Gideon and the 300: Sunday School Lesson

Judges 6-7

Have you ever been convinced that something was completely impossible? Maybe you were playing in a soccer or a football game where the other team was scoring and scoring and scoring and your team… was not. It seemed IMPOSSIBLE to win the game.

Today, we are going to talk about a person who thought that many things were impossible. In fact, he thought they were SO impossible that nothing could ever change.

Let’s back up. The main character of our story is named Gideon, and Gideon is an Israelite- the Israelites are God’s chosen people. But here’s the thing- the Israelites, even though they are God’s chosen people, messed up a lot and God gave them consequences. The book of Judges, in Chapter 6, verse 1, tells us that

Think of a time when you got in trouble at home. Have you ever… not done something when your parents asked you? Like cleaning your room or doing the dishes? (Pause for responses or hands).

You probably had some sort of a consequence

You probably had some sort of a consequence like getting a tablet taken away or not getting to do something. Well, the people of Israel did the same thing and had to suffer the consequences. God is so loving that he gives his people consequences to show them the right way and to show that following Him is better than following our own desires.

Now, back to Gideon. Here Gideon is, living a hard life with the other Israelites, listening to what the Midianites tell them what to do! Wag your fingers like you’re being super bossy and telling a little brother or sister what to do! (Model sassy finger-wagging and have kids do it too). That doesn’t sound like fun at all!

Here is where the story gets awesome!

One day, Gideon was just hanging out, doing his normal activities, when all of a sudden BOOM an angel appeared to him! Imagine if you were just doing your homework or playing video games and an angel popped up out of nowhere! How would you react? (Model a surprised face and actions and have the kids do the same). Yeah, I bet Gideon was pretty surprised too!

The Bible tells us that the angel told him,

Now, you may be thinking of a strong, confident superhero grinning while the camera slowly pans over his face. We might expect him to say, “What!? Me!? That’s amazing!”

But Gideon didn’t do any of that. He said, in Judges 6:15,

Basically, Gideon was saying… “Ummmmmm… I think you got the wrong guy.”

The Lord responded, “I will be with you (Judges 6:16 NCV),” but Gideon was still a little sketched out by the whole situation. To prove that the angel was really from God, he wanted some kind of special sign.

And a special kind of sign there was! The angel told Gideon to put goat meat and bread on a rock and pour broth on them. Sounds kinda crazy, right? Well, it gets crazier. All of a sudden,

If Gideon wasn’t convinced before, he sure was now! But guess what? Even though Gideon was sure that he was actually talking to an angel sent as a messenger from God, he still wasn’t sure that he would really “save Israel from the Midianites” as the Lord said. Gideon asked for two more signs, and the Lord did them! Now, if someone asks me something over and over again, I might get annoyed. But God was so patient with Gideon and showed him that He was trustworthy.

After all this, Gideon was finally good to go. He and 32,000 of his closest friends went up to camp to fight against the Midianite army. Think about this- if you were fighting a super important battle, would you want a LOT of people on your side or just a small amount of people on your side? (allow for responses) A lot of people? Me, too. That usually means you have a better chance of winning!

But there was a problem. God didn’t

It would be God’s strength and power that defeated the army, not people’s!

So God told Gideon that there were TOO MANY people! He told Gideon to tell his army,

Out of 32,000 people, 22,000 of them were scared and left!

But the new army of 10,000 people was still TOO BIG. God designed another way to make the group of people smaller. They went down to the water to drink, and God told Gideon that the people who scooped up the water with their hands and lapped up the water like a dog could stay and fight, but those who knelt down would have to leave.

Out of 10,000 people, guess how many ended up staying to fight the Midianites and rescue the Israelites? (Take guesses). THREE HUNDRED! That is a tiny number to go against a giant and powerful army.

OK, so we know that Gideon had 300 fighters. How do you think they would choose to fight their enemies- what would be their weapon of choice? (Take guesses).

If you guessed… trumpets, you would be right! (Make trumpet noise and act out blowing a trumpet). The men surrounded the Midianite camp and blew their trumpets and smashed jars with torches in them. Pretend to blow a trumpet and throw a jar on the ground!

The Midianite army didn’t even fight- they straight up ran away as FAST as they could!

Then they took off running!

Make no mistake- God caused this, not the people.

Wow! God provided for his people and rescued them… all while using a man who had so, so many doubts. Whenever you aren’t sure if God can really use you or not, remember Gideon and the incredible strength of the Lord.

No problem is too big for God, and no person is too small for Him to use.

(Close in prayer and thank God for loving his people and choosing to use them to accomplish his plans).