The Fig tree, the Olive tree, the Vine and the Bramble bush.

Chapter 6

Gideon didn't even care who heard him. He jumped up slung his cloak over his shoulder and calling to Purah to come, made his way to the tree-line and then started running. He stumbled and half-fell over rocks and mounds in the dark. He didn't care. He would be victorious. The Midianites would be defeated. Purah struggled to keep up but he was also feeling much relieved after hearing the seer's words.

Gideon came to an outcrop of rocks. His knees and shins were bruised and bleeding. He decided that, even though he wanted to return to his men and mobilise them, he had no plan. He would sit on the rocks and think.....and listen. Purah, seeing that his master was resting, sank down where he was, a little distance from Gideon thankful for the break.

Gideon's mind raced, he was trying to think of a plan of attack but with just 300 men, he couldn't think of anything viable. Suddenly Yahweh's deep voice penetrated his busy consciousness.
"So what plan have you decided on?"

"Eerr! nothing yet," Gideon answered. "You have not made it easy with just 300 men."

"I see the news you heard has lifted your spirits."

"Yes! Thank you, Even Purah seems to have lost his morbidness."

"When you listened to the seer, did he not mention who had a plan to defeat the Midianites?"

Gideon stayed quiet for a long time. He realised he was trying to do what the Lord had already decided on. The plan, how to defeat the Midianites, was the Lord's, and here he was, trying to take the glory! In the darkness, he fell on his broken knees.
"Forgive me, forgive me, Oh Lord. You are patient and forgiving. I have tried to play God. I wanted all the glory. I am nothing. Please do not throw me away. Use me as you promised."

"Listen to me carefully. You have much to do......."

Gideon listened to all the Lord had to say. Yahweh laid out his plan. When the Lord had finished and spoke no more, Gideon called Purah nearer.
"Yahweh has instructed me what to do. We will return to the Midianite camp again tonight with our 300 soldiers. I am going to my tent to don my armour and clean up my legs. Run to the Israelite camp and wake those that may be asleep. See that they are all dressed and armoured up. Tell them to meet me at the bottom of the valley. Very important! They must sheath their swords. They must sling a ram's horn across their backs. In their hands they must carry a lit torch, but it must be covered with an earthenware jar. It must be earthenware because it must break easily. Will you remember all I have told you?"

"Yes, I am a servant, but I am not stupid!"

"Go, we meet in the valley in a little while."

Gideon hastened on when Purah had left. He was a little more careful, his legs hurt and he didn't want to punish them anymore. He still had a lot to do before the night was over.

~~~~~~~

Gideon led his 300 soldiers towards the Midianite encampment. He was feeling a lot better after a change of clothing and with his armour on. His shin-guards stuffed with oiled pieces of linen, served as bandages for his bruised and broken legs. It was just on midnight when they reached the outskirts of the camp. They had made good time. The encased torches had given just enough light out the bottom of the jars, to enable the soldiers to see where to tread without falling over obstacles as Gideon had done.

He halted the men and quickly divided them in three divisions. He could not shout his commands for fear of being heard so he had each division huddle around him, and he repeated the plan to each in turn.
"Men of Israel, tonight you will witness the power of our God. Already, if you have been alert and attentive, you will have realised that Yahweh is with us. The fire torch you lit, and hid under the jar, has been burning all the way here. It should have burnt out long ago, yet the flame remains strong and bright. Who else could make it so? It is a sign our God is with us. Let that thought encourage you and make you bold. Each division will take a different route from here. Division 1 will go partly up the hill on my left. Spread out all along the tree line for the length of the enemy camp. Division 2 will do the same on the hill to our right. Division 3 will follow me up the valley. Do exactly what I do. On my queue each soldier will break his earthenware jar, and wave his torch. At the same time we will blow our trumpets as loud as we can. Do not, I repeat, do not go down and engage with the Midianites and Amalektites. The Lord will veil their eyes and confuse their sight......they will see everyone in front of them as the enemy and begin slaughtering themselves. Their own brothers will they hack down. If there are some, who for fear of their lives, break away and flee up the hills in an attempt to escape, then, and only then, may you draw your swords and slay them. Not one must be allowed to live. The runners will go to the other side of the Jezreel valley, and if the Midianites and Amalektites decide to retreat, run to our brothers who were sent home and tell them to come down from the hills and kill all those who flee across their lands. The enemy must be stopped before they can cross the Jordan river. Go to the territories of Naphtali, Asher, Manasseh and Ephraim. Notify them, say ' Come down and fight Midian. Guard the water crossings. Kill the enemy before they reach them'."

The divisions moved out. Gideon gave them enough time to surround the Midian camp. He offered up a last prayer. Taking his horn from his back, he smashed the earthenware jar. Putting the trumpet to his lips he blew with all his might. It was a spectacular sight, as within seconds, flames emerged, seemingly from nowhere, all down the valley. The sounds of the horns being blown were amplified as they echoed from one side of the valley to the other. The Midianite soldiers went on a killing spree. Their camp seemed to be filled with Israelite soldiers. The more they slew, the more the enemy kept coming. Little did they know who they were actually killing.

To make matters worse, large packs of wolves, jackals and wild dogs, excited by the smell of blood and guts, descended on the camp. Their feeding frenzy reaching a peak as they tore flesh from bone of not only the mortally wounded and dead bodies, but of the living as well. Soldiers were pleading with their fellow comrades to slay them with the sword to put them out of their misery, as they could not endure the agony of being eaten alive.

Captain Erek formed his men into a circle. He had warned them that something strange might happen. Their eyes were not affected and they saw the warriors surrounding them as their own men. It did alter their situation. Their own fellow soldiers approached with hatred in their eyes. They saw only enemy soldiers in front of them.
Captain Erek shouted, as did his men,
"Stop! Men of Midian, what are you doing? Did we not eat and drink together last night. Why are you set on killing us. Some of us are your family. We do not want to kill you. Please stop your advancing. Why are your swords drawn? We are on the same side! "

All the captain's pleading was in vain. The first row of demented soldiers charged. His men were some of the best in the Midian army. They survived the charge with only a few minor injuries, even though it went against their grain to slaughter their own.
The second onslaught was more destructive. The Captain losing 6 of his men. He made a decision that he never thought he would ever make. He shouted to his men.
"Retreat! There are too many of them. If we stay here we will die. Regroup in a tighter formation and move out. Retreat!"

His men didn't need any further convincing. The men, their own men, they were fighting were like demons. They moved off at a brisk pace but soon broke into a run. Anything to get away from certain death. They looked back, expecting to be followed.
The crazed soldiers did not follow them. They were too busy killing each other.

As Erek ran, he looked up the hillside. He could see the faces of the Israelite soldiers, lit by the torches they carried. He thought it strange that they were just standing there. Surely they should be charging down the slope, eager to engage in the fighting. They just stood there and laughed and cheered. He could hear their voices chanting,
"A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
He looked back, his men were brave, but now their eyes were full of fear. He could feel his own confidence in jeopardy. Fighting men was one thing but tonight he had experienced something supernatural. He ran with only one thought in his head, they had to cross the Jordan river.

As the first rays of the new day crept over the hill tops, the scene that met the eyes of the Israelites would remain in their memories forever. Carnage of such magnitude was indescribable. For three days and nights, huge fires were made to cremate the thousands of bodies that lay strewn in the valley. Slowly the carnivorous animals also left the valley. They dragged their paws, their stomachs at the point of bursting. Never before had there been such a feast. Now it was the turn of the birds of prey. Vultures and other flesh eating birds circled in the sky, held back only by the smoke and the fires. Soon their hunger overcame their fears. The Israelite men had to battle the birds to claim the bodies for their fires. The Midian chariots and horses were used to load and convey the bodies of their masters to their final battle....the flames would win!

In the days that followed, the runners returned with reports of even more victories. The Midianite men were slain as they retreated. They were exhausted and hungry, and having discarded their weapons and armour to speed up their retreat, they offered little or no resistance when confronted by the Israeli mountain men. They were completely demoralised when they reached the Jordan river, only to find the heads of their kings, Oreb and Zeeb, stuck on poles into the bank of the river. The victory was now complete.