St Peter & St Paul Great Casterton

Are you sure, God? Following the victories led by those two redoubtable women Deborah and Jael, somewhere around 200 years before David became king and the Israelites had had peace for forty years. Things were quite good to start with. But they still did not have a leader and then they forgot God. They went back to doing things that were not right in God’s sight. They could not see Him like the neighbouring tribes of Midianites and Amorites who could see their statues, rituals, altars, sacred poles and other idols and they seemed to be successful. They were raiding Israel every harvest time and going off with most of the crops and stock without doing any of the work. They even settled on the fertile plains. The Israelites, who still had no king or leader, gave up and tried to survive by hiding in the hills and eventually cried out to God. A local preacher went round reminding them of what God had done for them in the past, but they would not listen to him and ignored God for seven fraught years. The preacher reminded them of the rescue from slavery in Egypt and then making available the fertile land they were now in. God had done it in the past. He could do it again, but they would not listen. Called In these troublesome times, a small farmer was hiding in the local vineyard to shake out the corn from his garden wheat crop when a bloke comes up and says happily “God is with you”. That welcome was received with ridicule by the farmer who says in true agricultural speech “Then prove it”. He grumbles that the God of history has forgotten them, and things had gone wrong. Remembering his manners the farmer finally invites the bloke to lunch and prepares a good one. Instead of enjoying the meal prepared from scarce resources, the visitor zaps it in almost Harry Potter style. The frightened farmer is ordered to go in his strength and save Israel. He tries excuses but is told that God will be with him. He is almost convinced and starts by breaking down the local Baal statue and altar to the horror of his neighbours. His father supports him and they call everyone together to form an army to drive out the raiding Midianites. Lots of people came. Testing That farmer’s name was Gideon. He was amazed at the response of so many people but to test their commitment he suggested that anyone who was really frightened should go home now. Two thirds of them went. Gideon himself is still not convinced about God and has doubts. He decides to do a test and puts out a sheep skin overnight asking God to let the dew fall on it and not on the ground around. The skin was sopping next morning and the ground dry. Gideon thinks this may be chance and asks God for the opposite to happen. It did and the skin was dry and the ground wet. He has tested God and has no excuse, now he must act. His first job is to inspect his volunteer army. As a test of observation and intelligence Gideon asked the remaining men to have a drink from the stream. Most bent down and lapped and only three hundred cupped their hands to drink so they could still see what was going on around them. Just those three hundred were chosen. God is really giving Gideon and his colleagues a big challenge if they are to drive out the huge invading Midianite host by themselves. Strategy The Midianite forces were sort of an EU or United Nations brigade from many different countries. Why is it specially recorded that one group had brought a huge contingent of camels with them? They all camped in a valley with hills on three sides. Gideon divided his men into three groups with each man being issued with a trumpet, a pottery jar with an oil lamp in it and stationed them around on the surrounding hills. In the middle of the night, on God’s instruction, Gideon gave the signal and the men all broke their jars and the lights appeared. They then blew their trumpets and made a noise. The fashion at that time was for a large squad of at least a hundred soldiers to be led by one man with a single light. So the Midianites assumed they were surrounded by more than a significant host. Panic. Can you imagine berserk camels galloping through the tent lines? All legs and necks and humps. Then this UN type force did not have a common language or even a general, so orders were not understood or given. (Has this lesson been learned yet?) The various nationalities in panic started fighting each other. After that a stampede of fleeing UN forces with the three hundred exhausted men after them. Now Gideon had a problem and to understand it we must look at contemporary history. It says “a disorder and a fright seized upon the other men while they were half asleep, for it was night-time, as God would have it. The greatest part were killed by their own soldiers, on account of the diversity of their languages; and when they were once put into disorder, they killed all that they met with as thinking them to be enemies also”. Some of the other Israelites who had not joined Gideon to start with now came out of hiding and helped a bit, killing some of the Midian generals, but then criticised Gideon for not letting them be in at the start of the fighting. Others were reluctant to believe that Gideon was winning and refused to give his men drink and food. They got a thrashing with brambles when final victory was announced for their lack of faith. They didn’t have mobiles or podcasts and things in those days, so news of victory was slow in spreading Jealousy The tribe of Ephraim were the worst. They were “so displeased with the success of Gideon that they resolved to make war on him, accusing him because he did not tell them of his expedition against their enemies” Gideon responded that it was not his “own authority but it was the command of God” and the victory was just as much theirs as it was the three hundred. They saw sense and peaceful civilisation returned. Gideon was appointed a “judge and what he determined was esteemed valid by all”. Midian’s tyranny was broken by the Israelites, nothing more was heard from them, and the land was quiet for forty years afterwards. That was sadly not quite the end of the story as, probably from local pressure, Gideon had collected the gold earrings from the dead Midianites and had a Baal type statue made. We read that all Israel came to admire it and worshipped there and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. Again they forgot God. Lessons?What do we learn from this story? Gideon sincerely doubted and even then God was with him. Thomas doubted that Jesus had risen, and who is the first person that Jesus speaks to in that room? Moses ran away and hid because he doubted. Then he, like Ezekiel, said he could not speak in public, but went on to be a great orator. Gideon tested God’s call. Was that wrong? Do we have snares? What are they? God rewards faith and obedience. He is still patient. Why were the Ephraimites so upset when they had got what they wanted without fighting for it? Do we shun people who are blessed? One resultAs a sequel to this story, there was recently a man who had the bright idea that everyone should have a copy of the Bible, or at least a New Testament. Being enthusiastic, he advertised his idea and booked a large hall for interested people to come to. Two men turned up. Undeterred, they determined to go ahead with the idea. They remembered Gideon conquering the armies of the whole of the then known world with three hundred men. So they called themselves the Gideons. Initially they targeted business men by putting bibles in all hotel rooms. Now in 2025, the society distributes copies to hospitals, prisons, schools and many more. A recent report shows that more than two copies are given away every second. That is a million every four days. Copies are in ninety five languages. Well over two billion copies have been distributed already to people and even smuggled to places where established churches may not always be welcomed.

Quotes from chapter VI Book V Antiquities by Josephus, Bible and the Gideon magazine.

St Peter & St Paul Great Casterton

Gideon

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