Having enjoyed 40 years of peace, after Deborah's victory, sadly Israel fell back into its old sinful ways of pagan religion so that God gave them into the the hands of the Midianites for 7 years. They severely persecuted and impoverished Israel taking much of their crops and livestock.
So Israel cried to the Lord for help and he sent them a prophet to tell them the obvious that their plight was of their own idolatrous doing. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to a man called Gideon saying that the Lord was with him. Gideon questioned this fact in the light of Midianite domination. God told Gideon that he was sending him to deliver Israel from Midian, but Gideon saw himself as insufficient for the task. God however guaranteed that he would be with him to give victory over the Midianites.
So Gideon prepared a goat, broth and bread and offered it to the angel of the Lord placing it on a rock. Then the angel touched the rock with his staff and fire flared from the rock consuming everything, and there Gideon built an altar. That night God told Gideon to tear down the altar to Baal and cut down the pagan Asherah pole and erect there an altar to God where he should sacrifice a bull as a burnt offering. The following morning when the people saw what Gideon had done they wanted to kill him, but Gideon told them that if Baal was a real god he should be able to defend his own altar!
Then the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern people faced up against Israel in the Valley of Jezreel. So Gideon put out a fleece to be sure God would give them the victory as promised, and the fleece was wet whilst the ground was dry as he had asked of the Lord. Yet still Gideon was in doubt and put out another fleece asking for a dry fleece this time on wet ground, and again this happened with the Lord confirming victory by his mercy and grace.
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