The Underdog Story of Gideon
Most of us are familiar with the story of David and Goliath. But do you know the underdog story of Gideon?
The story of David and Goliath is well-known around the world. Movies have been inspired by it. Businesses, sports commentators, and many others have likened it to current individuals and circumstances to it as well.
It’s a story of a boy (David) who faced a giant warrior (literally) in a battle to the death. If David were to lose, then his entire country would be enslaved by the Philistines (the country Goliath was from).
If you don’t know the biblical story, captured in 1 Samuel 17, it starts out with the protagonists (the Israelite army) going into battle against the antagonists (the Philistine army). However, before the battle begins, the 9’ tall warrior (yes, you read that right) made a challenge.
According to the giant, this challenge would prevent the loss of countless lives on the battlefield. Rather than tens of thousands of men having to die, it would merely be a battle between two men. Of which, only one would have to perish.
Goliath’s Challenge
The challenge was that if any of the Israelite warriors were to defeat Goliath, then they could take the entire army of the Philistines as their slaves. However, if they lost, then the Philistines would take the Israelites as their slaves. There was a lot riding on this fight. Because no one in the Israelite army was willing to fight him, they were at a stand-still.
At that time, unlike his older brothers, David was just a boy and too young to fight in the army. His job was to be the shepherd for their family’s flock of sheep.
One afternoon, David’s father, Jesse, asked him to take some food to his brothers (who were supposed to be fighting against the Philistine army). When he arrived, there was no battle. Rather, it was two armies camped on either side of the battlefield.
At the start of every day, Goliath would go out and give his challenge. And every morning, there would be no response from the Israelites. That was until the day David arrived.
Challenge Accepted
As David arrived at the camp, he could hear Goliath giving his challenge. Within his challenge, he insulted the God of the Israelites (aka God). Well, David wouldn’t have any of that. He immediately marched over to Saul’s tent (the Israelite king). He asked why no one was out there fighting Goliath? Saul, not so eloquently, said that everyone was afraid of him.
David was a man of faith and a strong believer in God’s favor and protection. He declared that he would go and fight for them.
Think about that for a minute. A young boy, probably in his early teens, was willing to fight a man that was not only an experienced warrior but at least three to four feet taller than him. A boy with no military experience was willing when all of the seasoned Israelite warriors were too afraid.
God had been preparing this boy for such a day. By being a shepherd, and protecting the flock from wild animals, From that experience, David learned a thing or two. One of which was how to, very accurately, throw a stone with a slingshot.
When David walked out to meet Goliath on the battlefield, the giant thought it was a joke. “He said to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?’ (1 Samuel 17:43). Nowadays, he would’ve probably said something like, “Really? You’re the best they’ve got?”
The Victory
David responded to Goliath’s insult, by letting him know that God would deliver the giant into his hands. As Goliath moved toward the battle line to attack, David too began toward the battle line. The boy grabbed one of the stones from his pouch, that he’d grabbed several from a nearby ravine. He put the stone into his slingshot. And with precise aim, he struck Goliath in the head. It knocked him out cold.
Before he could regain consciousness, David grabbed Goliath’s sword and killed him with it.
The story is a great example of the underdog overcoming adversity. But it’s far from the only one.
Israelites Enslaved In Egypt
David was an Israelite. And God often used them to overcome extenuating circumstances. Yet, as a whole, they were an ungrateful and disobedient people.
A great example of the Israelites being ungrateful and disobedient is after God freed them from slavery. Exodus provides an account of the Israelites being enslaved by the Egyptians for 400 years. God raised up a man named Moses (read about his birth here) who He used to free the Israelites. God sent ten plagues to Egypt. It was the tenth plague that was the final straw for Pharoah (Exodus 11:1-12:28). And he set them free.
To lead their escape, God provided pillars of fire by night and clouds by day. When they got to the Red Sea, they became very afraid. They complained about their circumstances and wished they were still slaves.
In Exodus 14, God used Moses to part the Red Sea so they could cross on dry ground. That’s a pretty big miracle. And they were happy and grateful once again. But that gratitude was short-lived. By Exodus 16, they were complaining yet again. They had already forgotten that God had freed them from slavery and helped them to escape by providing fire by night and clouds during the day. And, of course, He made it so they could cross through the Red Sea on dry ground.
Later in Exodus 16, God provided the Israelites food (called Mana) during their journey. But that wasn’t good enough either. They just couldn’t be satisfied. And they continually needed signs to be reminded of God’s sovereignty.
That pattern of receiving signs, believing for a little while, and then going back to their old ways continued on throughout the Old Testament. Even the New Testament accounts how the Jews demanded ongoing signs to believe.
Enter Gideon
Long before Gerard Butler yelled, “This Is Sparta!” in the movie 300, Gideon had a story of 300 that (unless you grew up going to Sunday school) you’ve probably never heard of. That’s because it’s not widely taught from the pulpits.
By the time Gideon arrived, roughly 280 to 300 years had passed since the Israelites left Egypt. Of that, roughly 50 years were spent being oppressed. The last 7 of those had been spent being oppressed by the Midianites (Judges 6:1-4).
Gideon was a young man when the Israelites had been handed over to the Midianites. The Lord had handed them over because of their disobedience. Over and over in the Old Testament, accounts are made of the Israelites being freed from an oppressor or beating a mightier army. Yet, they still forgot and went about as if God hadn’t done anything for them.
Nonetheless, because the Israelites were His chosen people, God continued to return to help and protect them.
After 7 years, God heard their cries and chose to use Gideon to free them this time. He sent an angel to Gideon to help prepare him for the battle ahead.
However, Gideon didn’t believe that God wanted to use him. Not only because he was from Manasseh, the smallest tribe, but because he saw himself as the least in his own family (Judges 6:15). Even though he was a military leader of a significant number of men.
As customary with the Jews, Gideon demanded a sign if God was truly choosing to use him. He put a piece of wool on the ground. His proof, he asked that when the dew comes in the morning, if it truly was from God that only the piece of wool would be wet. And all of the ground around it be dry (Judges 6:36-38). The morning came and it was as he asked. As you might’ve guessed, that wasn’t good enough.
Next, he asked for the exact opposite to be true the next morning. That the dew would come and the ground all around the wool would be wet, but it would be completely dry. And God made it so (Judges 6:39-40).
To read more on angels of the Bible, read Angels of the Bible.
Here’s Your New Army Gideon – That Other One Was Too Big
After some serious convincing, Gideon finally believed that God had called him to lead his people out of oppression.
To ensure that God received the credit for the victory, and not the Israelites, He instructed Gideon to reduce the size of his army. To start, God told Gideon to let any man go home who was too afraid. Roughly 22,000 men left leaving just 10,000 (Judges 7:1-3). But that was still too many.
They had encamped near a fresh spring. So God told Gideon that He would choose the men by the way they drank water. Some of them cupped their hands and drank the water, while the rest got on their knees and drank directly from the spring. Those who drank from cupped hands were the chosen ones. They numbered 300 (Judges 7:4-7). The other 9,700 men were sent home.
Victory, Without Firing A Single Shot
Gideon, and his 300 men, were now to defeat the Midianites, Amalekites, and Persians that had camped in the valley below.
In the middle of the night, God instructed Gideon to go down into the camp. Although he was afraid, he went anyway. While he was there, he overheard two men talking. They were discussing a dream that one of them had had.
After Gideon heard the dream, he knew victory would be theirs. He went back up to his camp and instructed his men. Still in the middle of the night, he gave each man a trumpet, an empty jar, and a torch. They were to put the lit torches into the jars. Then he split them into three groups (or companies) so they could surround their opposing forces.
When they were in their assigned locations, Gideon gave the signal to let loose. They started by blowing their trumpets really loud. This was to wake everyone up. Then, they smashed the jars and grabbed the lit torches. In one hand, they had the trumpet and the other the torch.
Have you ever been woken up quite suddenly? There’s usually a bit of confusion when that happens. And that’s exactly what was occurring in the camp. During the confusion, when they got out of their tents, all they could see were torches on all sides.
Next, Gideon’s men were to yell “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon” along with the trumpet blows.
Every member of the opposing force grabbed their swords and began fighting their way out. Unfortunately for them, they were fighting and killing each other (Judges 7:20-22a). Approximately 120,000 swordsmen died that night (Judges 8:10).
Gideon won the battle without firing an arrow or drawing a sword. And God allowed him to do it with only 300 men.
Just as God used a boy to defeat a Giant, He used a small army to defeat a much larger one.
So, the next time you hear an underdog story, perhaps you’ll remember the story of Gideon and how God used him to lead 300 men to defeat 120,000.
For more insight on studying scripture, read A Bible Study of the Bible.
All scripture references were taken from BibleGateway.com.
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