The story of Gideon

¶ … Gideon

The biblical story of Gideon is essentially meant to relate to how people are all the same before God, and that He recognizes one's value even when the respective person appears to be worthless. In spite of the fact that Gideon was an individual who (like most of his contemporary Israelites) was hiding from the Midianites, God observed that the man had potential and did not hesitate to appoint him as his people's leader.

One of the main reasons for which the Israelites were hiding was the fact that they were threatened by the Midianites, as a result of their disobedience toward God and because they had done a series of wrongdoings. Instead of taking up arms against their enemies, the Israelites chose to hide, demonstrating that they were cowards in character. Even when a prophet sent by God informed them that they should not be afraid by their enemies and their gods, the Israelites wouldn't listen and continued to hide in the mountains and in caves. In addition to the fact that they did not have the courage to fight for their most cherished values, the Israelites were greatly affected because their resources had been destroyed by the Midianites.

Gideon the Israelite was at one point beating wheat by the winepress with the purpose of hiding it from his oppressors. God's messenger came to him and claimed that the divinity appreciated his courage, even with the fact that Gideon was apparently as weak as the rest of Israelites. The Israelite did not initially believe God's messenger and demanded that he needed proof in order to embark on a mission as great as that of leading his people against their worst enemies. God was not affected by Gideon's distrust and actually had patience in demonstrating that He was actually the one who decided that the man should commence warfare with the purpose of liberating his people.

In spite of the fact that most facts showed otherwise, God was certain about the power of Israelites and this materialized in the fact that he only chose three hundred from the twenty two thousand Israelites to fight against the enemies of Israel. The battle took place at night and the Israelites were advantaged through the fact that it was God who did most of the fighting, as they simply had the role of serving as His tools. While it was the Israelites who did all the physical work that lead to their victory, it was God who planned the whole enterprise and He made it obvious that people should only hold him responsible for the overall state of affairs. It is difficult to determine exactly as much Midianites died as a result of this strategic battle, but most sources point to the fact that numbers were very high.

Judging from an impartial point-of-view, one can consider that Gideon's courage was not as great as most people like to think. Instead of being appreciated for this quality, he should be actually praised for the fact that he was particularly cautious and because he was reluctant to engage in an activity that did not seem to be constructive.

Gideon was extremely skeptical about everything and would not even believe that it was God who wanted him to lead Israelites against the Medianites consequent to seeing a miracle. He continued to ask for more miracles in order to accept God's mission, obviously wanting to be one hundred percent sure, given that he was reluctant to foolishly risk his life and that of his people. Gideon's success was to a certain degree productive for the nation of Israel, but it did not greatly affect the thinking of Israelites, considering that "as soon as he was dead, the children of Israel forsook all his teachings and worshiped Baal" (Phelps, 1919, p. 111).

It is somewhat surprising that Gideon, a coward before he accepted God's mission, came to lead an army of very courageous Israelites against one of the biggest and most powerful enemies of Israel. Gideon's story can be considered to stand as proof that God is not primarily interested in using people that are already prepared to serve him, as he would rather prepare individuals he chooses to do so.