A frightened farmer God made into a deliverer, who kept asking for signs and stumbled after the victory.
Afraid
Victorious
Ensnared
“The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
Go deeper
Introduction
Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding his grain from Midianite raiders, when the angel of the LORD sat down under a nearby oak. The angel called him a mighty man of valor. Gideon answered with complaints and excuses. His clan was the weakest, and he was the least in his family.
God kept meeting him in his fear. Gideon tore down his father's Baal altar, but at night, because he was afraid. He asked for signs with a fleece, twice. God cut his army to three hundred men so no one could boast. The victory was real. What came after was not as clean.
“
The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.
Name means
Hewer, one who cuts down. Also called Jerubbaal, “Let Baal contend against him”
Home
Ophrah, clan of Abiezer, tribe of Manasseh
Role
Judge who delivered Israel from Midian
Read in
;
Gideon's story
Torches and trumpets in the night
Beginning
Hiding in the winepress
The angel of the LORD calls him while he hides his wheat. Gideon lists his weaknesses.
Turning point
Tears down Baal's altar
He obeys, but at night, because he fears his family and town.
Turning point
The fleece
He asks God for a sign, then asks again with the sign reversed. God patiently answers both.
High point
Three hundred men
God shrinks the army so Israel cannot boast. With jars, torches, and trumpets they rout Midian.
Turning point
Refuses the crown
He tells Israel the LORD will rule over them, after a season of bitter revenge on two towns.
Ending
The golden ephod
He makes an ephod from the spoil, Israel worships it, and after his death they return to Baal.
Starts as the least man in the weakest clan, hiding from raiders. Ends as a delivered nation's hero whose legacy turns into a snare.
Where Gideon lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
How Gideon is wired
The Loyalist
Enneagram 6, Investigator wing
To find security and certainty before stepping out, and to know the one he follows will not fail him.
This one's a fairly clear read.
At their best, toward 9 Under stress, toward 3
Why we think so
1
Questions the promise. His first reply to God's greeting is to ask why, if the LORD is with them, all this has happened. ()
2
Needs confirmation. He asks for a sign at the altar and then two signs with the fleece. ()
3
Acts while afraid. He obeys God's command but does it at night because he fears his family and the men of the town. ()
The 5 wing shows in his need to gather information before acting. God sends him to overhear an enemy soldier's dream, and that settles him. ()
The Peacemaker. At his first altar he receives God's peace and names it “The LORD Is Peace.” ()
The Achiever. After the victory he becomes concerned with image and position. He makes a gold ephod in his hometown, and he names a son Abimelech, whose name means my father is king. ()
The case for 9
His habit of minimizing himself and hiding from conflict, threshing in a winepress, could point to a 9 who undervalues his own presence until God pushes him into action.
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Joshua and Judges.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Cautious, then committed
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Gideon
Honest about his fear. Obedient even when afraid. Tactical skill once he trusted God. At first, he refused to make himself king.
Where Gideon struggles
Needed repeated reassurance (). Took harsh revenge on Succoth and Penuel (). Made a gold ephod that became a snare to Israel and his family ().
What Gideon wanted most
Proof that God was really with him and would really win ().
What Gideon feared most
Being exposed as weak and failing before his family and town ().
Gideon's people
The Lord
The angel of the LORDCalled him mighty while he hid, and met his fear with patience.
Family
JoashHis father, whose Baal altar Gideon tore down. Joash defended him to the town.
JetherHis firstborn son, too young and afraid to kill the captured kings.
AbimelechHis son by a concubine in Shechem, who later murdered his brothers to become king.
Friends
PurahHis servant, who went with him into the Midianite camp at night.
Tension
The men of EphraimAngry they were not called sooner. Gideon calmed them with a gentle answer.
Opposed
Zebah and ZalmunnaThe kings of Midian he pursued and killed.
Family of Faith
See where Gideon fits
AbrahamJesus
c. 1190–1130 BC (debated). No recorded connection yet.
God saves through weakness so that no one can boast, and Gideon's failure shows Israel's need for a better King.
God cut Gideon's army down so the victory would plainly be his, a pattern that points to the cross. “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (). Gideon said the LORD should rule over Israel, but then acted like a king and led the people astray. That points beyond him to Jesus, the King who rules perfectly and never leads his people into idolatry.
Questions to sit with
1
Gideon kept asking God for signs, and God kept answering. What does that say about how God treats weak faith?
2
Gideon's worst failure came after his greatest victory. Where might success be making you careless?
Study Gideon with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
