WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.140 Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the daily bible reading experience. 00:00:03.257 --> 00:00:04.667 Day 100 and 75 00:00:05.243 --> 00:00:09.683 The Israelites did evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord handed them over 00:00:09.688 --> 00:00:11.873 to the Midianites for seven years. 00:00:12.833 --> 00:00:16.223 The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding 00:00:16.223 --> 00:00:20.093 places for themselves and the mountains, caves and strongholds. 00:00:21.023 --> 00:00:24.353 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from 00:00:24.353 --> 00:00:28.103 Midian, Amalek, and the people of the East would attack Israel. 00:00:28.763 --> 00:00:32.663 Camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. 00:00:33.623 --> 00:00:37.283 They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the 00:00:37.283 --> 00:00:40.253 sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. 00:00:41.063 --> 00:00:44.633 These enemy hoards coming with their livestock and tents 00:00:45.143 --> 00:00:46.943 were as thick as locusts. 00:00:47.603 --> 00:00:53.123 They arrived on droves of camels to numerous to count, and they stayed 00:00:53.123 --> 00:00:54.803 until the land was stripped bare. 00:00:55.838 --> 00:00:58.748 Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. 00:00:59.678 --> 00:01:02.558 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help. 00:01:03.758 --> 00:01:07.058 When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian, the Lord sent 00:01:07.063 --> 00:01:08.528 a prophet to the Israelites. 00:01:09.068 --> 00:01:12.698 He said, this is what the Lord the God of Israel says. 00:01:13.328 --> 00:01:15.818 I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt. 00:01:16.328 --> 00:01:20.288 I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. 00:01:21.398 --> 00:01:24.308 I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. 00:01:24.728 --> 00:01:27.788 I told you, I am the Lord your God. 00:01:28.538 --> 00:01:33.008 You must not worship the gods of the Emirates in whose land you now live, 00:01:34.028 --> 00:01:35.408 but you have not listened to me. 00:01:36.878 --> 00:01:41.468 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Opera, which 00:01:41.468 --> 00:01:43.988 belonged to Joe Ash of the clan of Azer. 00:01:44.738 --> 00:01:49.028 Gideon's, son of Joe Ash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a wine press 00:01:49.118 --> 00:01:50.828 to hide the grain from the Midianites. 00:01:51.968 --> 00:01:55.898 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, Mighty hero. 00:01:56.078 --> 00:01:57.428 The Lord is with you. 00:01:58.358 --> 00:02:03.638 Sir Gideon replied, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened 00:02:03.638 --> 00:02:08.018 to us and where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? 00:02:08.828 --> 00:02:14.558 Didn't they say the Lord brought us up out of Egypt, but now the Lord has abandoned 00:02:14.558 --> 00:02:17.318 us and handed us over to the Midianites? 00:02:18.548 --> 00:02:22.338 Then the Lord turned to him and said, go with the strength you have. 00:02:23.378 --> 00:02:30.068 Rescue Israel from the Midianites I am sending you, but Lord Gideon 00:02:30.068 --> 00:02:33.188 replied, how can I rescue Israel? 00:02:33.968 --> 00:02:37.838 My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasses, and I 00:02:37.838 --> 00:02:39.698 am the least in my entire family. 00:02:40.048 --> 00:02:46.958 The Lord said to him, I will be with you and you will destroy the Midianites as 00:02:46.958 --> 00:02:48.938 if you were fighting against one man. 00:02:50.588 --> 00:02:51.428 Gideon replied, I. 00:02:52.283 --> 00:02:56.363 If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it 00:02:56.363 --> 00:02:58.043 is really the Lord speaking to me. 00:02:58.823 --> 00:03:02.783 Don't go away until I come back and bring my offering to you. 00:03:03.893 --> 00:03:07.343 He answered, I will stay here until you return. 00:03:08.663 --> 00:03:13.163 Gideon hurried home, he cooked a young goat and with a basket of flour, 00:03:13.168 --> 00:03:14.933 he bakes some bread without yeast. 00:03:15.728 --> 00:03:19.268 Then carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. 00:03:19.658 --> 00:03:24.188 He brought them out and presented them to the angel who was under the great tree. 00:03:25.208 --> 00:03:29.858 The angel of God said to him, place the meat and the unleavened bread on 00:03:29.858 --> 00:03:32.258 this rock and pour the broth over it. 00:03:32.978 --> 00:03:34.508 And Gideon did as he was told. 00:03:35.543 --> 00:03:39.623 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff 00:03:39.623 --> 00:03:44.933 in his hand and fire flanged up from the rock and consumed all he had brought, 00:03:45.833 --> 00:03:48.413 and the angel of the Lord disappeared. 00:03:49.763 --> 00:03:53.123 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried 00:03:53.128 --> 00:03:56.753 out, oh, sovereign Lord, I'm doomed. 00:03:57.923 --> 00:04:00.563 I have seen the angel of a Lord face to face. 00:04:02.438 --> 00:04:03.428 It is all right. 00:04:03.578 --> 00:04:06.488 The Lord replied, do not be afraid. 00:04:07.118 --> 00:04:08.228 You will not die. 00:04:09.608 --> 00:04:14.018 And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh Shalom. 00:04:14.258 --> 00:04:16.958 Which means the Lord is peace. 00:04:17.738 --> 00:04:24.278 The altar remains an opera in the land of the clan of Azer to this day, that 00:04:24.278 --> 00:04:28.328 night, the Lord said to Gideon, take the second bull from your father's 00:04:28.328 --> 00:04:30.638 herd, the one that is seven years old. 00:04:31.418 --> 00:04:35.228 Pull down your father's altar to bail and cut down the asherah pole 00:04:35.258 --> 00:04:39.368 standing beside it, then build an altar to the Lord your God. 00:04:39.368 --> 00:04:45.728 Here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully sacrifice the bull as a 00:04:45.728 --> 00:04:50.798 burnt offering on the altar using as fuel the wood of the asherah pole you cut down. 00:04:52.238 --> 00:04:55.838 So Gideon took 10 of his servants and did as the Lord had commanded. 00:04:56.978 --> 00:04:59.918 But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other 00:04:59.918 --> 00:05:03.218 members of his father's household and the people of the town. 00:05:04.538 --> 00:05:08.768 Early the next morning, as the people of the town began to stir, someone 00:05:08.768 --> 00:05:13.418 discovered that the altar of Baal had been broken down, and the Asherah pole beside 00:05:13.423 --> 00:05:16.208 it had been cut down in their place. 00:05:16.208 --> 00:05:19.688 A new altar had been built and on It were the remains of the 00:05:19.688 --> 00:05:21.368 bull that had been sacrificed. 00:05:22.388 --> 00:05:25.208 The people said to each other, who did this? 00:05:26.243 --> 00:05:30.743 After asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, 00:05:31.013 --> 00:05:37.163 the Son of Joe Ash, bring out your son, the man of the town demanded of Joe Ash. 00:05:37.763 --> 00:05:41.243 He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting 00:05:41.243 --> 00:05:42.563 down the a shearer pole. 00:05:42.863 --> 00:05:46.463 But Joe Ash shouted to the mob that confronted him. 00:05:47.333 --> 00:05:49.283 Why are you defending bail? 00:05:49.823 --> 00:05:51.413 Will you argue his case? 00:05:52.013 --> 00:05:55.013 Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by mourning. 00:05:55.853 --> 00:06:00.653 If Baal truly is a God, let him defend himself and destroy the one 00:06:00.653 --> 00:06:06.353 who broke down his altar From then on, Gideon was called Rab Baal, 00:06:07.013 --> 00:06:12.503 which means let Baal defend himself because he broke down bale's altar. 00:06:14.093 --> 00:06:18.833 Soon afterward, the armies of Midian, Amalek and the people of the East formed 00:06:18.838 --> 00:06:23.743 an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan camping in the valley of Jezreel. 00:06:24.908 --> 00:06:27.998 Then the spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with power. 00:06:28.898 --> 00:06:34.058 He blew a Rams horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Zer came to him. 00:06:34.778 --> 00:06:40.598 He also sent messengers throughout Manas, Asher Zein and Naftali summoning their 00:06:40.603 --> 00:06:43.028 warriors, and all of them responded. 00:06:44.168 --> 00:06:49.928 Then Gideon said to God, if you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel, as you 00:06:49.928 --> 00:06:52.358 promised, prove it to me in this way. 00:06:53.468 --> 00:06:56.138 I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. 00:06:56.948 --> 00:07:01.658 If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning, but the ground is dry, then 00:07:01.658 --> 00:07:05.528 I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised, 00:07:06.608 --> 00:07:07.928 and that is just what happened. 00:07:09.008 --> 00:07:12.998 When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and 00:07:12.998 --> 00:07:14.918 wrung out a whole bowl full of water. 00:07:15.938 --> 00:07:20.348 Then Gideon said to God, please don't be angry with me, but 00:07:20.348 --> 00:07:22.268 let me make one more request. 00:07:22.268 --> 00:07:22.328 I. 00:07:23.318 --> 00:07:25.808 Let me use the fleece for one more test. 00:07:26.648 --> 00:07:30.818 This time, let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew. 00:07:32.078 --> 00:07:36.458 So that night God did as Gideon asked, the fleece was dry in the morning, 00:07:37.088 --> 00:07:38.888 but the ground was covered with Dew. 00:07:40.508 --> 00:07:45.548 So Jira bale, that is Gideon and his army got up early and went as far 00:07:45.548 --> 00:07:49.778 as the spring of Herod, the armies of Midian were camped north of them 00:07:49.778 --> 00:07:51.518 in the valley near the hill of Mora. 00:07:52.313 --> 00:07:56.003 The Lord said to Gideon, you have too many warriors with you. 00:07:56.843 --> 00:08:00.983 If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they 00:08:00.988 --> 00:08:03.353 saved themselves by their own strength. 00:08:04.253 --> 00:08:09.203 Therefore, tell the people, whoever is timid or afraid may 00:08:09.208 --> 00:08:10.883 leave this mountain and go home. 00:08:12.053 --> 00:08:16.913 So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight. 00:08:18.143 --> 00:08:21.413 The Lord told Gideon there are still too many. 00:08:21.983 --> 00:08:25.433 Bring them down to the spring and I will test them to determine who 00:08:25.433 --> 00:08:27.083 will go with you and who will not. 00:08:28.373 --> 00:08:33.233 When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, divide 00:08:33.233 --> 00:08:36.293 the men into two groups in one group. 00:08:36.623 --> 00:08:39.803 Put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their 00:08:39.803 --> 00:08:42.563 tongues like dogs in the other group. 00:08:42.923 --> 00:08:46.193 Put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream. 00:08:47.228 --> 00:08:49.958 Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. 00:08:50.708 --> 00:08:54.818 All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream. 00:08:55.718 --> 00:09:02.558 The Lord told Gideon, with these 300 men, I will rescue you and give 00:09:02.558 --> 00:09:04.328 you victory over the Midianites. 00:09:04.658 --> 00:09:06.338 Send all the others home. 00:09:07.538 --> 00:09:10.718 So Gideon collected the provisions and rams horns of the other 00:09:10.718 --> 00:09:16.088 warriors and sent them home, but he kept the 300 man with him. 00:09:17.633 --> 00:09:21.413 The Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon that night. 00:09:21.413 --> 00:09:23.183 The Lord said, get up. 00:09:23.483 --> 00:09:27.713 Go down into the Midianite camp for I have given you victory over them. 00:09:28.523 --> 00:09:32.963 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Pura. 00:09:33.713 --> 00:09:37.763 Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. 00:09:38.243 --> 00:09:40.163 Then you will be eager to attack. 00:09:41.333 --> 00:09:45.053 So Gideon took Pira and went down to the edge of the enemy camp. 00:09:46.013 --> 00:09:50.753 The armies of Midian Amalek and the people of the East had settled in 00:09:50.753 --> 00:09:52.973 the valley like a swarm of locusts. 00:09:53.903 --> 00:09:56.873 Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore. 00:09:57.233 --> 00:09:58.373 Too many to count. 00:09:59.393 --> 00:10:03.203 Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. 00:10:04.073 --> 00:10:10.073 The man said, I had this dream, and in my dream, a loaf of barley bread came 00:10:10.073 --> 00:10:12.323 tumbling down into the Midianite camp. 00:10:12.953 --> 00:10:15.713 It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat. 00:10:16.763 --> 00:10:17.903 His companion answered. 00:10:18.803 --> 00:10:25.163 Your dream can mean only one thing God has given Gideon son of Joe Ash, the Israelite 00:10:25.553 --> 00:10:28.373 victory over Midian and all its allies. 00:10:28.773 --> 00:10:33.443 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed 00:10:33.443 --> 00:10:35.063 in worship before the Lord. 00:10:35.903 --> 00:10:39.623 Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, get up. 00:10:40.013 --> 00:10:43.313 For the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite Hodes. 00:10:44.243 --> 00:10:49.043 He divided the 300 men into three groups and gave each man a ram's horn 00:10:49.343 --> 00:10:51.383 and a clay jar with a torch in it. 00:10:52.223 --> 00:10:57.383 Then he said to them, keep your eyes on me when I come to the edge of the camp. 00:10:57.743 --> 00:11:03.023 Do just as I do, as soon as I and those with me, blow the rams horns. 00:11:03.323 --> 00:11:04.673 Blow your horns too. 00:11:05.228 --> 00:11:12.878 All around the entire camp and shout for the Lord and for Gideon, it was just after 00:11:12.883 --> 00:11:17.678 midnight, after the changing of the Guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him 00:11:17.678 --> 00:11:19.508 reached the edge of the Midianite camp. 00:11:20.438 --> 00:11:24.398 Suddenly they blew the Rams horns and broke their clay jars. 00:11:25.088 --> 00:11:28.328 Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. 00:11:29.318 --> 00:11:32.618 They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the 00:11:32.618 --> 00:11:34.088 horns in their right hands. 00:11:34.493 --> 00:11:41.453 They all shouted a sword for the Lord and for Gideon, each man stood at his 00:11:41.453 --> 00:11:45.743 position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a 00:11:45.743 --> 00:11:52.313 panic shouting as they ran to escape when the 300 Israelites blew their rams horns. 00:11:52.733 --> 00:11:55.433 The Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against 00:11:55.433 --> 00:11:56.663 each other with their swords. 00:11:57.908 --> 00:12:01.508 Those who were not killed, fled to places as far away as Beth Shida, near 00:12:01.508 --> 00:12:04.238 Zurah and the border of Abel Majola. 00:12:04.358 --> 00:12:04.838 Near tab. 00:12:06.308 --> 00:12:10.988 Then Gideon sent for the Warriors of Naftali, Asher and Manassa, who 00:12:10.993 --> 00:12:12.638 joined in chasing the army of Midn. 00:12:13.778 --> 00:12:18.008 Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim saying, 00:12:18.368 --> 00:12:20.468 come down to attack the Midianites. 00:12:20.858 --> 00:12:24.788 Cut them off at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River at Bath Berra. 00:12:25.628 --> 00:12:30.848 So all the men of Efram did as they were told, they captured Aab and Zeeb, 00:12:31.508 --> 00:12:36.638 the two Midianite commanders killing Aab at the Rock of, or a and Zeeb 00:12:36.643 --> 00:12:41.018 at the wine press of Zeeb, and they continued to chase the Midianites. 00:12:41.948 --> 00:12:45.458 Afterward, the Israelite brought the heads of Aab and Zeeb to 00:12:45.458 --> 00:12:47.558 Gideon, who was by the Jordan River. 00:12:48.638 --> 00:12:53.258 Then the people of Efraim asked Gideon, why have you treated us this way? 00:12:54.008 --> 00:12:56.618 Why didn't you send for us when you first went out to fight the 00:12:56.618 --> 00:13:03.068 Midianites and they argued Heatedly with Gideon, but Gideon replied, what 00:13:03.068 --> 00:13:04.868 have I accomplished compared to you? 00:13:05.558 --> 00:13:09.488 Aren't even the leftover grapes of Efraim's harvest better than the entire 00:13:09.488 --> 00:13:15.218 crop of my little clan of A by Ezer God gave you victory over Aab and Zeeb, 00:13:15.638 --> 00:13:17.528 the commanders of the Midianite army. 00:13:18.368 --> 00:13:20.288 What have I accomplished compared to that? 00:13:20.288 --> 00:13:20.348 I. 00:13:21.683 --> 00:13:25.853 When the man of Efraim heard Gideon's answer, their anger subsided. 00:13:27.623 --> 00:13:30.473 This concludes today's immerse reading experience. 00:13:30.593 --> 00:13:31.643 Thank you for joining us.