In the book of Judges, Gideon may be the most unlikely hero of them all. When the angel of the Lord first appeared to him, he wasn't on a battlefield at all, but hiding in a winepress, secretly threshing wheat, afraid the Midianites would seize it. It was in a man this fearful, this lowly, this close to giving up hope that God began His wonderful work. Gideon's story is written for everyone who has ever felt they simply weren't good enough.

The Man in the Winepress

In those days Israel had forsaken God and had been oppressed by Midian for seven years. Year after year the Midianites swept in like locusts, plundering the crops and the flocks until Israel was reduced to utter poverty, forced to take refuge in caves and mountain strongholds. It was during these days that Gideon crouched in a winepress meant for treading grapes in order to thresh his wheat. It's an image that makes no ordinary sense, yet it captures fear perfectly.

"Mighty Man of Valour"

But God does not see as man sees. The very first words the angel spoke to Gideon overturned everything he believed about himself.

The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.Judges 6:12 (KJV)

At that moment Gideon was about as weak as a man could be, yet God called him a "mighty man of valour." This was no flattery. It was God seeing what He was about to accomplish in Gideon. God never calls us because we are already strong, but because He promises to be with us. Gideon hesitated and asked, "Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel?" God answered with a single line: "Surely I will be with thee."

The Sign of the Fleece

Weak and full of doubt, Gideon asked for confirmation of God's will again and again. He laid a piece of wool on the threshing floor and asked God to let the dew fall only on the fleece while the ground around it stayed dry. The next day he reversed the request, asking that the fleece stay dry while dew covered all the ground. God granted him each sign.

This passage is often misused as a template for "putting out a fleece" to seek guidance, but it is really a portrait of how patient God is with the weak. Gideon's faith was far from complete, yet God did not cast him off. Instead He kept strengthening him, patiently, step by step, leading a timid man toward obedience and courage.

Tearing Down the Altar at Home First

Before Gideon went out to battle, God first commanded him to tear down Baal's altar in his own father's house, cut down the idol beside it, and build an altar to the LORD. Though Gideon was afraid of the men of his town, he still carried it out under cover of night.

Spiritual warfare often has to begin at home, in our own hearts. God intended to save all of Israel through Gideon, yet He first required him to cleanse the idols from his own household. Removing everything in our lives that has quietly taken God's place is the first step toward victory.

An Army of Three Hundred

Gideon gathered thirty-two thousand men to face the enemy. Surprisingly, God said there were too many. He would not have Israel boast, "Mine own hand hath saved me." So all who were fearful and afraid were told to go home, and twenty-two thousand left. The remaining ten thousand were then sifted by the way they drank water, until only three hundred were left.

By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand.Judges 7:7 (KJV)

God deliberately shrank the army from thirty thousand down to three hundred to make it plain that the victory belonged entirely to Him and did not depend on numbers. When our resources are cut down to almost nothing, that is often exactly when God displays His power.

Torches and Trumpets

That night Gideon divided the three hundred men into three companies, each man carrying a trumpet and an empty pitcher hiding a torch. At midnight they blew their trumpets together, smashed the pitchers, lifted their torches high, and cried out as one, "The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon!" The whole Midianite camp woke in panic and confusion, turned their swords on one another, and fled in every direction.

No ordinary weapons at all, only trumpets, clay pitchers, and torches. God so often uses vessels that are utterly small and fragile, so that the treasure within the earthen jars is shown to be His power and not man's. All Gideon and his three hundred had to do was stand firm, raise their torches, and call on the name of God.

The God of the Weak

Gideon went from a frightened man hiding in a winepress to the judge who led Israel to victory. His life was not perfect, and he stumbled later on. But God's work in him never wavered: God chooses the weak to shame the strong. If you too feel too small, too timid, too unworthy, Gideon's story is written for you, because what defines you is not your weakness, but the words "The LORD is with thee."

May you open Judges chapters six through eight for yourself and read Gideon's story in full. In the BiblePro app you can read it chapter by chapter, comparing several translations side by side, or use AI search to trace the message running through it. And may you find a local church nearby, so that together with the people of God you can experience for yourself the God who is with us.

Series · Bible CharactersPart 16 of 45
In this series
  1. 1Adam: The First Man, Formed from Dust and Bearing God's Image
  2. 2Eve: Mother of All Living, and Hope Planted in the Midst of Judgment
  3. 3Noah: The Righteous Man Who Walked with God and Built the Ark by Faith
  4. 4Abraham: The Father of Faith, Whose Journey Began by Leaving Home
  5. 5Sarah: Mother of Nations Who Spent a Lifetime Waiting on God's Promise
  6. 6Isaac: The Child of Promise and a Lifetime of Quiet Faith
  7. 7Rebekah: How a Girl Drawing Water at a Well Became Isaac's Wife
  8. 8Jacob: The Grasper Who Became Israel
  9. 9Joseph: How the Brother Who Was Sold Became a Savior
  10. 10Moses: From a Baby on the Nile to the Prophet Who Led Israel
  11. 11Aaron: Israel's First High Priest and the Mediator Who Atoned for the People
  12. 12Miriam: The Prophetess Who Watched by the River and Sang with a Timbrel
  13. 13Joshua: The Faithful Servant Who Took Up Moses' Mantle
  14. 14Caleb: The Warrior Who Wholly Followed the Lord
  15. 15Deborah: The Prophetess and Leader Who Rose in the Age of the Judges
  16. 16Gideon: The "Mighty Man of Valour" Hiding in a Winepress
  17. 17Samson: The Strong Man's Weakness and the Grace of God
  18. 18Ruth: How a Foreign Widow Entered the Family Line of David and Jesus
  19. 19Hannah: The Mother Who Prayed in the Temple
  20. 20Samuel: The Prophet Born of Prayer and Israel's Last Judge
  21. 21King Saul: The Glory and Fall of Israel's First King
  22. 22Jonathan: The Prince Who Gave Himself in Loyal, Self-Giving Love
  23. 23Solomon: The King Who Asked God for Wisdom, and the Warning of His Later Years
  24. 24Elijah: The Prophet Who Stood Bold Before Kings and Was Tenderly Cared For by God
  25. 25The Prophet Who Asked for a Double Portion: The Everyday Miracles of Elisha
  26. 26Hezekiah: The Reformer King Who Tore Down Idols and Trusted the LORD Alone
  27. 27Isaiah: Seeing the Lord's Glory and Saying 「Here am I; send me」
  28. 28Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet: Faithful to the End in a Hard-Hearted Age
  29. 29Josiah: The Boy King Who Took the Throne at Eight and Found the Book of the Law
  30. 30Ezra the Scribe: A Heart Set to Seek the Law of the LORD
  31. 31Nehemiah: The Praying Warrior Who Rebuilt from the Ruins
  32. 32Who Was Mordecai? A Faithful Jew in the Land of Exile
  33. 33Job: The Suffering Righteous Man, and Trusting God in Affliction
  34. 34Daniel: A Captive in a Foreign Land, Faithful to the End
  35. 35John the Baptist: The Voice in the Wilderness Who Prepared the Way
  36. 36Mary: A Young Woman Who Answered Grace with Obedience
  37. 37Nicodemus: The Man Who Came by Night — A Quiet Journey from Curiosity to Faith
  38. 38Peter: From Fisherman to Rock, a Failure Held Fast by Grace
  39. 39Andrew: The Disciple Who Brought People to Jesus
  40. 40John the Apostle: The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved
  41. 41Thomas: From Honest Doubt to Falling Down in Worship
  42. 42Mary Magdalene: Set Free by the Lord, the First Witness to His Resurrection
  43. 43Barnabas: The Man They Called the 「Son of Encouragement」
  44. 44Timothy: Paul's True Son in the Faith
  45. 45Lydia: Europe's First Believer, an Open Heart and an Open Home

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