Shalom and welcome back to 'Israel with Aline! ' Today we are in northern Israel, more specifically in the Jezreel Valley because we are going to visit together Gideon's fountain, where God is going to test the soldiers of the people of Israel. So, if you're ready, let's get started!
Gideon was one of the great heroes of the Bible and was chosen by God to defend Israel in a very difficult and complicated period; the people of Israel begin to stray in their ways and God as punishment sends them oppressors; in this case the Midianites. For seven years the Midianites oppressed the people of Israel, and more than that, they stole the provisions, the people of Israel were starving and also becoming poor. And so the people pray to God and God will hear their prayers and choose a new judge who is Gideon, let's together now know his story.
Gideon was one day in Ophrah preparing wheat hidden from the Midianites so that they wouldn't steal the little food they had, and then an angel appears to him; The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you? " "Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel?
My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. " The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive. " Judges 6:14-16 And when the angel tells Gideon that he had been chosen, what is Gideon's reaction?
He doesn't believe it, he says, "why me? " He's not from an important family, a well-known family, they're even an extremely poor family, they're the poorest family in all of Manasseh and he's the smallest of his whole household. So God did not choose him for his physical appearance, nor for his wealth, nor for the family he came from.
But God chose him for his character and for the courage he had, because this courage was going to be very necessary for the battles. And we see that God sometimes chooses simple people later in the biblical story we also remember David, just a young man from a family that was not important and the younger brother of many brothers will also be chosen. So remember this, even the youngest brother who at that time was considered the least important can be chosen by God to do great things.
And God commands Gideon to destroy his father's altar of Baal and build an altar to Him, to God in the same place. Watch this, his own father had a pagan altar to Baal and it was precisely this kind of altar and this kind of worship that was one of the reasons why the people were punished by God. But even with his father's mistakes, Gideon will not be diminished in God's eyes, because his faith will not be shaken and he destroys the altar of Baal which was an affront to the people who believed in him at that time and that's why his name will be changed to Jerubbaal, which in Hebrew is Yerubaal meaning "Baal will fight", but meanwhile Israel's enemies were getting stronger and stronger.
And Midianites along with Amalekites and the eastern children kept robbing and oppressing Israel and they camped near here also inside the Jezreel Valley. And now the time has come for us to continue our tour and approach Gideon's fountain and find out how the people of Israel are going to win this battle that seemed impossible! ♪ And the first thing Gideon needed for battle was soldiers!
And he will blow the shofar which is this trumpet to summon the men of his city and with messengers he gathered the soldiers from four of the twelve tribes of Israel which were Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali. And all these men gathered here beside the fountain of Harod, and Gideon was ready for battle, or at least he thought so. He had thousands of soldiers ready to do battle and the Midianites and the Amalekites and their enemies were here in the Valley of Jezreel, very close by.
But God says "no. " Why? "Because if at that moment you go out and win the battle, you will say that you won the war, that it was the people of Israel who were strong and won.
" But God wants that all the people to know that the one who granted this victory was God Himself, and so He wants to decrease the number of soldiers and the first test is really going to be a test of fear. He says "all of you who are afraid of the battle, go back home if you don't have full confidence that God will grant this victory, don't even fight. " And 22,000 soldiers return home, but he still has 10,000 soldiers which is no small thing, and so God again sends a test.
And Gideon with all his soldiers are here beside this fountain and Gideon orders all the soldiers to come down to drink water and the way they will drink water will be the way that will be decided whether they will go to battle or not. So now let's go down together and get some water guys, come on! The soldiers will arrive here at the water source and there are two ways in which they can drink water; the first is to literally kneel down and prostrate themselves and take water directly with their face in the water it's written in the Bible "licking like a dog", so you have the option of licking like a dog, literally sticking your face in the water and the second option is to take the water and drink it by putting your hand to your mouth.
300 soldiers will raise their hands and drink the water and the rest, almost 10,000 soldiers will prostrate themselves and lick the water like a dog. And God then chooses just these 300 soldiers. So Gideon took the men down to the water.
There the LORD told him: "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink. " Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
Judges 7:5-6 But why do they select the soldiers just like this? Because at that time the people of Israel had a big problem, a problem of idolatry. Part of the people worshiped other gods, literally prostrated themselves to other gods so those who were used to prostrate themselves, they drank the water like dogs and so God did not want any person who did not have one hundred percent faith in Him.
And only 300 people passed this test. And these 300 soldiers will face a gigantic army. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts; Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
Judges 7:12 And Gideon and his soldiers went out to battle with trumpets, torches and empty jars. I know it sounds kind of strange and nonsensical, but this was a genius strategy! "The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars.
Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon! " While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the three hundred trumpets sounded the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords Judges" 7:20-22 They used the noise of the trumpets and the breaking pitchers to scare their enemies who began to attack each other and flee, and then the other soldiers of Israel were summoned to pursue the Midianites.
See that yes, God gives a second chance; even those who didn't pass the water test will now be able to join the fight and see what clear, clean water we have here to this day, all of it here is fresh water and it's enough for a large amount of soldiers to come and drink here. And it is rare to see such a large fountain in Israel. And we are at Gideon's fountain, the fountain where this great test was done, a great little test we can say, because the people of that time were doing these actions without realizing it for many of these soldiers the idolatry and Baal worship was so ingrained within them that they didn't realize it, Gideon's own father had an image, he had an altar to Baal which obviously as we have already talked about Gideon is going to break.
But this is going to be a test to separate, and only those who really had full faith in God were chosen to fight on His behalf. So let's also realize the little things, of our little acts in everyday life that influence so much our connection with God. Gideon's fountain is here to this day as we see it, and much has changed this is no longer a battle zone, we are in a very peaceful and quiet zone and as you can see this place from a place of wars and battles has turned into a place of families.
And families come here to enjoy these beautiful waters, but despite the serenity of today we can never forget what happened here in the past, so we walk in Israel and we open the pages of the Bible and even in places that seem so peaceful, there is so much hidden history. But one very important thing that I have to tell you, is that very close to here there is another water source that is smaller than this one, but part of the people believe that maybe there happened the water proof and that is exactly the images that we are seeing here now. If you enjoyed today's video, don't forget to like it and subscribe for more wonderful trips in the pages of the Bible and in the pages of Israel, thank you for watching and see you next time!
