Gideon, also known as Jerubbaal, served as the judge of Israel whose story unfolds in the book of Judges, chapters 6 through 8, with primary attention given to chapter 7. His name signifies a hewer or one who cuts down, foreshadowing the decisive blow he would deliver against Israel's enemies. A Manassite from Ophrah in the western half of the tribe's territory, he was the youngest son of Joash the Abiezrite and stood in the prime of manhood when the Midianite oppression reached its height. While threshing wheat inside a winepress to conceal it from raiders, Gideon received a visit from the Angel of the LORD, who addressed him as a mighty man of valor and commissioned him to save Israel from Midianite domination. Though Gideon protested the weakness of his clan and his own insignificance, the LORD assured him of divine presence and promised that he would defeat the Midianites as one man. Gideon's early actions revealed lingering fear, as he destroyed his father's Baal altar and Asherah image only under cover of night with ten trusted servants. Yet the Spirit of the LORD clothed itself with him, enabling him to sound the trumpet and gather forces from Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. After successive signs confirmed his calling, he assembled thirty-two thousand men at the well of Harod. The LORD reduced this number first by dismissing the fearful, then by selecting only the three hundred who remained alert while drinking, lapping water from their hands while standing watch. These men received trumpets, empty pitchers, and torches. That night Gideon divided them into three companies and led them to the edge of the Midianite camp. At the signal they blew trumpets, shattered pitchers, held aloft torches, and shouted, "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon." The Midianites, seized by panic, turned on one another in the darkness, resulting in the slaughter of one hundred twenty thousand. Gideon thus exemplified the transition from fear to obedient faith, demonstrating that God accomplishes His purposes through those who stand alert, trust His power, and act in unity with Him. This account underscores the necessity of overcoming misplaced fear through covenant faithfulness, so that the few whom God chooses may become instruments of deliverance.