Gideon

When God asks an unlikely candidate to lead an unlikely military maneuver, the candidate timidly asks God for a miracle as proof.

Context

• Reference: Judges 6:39

• The tribes returned from the desert to the promised land.

• They repeatedly found themselves at war with other tribes and nations.

• Various leaders arose from the population, though they only were in charge as long as they were needed, with no patterns of succession.

Aftermath

• God did provide the requested miracles, and Gideon went on to win the battles that he was asked to fight.

Notes

This is perhaps the lightest of the stories in The Book of Voices, with the possible exception of the story of Haggai. Rereading it now, I see the obvious strong influence of the stories of Sholem Aleichem, though at the time I was thinking more of Woody Allen. But, come to think of it, the name that I used for Gideon's wife in the story, Zehava, does translate to Golde, the name of Tevye's wife in Fiddler on the Roof, which was based on Sholom Aleichem's tales.

Though I'd never seen it viewed as comedy, there is a goofy aspect to Gideon's story, as he and God seem to keep making crazy demands of each other. While Gideon requests miracles, God keeps making his demands more extreme.

After Gideon gathers several thousand troops for an attack, od demands tests that cut the numbers down to three humdred, who then attack with nothing more than torches, jars to smash, ram's horns, and a whole lot of yelling. It works: the enemy is so disoriented by the noise that they turns their swords on each other.