Gideon fights the Midianites Judges 6-7

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Judges chapters 6 and 7

This text is based on the

original filmstrip script from
the Moody Bible Institute.

1 The Bible tells us of a time

when the Midianites, a
wicked and warlike people,
came like a plague of
grasshoppers and
swarmed over the land of
Israel.

2 The Midianites just took

over the land and,
hopelessly outnumbered
by their enemies, the
people of Israel left their
homes and fled into the
wilderness, leaving most of
their possessions behind.

3 Living in the wilderness

often meant being hungry
and cold. The Israelites
had a real struggle for
existence. Rich people
became poor and poor
people became
desperately poor.
4 Israel as a nation was
poverty stricken and they
cried to the Lord to deliver
them from this miserable
existence.

5 We read in the Bible that

the family of Gideon was
one of the poorest in Israel
and Gideon was the
youngest son.

6 That, according to ancient

custom, made Gideon the
least important. So Gideon
was used to taking orders
and to doing plenty of hard
work.

7 When Gideon was told by

an angel of the Lord that
God had chosen him to
deliver Israel from the
Midianites, Gideon’s
reaction was much as we
might have expected it to
be.

8 ‘Me? I’m supposed to

deliver my people from the
Midianites?’ Gideon was
sure a mistake had been
made.
 9 Gideon explained to the
angel that his family was
poor and being the
youngest son he wasn’t
very important at all.

10 The angel told Gideon that

no mistake had been
made. Gideon was the one
God had chosen and God
would help him if he would
do as he was told.

11 So on the basis of his faith

in God, Gideon started to
work. The first thing
Gideon did was to
organise the men of Israel
and get them ready to
fight. And, all in all, there
were 32,000 men.

12 But when God said that

was too many, Gideon
spoke to his men and
ordered those who were
afraid to fight to leave the
army and go back home.

13 When Gideon gave his

men a choice of whether or
not to fight, many of the
men left the camp. Even
though they knew God had
promised victory to their
leader, they also knew the
Midianites outnumbered
them four to one.
14 Gideon’s new army was
much smaller than before,
yet it was stronger. These
men were not afraid to
fight.
But would courage make
up for lack of numbers?

15 Now Gideon only had

10,000 men. And God
alone knew how such a
small army could conquer
far more than ten times
their number.
Gideon was beginning to
realise the true meaning of
trust in God.

16 But God was preparing

another test of Gideon’s
faith and when Gideon
talked to the Lord about
the size of his army he got
a surprising answer.
The Lord said that 10,000
men were still too many.
There was only one thing
for Gideon to do and that
was to trust and obey.

17 At the Lord’s command

Gideon brought his men
down to the water and told
them to drink.

18 Most of the men bowed

down on their knees and
drank right out of the
stream. And the Lord told
Gideon to put these men
aside in one group.
19 Three hundred men lapped
the water from their hands.
And the Lord said, ‘By the
300 men that lapped will I
save you and deliver the
Midianites into your hands.
Let all the other people go.’

20 Now Gideon faced

unbelievable odds, 450 to
one in the enemies’ favour.
One thing was clear,
unless the Lord performed
a miracle, Gideon and his
300 men were facing
certain death.

21 In the camp of the

Midianites, the midnight
hour was the time for
changing the guard. It was
a noisy affair and that
provided a wonderful
opportunity for Gideon.

22 While the Midianites were

changing guard, Gideon
and his men carried out
the first part of their plan.

23 As far as the Midianite

guards were concerned,
there was nothing
surrounding their camp but
the emptiness of the night.
24 Little did they realise that
Gideon and his men were
stealing through the
darkness on a very strange
mission, each one carrying
a clay jar in one hand and
a trumpet in the other. And
hidden within each clay jar
was a lighted fire brand.

25 At last, every man was in

position, waiting for the
signal from Gideon, ready
to do exactly as their
leader did.

26 Then, Gideon blew on his

trumpet.

27 He broke his clay jar.

28 He held his torch high and

cried, ‘The sword of the
Lord and of Gideon.’
29 All around the camp of the
Midianites the 300 did as
their leader had done.

30 The Midianite guards were

struck dumb.

31 In a matter of seconds the

camp of the Midianites was
a scene of fear and
confusion. They thought a
great army had taken them
by surprise.

32 Their entire camp must be

surrounded. Where could
they go? What should they
do?

33 Like a herd of wild animals

in utter panic, the
Midianites began to
stampede.
34 Suddenly, in the midst of
all this confusion, Gideon’s
men blew loud and long on
their horns again.

35 Then a strange thing

happened in the army of
the Midianites.

36 Every man turned blindly

on his neighbour and they
began to fight one another.
The Lord caused them to
fight each other in the
darkness.

37 Gideon drove the

Midianites out of the land
and they never came back
again. And the Lord gave a
tremendous victory to
Gideon because he trusted
in God.

38 Gideon learned that where

God is concerned,
believing and doing go
together. But more
important still he learnt that
one man multiplied by
God’s power equals victory
no matter what the odds.
The Bible says in
Phillipians 4:13, ‘I can do
all things through Christ
who strengthens me.’
39