the unfoldingWord®

“ The next morning the people saw that someone had torn down and destroyed the altar, and they were very angry. They went to Gideon’s house to kill him, but Gideon’s father said, “Why are you trying to help your god? If he is a god, let him protect himself!” Because he said this, the people did not kill Gideon.
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Then the Midianites came again to steal from the Israelites. There were so many of them that they could not be counted. Gideon called the Israelites together to fight them. Gideon asked God for two signs so he could be sure that God was really telling him to save Israel. ”

“ The people wanted to make Gideon their king. Gideon did not allow them to do this, but he asked them for some of the gold rings that each of them had taken from the Midianites. The people gave Gideon a large amount of gold.
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Then Gideon used the gold to make a special garment like the high priest used to wear. But the people started worshiping it as if it were an idol. So God punished Israel again because they worshiped idols. God allowed their enemies to defeat them. They finally asked God for help again, and God sent them another deliverer to rescue them. ”