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Page 26
On the spot where the Lord appeared to Gideon, under an oak tree, near
the village of Ophrah, in the tribe-land of Manasseh, Gideon built an
altar and called it by a name which means: "The Lord is peace." This
altar was standing long afterward in that place.
Then the Lord told Gideon that before setting his people free from the
Midianites, he must first set them free from the service of Baal and
Asherah, the two idols most worshipped among them. Near the house of
Gideon's own father stood an altar to Baal, and the image of Asherah.
On that night, Gideon went out with ten men, and threw down the image of
Baal, and cut in pieces the wooden image of Asherah, and destroyed the
altar before these idols. And in its place he built an altar to the God
of Israel; and on it laid the broken pieces of the idols for wood, and
with them offered a young ox as a burnt-offering.
On the next morning, when the people of the village went out to worship
their idols, they found them cut in pieces, the altar taken away; in its
place an altar of the Lord, and on it the pieces of the Asherah were
burning as wood under a sacrifice to the Lord. The people looked at the
broken and burning idols; and they said: "Who has done this?"
Some one said: "Gideon, the son of Joash, did this last night."
Then they came to Joash, Gideon's father, and said:
"We are going to kill your son because he has destroyed the image of
Baal, who is our god."
And Joash, Gideon's father, said: "If Baal is a god, he can take care of
himself, and punish the man who has destroyed his image. Why should you
help Baal? Let Baal help himself."
And when they saw that Baal could not harm the man who had broken down
his altar and his image, the people turned from Baal, back to their own
Lord God.
Gideon sent messengers through all Manasseh on the west of Jordan, and
the tribes near on the north; and the men of the tribes gathered around
him, with a few swords and spears, but very few, for the Israelites were
not ready for war. They met beside a great spring on Mount Gilboa,
called "the fountain of Harod." Mount Gilboa is one of the three
mountains on the east of the plain of Esdraelon, or the plain of
Jezreel, where once there had been a great battle. On the plain,
stretching up the side of another of these mountains, called "the Hill
of Moreh," was the camp of a vast Midianite army. For as soon as the
Midianites heard that Gideon had undertaken to set his people free, they
came against him with a mighty host.
Gideon was a man of faith. He wished to be sure that God was leading
him, and he prayed to God and said:
"O Lord God, give me some sign that thou wilt save Israel through me.
Here is a fleece of wool on this threshing floor. If to-morrow morning
the fleece is wet with dew, while the grass around it is dry, then I
shall know that thou art with me; and that thou wilt give me victory
over the Midianites."
Very early the next morning, Gideon came to look at the fleece. He found
it wringing wet with dew, while all around the grass was dry. But Gideon
was not yet satisfied. He said to the Lord:
"O Lord, be not angry with me; but give me just one more sign. To-morrow
morning let the fleece be dry, and let the dew fall all around it, and
then I will doubt no more."
The next morning, Gideon found the grass, and the bushes wet with dew,
while the fleece of wool was dry. And Gideon was now sure that God had
called him, and that God would give him victory over the enemies of
Israel.
The Lord said to Gideon: "Your army is too large. If Israel should win
the victory, they would say, 'we won it by our own might.' Send home all
those who are afraid to fight."
For many of the people were frightened, as they looked at the host of
their enemies, and the Lord knew that these men would only hinder the
rest in the battle. So Gideon sent word through the camp:
"Whoever is afraid of the enemy may go home." And twenty-two thousand
people went away, leaving only ten thousand in Gideon's army. But the
army was stronger though it was smaller, for the cowards had gone, and
only the brave men were left.
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