Letter to the Hebrews Volume 145

 Overcoming Faith Part 3 (Gideon)

Hebrews 11:32-34 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the Prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. KJV Note: CEV=Contemporay English Version

The writer of Hebrews next list six (6) men and also the Prophets whom the Lord God/Elohim/Jehovah/Adonai/Jesus Christ used in very miraculous ways to accomplish His will on the earth for the profit, protection, and preservation of children of Israel on the earth as per His promise to Abraham (then Abram) way back when He first called Him to leave his home country and sojourn to a land that He (God) would shew unto him (Genesis 12:1-3). Each of these men were born many years after Abraham's earthly life was over, however, each one of them were descendants of Abraham. Just as the writer of Hebrews declares, as it is written, "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the Prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." (Hebrews 11:32-34) (KJV), it would take up very much time to document all that the Scriptures have so documented for us concerning the exercising of extremely great overcoming faith by all of them. However, I will shine some light on each of these six (6) men as well as some of the Prophets that the writer of Hebrews highlights for us here in this part of his list of the heroes of the faith.

The first man spoken of is Gideon who was just an ordinary man. Not some superhero or great man of military strength and might, but he was a man who believed in God and believed God, even though he questioned God as to why He had allowed Israel to be under the oppression of the Midianites, as it is written, "And Gideon said unto Him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto Him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man." (Judges 6:13-16) (KJV). Despite these great words from the Lord God/the Lord Jesus Christ Gideon still wanted a sign from God that it was truly Him speaking with him and so He gave Gideon the sign of the fleece (Judges 6:36-40). Gideon also tore down the alter of baal that had been erected by his own father and replaced it with an alter to the Lord God/Jehovah God (Judges 6:28-35). Note: "Our Lord Jesus Christ will let us suffer the consequences of our waywardness from Him and His Word, even though it pains and hurts Him to do so, because He has warned us and continues to warn us through His Word that there are scars from our sin, disobedience and rebellion that He will not remove, but He is always ready to receive His sons and daughters back into His loving embrace. This is why the Midianites were allowed to oppress Israel because of the alters of baal (false gods) erected all over by the people."

The Lord God chose this ordinary man to lead a small army of men that had been narrowed down from over 30,000 to just 300 men that He (God) would use to utterly destroy the Midianites, as it is written, "And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place." (Judges 7:7) (KJV). Gideon an ordinary man was turned into a brave mighty warrior by our Lord Jesus Christ enabling him to have overcoming faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. Gideon then led these 300 men into an ambush of all the army of the Midianites and they were decimated, defeated, and destroyed by this mighty man of valour as our Lord Jesus Christ called him (Judges 6:12) and here is how it all went down, "Gideon and his group reached the edge of the enemy camp a few hours after dark, just after the new guards had come on duty. Gideon and his soldiers blew their trumpets and smashed the clay jars that were hiding the torches. The rest of Gideon's soldiers blew the trumpets they were holding in their right hands. Then they smashed the jars and held the burning torches in their left hands. Everyone shouted, 'Fight with your swords for the LORD and for Gideon!' The enemy soldiers started yelling and tried to run away. Gideon's troops stayed in their positions surrounding the camp and blew their trumpets again. As they did, the LORD made the enemy soldiers pull out their swords and start fighting each other. The enemy army tried to escape from the camp. They ran to Acacia Tree Town, toward Zeredah, and as far as the edge of the land that belonged to the town of Abel-Meholah near Tabbath. Gideon sent word for more Israelite soldiers to come from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and both halves of Manasseh to help fight the Midianites. He also sent messengers to tell all the men who lived in the hill country of Ephraim, 'Come and help us fight the Midianites! Put guards at every spring, stream, and well, as far as Beth-Barah before the Midianites can get to them. And guard the Jordan River.' Troops from Ephraim did exactly what Gideon had asked, and they even helped chase the Midianites on the east side of the Jordan River. These troops captured Raven and Wolf, the two Midianite leaders. They killed Raven at a large rock that has come to be known as Raven Rock, and they killed Wolf near a wine-pit that has come to be called Wolf Wine-Pit. The men of Ephraim brought the heads of the two Midianite leaders to Gideon." (Judges 7:19-25) (CEV).

There was much more that our Lord Jesus Christ did through this ordinary man Gideon who was just going about his business threshing wheat by the winepress in Ophrah (Judges 6:11), but this was the highlight which I wanted pointed out concerning this man Gideon who by the power of God walked in overcoming faith when the odds were seemingly insurmountable and against him being safe, successful, or saved in his endeavor for our Lord God, but as we know with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27), for one with God/Jesus is a majority and it was Gideon who  'turned to flight the armies of the aliens' (Hebrews 11:34). Here is what Matthew Henry said of the reference of Gideon in Hebrews 11:32, "Gideon, whose story we have in Judges 6:11, etc. He was an eminent instrument raised up of God to deliver his people from the oppression of the Midianites; he was a person of mean tribe and family, called from a mean employment (threshing wheat), and saluted by an Angel of God in this surprising manner, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of war. Gideon could not at first receive such honours, but humbly expostulates with the angel about their low and distressed state. The Angel of the Lord delivers him his commission, and assures him of success, confirming the assurance by fire out of the rock. Gideon is directed to offer sacrifice, and, instructed in his duty, goes forth against the Midianites, when his army is reduced from thirty-two thousand to three hundred; yet by these, with their lamps and pitchers, God put the whole army of the Midianites to confusion and ruin: and the same faith that gave Gideon so much courage and honour enabled him to act with great meekness and modesty towards his brethren afterwards. It is the excellency of the grace of faith that, while it helps men to do great things, it keeps them from having high and great thoughts of themselves."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…