Meet the People of the  Bible: Gideon's Story
		I am Gideon and I am one of the judges of Israel in the Bible.  The Judges who led Israel from the time of Moses to the time of the monarchy were not like any judges that you see on television.  The Judges were more like military commanders than a judge in a black robe.  The Judges came from the 12 tribes and the tribes worked together more like different countries who were allies than the same country. At the time we ruled the land of Israel, we were surrounded on all sides by people who didn’t believe in the Lord, our God.  They worshipped pagan gods, primarily the god called Baal (BALE).  I first received fame for destroying an altar to Baal in my town and erecting an altar to the Lord.  God wanted to use me as a leader for his people and He gave me this sign.  My fleece lay on the ground all night before me and by morning it was so wet with dew, I was able to wring a cup of water to drink, but there was no dew on the ground.  The next evening, the fleece lay on the ground all night and was dry the next morning, while the ground all around was wet.  Later Christians would interpret the sign of the fleece as a foreshadowing of Jesus being born of the Virgin Mary and because of this I am honored as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.  Because of this sign, I raised an Army to defend the tribes of Israel against Midianites. When I gathered an army of tens of thousands, God said that was too many warriors to go against the Midianites.  So I sent away the ones who did not with to fight and 20,000 were left, but God said that was too many warriors.  So I took the soldiers to the river and God told marked out 300 for me to choose.  With the 300 soldiers we were able to defeat the Midianites. I judged Israel in peace for 40 years after defeating the Midianites, and afterwards the people of Israel wanted to make me king.  I told them that they had no king but God.  The judges were able to rule Israel because we harkened after the words God gave to our ancient father Joshua, the leader of God’s people after the death of Moses.  If you turn in your Bibles to the Book of Joshua, Chapter 1 verse 9 you will find our memorization passage for tonight [pause to allow people time to find the passage]  Let us read it together: I command you: be firm and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go. The judges ruled for many generations, but the people still clamored to God for a king.  They wanted to have a leader as strong as the great and powerful kings of the countries who surrounded us.  Finally, God came to the prophet Samuel who told him to anoint Saul as King of the Israelites.  After Saul, came David, and after David, came King Solomon.