Gideons Journey

HOW GIDEON WAS APPOINTED: 

The people of Israel where committing idolatry despite being strictly told that it was forbidden. G-d got angry and sent an Angel of G-d who came down and selected Gideon to be the one to free the Jews from the hands of the Midianites who have been harassing the Jews for some time now.

 GIDEON’S TRIBE:

 He was a Abiezrite which was a poor clan in the tribe of Manasseh. 

 THE SIN THE ISRAELITES COMMITTED:

 They prayed and feared the gods of the Amorites instead of Hashem. They have been commanded to fear G-d in the Torah which they got in Sinai. 

THE ENEMY: 

The enemy was the Midianites.

WHAT THEY WHERE LIKE:

While the Jews were in the desert, the Midianites and the Moabites were their enemies. Moses along with 12 000 men destroyed most the Midianites and killed everyone except women and children. They repopulated hundreds of years later in the time period of Gideon. In this narrative, they conquered the land and began harassing the Jewish inhabitants who lived there. The weaker the Jews got the stronger they got. They came with so much and took everything. They were ruthless and left nothing but destruction and poverty.

HOW THEY HARASSED THE ISRAELITES:

They would destroy the Jewish produce and give rise to theirs, get rid of Jewish livestock and theirs would overwhelm us. They had lots of camels and destroyed the land which they entered and they made the land of Israel poor for the Jews.

THE NAMES OF THEIR KINGS:

Zebah and Zalmunna

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THEIR KINGS:

They were the two kings of Midian. They led the invasion and persecution of the Jews during the time of Gideon. They escaped Gideon but were unsuccessful when they were captured in Krakor. They were brought back to Jordan where they were executed by Gideon. This is the point in time where Gideon defeated the Midianites. 

GIDEON’S LEADERSHIP STYLE:

Gideon is a leader who used the power of G-d to defeat the Midianites. He is a leader who was both a warrior and religious leader. He used G-d’s power to defeat his enemies. One example of this is when he used 300 of his men to defeat the 20 000 swords men in Krakor. With the power of G-d, he managed to win what seemed to be an unwinnable battle with a 1:67 ratio. This showed his true strength.

Another example of how he was warrior was when he found Oreb and Zeeb and killed them, one at the Rock of Oreb and the other at the winepress of Zeeb. Then he brought their heads back across the Jordan River and when he arrived, he asked for food for his men. Gideon’s people said “What do you have the kings for us to give you the food”. He promised to destroy and kill them. When he returned, he destroyed the cities and slew the elders. Then he killed the kings.

Now on his more religious side: he tested to see what his army would be like and brought them to the water to see weather they would kneel down or lap the water. The ones who brought it to their face where in the 300 person army. Rashi says this was a test by G-d to say if they where in the habit of making obeisance to idols. This is a religious action because he chooses an army that is truly faithful to G-d. Another example is at the end of the story when the people ask him to be the king and he says “I shall not rule over you, Nor shall my son rule over you. Hashem shall rule over you”. This shows his devotion to G-d by not excepting and throne.

THEMES IN THE STORY:

A. ATTARCTION AND POWER

In the story Gideon is chosen by G-d and an angel of G-d to be the one who defeats the Midianites. G-d says that He is with him, and eventually Gideon steps up and with his men and the help of G-d he is able to scare the Midianites, and later kill their kings. Through the entire story he never loses sight of the “true leader” of the Jewish people. He excepts himself, and embarrasses that G-d is his leader. At one point he says, “The sword for Hashem and for Gideon”. At this point he labels the two leaders but he certainly doesn’t lose sight of the true leader. In the end of this narrative, he is asked to be king and he rejects the role, and says “Hashem is the only leader for you.”

B. INTERMARRIAGE/ASSIMILATION

Assimilation is a very large conflict in the story. It it said that the whole reason the Midianites were terrorizing the Jews was because they were worshiping idols. This displeased G-d, so he sent them there and then when he heard the out cries he sent Gideon to defeat them to show G-d is the only G-d. During the story, when Gideon is choosing his army, he chooses the people who pass the test of whether they where Idol worshipers or not and he fought with those who passed the test.

C. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY:

 A few but good soldiers is better than thousands but bad ones. He manages to win a battle with only 300 soldiers to 20000 which shows his strength both physically and mentally, and how quality beats quantity.

COMPARISON TO SAMSON:

A. LEADERSHIP STYLE

Both are warrior styled leaders. Examples of warrior style in Samson: the foxes, the lion incident, fighting off the army, escaping, and the end of the story when Samson shows his strength by knocking over the two towers. He was a leader who generally fought his own battles and his leadership style was a warrior like one. Despite Gideon being a more team player and more devoted to G-d, he still has that warrior like mentality. He kills the leader, 2 cities, 2 kings and ultimately defeats Midian. He was no stranger to brutal acts and neither was Samson. Samson was willing to kill himself and kill lots of Philistines, and Gideon killed Midianites by the masses as well. They showed a very close resemblance when it came to their leadership strategies.

B. PERSONALITY

Gideon and Samson where both very similar and very different when it came to personalty. Samson was more concerned with what he wanted rather than G-d. Gideon was more G-d fearing and did deeds for G-d. They both faced assimilation in their lives but Gideon handles it better as he destroyed idols while Samson was with Philistine girls. But when you come down to what really matters, it is that both of them where passionate to the cause of preserving Jewish life, and both have it deeply engraved in their personalties to be strong leader. Samson kills himself for the cause while Gideon commits a lot of harsh but necessary acts to defeat the Midianites. In the end both of them had the personality trait of perseverance and bravery and use that to stop at nothing to fight their oppressor and that is what both Samson and Gideon share when it comes to personality.

C. ACHIEVEMENTS

Both Samson and Gideon are chosen by G-d to be the ones who fight an evil people who have oppressed the people of Israel. For Gideon it is the Midiaites and for Samson it is the Philistines. Either way, both are put to the task to defeat them. Samson begins the fight against the Philistines by killing their animals and 1000 of their troops. In the end anyone in the building  was killed. Gideon accomplishes a similar feat when he and 300 men killed 20000 men and then killing the leaders and kings of Midian. Although Gideon was more successful than Samson, both of them were able to kill leaders of their enemies, and with the tiny numbers they had, they were able to defeat large armies. They both were able to inflict heavy damage upon their enemy and in the end both share very close achievements in the wars that they fought.