"They chose new gods; then was war in the gates."--_Judges 5:8._
THE Israelites never kept long from sinning and setting up idols; and,
by-and-by, God let a set of robbers, called Midianites, come in and
burn their crops and houses, drive away their cattle, and steal their
children for slaves.
Then the Israelites were sorry, and prayed to God to save them. And God
had pity on them, and sent His angel to a man named Gideon, to tell him
that he was to fight for the Israelites.
A great many men came to Gideon; but the Israelites were to be shown
that it was as easy for God to save them with few men as with many.
So He bade Gideon send home all but three hundred men. And Gideon
believed, and sent them home, and kept only the three hundred.
Then at night he took these men, and gave them each a trumpet, and
an earthen pitcher, with a lamp inside the pitcher, so that the light
could not be seen. He took a hundred with him, and sent the other two
hundreds another way, creeping quietly along till they came to the
place where the Midianites had set up their tents, and were all lying
asleep among the cattle they had stolen.
[Illustration: GIDEON'S OFFERING BURNT BY FIRE FROM THE ROCK.--Judges
6:21.]
There they lay, and never heard Gideon and his men coming till they
were close to the camp, the three parties on three sides. Then, all of
a sudden, everyone of the Israelites broke his pitcher and let his lamp
shine, and blew his trumpet, and shouted, "The sword of the Lord and of
Gideon!"
The Midianites were awakened out of their sleep to see the lamps on
three sides of them in the dark, and hear the trumpets and the cries.
They were very much frightened, and quite wild with fear. They all
began to beat down one another, for they did not know friends from
enemies. A great many were killed, and the rest fled away, leaving all
that they had stolen behind them. And so God delivered the Israelites
from the Midianites by the hand of Gideon, and gave them peace again as
long as they would serve the Lord.
[Illustration: GIDEON'S VICTORY OVER THE MIDIANITES.--Judges 7:19-21.]