# Day 82

# Gideon’s Victory over Midian

Judges 7:16–8:32

Gideon divided his army into three parts. Each soldier held a trumpet and a clay jar with a lamp hidden inside. Silently, they moved down the mountain in the night. At the edge of the camp, they blew their trumpets. Then came the sound of their clay jars breaking. The lamps flashed their light. The soldiers shouted, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”

All 300 men stood in place around the enemy camp. The soldiers in the camp cried out and fled away. The Midianites began to fight among themselves. They were killing each other.

Gideon called out the men of the nearby tribes. They chased the Midianites. The tribe of Ephraim stopped Midian at the Jordan River. There Midian’s princes, Oreb and Zeeb, were killed. Midian never attacked Israel again.

Israel had peace for forty years while Gideon was its judge. The people wanted to make Gideon their king. But Gideon said, “No, the Lord God is the king of Israel. No one but God will rule these tribes.”

There were, at different times, fifteen judges over Israel. But of them all, Gideon had the most wisdom, courage, and faith.

Questions: What did Gideon’s army shout? Why did Gideon refuse to be king?