For a few years the Israelites remembered their promise; but alas! they
were very prone to sink back into the idolatry which surrounded them.
And it was not very long before they were worshipping idols, even as
were the heathen tribes round about them.
And again God sent cruel enemies to fight against them; again they cried
to Him, and He heard them. For eighteen years they served Eglon, the
cruel, wicked king of Moab. But at last God sent the Israelites a man to
help them, whose name was Ehud.
Ehud told them to send a present to Eglon, and he would be its bearer.
The Israelites did this, and Ehud, making a dagger, and hiding it under
his clothes, went to Moab. When he came to the king he said, "I have a
secret to tell and must see the king alone." So Eglon sent away his
servants. When they were alone, Ehud took out his dagger and thrust it
into the king's body. Then Ehud ran out from the room, locked the doors
after him, and so escaped.
No one saw Ehud go; and when the servants found the doors locked, they
thought their master had fallen asleep, and so they made no attempt to
go in. Many hours passed. At last the servants began to wonder why the
king did not send for them. Night came on. Still the king did not awake;
and so, at last, they took a key and opened the door.
What did they see? There lay the king upon the ground,--dead!
Ehud, meantime, had come back again, bringing many soldiers with him;
and the Israelites fought against the Moabites and conquered them.
For some time after this the people held firmly to their faith, and Ehud
led them. But Ehud died; and then the Israelites again rebelled against
God. Again God, to punish them, sent Jabin, king of Canaan, to fight
against Israel; and he conquered them. This king was very cruel, and
they suffered much under his power for twenty long, terrible years. Now,
there was a very good woman living at that time, named Deborah. She
dwelt under a palm tree, between Ramah and Bethel. There she prayed and
sang, and talked to, and taught all the people who came to see her.
Deborah was a very wise woman and had the gift of prophecy. And so it
came about that, when the Israelites began to cry to God, Deborah, at
His command, sent for a brave man named Barak, and said to him, "Go now
and call men out of the tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali, and take them to
fight against Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army. God promises to give
us the victory." Barak said, "If thou wilt go with me, I will go." So
Deborah, with Barak and 10,000 men, went to fight against Sisera. "Do
not kill Sisera," Deborah said; "for God will give the wicked captain
into the hands of a woman."
So Barak and his army went and fought against Sisera. Very soon the
Israelites won the victory, for it was as Deborah had prophesied. Then
Sisera came down from his chariot and fled from Barak.
There was a man named Heber, who was at peace with Jabin; and Sisera ran
to Heber's tent for safety. When the man's wife, Jael, saw Sisera
coming, she went out to meet him and said, "Come in, come in, and fear
not." So Sisera came in and lay down; and Jael covered him with a
mantle. He asked for water; and she gave him milk, which he drank; and
then he lay down again.
"Stand by the door," he said, "and if any one ask if I am here, say
'No.'" Then Sisera fell asleep, for he was weary with fighting and
running so far; and when he was asleep, then Jael went very softly, took
a large nail and a hammer, and hammered the nail into Sisera's head and
down into the ground.
After this war forty years passed most happily and safely. The
Israelites lived in the fear of God, and he kept them in peace and gave
them rest from their enemies.
But when the forty years were passed, the Israelites again loved evil;
and again, too, sorrows and punishments came upon them.
First, the Midianites came to be their enemies. They came in great
numbers; they brought their camels and their cattle with them, and
pitched their tents in the land of the Israelites. The Israelites left
their pleasant houses and fields, and ran to hide in dens and caves, for
fear of the cruel Midianites.
The pleasant land became barren and desolate. Then the Israelites cried
again to the Lord, for they knew that He could deliver them, and He
alone.
God sent an answer to them by a prophet: "Thus saith the Lord, 'I
brought you safely out of Egypt and delivered you from the cruel
Egyptians, and drove away your enemies, and gave you the land of Canaan
for a possession; and I commanded you to obey and serve Me, and not to
worship the idols of the people who live near you; but you have not
obeyed My command.'" Then the prophet went away. THE STORY OF GIDEON.
Now, there was a man (living at Ophrah,) whose son was named Gideon.
Gideon was a true servant of the Lord; but his father was an idolater
and a worshipper of Baal. One day Gideon was threshing wheat in a hidden
place, lest the idolaters should see him and come and take his corn from
him. Gideon's heart was full of sorrowful thoughts as he threshed the
wheat; but, as he looked up, he saw an angel near him, sitting beneath
an oak. And Gideon heard him say, "The Lord is with thee."
When Gideon heard the angel speak, he looked up with wonder. "Is the
Lord with us?" he cried. "Then why does He let the Midianites come and
destroy us? Why does He not work miracles for us, as He did for our
fathers, and deliver us from our enemies?" But the angel said again, "Go
now, I send thee to save Israel from the Midianites."
Gideon was frightened; he had faith, but his faith was weak and small.
He could not believe that he could save Israel.
"How can I save my brethren?" he said. "I am poor; all my family are
poor, and I am least in my father's house." But the angel said again, "I
will be with thee; I will give thee power to smite the Midianites."
Gideon wondered. Could it be an angel that was talking to him? An angel
could give him power to conquer his enemies!
"Wilt thou give me a sign that I may know who thou art?" he asked. "Stay
till I come again, and bring my offering with me."
Then Gideon hurried away and made ready a kid and cakes of flour. He put
the flesh into a basket and the broth into a pot, and brought all out to
the oak tree where the angel waited.
Now, the angel did not need food to strengthen him, but he accepted
Gideon's offering, and told him to lay the flesh and cakes upon the
rock, and to pour out the broth. Gideon hardly knew why, but he obeyed;
and then the angel of the Lord touched with his staff the flesh and the
cakes, and fire came out of the rocks and consumed them.
The angel went away. Gideon knew not how or where; but he knew who the
angel was. Then Gideon cried with fear, "O, Lord God! for I have seen an
angel of the Lord face to face."
And a voice answered, "Peace be unto thee; fear not, thou shalt not
die;" and Gideon named the place, "Jehovah-shalom," or "The Lord send
peace;" and he built an altar there to the Lord.
Again the angel of the Lord God spoke to him. "Take thy father's bullock
and throw down the altar of Baal which thy father has. Build there an
altar unto the Lord and offer the bullock in sacrifice upon it."
Now, Gideon's family all worshipped this Baal, and they would be very
angry if the idol altar was thrown down; it might be they would kill
Gideon. But Gideon rose and went at once to destroy Baal's altar, lest
the men of the city should try to prevent him if he waited until morning
came.
When the people rose next day, they wondered to see Baal's altar thrown
down, the new altar to God ready built, and a bullock offered upon it.
"Who did all this?" they asked. Gideon was not afraid to confess the
truth. He was bold, because he knew God was with him. But the people
were angry with Gideon. "Bring out thy son," they said to Joash, "that
we may slay him!"
Before Gideon began to fight, he prayed; "Give me now a sign, that I may
know that Thou wilt be merciful to the Israelites. I will put a fleece
of wool upon the ground to-night; in the morning I will look at it, and
if I see the fleece wet with dew, and all the ground dry, then I shall
know that Thou dost promise to save us from our enemies."
Gideon put the fleece of wool upon the ground, for God had heard his
prayer. In the morning, when Gideon looked at it, it was so wet that he
wrung from the fleece a bowlful of water, though there was no dew upon
the ground.
[Illustration: GIDEON CHOOSING HIS SOLDIERS.]
The next night Gideon again tried the fleece. "To-night let the fleece
alone be dry, and all the ground wet, and then I shall know that Thou
wilt save Israel," he prayed. The next morning all the ground was wet
with dew, and the wool alone was dry. And now Gideon was convinced. He
asked no further proof.
Gideon had many thousand men to fight with him. But God wished to teach
the Israelites that He alone could save them. So he told Gideon to say
to the soldiers, "Those who are afraid may return home and not come into
the battle." Gideon did as he was told; and 22,000 of the soldiers,
struck with fear, went away, leaving only 10,000 to meet the foe. But
God said, "I do not want even so many; if all these soldiers go the
Israelites will say that their own power and courage gained the victory.
Bring the 10,000 men down to the water and let them drink. Notice the
men who lap the water like a dog and put them on one side; and the men
who kneel down to drink water, put on the other side; and I will tell
thee whom I will choose to fight against the Midianites."
Gideon obeyed. He brought the soldiers to the water and told them to
drink. Three hundred of them lapped, putting their hands to their
mouths; but most of them stooped down on their knees to drink. Then God
said, "By the 300 men who lapped the water will I save you; let all the
others return home."
Gideon had a very, very small army now. The Midianites were in great
numbers, the Israelites only 300. It was the night before the battle.
To-morrow Gideon and his army must fight against their cruel enemies,
the Midianites.
When Gideon was lying down to rest, and his 300 soldiers by him, he
heard a voice calling to him. Was it an enemy come to kill him and his
little army? No, it was the voice of God. "Arise, go down to the army of
the Midianites," the voice said. "If thou fear to go alone, take Phurah,
thy servant, with thee. Go, and hear what the Midianites are saying; for
afterwards thou shalt feel strengthened to go down to the army."
So Gideon and his servant, Phurah, went as God had commanded. The tents
of the Midianites and the Amalekites covered the whole valley. The
soldiers were sleeping in the tents, and their camels lay by them. So
many were they that Gideon could not count them. But the Midianites were
not all asleep; some were making ready for the morrow, some were
talking; but none of them saw Gideon and his servant.
There were two men, Midianites, talking together, and Gideon and Phurah
went near to them. "I dreamed," said one, "that I saw a cake of bread
tumble into the hosts of the Midianites; I saw it fall upon a tent, and
the tent was overturned and thrown down." "That cake," his friend
answered, "is Gideon, the commander of the Israelites; he will fall upon
us and destroy our army, because God is with him."
When Gideon heard this tale, he rejoiced. He now felt sure of the
victory. Then he and Phurah went back to the Israelites, and Gideon
said, "Arise, for God gives the Midianites into our hands."
Then Gideon divided his army into three companies, and gave to every man
a trumpet and a pitcher, with a lamp in every pitcher. They had no
swords, nor spears, nor bows, nor arrows. Then Gideon said, "Come with
me and do as I do. When I blow the trumpet, you must blow too, and cry,
'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.'" It was still night when Gideon
went again with his soldiers to the camp of the Midianites. The soldiers
stood around the camp, and when Gideon commanded, they blew with the
trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and cried aloud, "The sword of the
Lord and of Gideon." The Midianites heard the noise and the shout, and
were struck with fear. They knew not what to do. They ran like mad men.
They fell one upon another, killing their own friends, and fathers, and
brothers; and those who were not killed fled away; and the Israelites
followed after these and killed them.
The Israelites were grateful for what Gideon had done for them. "Come
and rule over us," they said, "and be our king, and we will serve and
obey thee." But Gideon was not an ambitious man; he wanted neither
power, riches, nor possessions. So, when the Israelites asked Gideon to
be their king, he said, "No, I do not wish to rule over you; the Lord
only is your king; obey Him. But give me if ye will the earrings and
gold chains that were taken from the enemies."
[Illustration: THE MIDIANITES PUT TO FLIGHT.]
"Yes, we will willingly give them," the people said. And they spread out
a large garment and threw into it all the earrings and chains they had,
and with them purple garments and many more beautiful things. Gideon
made them into an ephod like Aaron's ephod; and this he took into his
own city Ophrah. The ephod Gideon made in remembrance of his victory.
After Gideon was dead, the Israelites again forgot God, and worshipped
idols.
[Illustration: DEATH OF ABIMELECH.] ABIMELECH.
Gideon had many sons, but they were not like him. The name of one was
Abimelech. He was a most ambitious man, and aspired to be king. He went
to Shechem and asked to be made king over that city. The men of Shechem
were pleased with Abimelech, and they attended to what he said, and gave
him much gold, promising to make him king.
Then he went home to Ophrah, and, cruel, ambitious man that he was, he
called his brothers together and killed them,--all but the youngest,
named Jotham, who hid himself and escaped. Now, why did Abimelech kill
his brothers? It was because they might wish to reign too, and he was
determined to reign alone.
The men of Shechem made Abimelech king. But the people in that city soon
grew tired of their king. He was cruel and greedy and unjust. They
rebelled, and refused to obey Abimelech. So Abimelech came and fought
against them and conquered them. Some of the Shechemites escaped to an
idol temple, and hid there. But Abimelech and his soldiers cut down the
boughs from the tree and put the boughs under the place where the people
were hid, and set it on fire; so that the people were all burned to
death.
Then Abimelech went to a city named Thebez, and tried to take it. The
people in Thebez had gone up to a high, strong tower. Abimelech was
under the tower fighting against it, when a woman on the top of the
tower took a large mill-stone and threw it down upon Abimelech's head.
Abimelech was severely crushed by the stone. When he knew he must soon
die, he cried to a soldier near him, "Thrust thy sword into me and slay
me; for I will not let the people say that a woman killed me." So the
soldier thrust his sword into him, and Abimelech fell down dead.
At this time there was a man in Gilead named Jephthah. He was most brave
and warlike; but his brothers hated him. They would not let him live
with them, but sent him away. Some years after, when the Ammonites came
and fought against Israel, the men of Gilead were frightened, and they
sent for Jephthah to help them conquer their enemies. When Jephthah
heard what the messengers said, he answered, "Why do you come to me now
when you are in trouble?" But the Gileadites promised to make Jephthah
their captain if he would come; so Jephthah forgave their past
unkindness and went to their aid.
The Ammonites were very wicked people. They had always been enemies to
Israel. Jephthah told the Ammonites that God had commanded that they be
destroyed, and had promised to give their possessions to the Israelites;
but they would not listen. Then Jephthah made ready to fight against
them. But before he went to the battle, he asked God's help, and made
this promise: "If Thou wilt give me the victory, then the first thing I
meet at the door of my house, when I return in peace, shall be the
Lord's; and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering."
Then Jephthah went into battle; the Ammonites were conquered, and very
many of them killed. But when the battle was ended, Jephthah went home
again to Mizpah. Jephthah had one child, a daughter, who was very dear
to him. This little daughter loved her father, and when she heard of the
victory, she knew she should soon see her dear father. So she waited and
watched for him, and when she saw him coming, she ran out to meet him,
dancing and singing for joy. Alas! alas! Jephthah rent his clothes and
cried, "O my daughter, my daughter! I have made a promise to the Lord,
and I cannot break my vow!" But the daughter said, "My father, do not
weep; if thou hast made a vow to the Lord, do as thou hast promised. God
has been very merciful to us, and I am ready and willing to help bear
all thou hast vowed to do."
Jephthah thought now of his foolish vow, and O how sorry he was that he
had made it! He must give up his dear daughter and never see her again!
But when he told her what he had vowed, she asked to be allowed to go
upon the mountains to mourn there with her friends. After two months she
came home again, and Jephthah did with her as he had vowed.
* * * * *
Though the virgins of Salem lament,
Be the judge and the hero unbent;
I have won the great battle for thee,
And my father and country are free.
When this blood of thy giving has gushed,
When the voice that thou lovest is hushed,
Let my memory still be thy pride,
And forget not I smiled as I died.