Through the Bible – Day 85

₁₁One day an angel from the LORD went to the town of Ophrah and sat down under the big tree that belonged to Joash, a member of the Abiezer clan. Joash's son Gideon was nearby, threshing grain in a shallow pit, where he could not be seen by the Midianites.

₁₂The angel appeared and spoke to Gideon, “The LORD is helping you, and you are a strong warrior.”

₁₃Gideon answered, “Please don't take this wrong, but if the LORD is helping us, then why have all these awful things happened? We've heard how the LORD performed miracles and rescued our ancestors from Egypt. But those things happened long ago. Now the LORD has abandoned us to the Midianites.”

₁₄Then the LORD himself said, “Gideon, you will be strong, because I am giving you the power to rescue Israel from the Midianites.”

₁₅Gideon replied, “But how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest one in Manasseh, and everyone else in my family is more important than I am.”

₁₆“Gideon,” the LORD answered, “you can rescue Israel because I am going to help you! Defeating the Midianites will be as easy as beating up one man.”

₁₇Gideon said, “It's hard to believe that I'm actually talking to the LORD. Please do something so I'll know that you really are the LORD. ₁₈And wait here until I bring you an offering.”

“All right, I'll wait,” the LORD answered.

₁₉Gideon went home and killed a young goat, then started boiling the meat. Next, he opened a big sack of flour and made it into thin bread. When the meat was done, he put it in a basket and poured the broth into a clay cooking pot. He took the meat, the broth, and the bread and placed them under the big tree.

₂₀God's angel said, “Gideon, put the meat and the bread on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” Gideon did as he was told. ₂₁The angel was holding a walking stick, and he touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick. Flames jumped from the rock and burnt up the meat and the bread.

When Gideon looked, the angel was gone. ₂₂Gideon realized that he had seen one of the LORD's angels. “Oh!” he moaned. “Now I'm going to die.”

₂₃“Calm down!” the LORD told Gideon. “There's nothing to be afraid of. You're not going to die.”

₂₄Gideon built an altar for worshipping the LORD and called it “The LORD Calms our Fears”. It still stands there in Ophrah, a town in the territory of the Abiezer clan.

₂₅That night the LORD spoke to Gideon again:

₂₇Gideon chose ten of his servants to help him, and they did everything God had said. But since Gideon was afraid of his family and the other people in town, he did it all at night.

₂₈When the people of the town got up the next morning, they saw that Baal's altar had been knocked over, and the sacred pole next to it had been cut down. Then they noticed the new altar covered with the remains of the sacrificed bull.

₂₉“Who could have done such a thing?” they asked. And they kept on asking, until finally someone told them, “Gideon the son of Joash did it.”

₃₀The men of the town went to Joash and said, “Your son Gideon knocked over Baal's altar and cut down the sacred pole next to it. Hand him over, so we can kill him!”

₃₁The crowd pushed closer and closer, but Joash replied, “Are you trying to take revenge for Baal? Are you trying to rescue Baal? If you are, you will be the ones who are put to death, and it will happen before another day dawns. If Baal really is a god, let him take his own revenge on someone who tears down his altar.”

₃₂That same day, Joash changed Gideon's name to Jerubbaal, explaining, “He tore down Baal's altar, so let Baal take revenge himself.”

₃₃All the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern nations got together and crossed the River Jordan. Then they invaded the land of Israel and set up camp in Jezreel Valley.

₃₄The LORD's Spirit took control of Gideon, and Gideon blew a signal on a trumpet to tell the men in the Abiezer clan to follow him. ₃₅He also sent messengers to the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, telling the men of these tribes to come and join his army. Then they set out towards the enemy camp.

_36-37Gideon prayed to God, “I know that you promised to help me rescue Israel, but I need proof. Tonight I'll put some wool on the stone floor of that threshing place over there. If you really will help me rescue Israel, then tomorrow morning let there be dew on the wool, but let the stone floor be dry.”

₃₈And that's just what happened. Early the next morning, Gideon got up and checked the wool. He squeezed out enough water to fill a bowl. ₃₉But Gideon prayed to God again. “Don't be angry with me,” Gideon said. “Let me try this just one more time, so I'll really be sure you'll help me. Only this time, let the wool be dry and the stone floor be wet with dew.”

₄₀That night, God made the stone floor wet with dew, but he kept the wool dry.

₁Early the next morning, Gideon and his army got up and moved their camp to Fear Spring. The Midianite camp was to the north, in the valley at the foot of Moreh Hill.

₂The LORD said, “Gideon, your army is too big. I can't let you win with this many soldiers. The Israelites would think that they had won the battle all by themselves and that I didn't have anything to do with it. ₃So call your troops together and tell them that anyone who is really afraid can leave Mount Gilead and go home.”

Twenty-two thousand men returned home, leaving Gideon with only ten thousand soldiers.

₄“Gideon,” the LORD said, “you still have too many soldiers. Take them down to the spring and I'll test them. I'll tell you which ones can go along with you and which ones must go back home.”

₅When Gideon led his army down to the spring, the LORD told him, “Watch how each man gets a drink of water. Then divide them into two groups—those who lap the water like a dog and those who kneel down to drink.”

₆Three hundred men scooped up water in their hands and lapped it, and the rest knelt to get a drink. ₇The LORD said, “Gideon, your army will be made up of everyone who lapped the water from their hands. Send the others home. I'm going to rescue Israel by helping you and your army of three hundred defeat the Midianites.”

₈Then Gideon gave these orders, “You three hundred men stay here. The rest of you may go home, but leave your food and trumpets with us.”

Gideon's army camp was on top of a hill overlooking the Midianite camp in the valley.

₉That night, the LORD said to Gideon. “Get up! Attack the Midianite camp. I am going to let you defeat them, ₁₀but if you're still afraid, you and your servant Purah should sneak down to their camp. ₁₁When you hear what the Midianites are saying, you'll be brave enough to attack.”

Gideon and Purah worked their way to the edge of the enemy camp, where soldiers were on guard duty. ₁₂The camp was huge. The Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern nations covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. And it would be easier to count the grains of sand on a beach than to count their camels. ₁₃Gideon overheard one enemy guard telling another, “I had a dream about a flat loaf of barley bread that came tumbling into our camp. It hit the headquarters tent, and the tent tipped over and fell down.”

₁₄The other soldier answered, “Your dream must have been about Gideon, the Israelite commander. It means God will let him and his army defeat the Midianite army and everyone else in our camp.”

₁₅As soon as Gideon heard about the dream and what it meant, he bowed down to praise God. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Let's go! The LORD is going to let us defeat the Midianite army.”

₁₆Gideon divided his little army into three groups of one hundred men, and he gave each soldier a trumpet and a large clay jar with a burning torch inside. _17-18Gideon said, “When we get to the enemy camp, spread out and surround it. Then wait for me to blow a signal on my trumpet. As soon as you hear it, blow your trumpets and shout, ‘Fight for the LORD! Fight for Gideon!’ ”

₁₉Gideon and his group reached the edge of the enemy camp a few hours after dark, just after the new guards had come on duty. Gideon and his soldiers blew their trumpets and smashed the clay jars that were hiding the torches. ₂₀The rest of Gideon's soldiers blew the trumpets they were holding in their right hands. Then they smashed the jars and held the burning torches in their left hands. Everyone shouted, “Fight with your swords for the LORD and for Gideon!”

₂₁The enemy soldiers started yelling and tried to run away. Gideon's troops stayed in their positions surrounding the camp ₂₂and blew their trumpets again. As they did, the LORD made the enemy soldiers pull out their swords and start fighting each other.

The enemy army tried to escape from the camp. They ran to Acacia Tree Town, towards Zeredah, and as far as the edge of the land that belonged to the town of Abel-Meholah near Tabbath.

₂₃Gideon sent word for more Israelite soldiers to come from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and both halves of Manasseh to help fight the Midianites. ₂₄He also sent messengers to tell all the men who lived in the hill country of Ephraim, “Come and help us fight the Midianites! Put guards at every spring, stream, and well, as far as Beth-Barah before the Midianites can get to them. And guard the River Jordan.”

Troops from Ephraim did exactly what Gideon had asked, ₂₅and they even helped chase the Midianites on the east side of the River Jordan. These troops captured Raven and Wolf, the two Midianite leaders. They killed Raven at a large rock that has come to be known as Raven Rock, and they killed Wolf near a wine-pit that has come to be called Wolf Wine-pit.

The men of Ephraim brought the heads of the two Midianite leaders to Gideon.

₁But the men were really upset with Gideon and complained, “When you went to war with Midian, you didn't ask us to help! Why did you treat us like that?”

₂Gideon answered:

By the time Gideon had finished talking, the men of Ephraim had calmed down and were no longer angry with him.

₄After Gideon and his three hundred troops had chased the Midianites as far as the River Jordan, they were exhausted. ₅The town of Succoth was nearby, so he went there and asked, “Please give my troops some food. They are worn out, but we have to keep chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the two Midianite kings.”

₆The town leaders of Succoth answered, “Why should we feed your army? We don't know if you really will defeat Zebah and Zalmunna.”

₇“Just wait!” Gideon said. “After the LORD helps me defeat them, I'm coming back here. I'll make a whip out of thorns and rip the flesh from your bones.”

₈After leaving Succoth, Gideon went to Penuel and asked the leaders there for some food. But he got the same answer as he had got at Succoth. ₉“I'll come back safe and sound,” Gideon said, “but when I do, I'm going to tear down your tower!”

₁₀Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with an army of fifteen thousand troops. They were all that was left of the army of the eastern nations, because one hundred and twenty thousand of their warriors had been killed in the battle.

₁₁Gideon reached the enemy camp by going east along Nomad Road past Nobah and Jogbehah. He made a surprise attack, ₁₂and the enemy panicked. Zebah and Zalmunna tried to escape, but Gideon chased and captured them.

₁₃After the battle, Gideon set out for home. As he was going through Heres Pass, ₁₄he caught a young man who lived in Succoth. Gideon asked him who the town officials of Succoth were, and the young man wrote down seventy-seven names.

₁₅Gideon went to the town officials and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. Remember how you made fun of me? You said, ‘We don't know if you really will defeat those two Midianite kings. So why should we feed your worn out army?’ ”

₁₆Gideon made a whip from thorn plants and used it to beat the town officials. ₁₇Afterwards he went to Penuel, where he tore down the tower and killed all the town officials there.

₁₈Then Gideon said, “Zebah and Zalmunna, tell me about the men you killed at Tabor.”

“They were a lot like you,” the two kings answered. “They were dignified, almost like royalty.”

₁₉“They were my very own brothers!” Gideon said. “I swear by the living LORD that if you had let them live, I would let you live.”

₂₀Gideon turned to Jether, his eldest son. “Kill them!” Gideon said.

But Jether was young, and he was too afraid even to pull out his sword.

₂₁“What's the matter, Gideon?” Zebah and Zalmunna asked. “Do it yourself, if you're not too much of a coward!”

Gideon jumped up and killed them both. Then he took the fine gold ornaments from the necks of their camels.

₂₂After the battle with the Midianites, the Israelites said, “Gideon, you rescued us! Now we want you to be our king. Then after your death, your son and then your grandson will rule.”

₂₃“No,” Gideon replied, “I won't be your king, and my son won't be king either. Only the LORD is your ruler. ₂₄But I will ask you to do one thing: give me all the earrings you took from the enemy.”

The enemy soldiers had been Ishmaelites, and they wore gold earrings.

₂₅The Israelite soldiers replied, “Of course we will give you the earrings.” Then they spread out a robe on the ground and tossed the earrings on it. ₂₆The total weight of this gold was nearly twenty kilogrammes. In addition, there was the gold from the camels' ornaments and from the beautiful jewellery worn by the Midianite kings. Gideon also took their purple robes.

_27-29Gideon returned to his home in Ophrah and had the gold made into a statue, which the Israelites soon started worshipping. They became unfaithful to God, and even Gideon and his family were trapped into worshipping the statue.

The Midianites had been defeated so badly that they were no longer strong enough to attack Israel. And so Israel was at peace for the remaining forty years of Gideon's life.

₃₀Gideon had many wives and seventy sons. ₃₁He even had a wife who lived at Shechem. They had a son, and Gideon named him Abimelech.

₃₂Gideon lived to be an old man. And when he died, he was buried in the family tomb in his home town of Ophrah, which belonged to the Abiezer clan.

₃₃Soon after Gideon's death, the Israelites turned their backs on God again. They set up idols of Baal and worshipped Baal Berith as their god. ₃₄The Israelites forgot that the LORD was their God, and that he had rescued them from the enemies who lived around them. ₃₅Besides all that, the Israelites were unkind to Gideon's family, even though Gideon had done so much for Israel.

₄₁Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for Passover. ₄₂And when Jesus was twelve years old, they all went there as usual for the celebration. ₄₃After Passover his parents left, but they did not know that Jesus had stayed on in the city. ₄₄They thought he was travelling with some other people, and they went a whole day before they started looking for him. ₄₅When they could not find him with their relatives and friends, they went back to Jerusalem and started looking for him there.

₄₆Three days later they found Jesus sitting in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking them questions. ₄₇Everyone who heard him was surprised at how much he knew and at the answers he gave.

₄₈When his parents found him, they were amazed. His mother said, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been very worried, and we have been searching for you!”

₄₉Jesus answered, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn't you know that I would be in my Father's house?” ₅₀But they did not understand what he meant.

₅₁Jesus went back to Nazareth with his parents and obeyed them. His mother kept on thinking about all that had happened.

₅₂Jesus became wise, and he grew strong. God was pleased with him and so were the people.

₁For fifteen years Emperor Tiberius had ruled that part of the world. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was the ruler of Galilee. Herod's brother, Philip, was the ruler in the countries of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was the ruler of Abilene. ₂Annas and Caiaphas were the Jewish high priests.

At that time God spoke to Zechariah's son John, who was living in the desert. ₃So John went along the Jordan Valley, telling the people, “Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.” ₄Isaiah the prophet wrote about John when he said,

₇Crowds of people came out to be baptized, but John said to them, “You snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? ₈Do something to show that you really have given up your sins. Don't start saying that you belong to Abraham's family. God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. ₉An axe is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.”

₁₀The crowds asked John, “What should we do?”

₁₁John told them, “If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn't have any. If you have food, share it with someone else.”

₁₂When tax collectors came to be baptized, they asked John, “Teacher, what should we do?”

₁₃John told them, “Don't make people pay more than they owe.”

₁₄Some soldiers asked him, “And what about us? What do we have to do?”

John told them, “Don't force people to pay money to make you leave them alone. Be satisfied with your pay.”

₁₅Everyone became excited and wondered, “Could John be the Messiah?”

₁₆John said, “I am just baptizing with water. But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ₁₇His threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks. He will store the wheat in his barn and burn the husks with a fire that never goes out.”

₁₈In many different ways John preached the good news to the people. ₁₉But to Herod the ruler, he said, “It was wrong for you to take Herodias, your brother's wife.” John also said that Herod had done many other bad things. ₂₀Finally, Herod put John in jail, and this was the worst thing he had done.