Remember God's Miracles for Gideon? Archaeologists Just Found Evidence Backing Up This Bible Story

Calypso Jones wrote:There is no link.    Get used to it. LOLOL   YOU might be the link.

In that we have to beg to differ

Heres my problem with Gideon.    Two cities he stopped off at in his pursuit of the midianite kings and commanders...whom he caught up with and killed them all....but in two israelite towns he stopped in he asked for food and water for  his men.  The elder leaders of both towns said, no..kill them first and come back and we'll give you everything you ask for.  They were afraid.  They were afraid to help gideon in the event that gideon was not successful and then the midianites would come back if they had helped gideon and make their lives even worse.     (yes, i see that they were cowards and refused help to fellow israelites even when it would have potentially benefitted them).  Well. Gideon killed the midianite kings and commanders and came back into those towns and in one he killed all the 'council members' and in the other he ran sledges over the leaders...that's like driving long splinters into their bodies...many if not all would have died from that terrible punishment. That's one.

number 2.

24 And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.

26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.

27 And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

Without going too deeply into this.....He made an ephod...a priest's garment.  It maybe that he was like jeroboam in that he didn't want his people to go off to another place to worship.   Israelites were quick to turn things into 'idols' and that happened, according to how many understand it.  It was Gideon's downfall..the snare. It may have been his way of holding onto power which would have been no problem since God had ordained him in the first place.

This:

28 Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

30 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.

31 And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.

32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

He lived quite well... 70 sons each with his own donkey..many wives and then on top of that a concubine with a son, Abimelech.....a son that was despised by his half brothers and that made Abimelech very angry...so angry he wanted revenge.  After his father died, Abimelech carried out his plan.

Long story short...he killed 69 of the 70. He became king. animosity arose between him and his subjects. In battle, a woman dropped a millstone on his head. He had his armor bearer run him through with a blade so that it could not be said a woman killed him.

There are Good points to Gideon's time as a judge...there was peace but generally after the judge dies, the people returned to the old ways until it got so bad that God gave them another deliverer...another judge.

The thing that bothers me the most is that many stories about Gideon portray him in the best possible light. There are lessons in the things he did that were not so good too.

Well, I'm lost ... Can I help?

Calypso Jones wrote:Long story short...he killed 69 of the 70.   He became king.   animosity arose between him and his subjects.   In battle, a woman dropped a millstone on his head.  He had his armor bearer run him through with a blade so that it could not be said a woman killed him.

So she smacked him with a rock,, More likely he would have had his man run her through with his sword, It doesn't really stack up ,

She was in the tower that the people locked themselves in to keep his men from getting them.   She hit him with a rock (mill stone) and i'm sure she was protected by Abimelech's enemy.  She was a hero.

Calypso Jones wrote:She was in the tower that the people locked themselves in to keep his men from getting them.   She hit him with a rock and i'm sure she was protected by Abimelech's enemy.  She was a hero.    

Obviously wasn't to bright this guy, standing at the bottom of a tower with old ladies throwing rocks at them