God is so kind to Gideon. In Judges chapter 7, he tells Gideon that if he is still afraid to fight, he can sneak down to the enemy camp and hear what they are saying. Gideon hears the dream of the Midianite soldier - he dreamed that round loaf of barley bread came down to the camp and destroyed the whole tent. His friend told him that the dream meant Gideon was going to win! Gideon returns to the 300 Israelites with the plan of attack. They are going to sound the trumpets and break the jars. Then they will hold up torches and give a great shout! Will it be enough to win against the army of the Midianites?

Gideon is sure that God is telling him to fight. He asked God to show him a sign with the fleece, and God did just what he wanted. Both times. Now Gideon has an army of 32,000 men. But God speaks to Gideon and tells him his army is too big. God tells Gideon to send 22,000 of them home. But 10,000 men is still too many. He wants the Israelites to know that it's God's power, not their own, that saves them. He takes them down to the water and separates them into two groups. Three hundred of them lap the water out of their hands. The rest of them kneel down to drink. How can three hundred men win? The enemy has 135,000 men! 

In Joshua chapter 6, Gideon takes action. He calls for his family to come help him fight. And he sends messengers to the tribes of Asher, Naphtali and Zebulun. Then, just to make sure he got the right message, he sets out a fleece. He asks God to make it wet with dew, and leave the ground dry. God does it. Then he makes one more request with the fleece. Is God good to Gideon? What will happen next?

The Israelites have started worshiping the Midianite God. The God of Israel sends them a prophet to remind them who he is, but are they listening? At last, Gideon not only hears the voice of God, but he sees an angel of God. The angel of God tells him to fight the Midianites and God will be with him to do it. But it's hard for Gideon to believe. He asks the angel to wait while he prepares an offering. Then the angel proves that it really is God! 

After Joshua died, the Israelites did not love God. They disobeyed his commands and got themselves in trouble. When they cried out to the Lord, he rescued them. In Judges chapter 4, Deborah is a prophet in Israel. She tells Barak that God will free them from the oppression of Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army. He said he will gather 10,000 men to fight, but he wants Deborah to go with him. She agrees to help, but tells him that a woman will kill Sisera, not him! How could a woman kill this great commander? 

The Gibeonites called for help when the five neighboring kings came to attack. Joshua and his best fighting men came to fight off their enemies. Because God had given the Israelites the power, they were able to defeat the five kings. When Joshua needed more time to fight, God even  answered his prayer to make the day longer! 

In Joshua chapter 9, the Gibeonites are afraid that the Israelites are going to kill them next.  They pretend to come from far away so that the Israelites won't kill them. They told Joshua that they wanted to be friends. Joshua asked them where they were from. The Gibeonites showed them their old moldy bread, their worn out shoes, and their old clothes, hoping he would believe they had come a long way. The Israelites did believe them, and made a promise not to kill them. Three days later, they found out the truth! Now what will happen?

In the book of Joshua, chapter 8, God gives instructions on how to win the battle for Ai. Joshua sends soldiers to hide behind the city. Then he and his army attack from the front. When the men of Ai come out to fight, Joshua pretends to be losing the battle, and leads them away from their city. The soldiers who are hiding come out and set the city on fire. Now the army of Ai is stuck! There is an army behind them, and Joshua's army in front of them turns around to fight after all! There is nowhere for them to go. 

Because the town of Ai was so small, Joshua sent only about 2500 soldiers to fight. But what a surprise! The men of Ai fought back and chased the Israelites away! Thirty-six men were killed in the battle. Joshua got down on his face and asked the LORD what happened. God explained that someone in the Israelite camp had broken the agreement to keep the 10 commandments. The next day God showed Joshua who was guilty. The guilty one had caused a lot of trouble! 

When the Israelites come into their new land, there are enemies living there. The enemies close the gates of the city of Jericho so that Joshua and his army can't get in! Joshua has a surprise visitor that tells him how to get the walls to fall down. Will the plan work?