Study Desk

"The mother of Sisera looked out of the window. She looked through the window and cried in sorrow, ‘Why is his war-wagon so long in coming? Why do the steps of his horses wait?'

So let all those who hate You die, O Lord. But let those who love Him be like the sun as he rises in his power." And the land had peace for forty years.

Gideon said to him, "O sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His powerful works which our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has left us alone. He has put us under the power of Midian."

Then Gideon went into his house and got a young goat ready. He made bread without yeast from a basket of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the water from boiling the meat in a pot. Then he brought them out to him under the tree and set them down in front of him.

The angel of the Lord put out the end of the stick that was in his hand and touched the meat and the bread without yeast. And fire came up from the rock and burned up the meat and the bread without yeast. Then the angel of the Lord was seen no more.

Gideon took ten of his servants and did what the Lord had told him to do. But he was too afraid of those of his father's house and the men of the city to do it during the day. So he did it during the night.

But Joash said to all who were gathered against him, "Will you fight for Baal? Will you save him? Whoever will fight for him will be put to death this morning. If he is a god, let him fight for himself because someone has torn down his altar."

So on that day he gave Gideon the name Jerubbaal, which means, "Let Baal fight against him." Because he tore down his altar.

It was so. Gideon got up early the next morning and took the wool in his hand. Enough water poured from the wool to fill a pot.

So Gideon brought the people down to the water. The Lord said to Gideon, "Divide every man who drinks the water as dogs drink with their tongues from every man who gets down on his knees to drink."

The Lord said to Gideon, "I will save you with the 300 men who drank from their hands. I will give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others return, every man to his home."

You will hear what they say. Then your hands will become strong enough to go down and fight against them." So he went with his servant Purah down to the side of the tents where soldiers were keeping watch.

When Gideon came, a man was telling a dream to his friend. The man said, "I had a dream. A loaf of barley bread was rolling toward the tents of Midian. It came to the tent and hit it so it fell down. It turned it up-side-down so the tent fell apart."

His friend answered and said, "This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given Midian and all the army into his hand."

Each man stood in his place around the tents. And all the Midianite army ran. They cried out and ran away.

Then he said to Jether his first-born son, "Stand up and kill them." But the boy did not pick up his sword. He was afraid because he was still a boy.

Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Stand up yourself and kill us. For as the man is, so is his strength." So Gideon stood up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna. And he took the religious objects that were on their camels' necks.

Gideon made it into a holy vest and put it in his city, Ophrah. All Israel worshiped it there. So it became a trap to Gideon and those of his house.

Joash's son Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) went and lived in his own house.

The woman in Shechem who acted as his wife gave birth to Gideon's son also. He was given the name Abimelech.