwhelming force and defeated them.

Gideon rightly resisted the people’s call to be their ruler, but then he made an ephod from the earrings of the defeated soldiers, and the ephod became an idol (8:22-27). Gideon, weak in faith and dependent on visible signs, eventually turned away from worshiping the invisible God and worshiped idols. Israel enjoyed peace during his time, but his lack of faith bore bitter fruit after his death (8:33–9:57).

Passages for Further Study

Judg 6:1–8:35; 1 Sam 12:11; Isa 10:26; Heb 11:32