Gideon was the fifth judge and renowned as the greatest of Israel. The account of his life is recorded in Judges 6:11—8:32. The backdrop for Gideon’s biography begins with the Israelites being ravaged by the Midianites as a consequence of Israel’s disobedience to God (Judges 6:1). For seven years they faced invasions from the Midianites, Amalekites, and Eastern foreigners who ruined their crops and destroyed their cattle. God’s discipline through the foreign nations caused the Israelites to cry out to God for help (Judges 6:6). God sends them a prophet to remind them of how the one true God had provided for them in the past and how quickly they had forsaken Him (Judges 6:8–10).