Topical Bible: Rising: Gideon

◄ Rising: Gideon ►

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Introduction:
Gideon, also known as Jerubbaal, is a prominent figure in the Book of Judges, chapters 6 to 8, in the Old Testament. He is recognized as one of the judges of Israel, chosen by God to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Midianites. Gideon's account is a testament to God's power and faithfulness, as well as the importance of obedience and faith.

Background:
The narrative of Gideon takes place during a time when the Israelites were suffering under the harsh rule of the Midianites. Due to their disobedience and idolatry, God allowed the Midianites to oppress Israel for seven years. The Israelites, in their distress, cried out to the Lord for deliverance.

The Call of Gideon:
Gideon's rise begins with a divine encounter. While he was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, saying, "The LORD is with you, O mighty warrior" (Judges 6:12). Despite his initial doubts and feelings of inadequacy, Gideon is assured by God that he is chosen to save Israel. The Lord tells him, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?" (Judges 6:14).

Gideon's Faith and Obedience:
Gideon requests a sign to confirm God's will, and God graciously provides it. He then builds an altar to the Lord and names it "The LORD Is Peace" (Judges 6:24). In obedience to God's command, Gideon destroys his father's altar to Baal and the Asherah pole beside it, earning him the name Jerubbaal, meaning "Let Baal contend against him."

The Battle Against the Midianites:
Gideon's faith is further tested as God instructs him to reduce his army from 32,000 men to just 300. This reduction is to ensure that Israel recognizes that their victory is by God's hand and not by their own strength. Armed with trumpets, jars, and torches, Gideon's small army surrounds the Midianite camp. At Gideon's signal, they blow the trumpets, break the jars, and shout, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" (Judges 7:20). The Midianites, in confusion and panic, turn on each other, leading to a miraculous victory for Israel.

Gideon's Leadership and Legacy:
After the victory, the Israelites ask Gideon to rule over them, but he declines, saying, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you" (Judges 8:23). Despite his refusal to become king, Gideon makes an ephod from the gold collected from the spoils of war, which later becomes a snare to him and his family, as Israel begins to worship it.

Gideon's account is a powerful example of how God can use the least likely individuals to accomplish His purposes. His life illustrates the importance of faith, obedience, and reliance on God's strength rather than human might. Gideon's rise from a hesitant leader to a mighty warrior is a testament to the transformative power of God's calling and presence.

Nave's Topical Index

Judges 6:38
And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
Nave's Topical Index

Library

The End of Self-Will
... almost identical with that of Gideon's victory, but there was no Gideon in command
on ... sorceress' tent unnerving his arm, and many a past crime rising before him ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/the end of self-will.htm

The Kingdom and the King
... of the light, for men will flock to the 'brightness of its rising.' We know ... 4 of
emancipation from bondage, as the result of a victory like Gideon's with his ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture h/the kingdom and the king.htm

Saul's Expedition against the Nation of the Ammonites and victory ...
... in marching all that night, thirty furlongs, and came to Jabesh before sun-rising. ...
and these things have been achieved under the conduct of Jephtha and Gideon. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 5 sauls expedition against.htm

A Nation's Struggle for a Home and Freedom.
... wall of burnt brick six or seven feet in thickness and rising even now in ... that Abimelech,
a product of this intermarriage, succeeded his father Gideon as king ...
/.../kent/the making of a nation/study xii a nations struggle.htm

The King 'Blessing' his People
... 'Time would fail' him 'to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson ... presence of God is the absence
of evil, the evil both of pain and of sin, as surely as the rising sun is ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/the king blessing his people.htm

Trials of the Christian
... The lamps of Gideon were discovered, when his soldiers' pitchers were broken: if
our ... Look not to them, therefore, while the water is at the rising; but if they ...
/.../bunyan/the riches of bunyan/xiv trials of the christian.htm

The General Conference of 1828
... Grant, James Hall, George Harmon, Jonathan Huestis, Josiah Keyes, Gideon Lanning,
Ralph ... benefits to the community in general, and to the rising generation in ...
/.../chapter 9 the general conference.htm

Hebrews xi. 28-31
... "By faith," he says, "they subdued kingdoms;" those with Gideon. ... And by watching,
I do not mean, merely the rising at night, but also the being sober [3335] in ...
/.../homilies on the gospel of st john and hebrews/homily xxvii hebrews xi 28-31.htm

The Nations of the South-East
... be inevitable, and, in alliance with the Aramaeans, to crush the rising power of ...
It may be that Gideon's success against the Midianite oppressors of Gilead was ...
/.../sayce/early israel and the surrounding nations/chapter iii the nations of.htm

Psalm CXXXVIII.
... Then Christ our Lord, "dying for our sins, rising again for our justification,"
[5709] filling the faithful with His Holy ... [5712] ...What meant Gideon's fleece? ...
/.../augustine/exposition on the book of psalms/psalm cxxxviii.htm