April 2: Judges 7:1 – Judges 9:21

Gideon's Three Hundred Men – Judges 7

• Gideon and all the soldiers with him camp beside the spring of Harod, with the camp of Midian to the north of them. God tells Gideon that he has too many men with him, and if they overcome the Midianites, they will think they did it by their own hand. He tells Gideon to tell the men that whoever is fearful should return home. 22,000 return home, leaving 10,000 with Gideon.
• God again tells Gideon there are too many people with him. He tells him to take the men down to the water and have them drink. Any who lap with their tongue, like a dog, will be set aside and anyone who kneels to drink will be set aside. Those who lapped with the tongue numbered 300, and God tells Gideon to take them with him to fight the Midianites. The others are sent home to their tents.
• That night, God tells Gideon to take his servant Purah and go to the camp of the Midianites. At the outpost of the armed men, they see that the Midianites and Amalekites are many. They hear two men talking about a dream where a cake of barley tumbled into the camp and struck a tent so it turned upside down. The dreamer's comrade tells him that the dream depicts Gideon and that God has given them over to him. As soon as Gideon hears this, he worships God.
• Gideon gathers his 300 men into three companies and tells them that when they come to the outskirts of the camp, they are to do as he does. When he blows the trumpet, they are to blow their trumpets and shout, "For the Lord and for Gideon!"

Gideon Defeats Midian

• Gideon's men go to the outskirts of the camp, blow their trumpets and smash their jars, and shout. All in the Midianite and Amalekite army run. The men of Napthali, Asher, and Manasseh pursue them. The men of Ephraim are called in to "capture the waters". They kill the kings, Oreb and Zeeb, and bring their heads across the Jordan to Gideon.

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna – Judges 8

• The men of Ephraim accuse Gideon of not calling them in for the initial fight against Midian. Gideon's flattering response that God gave the kings over into their hands, not his, and they are pacified.
• Gideon and his 300 men pursue Zebah and Zalmunna, two other kings of Midian. When they reach Succoth, they request food from the townspeople, but the townspeople tell them they must catch the kings before they will give them food. Gideon moves on to Penuel, and the townspeople there give him the same answer. Gideon tells them that when he returns in victory, he will tear down their tower.
• Gideon captures the two kings, then returns to Succoth and demands that a young man write down the names of the 77 officials and elders of the town. He punishes the elders of the town with thorns and briers and tears down the tower in Penuel, killing all the men in the town.
• Gideon asks the two kings what the men at Tabor who they killed looked like, and they tell him they looked like Gideon. Gideon tells them they were his brothers and that if they hadn't killed them, he wouldn't kill them.
• Gideon tells his young son, Jether, to kill them, but he doesn't draw his sword (he is a young man). Zebah and Zalmunna tell Gideon to kill them himself, and he does.

Gideon's Ephod

• The men of Israel tell Gideon to rule over them along with his son and grandson. Gideon tells them to have God rule over them. He then requests all the golden earrings the men had taken as spoils, and they give them over as well as crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple garments worn by the Midianite kings and collars worn on the necks of their camels. From these Gideon makes an ephod (ornate ceremonial garment). He puts it in his city, and all of Israel "whores" after it. The land rests for forty years.

The Death of Gideon

• Gideon returns home and has seventy sons by his many wives. One son by his concubine is named Abimelech. Gideon dies and is buried in the tomb of his father. Right away, the people of Israel turn to other gods, making Baal-berith their god.

Abimelech's Conspiracy – Judges 9

• Gideon's son Abimelech goes to his mother's relatives in Shechem and tells them to ask the leaders what would be better—to be ruled by seventy sons of Gideon or one son (Abimelech). They agree that it would be better to be ruled by Abimelech and give him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith. 
• With the money Abimelech hires worthless and reckless men to help him kill all his brothers. They murder all but Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, who hides himself. All the leaders of Shechem come together and make Abimelech king.
• Jotham goes the the Shechemites and tells them a fable depicting noble trees in the forest each rejecting kingship, which is then accepted by a lowly bramble bush. He tells them if they acted in good faith in making Abimelech king, then they should rejoice in Abimelech and let him rejoice in them. But if not, let fire from Abimelech devour the Shechemites and let fire from the Shechemites devour Abimelech. Jotham then flees to Beer and lives there.

April 1: Judges 3:31 – Judges 6:40

Shamgar – Judges 3:31

• Shamgar, son of Anath, kills 600 Philistines and saves Israel.

Deborah and Barak – Judges 4

• After Ehud dies, the people again do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, so He sells them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan. The people of Israel cry out to Him for help because Jabin oppressed them for twenty years.
• The prophetess Deborah was judging Israel at the time, from her place between Ramah and Bethel in the land of Ephraim. She sends for Barak and instructs him to take 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and Zebulun and go to war again Jabin. He tells her that he will go if she will go with him. She agrees.
• Deborah, Barak, and the 10,000 chase Sisera, Jabin's army commander, and he goes to the tent of Jael (wife of Heber the Kenite) for safety. She offers to conceal him, but once he is asleep, she drives a peg into his temple, killing him. Jael then goes out to meet Barak and brings him to her tent to show him Sisera.
• Israel subdues Jabin the king.

The Song of Deborah and Barak – Judges 5

• Deborah and Barak sing a victory song, praising God for His triumph over the Canaanites on Israel's behalf and describing their victories.
• The land rests for forty years.

Midian Oppresses Israel – Judges 6

• The people of Israel again do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, and God gives them into the hand of the Midianites for seven years. The Israelites make for themselves dens in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. Whenever they planted crops, the Midianites and Amalekites would devour all their produce. The people of Israel cry out to God for help, and God points out that He has brought them out of slavery and told them not to fear the Amalekites, but they have not obeyed Him.

The Call of Gideon 

• The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon, son of Joash the Abiezrite, while he was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. The angel tells him that God is with him, and Gideon asks why, if this is so, that they have been given into the hand of the Midianites. He asks how he can save Israel, since he is the least of his father's house and his clan is the weakest in Manasseh. God tells him that He will be with him, and Gideon asks that if God has found favor with him, that he would show him a sign—that He would stay there until he returns with a gift. God agrees.
• Gideon goes into his house and prepares a young goat and unleavened cakes. He puts the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and takes it to Him. The angel tells him to put the meat and cakes on a rock and pour the broth over them. When Gideon does, the angel reaches out the tip of his staff and touches the meat and cakes, and fire consumes them. Then the angel disappears.
• Gideon believes that the angel was from the Lord and builds and altar there. That night, the Lord tells him to take his father's bull, tear down his father's altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it, and build an altar to the Lord. He is then to offer the bull as a sacrifice. Gideon takes ten of his servants and did what the Lord instructs, but he does it at night instead of during the day because he fears his family and the men of the town. 

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

• When the men of the town wake up in the morning, the altar of Baal is destroyed and the Asherah cut down. They learn that Gideon has done it, and tell his father Joash to bring him out so they can kill him. Joash tells them to let Baal contend for himself. Gideon is then called Jerubbaal.
• The Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east come together and cross the Jordan. The Spirit of the Lord clothes Gideon, and he sounds the trumpets, calling out the Abiezrites to follow him. Messengers are sent to the people of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and together they go to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

• Gideon tells God that he is laying a fleece on the threshing floor, and that if God will save Israel by his hand, to place dew on the fleece but not on the ground beside it. The next morning, Gideon is able to fill a bowl with dew wrung from the fleece. He asks God to again give him a sign by placing dew on the ground but not on the fleece, and God again follows through.