Gideon: Called a Mighty Warrior

Gideon

For seven years the army of Midian had been coming into Israel like a heavy hand. They ruined the crops and took the livestock, and the power of Midian was so heavy that the people hid in caves and strongholds.

The Bible says Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress so the Midianites would not find the grain.

That is where the angel of the Lord found him.

The angel of the Lord said to him, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

Mighty warrior. A moment before, Gideon was threshing his wheat in a winepress. Now he was being called a mighty warrior.

Gideon answered with a question. "Pardon me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about? But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."

The angel called Gideon a mighty warrior, and Gideon answered with a question: why is all this happening to us? Where are the wonders our ancestors told us about?

He asked it out loud, and the story lets the question stand.

Have you ever wondered about something you could not explain? What did you wonder about? Who did you ask? Take a breath together before you turn the page.

The Lord answered, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

Gideon said, "How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

Have you ever felt too small for something that seemed too big? What was it? And even so, God told him, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive."

Then Gideon asked for something. "Give me a sign that it is really you talking to me," he said. "Please do not go away until I bring my offering."

Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and made bread without yeast. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to the angel under the oak.

"Take the meat and the bread," the angel said. "Place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so.

The angel of the Lord touched the meat and the bread with the tip of his staff. Fire flared out of the rock and burned the meat and the bread. Then the angel of the Lord disappeared.

Now Gideon knew. "Alas, Sovereign Lord!" he said. "I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"

And the Lord said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

So Gideon built an altar there and named it The Lord Is Peace.

Think of everything Gideon brought to God that day: a hard question, the words about his family, and a request for a sign. And God answered him with fire from the rock, and then with these words: "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

If Gideon were standing here right now, and you could say one thing to him, what would you say?

Take a breath together before you turn the page.

How to Talk About This Story With Your Child

Gideon is not a story about someone who had it all figured out. He hid his grain, asked why things were hard, said he was the least in his family, and asked for a sign. God stayed with him through all of it.

When your child asks hard questions, the story gives you a shape to follow: do not stop the conversation. Gideon's questions were not the end of the story; the answers kept coming.

If your child asks whether it is all right to doubt or to be afraid, the story does not say it is wrong. It does not explain Gideon's heart; it shows what he said and did, and it shows God answering him: "I will be with you," and later, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

You do not need to add a conclusion. The shape of the story already lets a child know that questions have room here, and that you can be afraid and still tell God about your fear.

Pray Together

You do not have to use these exact words. You can tell God what you think about the story in your own words. Or you can pray this together:

Thank You, God, for the story of Gideon. When we have big questions, stay near us. When we feel too small, remind us You are with us. And when we are afraid, help us hear Your words: "Peace! Do not be afraid." Amen.

Gideon hid his wheat from an army, and an angel called him a mighty warrior.

He asked why things were hard. He said his clan was the weakest in Manasseh, and he was the least in his family. He asked for a sign.

God kept speaking to him. The sign came: fire from the rock. And then God said, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

And Gideon built an altar and named it The Lord Is Peace.

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