022 Gideon's Trumpets - A Bible Story for Children

Judges 6-7

The Israelites finally conquered all of Canaan and lived there many years. But in time they began to act like the Canaanites and to pray to the gods of the Canaanites. This made the Lord angry, and he set the Midianites to rule over the Israelites for seven hard years.

One day, as a young Israelite named Gideon was working, a stranger suddenly appeared. "The Lord is with you," the stranger said.

"If the Lord is with us," asked Gideon, "why has all this happened? Why do we live in caves while the Midianites steal our grain and our cattle? Where are the miracles my father and grandfather talk about?"

"You will save Israel from the Midianites," answered the stranger.

"How can that be?" said Gideon. "My family is poor, and I am the youngest son."

"The Lord will be with you," said the stranger.

"If the Lord is with me, show me a sign," said Gideon.

The stranger waited while Gideon made him supper, then told him to put it on a rock. Reaching out his stick, the stranger touched the food. The rock burst into flames, burning the supper to ashes, and the stranger disappeared. Then Gideon knew that the stranger was an angel of the Lord.

That night God told Gideon to destroy an altar to Baal, a Canaanite god, and build one to him in its place. The next morning, when the men of the town saw the new altar, they wanted to kill Gideon. But Gideon's father stopped them. "Will you defend Baal?" he shouted. "If Baal is a god, let him stand up for himself." The men walked slowly away.

Soon the Midianites and other neighboring tribes decided to destroy the Israelites,. Gideon, filled with the Spirit of God, sounded his trumpet and called all Israel into battle. But as the days passed and the Midianites and the Israelites got ready for war, Gideon began to worry. "Please, Lord," Gideon said to God, "do not be angry with me. I must know for sure if I am to save Israel. If I am, show me more signs."

So God showed Gideon more signs, and Gideon believed the Lord. Then God said, "You have too many men in your army. If the Israelites win this battle with such a large army, they will think they won all by themselves, and not because I helped them. Tell everyone who is frightened to go home."

When Gideon told his soldiers this, twenty-two thousand men decided to go home, leaving an army of only ten thousand men. "You still have too many men," God said. "Take them down to the river, and I will pick the men who should go with you."

At the river, Gideon told his men to drink. Most of the soldiers knelt down and drank the water, but three hundred soldiers put their faces right into the river and lapped up the water like dogs. These were the men God chose for Gideon's army. Gideon sent the rest of the men home.

Then Gideon ordered each of his three hundred men to carry only an empty jar, a torch, and trumpet for weapons. On the night of the battle, God told Gideon to go to the Midianite camp and listen to what the enemy soldiers were saying. "This will give you courage," he said.

When Gideon got near the camp, he saw thousands of Midianite soldiers getting ready for battle. He crept closer, and heard one of them telling his friend a bad dream. A loaf of barley bread had rolled into the Midianite camp, the soldier said, and it turned over his tent. "The bread is the sword of Gideon," answered his friend. "God has given him the victory."

Gideon hurried back to his camp. "Wake up, get ready!" he shouted. "The Lord has given us the battle."

Quietly Gideon's men surrounded the Midianite camp. When they were in place, Gideon blew his trumpet. At this signal, all the Israelites blew their trumpets, smashed their jars on the ground, and waved their torches madly. "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" they shouted.

The clattering of the pottery, the blare of the trumpets, and the flashing of the torch lights startled the Midianites. Terrified and half asleep, they began to run in all directions. They were so confused they attacked one another. By morning, the enemy camp was empty, and Israel's victory over Midian had begun.

Category: Children's Bible Stories