Gideon and the Three Hundred

Gideon, also called Jerubbaal, camped with his people beside the spring of Harod, while Midian’s camp lay to the north in the valley. Yahweh told Gideon that the army was too large. If they won like this, Israel might boast that they had saved themselves. So Gideon announced that any man who was afraid could return home. Twenty-two thousand left, and ten thousand stayed.

But Yahweh said there were still too many. He told Gideon to bring the men down to the water, where he would separate them. Three hundred men lapped water, bringing it with their hands to their mouths. The rest knelt down to drink. Yahweh said he would save Israel by the three hundred, and the others were sent back to their own places.

That same night, Yahweh told Gideon to go down to the camp because he had given Midian into his hand. If Gideon was afraid, he could go with his servant Purah. In the valley, the enemy camp was spread out in huge numbers, with camels beyond counting. There Gideon heard a man tell a dream about a barley loaf tumbling into a tent and knocking it flat. The other man said the dream meant God had given Midian and the army into Gideon’s hand.

When Gideon heard the dream and its meaning, he worshipped. He returned to Israel’s camp and told the men to rise, because Yahweh had given Midian’s army into their hand. Gideon divided the three hundred into three companies. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty pitcher with a torch inside. Then he told them to watch him and do exactly what he did.

At the beginning of the middle watch, Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp. They blew their trumpets and smashed their pitchers. Then all three companies did the same, holding torches in their left hands and trumpets in their right. They shouted, 'The sword of Yahweh and of Gideon!' As they stood around the camp, the enemy ran in confusion, and Yahweh turned their swords against one another as they fled.

Then men from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh gathered to pursue Midian. Gideon also sent messengers through the hill country of Ephraim, calling the men to seize the waters as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. The men of Ephraim captured two Midianite princes, Oreb and Zeeb, and killed them while chasing Midian. Who gave victory when Gideon’s army looked far too small?