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WAS GIDEON A COWARD?
Q: WAS GIDEON A COWARD?
Once again we are approaching a view that is very common among many professing Christians. You may recall the account of Gideon from Judges chapter 6. This account tells us about how God used Gideon to defeat the Midianites. God had delivered the Israelites into the hands of the Midianites because they had done evil in his sight. In the midst of this judgment Israel cried out unto the Lord (Judges 6:7). God at this point intends to save
Israel from their oppressors, in such a way that all observers will not question that it was in fact him that did it.
However men have gotten the impression that God found a cowardly man to deliver his people. What kind of sense does this make? Is God going to use the most wimpy, timid, fearful, cowardly and most unfit person to do such a task? How ridiculous! God does not operate like this. God raises up men to do his work and he raises them up with the abilities to do as he commands. But then one must ask, "why do people say he is a coward?"
The most popular reason is because he "threshed wheat by the winepress". An angel of the Lord appeared to him while he was alone gathering wheat at night (Judges 6:11). Some have read this and assumed that Gideon was threshing wheat at night because he was afraid of the enemy and was hiding from them, thus they call him a coward. However if you read the whole verse AND all the other verses before you will find that there is no way you can get that impression by just reading the text.
The Midianites had greatly oppressed Israel and had literally taken all they had. Here are the verses that give the details of this taking place. They are found at the beginning of Judges chapter 6.
JUDGES 6:4-6 "And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD."
According to this account the people did not have any food to live on. If they did have anything the Midianites would take it away from them. So if ANYONE was to have any food they would have to use caution and a great about of wisdom while getting it. Here is where Gideon comes in. Let's look at the eleventh verse once again and point out a certain detail most people tend to miss.
JUDGES 6:11 "And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to HIDE IT from the Midianites."
This does not fit with what men have said about Gideon. He is living in a time of strong oppression. The Midianites are taking everything the Israelites have! So how does Gideon obtain wheat? HE THRESHES IT AT NIGHT SO HE CAN HIDE IT FROM THEM. If you ask me that is pretty smart. Also note the times he is living in as well, while under the oppression of a great enemy I would think threshing wheat at night would be a more brave thing to do. There is nothing remotely cowardly about his actions.
You have probably noticed that none of the verses thus far have stated this happened at night. To affirm that this was the case in Judges 6:25 it says, "and it came to pass THE SAME NIGHT..." this is how we know he was threshing wheat at night.
The last thing I want to show you (the final blow so to speak)on this particular part of the account is what the angel of the Lord said to Gideon.
JUDGES 6:12 "And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour."
What was that? A Mighty Man of Valor? That does not fit in with the "coward" label now does it? It would be ridiculous to think that the angel of the Lord made an wrong judgment or assumption. Seeing that this is THE ANGEL OF THE LORD we are talking about I am more prone to take his word over mans opinions. But then people will say, "yeah but look at his response!"
JUDGES 6:13-16 "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."
I find it rather silly that people would assume Gideon was cowardly man by reading these verses. You notice at first Gideon is not questioning the angel regarding his courage, but the Lord being with him. He did not say, "I am not a mighty man of valor" did he? He reasoned that if the Lord was with him, he would not be in oppression. Of course, at this point he did not have all the details of what God was about to do through him. Next you notice he said that he was the least of his house and that his family was poor. Again I ask, what on earth does this have to do with his courage? He did not see himself fit for such a large work obviously, this shows that he was humble. Being poor and the least in the house did not mean he was a coward. That was just showing he was not considered a superior individual among common men.
Next people bring up his reaction to seeing the Angel of the Lord (Judges 6:17-25). I will not go into huge detail on this account, but one must ask, "who WASEN'T afraid when seeing the Angel of the Lord?"
1. Balaam fell flat on his face when seeing the Angel (Numbers 22:31)
2. David and the Elders of Israel fell on their faces when seeing the Angel (1 Chronicles 21:16)
3. Manoah and his wife (Samson's parents) fell on their faces when they saw the angel (Judges 13:20)
When confronted with a being like the Angel of the Lord even the most bold and courageous men tremble with fear.
Another observation is what Gideon did when the Lord gave him this thing to do.
JUDGES 6:25-26 "And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down."
People really rail on Gideon for how he obeyed this commandment from the Lord.
JUDGES 6:27 "Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night."
People read this text and assume that Gideon could have done it during the day (even though God never really said to do it during the day) but he chickened out because he was scared. Some versions butcher this text by replacing "feared" with "too afraid" making it appear as though he was behaving in a cowardly manner.
This is a very lame conclusion. Gideon was in fact a mighty man of valor. However being brave does not mean you are stupid. Think about it, you have to go and throw down you're father's alter of Baal and cut down the grove next to it and then make an alter for God and also a burnt offering for him. Consider that you're father is an idol worshipper and that the men of the city are also. With that being the case are you just going to waltz out there in broad daylight in front of everyone and make a public display of it just hoping nothing goes wrong? That would just be idiotic would it not? Here once again we see Gideon using wisdom. "Fear" in this context does not mean he was scared of what the men would do to him when they found out it was him that did this work, rather it means that he feared them HINDERING him from doing it. He knows that the men would not let him do this work without giving him trouble, so he does this at night so he does not have that to deal with. I would say that is very smart. Also notice he did bring men with him in case there was trouble, showing he was prepared for what he was doing. This is not cowardly at all!
Lastly I am sure you recall Gideon overcoming the Midianites with 300 men (yeah real cowardly huh?). When all the men were first gathered however here is what God said.
JUDGES 7:2-3 "And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand."
He tells all the ones who are fearful and afraid to leave, yet I do not read anything about GIDEON leaving. Do you?
I think it's pretty clear by now Gideon was exactly what the Angel of the Lord said he was. He was indeed a mighty man of valor. As I have said in previous articles, we should look at these men as God did. Let us not attempt to attack these great men with intentions to justify our own shortcomings. Stick to what God said and you will not get false impressions. I pray we will all continue to grow in our understanding of these men God raised up throughout history.