Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Prophet Gideon

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Prophet Gideon

A frame of Prophet Gideon. Photo by Jojojoe. Wikimedia

Gideon, also known as Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge, and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in Judges 6-8 of the Hebrew Bible’s Book of Judges.

Gideon was Joash’s son from the Abiezrite clan of Manasseh, and he lived in Ephraim (Ophrah). As a leader of the Israelites, he led a troop of 300 “valiant” men to a decisive victory over a Midianite army despite a vast numerical disadvantage.

Archaeologists in southern Israel discovered a 3,100-year-old jug fragment with five ink letters that appear to represent the name Jerubbaal, or Yeruba’al. 

1. Prophet Gideon is tasked with saving the Israelites

Mural depicting the Prophet Gideon. Photo by George E. Koronaios. Wikimedia

Gideon is tasked with saving the Israelites by leading them against the Midianites. The people of Israel had done “what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian,” a common theme of apostasy. The Midianites were stealing the Israelites’ crops and causing them grief. When the people of Israel realized their error and cried out to the Lord for help, a prophet was sent to deliver them, just as they had been delivered from Egypt.

2. Prophet Gideon destroys the Altar of Baal

The first task he is given is to destroy the Israelites’ Altar of Baal, which is evidence of their apostasy. So, during the night, Gideon and ten of his men demolished the Altar of Baal.

Gideon then constructed a proper altar to God, placed the Asherah image’s wood on top, and sacrificed a bull to the Lord.  All this was done at night because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople.

3. Prophet Gideon is saved by his father

The destruction of the Altar of Baal really angered  the townspeople and prompted them to demand the death of the altar destroyer. “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause?” Joash asked the mob, defending his son. Are you attempting to help him? If Baal is a god, he could indeed defend himself when someone destroys his altar” (Judges, verse 31).

The logic was unmistakable. If Baal truly was a god, he could save himself. If Gideon must be punished, let the god he destroyed do so personally.

4. Prophet Gideon is nicknamed Jerubbaal

Paintings of prophet Gideon. Photo by Winfield, David. Wikimedia

After Gideon destroyed the Alter of Baal he was nicknamed Jerubbaal (by his father Joash) which means “Let Baal contend with him,” because he had destroyed Baal’s altar. 

5. An angel approaches prophet Gideon

Gideon, while harvesting wheat and hiding from the Midianites, was approached by an angel who addressed him as a mighty man of courage. The Angel of the Lord, also known as “the Lord’s angelic messenger”, appeared in the character of a traveler who sat down in the shade of the terebinth tree to enjoy a little refreshment and repose and spoke with Gideon. 

Gideon was told by the angel that God had sent him to save Israel from the hand of Midian. Although Gideon initially doubts his ability, he is encouraged that God will be with him on this mission.

6. Prophet Gideon requests proof of God

Prophet Gideon with the roll of fleece in his hands. Photo by Jojojoe. Wikimedia

Gideon requested three miracles to prove God’s will: first, a sign from the Angel of the Lord, in which the angel appeared to Gideon and caused fire to shoot up out of a rock, and then two signs involving a fleece, performed on consecutive nights and in the exact opposite order. Upon awakening, his fleece was wet, but the surrounding ground was dry. The next morning, his fleece was dry, but the surrounding ground was wet.

7. Prophet Gideon cries to the Lord

“Where are all the wondrous works which God did for our fathers in this night, when he slew the firstborn of the Egyptians, and Israel went forth from slavery with joyous hearts?”

Gideon complained. “Thou who art courageous enough to champion Israel, thou art worthy that Israel should be saved for thy sake,” God appeared to him.  Gideon, a young man from the tribe of Manasseh, was chosen by God to set the Israelites free and to condemn their idolatry.

8. Prophet Gideon gathers 32,000 men

He then sent messengers to gather men from the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, as well as his own tribe of Manasseh, to meet an armed force of Midian and Amalek that had crossed the Jordan River, and they camped at the Well of Harod in the Valley of Jezreel. But God told Gideon that the men he had gathered were too many – with so many men, the Israelites would be tempted to claim victory as their own rather than acknowledge that God had saved them.

9. Prophet Gideon uses a cleaver strategy

He divided his army into three groups of 100 men each. He used the strategy of a cattle rustler attempting to stampede a herd of cattle. They encircled the enemy’s camp, each with a horn, an empty pitcher, and a torch. The torch was supposed to be hidden in the pitcher until the action began.

Gideon launched his attack after the enemy had retired for the night. The night shift had just begun. The Jews blew their horns and cried, “For God and Gideon!” after breaking the pitchers and revealing the flaming torches. They remained in their positions around the camp. Held torches in their left hands and trumpets in their right, shouting and blowing their trumpets.

The Midianites heard the trumpets and saw the torches surrounding their camp. They cried out and fled, resulting in a triumphant victory for Gideon and the Israelites.

10. Prophet Gideon refuses to be crowned king

Mural depicting the Prophet Gideon. Photo by George E. Koronaios. Wikimedia

Gideon and his three hundred men pursued the enemy, hurrying eastward in order to capture the Midianite kings. They begged for bread when they arrived in Succoth, but the men mocked them, saying, “Dost thou hold Zebah and Zalmunna already in thy hands, that we should give bread to thy army?” Gideon vowed vengeance if he returned victorious, and he was followed by his hungry followers. When he arrived at Penuel, he repeated his offer, was heartlessly refused, and threatened similar retaliation.

Meanwhile, the kings had gathered the remnants of their army at Karkor, a force of fifteen thousand men eager to crush Gideon and his band of followers. Inspired by despair and fighting for their lives, the Hebrews surprised the hostile camp at an unguarded hour.

Gideon dashed off in pursuit of the two kings and captured them after routing the heathen army. Led them to Succoth, summoned the town’s elders, and asked them to look upon his royal captives. He then carried out his terrifying threat and executed the elders.

The Midianite rule over the Jews had come to an end. Gideon’s bravery was recognized.

For the first time in Jewish history, the Jews offered Gideon a crown, with his sons inheriting the throne. He refused, claiming that “God will rule over you.” He lived 33 years after his glorious victories.