Category: Valley experiences of Bible characters

Gideon is the fifth major judge of Israel. Gideon was given the task of delivering the Israelites from the Midianites and Amalekites, desert nomads who repeatedly raided the country. The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. {12} When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." {13} "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD…

God promised Abraham that He would make him a great nation with many descendants. (Gen 12:1-2 NIV)  The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. {2} "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. Despite this promise, Abraham remained at a low point in his life in terms of descendants. He had none! In the days of his time, a person’s honour was tied to the number of descendants that he has. To have no descendants meant great shame. It was a greater embarrassment because his God promised that Abraham would be a father of a great…