HPT

I think that the barley loaf depicted the people of Manasseh, and in particular Gideon, because they were an agricultural tribe, they grew crops and lived off the harvest. Well, what was left after the Midianites had ransacked their land. The enemy knew immediately what the dream meant because they connected crops with the tribe of Manasseh and had obviously heard about Gideon. The Lord shows Gideon this dream to give him reconfirmation that he is able to defeat the Midianites with the help of Him .

My immediate thought was that the kneelers were greedy and thought only of their own needs. They weren't concerned for the safety of the Army as they made themselves vulnerable by positioning themselves so as not to be able to get up quickly and fight.

Hi, I am somewhat late in joining you on the forum but have been studying along with you. I am hosting a Bible Study Group and we are following this wonderful study. I was unaware that studies like this existed on the internet but now i am hooked. I am loving it. Thank you to everyone for giving me confirmation in their responses and promoting deeper thought from their questions. The study of Gideon is extremely relevant to our Benefice of 7 rural churches. At present we are struggling with small numbers in our congregations. We are trying to encourage people to move around the Benefice to worship God together as we don't have a service in every church every week. I feel that God is talking to us and asking us to work together in our small number, though we feel a little powerless and weak, to bring God to the community so we can follow Him. All the questions posed have given our group food for thought and hopefully we will be successful with God's help. We have recognised that we need to trust God and that he will do what is best for us. We need to accept that God is sending us in a direction, that perhaps we don't like, because he has a reason. In our Meeting this week we identified that although we are doing everything physically possible, short of dragging people to God, perhaps we ought to be asking His will through more prayer?