GIDEON: FROM A ZERO TO A HERO

(Judges 6 and 7)

God’s people turned away from Him;

They were known as the Israelites.

So God allowed them to be,

Oppressed by the Midianites.

The Israelites called to God for help,

While hiding in mountain caves.

The Midianites were stealing their goods,

And treated them worse than slaves.

So the Lord needed a leader,

Whose strength was not of might.

He would ask the man He chose,

To instigate a fight.

An angel spoke to Gideon,

While he was threshing wheat.

He called him a Mighty Warrior,

Tho’ unlikely as one could meet.

Gideon stuttered with fear and doubt,

He knew God needed a hero.

He first thought, “I’m not the man,

For I am but a zero."

“My clan is considered the least,

And I am the least of the least.

I am not the one to ask,

To slay the men from the east.”

The Lord said “I will be with you;

We will do it together.”

Gideon was so amazed,
One could knock him down with a feather.

So Gideon said, “OK, I’ll go,

Just tell me where and when.”

Then Gideon gathered an army,

Of thirty-two thousand men.

But that was way too many,

At least it was in God’s eyes,

For when God is with an army,

It’s not about the size.

The Lord instructed Gideon,

To narrow the army down.

Ten thousand men were brave enough,

The rest returned to town.

But there were still too many,

So God put them through a test.

Three hundred passed unwittingly,

The Lord sent home the rest.

Armed with trumpets and jars,

And torches hidden within,

They were prepared for battle —

Just Gideon and 300 men.

The enemies they would face,

Numbered like grains of sand,

But an army of one is enough,

If the battle is in God’s hand.

Gideon saw the opposing army,

And lost his confidence.

But he was soon to get it back,

Not by chance, but by Providence.

He overheard a dream being told,

While he spied on the enemy nation.

That Gideon would win the war,

Was the enemy’s interpretation.

So Gideon found his strength again,

And his army set forth at night.

With trumpets, jars and torches,

Locked and loaded, they were ready to fight.

They followed God’s instructions,

And in unison gave a shout.

When they broke the jars and blew their horns,

Pandemonium broke out.

The enemies slew each other that day,

God’s army took care of the rest.

The least of the least defeated,

The so-called best of the best.

God was given the glory,

Why they won, there was no doubt.

For they had won a major war,

With a horn, a jar, a torch, and a shout.

--Becky Overturf Wall