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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the
daily bible reading experience.
Day 100 and 75
The Israelites did evil in the Lord's
sight, so the Lord handed them over
to the Midianites for seven years.
The Midianites were so cruel
that the Israelites made hiding
places for themselves and the
mountains, caves and strongholds.
Whenever the Israelites planted
their crops, marauders from
Midian, Amalek, and the people
of the East would attack Israel.
Camping in the land and destroying
crops as far away as Gaza.
They left the Israelites with
nothing to eat, taking all the
sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys.
These enemy hoards coming
with their livestock and tents
were as thick as locusts.
They arrived on droves of camels to
numerous to count, and they stayed
until the land was stripped bare.
Israel was reduced to
starvation by the Midianites.
Then the Israelites cried
out to the Lord for help.
When they cried out to the Lord
because of Midian, the Lord sent
a prophet to the Israelites.
He said, this is what the
Lord the God of Israel says.
I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt.
I rescued you from the Egyptians
and from all who oppressed you.
I drove out your enemies
and gave you their land.
I told you, I am the Lord your God.
You must not worship the gods of the
Emirates in whose land you now live,
but you have not listened to me.
Then the angel of the Lord came and sat
beneath the great tree at Opera, which
belonged to Joe Ash of the clan of Azer.
Gideon's, son of Joe Ash was threshing
wheat at the bottom of a wine press
to hide the grain from the Midianites.
The angel of the Lord appeared
to him and said, Mighty hero.
The Lord is with you.
Sir Gideon replied, if the Lord is
with us, why has all this happened
to us and where are all the miracles
our ancestors told us about?
Didn't they say the Lord brought us up out
of Egypt, but now the Lord has abandoned
us and handed us over to the Midianites?
Then the Lord turned to him and
said, go with the strength you have.
Rescue Israel from the Midianites
I am sending you, but Lord Gideon
replied, how can I rescue Israel?
My clan is the weakest in the
whole tribe of Manasses, and I
am the least in my entire family.
The Lord said to him, I will be with you
and you will destroy the Midianites as
if you were fighting against one man.
Gideon replied, I.
If you are truly going to help me,
show me a sign to prove that it
is really the Lord speaking to me.
Don't go away until I come back
and bring my offering to you.
He answered, I will stay
here until you return.
Gideon hurried home, he cooked a
young goat and with a basket of flour,
he bakes some bread without yeast.
Then carrying the meat in a
basket and the broth in a pot.
He brought them out and presented them to
the angel who was under the great tree.
The angel of God said to him, place
the meat and the unleavened bread on
this rock and pour the broth over it.
And Gideon did as he was told.
Then the angel of the Lord touched the
meat and bread with the tip of the staff
in his hand and fire flanged up from the
rock and consumed all he had brought,
and the angel of the Lord disappeared.
When Gideon realized that it was
the angel of the Lord, he cried
out, oh, sovereign Lord, I'm doomed.
I have seen the angel
of a Lord face to face.
It is all right.
The Lord replied, do not be afraid.
You will not die.
And Gideon built an altar to the Lord
there and named it Yahweh Shalom.
Which means the Lord is peace.
The altar remains an opera in the land
of the clan of Azer to this day, that
night, the Lord said to Gideon, take
the second bull from your father's
herd, the one that is seven years old.
Pull down your father's altar to
bail and cut down the asherah pole
standing beside it, then build
an altar to the Lord your God.
Here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the
stones carefully sacrifice the bull as a
burnt offering on the altar using as fuel
the wood of the asherah pole you cut down.
So Gideon took 10 of his servants
and did as the Lord had commanded.
But he did it at night because
he was afraid of the other
members of his father's household
and the people of the town.
Early the next morning, as the people
of the town began to stir, someone
discovered that the altar of Baal had been
broken down, and the Asherah pole beside
it had been cut down in their place.
A new altar had been built and
on It were the remains of the
bull that had been sacrificed.
The people said to each
other, who did this?
After asking around and making a careful
search, they learned that it was Gideon,
the Son of Joe Ash, bring out your son,
the man of the town demanded of Joe Ash.
He must die for destroying the
altar of Baal and for cutting
down the a shearer pole.
But Joe Ash shouted to the
mob that confronted him.
Why are you defending bail?
Will you argue his case?
Whoever pleads his case will
be put to death by mourning.
If Baal truly is a God, let him
defend himself and destroy the one
who broke down his altar From then
on, Gideon was called Rab Baal,
which means let Baal defend himself
because he broke down bale's altar.
Soon afterward, the armies of Midian,
Amalek and the people of the East formed
an alliance against Israel and crossed the
Jordan camping in the valley of Jezreel.
Then the spirit of the Lord
clothed Gideon with power.
He blew a Rams horn as a call to arms, and
the men of the clan of Zer came to him.
He also sent messengers throughout Manas,
Asher Zein and Naftali summoning their
warriors, and all of them responded.
Then Gideon said to God, if you are truly
going to use me to rescue Israel, as you
promised, prove it to me in this way.
I will put a wool fleece on
the threshing floor tonight.
If the fleece is wet with dew in the
morning, but the ground is dry, then
I will know that you are going to
help me rescue Israel as you promised,
and that is just what happened.
When Gideon got up early the next
morning, he squeezed the fleece and
wrung out a whole bowl full of water.
Then Gideon said to God, please
don't be angry with me, but
let me make one more request.
I.
Let me use the fleece for one more test.
This time, let the fleece remain dry while
the ground around it is wet with dew.
So that night God did as Gideon asked,
the fleece was dry in the morning,
but the ground was covered with Dew.
So Jira bale, that is Gideon and his
army got up early and went as far
as the spring of Herod, the armies
of Midian were camped north of them
in the valley near the hill of Mora.
The Lord said to Gideon, you
have too many warriors with you.
If I let all of you fight the Midianites,
the Israelites will boast to me that they
saved themselves by their own strength.
Therefore, tell the people,
whoever is timid or afraid may
leave this mountain and go home.
So 22,000 of them went home, leaving
only 10,000 who were willing to fight.
The Lord told Gideon
there are still too many.
Bring them down to the spring and
I will test them to determine who
will go with you and who will not.
When Gideon took his warriors down to
the water, the Lord told him, divide
the men into two groups in one group.
Put all those who cup water in
their hands and lap it up with their
tongues like dogs in the other group.
Put all those who kneel down and
drink with their mouths in the stream.
Only 300 of the men
drank from their hands.
All the others got down on their knees
and drank with their mouths in the stream.
The Lord told Gideon, with these
300 men, I will rescue you and give
you victory over the Midianites.
Send all the others home.
So Gideon collected the provisions
and rams horns of the other
warriors and sent them home, but
he kept the 300 man with him.
The Midianite camp was in the
valley just below Gideon that night.
The Lord said, get up.
Go down into the Midianite camp for
I have given you victory over them.
But if you are afraid to attack, go
down to the camp with your servant Pura.
Listen to what the Midianites are saying,
and you will be greatly encouraged.
Then you will be eager to attack.
So Gideon took Pira and went down
to the edge of the enemy camp.
The armies of Midian Amalek and the
people of the East had settled in
the valley like a swarm of locusts.
Their camels were like grains
of sand on the seashore.
Too many to count.
Gideon crept up just as a man was
telling his companion about a dream.
The man said, I had this dream, and in
my dream, a loaf of barley bread came
tumbling down into the Midianite camp.
It hit a tent, turned it
over, and knocked it flat.
His companion answered.
Your dream can mean only one thing God has
given Gideon son of Joe Ash, the Israelite
victory over Midian and all its allies.
When Gideon heard the dream and
its interpretation, he bowed
in worship before the Lord.
Then he returned to the Israelite
camp and shouted, get up.
For the Lord has given you
victory over the Midianite Hodes.
He divided the 300 men into three
groups and gave each man a ram's horn
and a clay jar with a torch in it.
Then he said to them, keep your eyes on
me when I come to the edge of the camp.
Do just as I do, as soon as I and
those with me, blow the rams horns.
Blow your horns too.
All around the entire camp and shout for
the Lord and for Gideon, it was just after
midnight, after the changing of the Guard,
when Gideon and the 100 men with him
reached the edge of the Midianite camp.
Suddenly they blew the Rams
horns and broke their clay jars.
Then all three groups blew their
horns and broke their jars.
They held the blazing torches
in their left hands and the
horns in their right hands.
They all shouted a sword for the Lord
and for Gideon, each man stood at his
position around the camp and watched as
all the Midianites rushed around in a
panic shouting as they ran to escape when
the 300 Israelites blew their rams horns.
The Lord caused the warriors
in the camp to fight against
each other with their swords.
Those who were not killed, fled to
places as far away as Beth Shida, near
Zurah and the border of Abel Majola.
Near tab.
Then Gideon sent for the Warriors
of Naftali, Asher and Manassa, who
joined in chasing the army of Midn.
Gideon also sent messengers throughout
the hill country of Ephraim saying,
come down to attack the Midianites.
Cut them off at the shallow crossings
of the Jordan River at Bath Berra.
So all the men of Efram did as they
were told, they captured Aab and Zeeb,
the two Midianite commanders killing
Aab at the Rock of, or a and Zeeb
at the wine press of Zeeb, and they
continued to chase the Midianites.
Afterward, the Israelite brought
the heads of Aab and Zeeb to
Gideon, who was by the Jordan River.
Then the people of Efraim asked Gideon,
why have you treated us this way?
Why didn't you send for us when
you first went out to fight the
Midianites and they argued Heatedly
with Gideon, but Gideon replied, what
have I accomplished compared to you?
Aren't even the leftover grapes of
Efraim's harvest better than the entire
crop of my little clan of A by Ezer
God gave you victory over Aab and Zeeb,
the commanders of the Midianite army.
What have I accomplished compared to that?
I.
When the man of Efraim heard Gideon's
answer, their anger subsided.
This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.