Gideon Disarmed Angry Men With One Sentence

Victory, Then Opposition

We’re finishing what might better belong at the end of Judges 7 — the beginning of Judges 8 — and closing out the clear and good portion of Gideon’s story. What follows from verse 4 onward will be more complicated. But here, at the pinnacle of undeniable success, we see something that should not surprise us but often does.

Verse 1: Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, What is this thing you have done to us, not calling upon us when you went to fight against Midian? And they quarrelled with him vehemently.

Gideon has just routed a force of tens of thousands with 300 men. He has been acknowledged as the de facto leader of Israel. Tribes gathered from across the nation. And now, at this pinnacle, instead of congratulations, he faces a vehement argument. From brothers.

Brothers Are Often the Hardest

Ephraim and Manasseh were brothers — sons of Joseph and Asenath, grandsons of Jacob. Manasseh was the firstborn, but Jacob crossed his hands and gave the right hand blessing to Ephraim — so Ephraim was the pre-eminent tribe, the stronger one. And these two, the closest of brothers, had the fiercest rivalry.

This will not surprise anyone from Northern Ireland, where our closest relatives — fellow Celts, both ostensibly Christian — have fought like cats and dogs for centuries, often stirred up by outside forces with much to gain from the division. Brothers are often the hardest.

And where had Ephraim been for the previous seven years, while the Midianites, Amalekites, and children of the east were devouring the land? They were not fighting any independent resistance. They showed up when Gideon’s messengers called. They blocked the watering places as instructed and captured Oreb and Zeeb. They arrived in time to take part in the victory. And now they come forward not with gratitude but with grievance: why didn’t you call us earlier?

What the Law Says About This

Gideon’s response is the centre of this passage. Everything you need to know about how to handle this situation is here.

What have I done now in comparison with you? He thinks about the other person, not himself. He does not stand on his achievements, which were real and obvious to everyone. He does not leverage the moment. His focus is on them — on what they have done — and he is already humbling himself.

Is the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim not better than the vintage of Abiezer? He was an Abiezrite — from a clan within Manasseh. He is saying: what I did was just the vintage of my humble little clan. What you have done — capturing the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb — that is greater than what I did. He was abasing himself and exalting them.

God handed over to you the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you? He brings God in. He acknowledges the divine dimension, where it fully belongs.

Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that.

Proverbs 15:1

This is Proverbs 15:1 illustrated before Proverbs was written: A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. God’s world operates according to God’s way. The if-then principle — if you give a soft answer, then wrath will be turned away — was as true in Gideon’s day as in Solomon’s, because it is built into the fabric of God’s world.

A mentor of mine told me how, when he was a young believer, he came across this verse and decided to test it. His brother came in furious — steam practically coming out of his ears. Instead of matching the energy, he gave a soft answer. He apologised. He expressed understanding. And the tension went out of the room. His brother didn’t know what to do. The anger had nothing to push against.

This is living by faith. Not waiting for money to fall into your lap, not some mystical experience — living by the every word of God. Taking the if-then statements of scripture and acting on them in real situations. That is what faith looks like in practice.

The Right Tool for the Right Situation

Notice that Gideon did not give a soft answer to the men of Sukkot and Penuel when they refused bread to his exhausted men. That would have been equally wrong. There is a time for the soft answer and a time for the sharp word. Ephraim showed up. They fought. They were just bitter that they had not been called earlier. That is a very different situation from people who actively withheld support from God’s appointed leader in the heat of pursuit.

The soft answer is not a universal strategy for all conflict. It is the right tool in the right situation — and knowing the difference requires wisdom, the kind that comes from being in fellowship with God and saturated in his word.

Hundreds of If-Then Statements

The Bible is full of these if-then promises. If you honour your father and mother, your days will be long. If you seek first the kingdom of God, all these things will be added to you. If you humble yourself, God will exalt you in due time. If you give a soft answer, wrath will be turned away. These are not vague spiritual hopes — they are practical, applicable laws of God’s world, with specific inputs and specific outputs.

We are not taught to live this way. We accumulate knowledge. But knowledge puffs up, love builds up — and love, as John tells us, is the fulfilment of the law of God. Gideon fulfilled the law of God in his response to Ephraim. The anger was turned away. The relationship was preserved. The movement continued.

God bless you. We’ll see you next time.