My name is Gideon, and this is my story.

my name is Gideon and in this narrative I share my journey I grew up under the Yoke of the midianites during the rule of the Empire a ruthless regime that oppressed my people with its harsh subjugation this was our reality an unfolding tragedy a result of the sins we committed against the Lord as punishment we were handed over to the midianites for seven long years under their cruelty we built castles caves and shelters in the mountains seeking to survive their Relentless attacks the Israelites desperate sold their crops only to see Invaders from Midian amalec and

the people of the East destroy their lands taking away all the produce leaving us with nothing to eat these hostile hordes descending like a swarm of locusts were numerous as camel herds so dense that they could not be counted these Invaders stayed in our lands until the entire region was plundered the midianites skilled in the effective use of camels dominated our people stealing our efforts and livestock the hard work of bringing in crops and livestock to enjoy the fruit of Labor became in vain Greed for sin robbed us of what we had worked so hard

for many accomplished men lost everything in life because they were unwilling to abandon their sins everything was lost to gain something that in hindsight seemed like nothing due to the midianites my people faced the imminent threat of famine immersed in a prolonged period of humiliation fruitless labor poverty and the constant threat of a superior enemy however this is not just a story of desolation but a Prelude to divine intervention that would change the course of Our Lives when my people cried out to the Lord God for help against the oppression of Midian the most high

sent a prophet to the Israelites the Divine messenger reminded them of the greatness of the Lord who had delivered them from slavery in Egypt saving them from the Egyptians and all oppressors God drove out the enemies and gave them land warning them not to worship the Amorite gods in the land they inhabited however Divine warnings were ignored in the face of the crisis plaguing Israel the Lord sent a sign a strange man who sat under the great Tree in ofra in the quietude of threshing wheat striving to hide the grain from the midianites the angel

of the Lord appeared and addressed me as Mighty Hero the Lord is with you threshing wheat in a wine press a task not only challenging but also embarrassing as traditionally wheat was threshed in the open air where the breeze separated the chaff from the grains however there in the Silence of a wine press I sought privacy fearing the midianites the the mysterious man declared the Lord is with you mighty man of Valor a greeting that sounded strange to my ears as I did not feel Mighty or valuable where was the value in my simple and

ordinary life he even found me in the midst of my daily tasks I responded questioning the presence of the Lord in the face of our distress if the Lord is with us why has all this happened where are the Miracles our ancestors told us about they said the Lord brought us out of Egypt but now it seems he has abandoned us to the midianites though aware of God's past wonders I couldn't help but wonder why I did not witness the same miracles in current days a doubt crept in questioning whether God had abandoned us the

restlessness of seeing Israel in that condition consumed me and the strange man invested with a unique strength turned to me with determination go in the strength you have and save Israel from the midianites for I am sending you he proclaimed feeling like an ordinary man unsure of my own abilities I hesitated to accept the Grand Mission entrusted to me I could not see myself as someone capable of Performing extraordinary Feats for the Lord God I considered myself insignificant and hesitant asking but how can I save Israel my clan is the weakest in the entire tribe

of Manasseh and I am the least in my my family the Divine man assured me firmly I will be with you and you will destroy the midianites as if you were fighting against a simple man it was hard to believe that I an ordinary man should embark on an extraordinary Journey the beginning of which was marked by un seemingly impossible task faced with the Grandeur of the midianite Empire a powerful world I questioned my ability to defeat them as a single individual ual in a confrontation against an Empire who was I who was I to

face the formidable midianites could the being before me be an angel of the Lord how could I be sure I decided to test the authenticity of this Divine encounter proposing a confirmation sign I asked if it was appropriate to request a sign a revelation confirming the celestial origin of the message I replied to the mysterious being if I have found favor in your eyes Show Me A Sign that confirms you are who you claim to be please do not leave until I come back with my offering and place it before you hurriedly I returned home

prepared a young goat and in a basket put flour and a little water baking unleavened bread carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot I presented them to the stranger under the immense tree he instructed me to place the meat and unleavened bread on a rock pouring the broth over them I followed his instructions to the letter then something extraordinary happened the man touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand and fire erupted from The Rock consuming everything I had brought in an instant he disappeared

it was at that moment that understanding overwhelmed me this was not a simple man it was the angel of the Lord in ecstasy I cried out Sovereign Lord I am doomed I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face this Burning Miracle of along with other aspects of this experience convinced me that all of this came from the Lord the appearance of the Angel of the Lord though entirely human in presence reassured me with words of comfort assuring that I would not face death in response to this divine revelation I raised an altar

to the Lord in ofra and gave it the name Yahweh Shalom which means the Lord is peace this altar stood as a testimony in ofra a structure where offering and sacrifices were made for religious purposes altars elevated platforms with flat surfaces were common in my time even our ancestor Noah built an altar to the Lord after leaving the Ark on various occasions God himself instructed the construction of altars after performing miraculous acts of Deliverance the purpose of these altars was to serve as memorials helping future Generations remember the Glorious works of the Lord the law

prescribed that any altar made of stones should be built with uncut natural stones as the use of tools on the stones would defile them when building the altar in ofra I performed this act as an expression of worship and consecration to the Lord with whom I had just had a face-to-face encounter I no longer feared God but revered him in gratitude for his interventions in my life that same night the Lord instructed me to take the second Bull from my father's herd the one that was 7 years old the order was clear tear down the

altar dedicated to Bal destroy the Ashera pole beside it and sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar using the wood from the Ashera pole as fuel the additional challenge was to cut down the Ashera pole which was an object of worship in honor of a pagan fertility goddess named Ashera or a start aera whose name means she who enriches was worshiped in icient Syria Phoenicia and Canaan in ugaritic literature she was called lady Ashera of the sea the Phoenicians worshiped her as AAR the Assyrians as ishar and the Philistines as a Shera

after the death of Joshua the worship of Ashera plagued Israel due to the incomplete conquest of the land of Canaan my own people abandoned the Lord to serve Baal the Pagan god of the Canaanites and Ashera the nation of Israel was in in a state of compromise initially fighting against the Pagan culture of the Canaanites but eventually coexisting peacefully with it people have always been called by God to be different this was the Divine standard for Israel the intention was for Israel to Stand Out Among the Nations around them but sadly they did not follow

this guidance Disobedience always brought painful consequences and spiritual chains while Joshua LED with faith in God and believed in the promises of the Prophet his generation knew the Lord however as Generations passed the connection was lost the new generation no longer knew God and the nation began to live in a state of incomplete obedience and compromise instead of driving out the Canaanites we were influenced by their perverse Pagan worship now facing the challenge of confronting the worship of Ashira the fertility goddess I felt the weight of this responsibility on my shoulders aera was often represented

by a branchless tree trunk planted in the ground carved to symbolize the goddess the connection to carve trees LED worship sites dedicated to her to be commonly called Groves although the responsibility was overwhelming I knew I could not escape this challenge imposed by the Lord God has a complete aversion to idolatry as it unleashes Divine wrath upon those involved idolatry brings curses upon the people in the land provoking the anger of God it contaminates and pollutes both people and the land so with 10 of my servants I carried out the Lord's orders however I chose

to perform the task at night fearing the other members of my father's household and the inhabitants of the city in my community where the worship of Bal was already practiced God called me to First put my house in order the next morning as the the city began to stir a surprising discovery was made the altar of Bal had been torn down and the Ashera pole next to it had been cut down in its place a new altar was erected displaying the remains of the sacrificed bull people intrigued questioned among themselves who could have done such

an act after careful investigation they discovered that I was responsible the city inhabitants enraged demanded that my father hand me over to pay with my life for the destruction of the Bal Altar and the cutting down of the Ashera pole there was no difficulty in determining the authorship of the desecration of the Altar and I was immediately publicly exposed as responsible for the actions against Bal and aera this shows how powerful the worship of Bal was at that time to the point that my own people were willing to end my life heresy had become the

predominant religion with my people worship shipping Bal believing he was the god of weather this worship of Bal was rooted in the belief that success in agricultural activities was directly linked to weather control during tough times caused by the oppression of the midianites people intensified their worship of B even more however they did not realize that by not turning to God they were only worsening their own situation when confronted by the crowd my father interv and questioned the fervent defense of Bal he challenged those who were defending Bal proclaiming that anyone defending the case of

Bal would be condemned to mourning death if Bal were truly a God he should be able to defend himself and punish the one who destroyed his altar my father presented a logical argument to preserve my life highlighting that as Bal was the offended party he could defend himself from that moment on I was labeled the fool of Bal indicating that I should let Bal defend himself since I had broken his altar this situation reveals How Deeply rooted the worship of Bal had become in the community to the point that any affront to his worship was

seen as an affront to the God himself shortly after this event the armies of Midian amalec and the people of the East formed an alliance against Israel crossing the Jordan and camping in the valley of Jezreel at that moment the spirit of the Lord clothed me with power however to face this threat I needed my own Army so I blew the trumpet of a ram as a call to Arms summoning the men of the tribe of abiza who gathered in response to the call additionally I sent Messengers through the territories of Manasseh Asher zebulun and

naftali to summon their respective Warriors through this Divine empowerment I managed to gather an impressive number of soldiers in a short amount of time 32,000 men came to join me for the battle a powerful undertaking however before departing I needed to make sure that it was truly God who sent me for this I sought a second Miracle to confirm his word being someone raised as the least of my family and belonging to the smallest Clan I questioned whether people would truly follow a humble man like me so I asked God for an additional sign I

placed a fleece on the threshing floor overnight asking that if the fleece was wet with Dew in the morning but the ground around it was dry I would know that God would help me rescue Israel as promised upon waking early the next morning I found that the fleece was wet while the ground around it was dry thus confirming the Divine sign however I felt the need for one more sign to strengthen my confidence before being too critical of me it would be fair to consider of the challenge that lay before me many would immediately refuse

such a call without even considering it Allowing God to confirm my small Faith was still better than having no faith at all so I addressed god with an additional request asking him not to be angry with me let me perform one more test using the fleece again but this time I asked that the fleece remained dry while the ground around it became wet with Dew that night God granted my request at dawn I found that the fleece was dry while the ground was covered with Dew this second sign was enough to confirm that I was

ready for the task ahead then my Army and I Rose early and went to the spring of Herod the armies of Midian were to the north in the valley near the hill of moray the Lord told me that if I allowed everyone to fight against the midianites the Israelites would boast of having saved themselves by their own strength therefore I instru instructed the people that anyone who was timid or afraid could leave the mountain and go back home this was a great test for my faith my Army of 32,000 men was already outnumbered by the

135,000 midianites however God considered that my Army was still too large thus 22,000 men went home leaving only 10,000 willing to fight now the odds were 13 to1 the Lord told me that they were still too many men so he ordered me to take them down to the spring for a test upon arrival God instructed me to divide the men into two groups in one group I placed all those who CED their hands and brought the water to their mouths like dogs in the other group I placed all those who knelt and drank directly from

the stream this peculiar test served to determine who would be chosen apparently those who drank water like dogs were considered better soldiers as they kept their eyes around even while drinking surprisingly only 300 of the men CED their hands to drink while all the others knelt and drank with their mouths in the Stream the Lord told me that with these 300 men he would rescue me and give me victory over the midianites all the others were sent home the Lord God wanted the odds to clearly favor him showing that Victory would unequivocally be his sometimes

we underestimate that greatness can be an obstacle to God's work it is more challenging to truly trust God when we have many impressive resources at our disposal therefore I decided to gather the provisions and Rams horns from the other Warriors and send them back home however I kept the 300 men with me God assured me that victory was certain even though now the Israelite Army was less than 1% of its original size the ratio was more than 400 enemy soldiers for each Israelite Soldier this discrepancy emphasized even more the need to entirely trust God for

victory I could only trust in the Lord God for there was nothing else to rely on now I am here in the midianite camp which stretched across the valley just below me that night the Lord told me to rise and go down to the midianite camp for he had already given me victory over them however if I was afraid to attack he suggested that I go down with my servant Pura to hear what the midianites were saying this experience would encourage me and prepare me for the attack even with fear I followed the Divine instructions

I took my servant and descended to the edge of the enemy camp the sight was daunting as the armies of Midian amalec and the people of the East were spread across the valley like a swarm of locusts their camels were as numerous as the grains of sand on the beach impossible to count I crawled through the enemy camp concerned about what I would discover in a moment of Revelation I heard a man telling his companion about a dream he had he shared that in the dream a loaf of barley bread had fallen into the midianite

camp hitting a tent and causing it to collapse completely His companion interpreted the dream as a sign that God had given Gideon the son of joash victory over Midian and all its allies this Divine message brought encouragement and confidence preparing me for what was to come God provided me with a significant confirmation of his future work certainly it was not a coincidence or chance God used this situation to strengthen my faith and it worked so well that it was not by chance that the man had the dream that night it was also not by chance

that he shared it with a friend at that moment it was not by chance that I was was in the exact place to hear the man recounting the dream these events were Not Mere coincidences but part of the divine plan God was using every detail to build my confidence even my enemies were filled with fear when we are weak in faith we tend to amplify the strength of our enemies however upon hearing the dream and its interpretation I bowed in worship before the Lord God wanted me to find encouragement even in the midst of the

enemy camp this experience reveals that when the Lord asks us to perform challenging tasks for him he does not stand idly by and does not expect us to do it alone he is there to guide sustain and encourage us along the way so I returned to the Israelite camp and shouted arise for the Lord has given victory over the hordes of Midian I divided the 300 men into three groups giving each a Ram's Horn and a clay jar containing a torch my faith was contagious and upon receiving encouragement I couldn't help but spread it to

others building their faith I instructed everyone to keep their eyes on me when we reached the edge of the camp they were to follow my lead when the hundred men with me and I blew the Rams horns everyone around the midianite camp should do the same it was just after midnight during The Changing of the Guard when we reached the edge of the midianite camp suddenly we blew the Ram's horns and shattered our clay jars all three groups followed our lead blowing the horns and shattering the jars we held the burning torches in our left

hands and the horns in our right hands and we all cried out a sword for the Lord and for Gideon the shout did not reflect Pride but tactical wisdom as the midianites were already fearful of Gideon's sword the cries contributed to putting them in panic the midianite soldiers were awakened by by the noise the light and the movement around them each man stayed in his position around the camp and witnessed the midianites running in panic shouting as they fled when the 300 men blew the Rams horns the Lord stirred up confusion in the enemy camp

causing the midianites to fight each other with their swords the first phase of the battle was not between Israel and Midian but rather an internal struggle among the midianites seizing the opportunity I called the Warriors of naftali Asher and Manasseh to join in pursuing the army of Midian additionally I sent Messengers throughout the Hill Country of Ephraim instructing them to come down and attack the midianites cutting off their Escape Routes at the shallow Crossings of the Jordan River although God began the work with a small number of soldiers once the work started I sought to

involve many others in the pursuit the men of Ephraim followed the instructions captured the midianite command commanders orb and Zeb and executed them then continued to pursue the midianites in response to the men of Ephraim I explained that the victory over orb and Zeb the midianite commanders was the work of God I told them that what I had done compared to their recognition was insignificant I used a metaphor comparing my contribution to the gleanings of grapes from ephraim's Harvest suggesting that even what they considered as the leftovers from from their Harvest was superior to the

entirety of the Harvest of my small clan of abiza my intention was to redirect attention to God's sovereignty in the Victory and minimize my own contribution however the men of Ephraim seemed more concerned with personal recognition than the overall well-being of Israel instead of rejoicing in the rescue of God's people they were focused on their own accomplishments and being called to battle this response a to appease their anger and realign the focus to God's work and the greater good of Israel I noticed that the city leaders were hesitating to provide food to my Warriors until

we captured the Kings Zeba and Zuna this deeply irritated me as my men were exhausted from pursuing the enemy and needed immediate sustenance my patience was wearing thin in the face of the local leaders reluctance to fully cooperate the situation emphasized Iz the importance of overcoming political and bureaucratic obstacles to achieve common goals I was determined to reach the leaders of Midian and at the same time sought to ensure that my men received the necessary support to continue the pursuit this highlighted the challenges that often arise when trying to unite different parties for a common

purpose the situation now involved the refusal of the leaders of penel and other cities to support my campaign against Midian they chose not to get involved until victory was assured which generated frustration on my part faced with this resistance I promised to return after the victory to punish those who had refused to provide help when needed despite the obstacles I continued to lead my men with courage Zeba and Zuna the two kings of Midian were now in Kore with a significant Army even with a much smaller number of Warriors I planned a bold surprise attack

confident in the Lord's Guidance the battle was far from over but my determination remained steadfast The Narrative continues with my determined pursuit of the midianite leaders by surprising the midianite Army in kakor I managed to capture Zeba and Zuna the kings of Midian even in the face of challenges my persistence and trust in God prevailed leading to Victory in the battle after the conquest I returned to the city of suo to fulfill my promise and punish those who had refused to help during the fight Upon returning to Sako I captured a young man from the

south to identify the city's leaders I found the 77 elders and local officials including zabber and Zuna and taught them a lesson punishing them with thorns and Briars from the desert my firm approach highlighted the importance of keeping promises and supporting the common cause against Israel's enemies following these events the Israelites proposed that I and my lineage rule over them recognizing me as their leader and deliverer however maintaining a humble perspective I declined the offer emphasizing that neither I nor my son nor my grandson should rule over them instead I reaffirmed the sovereignty of the

Lord God over Israel acknowledging that he was the true king this attitude ude reflects the understanding that God should be the only one to rule over his people at this point in the story after the victory over the kings of Midian the people expressed their gratitude by bringing contributions such as gold earrings from the plunder these items were used to create a sacred EOD a garment similar to a vest worn by the priests of Israel however even with good intentions of creating a symbol to remind the people of worshiping God this action became a snare

the ephod originally intended to serve as a reminder of worshiping God ended up diverting the people to idolatry this incident highlights how even well-intentioned objects can become a source of worship and distract people from the true focus on God this episode underscores the importance of staying aligned with Divine principles and avoiding any form of idolatry or improper worship my life was is a journey marked by challenges but also by triumphs that demonstrate the enduring strength we all possess God's command to build altars of Unfinished Stone emphasizes the importance of directing attention to him rather than

seeking worldly Beauty this obedience resulted in the subjugation of Midian and 40 Years of Peace for Israel over the years I served as a judge and guide for the people maintaining peace in the land my story is proof of the power that resides within each of us waiting to be awakened by a greater purpose and fueled by faith I hope that my narrative inspires others to embrace their Destinies overcome adversities and never underestimate the power of God God made me a Victor over the midianites not by conventional power but through compassion for Israel knowledge of

his great past works and a spiritual hunger to see God perform extraordinary Feats again I am Gideon and this is my story of Faith courage and victory may all find strength and encouragement to face their own challenges and Rise Above adversity