4. The enemy used to camp on the land and destroy the crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to live on—not one sheep, cow, or donkey.
5. Like swarms of locusts, they came with their livestock and their tents. They and their camels could not be counted. They came into the land only to ruin it.
6. So the Israelites became very poor because of Midian and cried out to the Lord for help.
7. When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help because of what the Midianites had done to them,
8. the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says:I brought you out of Egypt.I took you away from slavery.
9. I rescued you from the power of the Egyptiansand from the power of those who oppressed you.I forced people out of your way.I gave you their land.
10. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God.You must never fear the gods of the Amoritesin whose land you will live.’But you have not obeyed me.”
11. The Messenger of the Lord came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash from Abiezer’s family. Joash’s son Gideon was beating out wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
12. The Messenger of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, brave man.”
13. Gideon responded, “Excuse me, sir! But if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracles our ancestors have told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and has handed us over to Midian.”
14. The Lord turned to him and said, “You will rescue Israel from Midian with the strength you have. I am sending you.”
15. Gideon said to him, “Excuse me, sir! How can I rescue Israel? Look at my whole family. It’s the weakest one in Manasseh. And me? I’m the least important member of my family.”
16. The Lord replied, “I will be with you. You will defeat Midian as if it were ⌊only⌋ one man.”
17. Gideon said to him, “If you find me acceptable, give me a sign that it is really you speaking to me.
18. Don’t leave until I come back. I want to bring my gift and set it in front of you.”“I will stay until you come back,” he said.
19. Then Gideon went into ⌊his house⌋ and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread made with 18 quarts of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. Then he went out and presented them to the Messenger of the Lord under the oak tree.
20. The Messenger of the Lord told him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” Gideon did so.
21. Then the Messenger of the Lord touched the meat and the bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared up from the rock and burned the meat and the bread. Then the Messenger of the Lord disappeared.
22. That’s when Gideon realized that this had been the Messenger of the Lord. So he said, “Lord God! I have seen the Messenger of the Lord face to face.”