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by Katie Erickson

Today’s passage is a lengthy one, but I encourage you go to read the whole thing here before continuing on with this blog post. The context of this passage is that right before this, Gideon’s small army (with the help of the tribe of Ephraim) fights against the large Midianite army. Midian ran away, so Gideon is pursuing them.

Gideon, still having his small army, requests food for his troops from the people of Sukkoth. Sukkoth was part of the land given to the tribe of Gad, which was part of Israel, so they were all on the same side. You’d think the town of Sukkoth would be willing to help their brethren, but that was not the case. They feared that if the people of Midian (their enemies) found out that they had helped Gideon, Midian would punish them for it. They were geographically close to the site of the battle, so they feared that Midian would regroup, come back, and try to fight them.

So Gideon moves on to Peniel, another nearly town, and makes the same request. The same thing happens again! Gideon then threatens both of these towns with punishment when he goes on to apprehend the kings of Midian, even without their help.

Gideon goes on to meet up with the much larger army of Midian. Midian is again surprised by this; after all, what little tiny kid goes chasing after the huge bully? Midian thought they were far enough away that they wouldn’t be pursued, but they thought wrong. Gideon captured the two kings of Midian, therefore disbanding their army and officially winning the battle.

After this victory, which was again due to God’s power, Gideon remains true to his word. He went back to the towns of Sukkoth and Penial to punish their leaders, and then he killed the kings of Midian.

We see here yet again that it was only through God’s power that Gideon’s small army of 300 was victorious. God was with them, and Gideon had faith and confidence in what God would do. Gideon was called by God and was obedient to Him, so He knew God would bless him for that. It was incredibly improbable that Gideon’s tiny army would defeat Midian’s huge one, but it was because of the faith of their leader, Gideon, that they even attempted such a feat. Gideon needed signs and reassurances along the way, but he kept the faith and was victorious in the end, because of following God’s leading in his life.

Gideon even had opposition from his own people when he asked for help and they turned him down, but he pressed on anyway. Gideon was more concerned with what God was telling him than what the world was telling him.

How often can you say that in your own life? It’s very easy for us to listen to God when He seems to be agreeing with what the world is telling us. But it’s much more difficult to listen to God when that goes against the world’s ideals, and even more difficult when following God could very easily lead to our personal harm.

So how do we be obedient to God, even when the world is telling us not to? Remain strong in your faith. Build up your relationship with God through prayer and reading His Word. Listen to what God is telling you, and like Gideon, have the faith and trust to go for it.

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