After the LORD assured him of His presence, and of victory over the Mid'ian-ites, Gid'e-on asked for a sign by which he might know that the Speaker was indeed the LORD. And so, when he had brought food for the Stranger, the Angel Je-ho'vah touched it with the end of the staff which He carried in His hand, and it was immediately consumed by fire from Heaven. The Angel then quietly departed, and Gid'e-on built an altar and sacrified unto the LORD.
Acting under special directions from the LORD, Gid'e-on took ten men and destroyed the altar to Ba'al and the grove to A-she'rah which his father had built as a center of idolatrous worship by the entire clan. He then built an altar to the LORD on the same spot, and offered burnt sacrifices.
When this act of Gid'e-on was discovered by the men of his father's clan, their anger and threats against the life of his youngest son caused Jo'ash to realize the folly of idol-worship, and he turnt to the LORD, supporting Gid'e-on in his new position as the deliverer of Is'ra-el.
While these things were taking place, and possibly aroused by news of Gid'e-on's stand for the LORD, the Mid'ian-ites and Am'a-lek-ites gathered in large numbers on the plains of Jez'reel. For seven years they had plundered this garden spot of Is'ra-el, which was capable of supporting one hundred thousand people. It was here that Sis'e-ra's hosts had been destroyed forty-seven years before, and it was fitting that Gid'e-on should rout the Mid'ian-ites on this famous battlefield.
Gid'e-on was moved by the spirit of God to sound a clarion call for soldiers. His father's household and the entire clan of the A-bi-ez'rites rallied to his support at once. Messengers were sent throughout the tribes, and the men of Ma'nas-seh, Zeb'u-lun, A'sher and Naph'ta-li responded heartily. Thirty-two thousand soldiers answered the call, and Gid'e-on began to plan an attack upon the hosts of Mid'ian and Am'a-lek on the plains of Es-dra-e'lon.
The army marched down into the valley of Ki'shon, which was south of the plains where at least one hundred and thirty-five thousand of the Mid'ian-ites and Am'a-lek-ites could be seen. At the sight of so great an army many of the Is'ra-el-ites began to feel faint-hearted, for they were outnumbered four to one.
Then the LORD said to Gid'e-on, "The people with thee are too many." The battle which they faced was in the LORD'S keeping, and He could give victory to the many or to the few. He wished to have it clearly shown that the vast armies of the Heavens to be defeated by His power alone, so He directed Gid'e-on to permit all who were craven-hearted to leave the army. Twenty-two thousand of the Is'ra-el-ites immediately took advantage of this offer.
The LORD spoke again to Gid'e-on, saying, "Even though the ten thousand men that you have left are courageous and unafraid, there are yet too many." He then commanded a strange test for determining which of the men were worthy to take part in the defeat of the Mid'ian-ites. Fully equipped for battle they were to march across a stream of water on their way toward the camps of the enemy, and were to pause for a drink of water. Nine thousand seven hundred of them laid aside their weapons, knelt down at the edge of the brook, and took up water in both hands to quench their thirst. Only three hundred kept their weapons in one hand, watched carefully for signs of the enemy, and dipped water from the brook with one hand, lapping it as a dog drinks.
